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The Game Hoggs Celebrity Views Archives |
Fowl News: Easton MD World Calling Competition Results...By David Rearick Congrats to all the Callers that entered and participated! WORLD GOOSE
It's Official...By David Rearick After not hunting Mike's private marsh one day last year or this year, Mike Bard and myself decided to give it a go for the last 40 minutes of LST on a warm Saturday in November. After shooting a fat greenhead and the first duck ever taken on Mike's marsh after he purachsed it, things were looking good to potentially add a few more as the sun dropped closer to the horizon. With only minutes left, Mike was able to bag a nice drake himself, and this one was sporting some bling, and Game Hogg bling at that. Congrats Mike on the band and the first ducks from your marsh, I am sure in the future their will be more to come!
Game Hogg Banding BBQ 2008...By David Rearick Arliss Reed Helping Band...  ©David Rearick, Game Hogg Hunt Club Dan Bump Helps Band the Ducks...  ©David Rearick, Game Hogg Hunt Club Ella Bringing Some Ducks to be Banded....  ©David Rearick, Game Hogg Hunt Club A Young Game Hogg in the Making.....  ©David Rearick, Game Hogg Hunt Club The Entire Group....  ©David Rearick, Game Hogg Hunt Club Ohio Valley Outdoors Magazine...By Mike Bard
Game Hogg Hunt Club member, David
Rearick, has recently had a waterfowl article published in the
September/October issue of Ohio Valley Outdoors Magazine and will be
contributing a waterfowl article to the bi-monthly magazine for each of
their future issues. The Ohio Valley Outdoors Magazine or OVO serves
hunters and outdoorsmen from Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, and Northern West
Virginia. OVO covers outdoor activities from hunting and fishing to camping and
boating. To subscribe or learn more about
OVO, follow this link: http://www.ohiovalleyoutdoors.com/index.html Sportsman's Warehouse Calling Contest 2008...By David Rearick Jeff Shelby and Erik Nilsson in the 2-Man Goose On August 31st 2008, Sportsman's Warehouse in Pittsburgh PA held their 2nd annual "meat duck and goose" calling contest. Game Hogg and Zink® Calls Pro-Staffer Erik Nilsson had his 2nd good showing in two weekends. The contest had some stiff competition, and when the dust cleared, the following individuals were awardered their respective positions... Duck:
SW Mgr. Mike Scrip, and Zink® Calls Pro-Staffers Erik Nilsson and Jeff Shelby Apparition Scents Purchase...By Mike Bard
Apparition™ Scents, a
Jason Mears, co-owner, provided Game Hogg Hunt Club with the following information about Apparition™ Scents and their products. Developed from the Ground Up Let's face it.
Sometimes there is nothing to do but think while on stand in early October
waiting for a good deer to come by. That's actually how the idea for the
development of Apparition™ Scents came about. A few experiments and a lot of
headaches later, the most natural smelling masking scents you can find anywhere
were born. We developed a line of exceptional urine-based attractant scents,
which rounded out our easy to understand and simple to use scent system. It's in the Details The Apparition™ Scent
line is developed and hand bottled with strict attention being paid to every
detail. Our masking scents are developed from all natural earth materials, and
our attractant scents contain 100% pure whitetail deer urine collected from
free roaming deer living on an exceptional quality farm that provides excellent
natural habitat. Our scent elimination formula is made from the finest
ingredients, and is perhaps the most effective human scent killer on the
market. The Apparition™ Scent
system consists of three attractant scents, three masking scents, and a human
scent eliminator and they are guaranteed to work when used properly, or you get
your money back. Take a closer look at the Apparition™ Scent family by reading
about each of the products below.
For more info about Apparition™ Scents, check out their website.  Wigeon Satellite Tracking Study Update..From Doug Howell NCWRC As of 7/9 six hens with operating transmitters remain alive. This includes 2 instrumented in 2007 and 4 instrumented in 2008. We continue to receive intermittent signals from an additional hen from 2007. Since the last update, one transmitter either failed or the hen died (44690). The transmitter shot by a Cree hunter in Waskaganish, Quebec in early May was never returned. Subsequent attempts to contact the hunter failed. Oh well, I tried. I have attached a map of the latest movements. One interesting note: a 2007 hen (72793) has now reached the sane area south of Great Bear Lake, NWT where she spent the summer of 2007 – probably a good indication of a nesting area. Specific movements include: 44677: Remains in the area of Peesane, Saskatchewan 44690: Located near Split Lake, Manitoba. The signal was lost on 7/4. 55010: Remains in the area of Big Trout Lake, Ontario. 55019: On 5/31 moved from Atikaki Wilderness Provincial Park, Manitoba to Portage Bay on Lake Manitoba. On 6/3 moved to east of Preeceville, Saskatchewan. On 6/7 moved to east of Leask, Saskatchewan. On 6/10 reached northeast of Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan where it remains to date. 63004: On 5/25 moved from the Thousand Islands, St. Lawrence River, NY to the Ottawa River near Bisset Creek, Ontario. On 5/28 was located north of Matagami, Quebec. On 6/5 moved to south of Fort Albany, James Bay, Ontario. On 6/15 moved to Mavor Island, Hudson Bay, Nunavut then to north of Inukjuak, Quebec. On 6/16 moved to south of Paurngatarvik, Quebec. On 6/17 moved to south of Povungnituk Lake, Quebec where it remains to date. 72791: Remains near the Saskatchewan River, southwest of Root Lake, Manitoba 72793: On 5/25 moved from Kinusisipi, Playgreen Lake, Manitoba to northeast of Flin Flon, Manitoba. On 5/31 moved to Black Lake, east of Stony Rapids, Saskatchewan. On 6/4 moved to east of Basler Lake, NWT. On 6/7 moved to east of Hootah Lake, NWT where it remains to date.July 2008 For Immediate Release: The Avery Sporting Dog Cup will be awarded to the team that accumulates the most points throughout the SRS season. A team consists of one handler and one dog. After all qualifying events have been completed, the team with the highest point total will win the Avery Sporting Dog Cup. The Avery Sporting Dog Cup winner will receive an automatic invitation to the Crown Championship to be held at Riverfest in Central Arkansas in May of 2009. Past winners of the SRS Crown Championship are Barry Lyons and Skeet, Alex Washburn and Ticket, Jerry Day and Super Sue, Chris Akin and Boomer, J Paul Jackson and Achilles, Richard McDonald and Sam, Mike Pierce and Free, Lyle Steinman and River, and Chris Akin and Slide. The Avery® Triple Crown will be awarded to the team that wins a qualifying event, the Avery Sporting Dog Cup, and the Crown Championship within the same season. If there is not a winner, then the prize money will roll over into the pot for next year’s winner. SRS Producer Shannon Nardi was extremely excited about the Avery Sporting Dog Cup as well as the Avery Triple Crown, “I can’t express the excitement I feel for these additions. Avery has been a big part of the SRS and is very aware of the growth of not only SRS, but all sporting dog events. Tom Matthews and Allen Hughes of Avery have the same vision that I have had from the beginning for SRS, and together the sky’s the limit!” Avery has been an integral part of SRS for many years. “Through our relationship with SRS, in three short years Avery Sporting Dog has become the leader in retriever training gear. This is just a thank you to the competitors that helped make it happen” said David Carrington of Avery. As the SRS Chief Organizer, Brint Ramoly was not surprised to find Avery at the forefront of giving back to the retriever world. “If SRS has ever needed anything from Avery, all I have ever had to do is pick up the phone and get David Carrington on the other end. He has done anything we asked that would help grow SRS in the past few years, and to see them give back to the competitors is just not a surprise- exciting, but not a surprise”. Here are the rules for the Avery Sporting Dog Cup and the Avery Triply Crown: All rules stated below will be in effect for the remainder of the 2008/2009 Super Retriever Series. All decisions made by the tournament director and/or tournament officials will be final in all matters. The tournament director and/or tournament officials may make a change to these rules when the safety of a team or the integrity of the Super Retriever Series is in question. The Avery Sporting Dog Cup will be awarded to the team that accumulates the most points throughout the SRS season. A team consists of one handler and one dog. If two handlers run the same dog, they will be considered as two separate teams. After all qualifying events have been completed, the team with the highest point total will win the Avery Sporting Dog Cup. Rules 1. Teams must advance to the second series in order to receive points for an event. 2. All teams that do not qualify for the third series will receive points based on their finish in the first series. 3. Teams that do not qualify for the fourth series will receive points based on their finish in the third series with ties resolved using time for the third series and then scores from the combined first and second series. 4. A tie at the end of the qualifying events will result in a one series run-off at the Crown Championship. Changes for 2009 1. There is no minimum number of events that must be run. 2. Teams must advance to the second series to receive points. 3. Teams that do not qualify for the third series will receive points based on their score in the first series. 4. First place points for each event will be determined by the number of dogs registered. 5. There will be no bonus kickers for the 2009 season. 6. There is no enhanced bonus for the 2009 season. 7. Ten percent (10%) of the Crown Championship prize will be reserved for the Avery Sporting Dog Cup Champions. Avery® Triple Crown Also new for 2009 is the creation of the Avery® Triple Crown. The Avery® Triple Crown will be awarded to the team that wins a qualifying event, the Avery Sporting Dog Cup, and the Crown Championship within the same season. Any team that wins the Avery® Triple Crown, will receive an additional 5% of the Crown Championship prize. This is a progressive award and if no one wins the Triple Crown in a season, its prize money will roll over to the next year and continue to grow until we have a Triple Crown winner.
For more information about the Super Retriever Series go to www.superretrieverseries.com or contact Brint Ramoly at bramoly@waterdogtv.com For more information about Avery Outdoors, Inc. go to www. averyoutdoors.com - Bag Limit Could be ONE..From Delta Waterfowl Website July 2008 For Immediate Release... USFWS Regulations Committee Approves Scaup Harvest Strategy Bismarck, N.D--American waterfowl hunters are one step closer to facing a reduced scaup bag limit for the upcoming hunting season. That's because the Service Regulations Committee of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) approved a harvest strategy last week that paves the way for the bag limit reduction. The move was opposed by Delta Waterfowl, the state wildlife agencies in Louisiana, Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota, as well as the Mississippi and Central Flyway Councils and the California Waterfowl Association. "The decision is very disheartening, but not all hope is lost," said Delta President Rob Olson, noting that the scaup bag limit for Mississippi and Central Flyway hunters could be reduced from two birds to one. "A final decision to reduce the scaup bag limit won't be decided until later this summer, but this move does send a clear message to scaup hunters that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is intent on reducing the bag limit, despite strong opposition from Delta and others. We believe the harvest model used by the Service may be inadequate and should be fully reexamined before any reduction in the scaup bag limit occurs." Olson says a one-bird scaup bag limit also puts hunters at a disadvantage, because under some conditions it's difficult to identify scaup from other diving duck species. "If, for example, a hunter shoots a drake bluebill, he or she may be forced to forgo the rest of their day in the marsh, rather than risk taking another scaup and being in violation of any new regulations," said Olson. "Scaup are a coveted waterfowl species for many hunters. We don't want to see regulated to the status of a 'mistake' bird." Last June, after the USFWS proposed its scaup harvest strategy, Delta Waterfowl sent a letter to Division of Migratory Bird Management Chief Dr. Robert Blohm, urging the USFWS not to pursue its proposed strategy because the evidence did not immediately warrant the bag limit reduction. In February, Delta Waterfowl convened a scientific panel of scaup population experts in Minnesota to evaluate the USFWS scaup harvest model. The expert panel raised several significant questions concerning the model and recommended that it should not be adopted as harvest strategy. The panel concluded that more work is needed on model development before a new scaup harvest strategy is adopted. The panel also recommended that any new scaup population models developed by the USFWS be reviewed by an independent committee of scaup experts. But on page 34694 of the Federal Register, the USFWS, commenting on its proposed scaup harvest strategy on June 18th, made the following entry, "We note that no substantive criticisms suggesting that the proposed approach is not valid have been offered." "Delta whole-heartedly disagrees with the Service's comment that no substantive criticisms have been offered," said Olson, adding that the Service has yet to sufficiently address the concerns and recommendations raised by Delta and other organizations. "We convened an expert scaup panel -- some of the most highly respected biologists in waterfowl management -- to evaluate the Service's scaup harvest model and its conclusions were both substantive and offered to the Service." The spring breeding population of scaup (which includes both greater and lesser scaup, also called bluebills) has declined since the early 1970s. The population reached a record high of almost 8 million birds in 1972 and stood at roughly 7 million in 1984. In 2006, the scaup population reached an all-time low of 3.2 million birds. Last year, the population increased modestly (3.4 million) but was still well below the long-term average. But Delta Scientific Director Dr. Frank Rohwer says that scaup remain one of the most abundant duck species in North America and that the birds' annual harvest is only a fraction of that sustained by other abundant species. Rohwer also notes that biologists who attended two major scaup scientific workshops in recent years agreed that the cause of the population decline was likely caused by habitat changes, not hunting. "It's highly unlikely that hunter harvest has been a major factor in the scaup decline," said Rohwer. "Delta has a long history of taking a conservative stance when it comes to waterfowl harvest, but in this instance there is no meaningful evidence to suggest harvest is a limiting factor. If that were the case, we wouldn't be raising questions about the Service's scaup harvest strategy." To fully understand why scaup are declining, Rohwer says the USFWS needs to commit more money and manpower to study the problem. "We need to figure out why scaup are doing so poorly in some parts of the Boreal forest," he said. "The Service needs to step up and initiate a comprehensive banding program to figure out survival and harvest rates, but most importantly we need to develop alternative population models, reevaluate all existing scaup data, and reach a consensus on a harvest strategy before we place such severe harvest restrictions on diver hunters. Remember, scaup counts are still well above 3 million birds, so there's no need for panic." Delta Senior Vice President John Devney cut his teeth hunting scaup on some of Minnesota's most storied big-water diver lakes. He says if the scaup bag limit is reduced, the fallout could be disastrous. "I'm fearful we're going to lose one of our greatest constituencies for scaup and scaup habitat -- diver hunters," he said. "Scaup hunters are a unique breed. Most covet the rich culture and timeless traditions of diver hunting. And they'll hunt the big water in some of the foulest weather imaginable. But if we prematurely reduce the bag limit, I'm extremely worried we'll see a lot of 18-foot duck boats and black and white decoys for sale." Devney also noted that the 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation showed that waterfowl hunter numbers had dropped 27 percent since 2001. "We don't want to exacerbate that trend," he said. "That would be a tragic mistake." Added Devney: "Delta Waterfowl is committed to working with the USFWS to refine its scaup population model. We're also funding a Ph.D student to look at scaup population models." According to a USFWS press release dated June 27th, a recommendation for this fall's hunting season length and daily bag limit will be made after the next Service Regulations Committee meeting in late July. Information courtesy of: http://www.deltawaterfowl.org/pr/2008/080630_scaup2.php 2008 Habitat Conditions..From Flyways.us June 2008
PA Goose Banding..By David Rearick June 2008 The molt is underway and the PGC has started to capture numerous resident geese and subsequently fitting them with leg bands. Across the state Waterfowl Biologists and other PGC employees and volunteers are helping to make this program possible. With years of experience and many hours of scouting, the PGC does a great job at selecting birds in different strata and ensuring that the sample population isn't banded each year. Game Hoggs Rick MacFarlane and David Rearick got out on day 1 and helped the PGC band 235 geese in 10 hours. It was a great time, and a great way to help the flyway's understand the resident geese that are abundant here in PA. The Capture Pen... Rick MacFarlane Releasing a Banded Gosling... Some New Leg Iron.... PA Waterfowl Expo- Calling Contest Results..By David Rearick The calling contest season is upon us, and Game Hogg E. has been representing for Zink® Calls and the GHHC. At the most recent Waterfowl Expo/Calling Contest here in PA, he took home 1st and 2nd place in Team Goose, along with 2nd place in Team Duck. To top off the weekend, on Father's Day Erik and his son Mat took runner up in the Dad and Me calling competiton sponsored by Zink® Calls. It was a great weekend of calling for E., and a great time for everyone who got to watch. Congratulations Erik and Mat, and way to represent!
Team Duck
E. Talking the Talk.... Mat and E. "Team" Calling... Mat and E. on Stage... Invasive Snails Take a Toll on Native Ducks..by Sea Stachura For the Original Artcle, Click HERE
All Things Considered, May 26, 2008 · The number of lesser scaup ducks is
dwindling, and it could be an invasive species that does them in. Invasive
snails and parasites are attacking these and other ducks on the Upper
Mississippi. A Future Game Hogg Enters the Mix..By David Rearick While this news is a little dated, Game Hogg David Rearick (AKA Hollywood) and his wife Melissa brought their new son Colton Cook Rearick (or Colt for short) into the world on March 18th of this year. He was born a healthy baby and weighed in 8lb's 4 oz and meausured 20.5" head to toe. He is coming up on three months and is growing quickly, nearly doubling his weight! He even took time out of his day for a few pictures. We hope he and the other Jr. Hoggs carry the tradition forward for years to come.
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