Nebraska deer hunters report close cougar encounters

Mountain lion killed in urban Bismarck, ND

Tancredo files language for Colorado firearms initiative

Mich. fisherman sues state to keep, sell walleye

DETROIT (AP) — One of Michigan’s most successful commercial fishermen is suing the state to try to overcome a decades-old ban on catching walleye in the Great Lakes. Read more

Police Suspect Moose Killed Woman

Swedish police say they’ve cleared a man who was arrested for allegedly murdering his wife after deciding the culprit was most likely a moose. Read more

When on the Trail Don’t mess with sheep or you may get Bit

Reporting from Camp Hale, Colo. - As soon as Renee Legro saw the sheep, she screamed.  The herd, 1,300 strong, has been coming for 30 years to graze in this valley on the backside of the Continental Divide. But as Colorado has become an adventure sports destination, the once-empty valley has filled with hikers, campers and mountain bikers like Legro, and she was about to tragically embody the collision of the old West with the new. Read more

Two serious tree stand accidents

Two serious tree stand accidents over the weekend have Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) hunter safety staff reminding hunters to wear a safety harness when using a tree stand. Read more

Bison have returned to Mexico

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Bison have returned to Mexico for the first time since the 1800s, with Mexican authorities releasing 23 donated U.S. animals in northern Chihuahua state. Read more

Body Identified As Missing Kayaker

The Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) has confirmed the identity of the body that was found on November 20, 2009 at Beverly – Triton Beach Park in Mayo as Jerard Robert Welsh. Welsh’s identity was confirmed by finger print comparison.  A boater last saw Welsh on November 3, as he was kayaking in Oyster Creek. An empty kayak and life jacket was found in the area when the boater returned a few hours later. Preliminary autopsy indicates that Welsh drowned.

Bizarre calf mutilations found on Colorado ranch

SAN LUIS, Colo. (AP) — A creepy string of calf mutilations in southern Colorado has a rancher and sheriff’s officials mystified. Read more

Avoiding Cold Weather Injury and Death

In the winter the environment can be your enemy or your friend.  However you must know how to manage your situation. If you do not manage it right, the environment will injure or kill you,  typically it happens very slowly. Read more

Happy Thanksgiving

We are thankful everyday for our families, and all of the blessings we receive on a daily basis. But we are also very thankful to all of you who visit our site and support us on a daily basis. Have a wonderful holiday, enjoy your families and we thank you again for all of your support.

Dogs replacing humans in the work place

CLEARWATER, Fla. -Customers at one Gulf coast gas station might be surprised at who responds to the counter when they pull up to the drive-through window: The store owner’s dog. Dozens of times each day, Cody the chocolate Labradaor retriever will pop up on two paws behind the counter at a BP gas station and convenience store in Clearwater. He even has a BP logo shirt and a name tag. Customers grin and kids squeal with joy in response.

Store owner Karim Mansour said he started bringing Cody to work five months ago for company on the early morning shift. The dog quickly became a celebrity among store regulars. St. Petersburg Times

Snake for Thanksgiving Dinner?

LAKEBAY, Wash. -Betty Corey first thought the hissing from her Lakebay, Wash., kitchen might be one of her dogs. Wrong. It was a 4-foot-long ball python. Not a fan of snakes, Corey called 911 and a Pierce County Animal Control officer removed the snake Tuesday morning. Officer Brian Boman said the agency will house the snake at its shelter, keeping it warm and close at hand if its owner is looking for it.

Nearly 101, Minnesota hunter still lives to hunt deer

Manly Men Celebrate The Holidays With Spam

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) _ The Order of the Manly Men has something even better than a secret handshake to weed out the Real Manly Men from the imitations _ a “belly buck,” says R.M. Crane, self-proclaimed president-for-life and founder of the group. Read more

Body from sunken NJ fishing boat found on NC beach

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — A body that washed ashore at a North Carolina wildlife refuge over the weekend has been identified as the owner of a commercial fishing boat that sank off the New Jersey coast on Nov. 11.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday that a visitor collecting seashells Saturday discovered the body of Kenneth Rose Sr. at the north end of Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Rose was one of three crew members on board the Sea Tractor when it sank in bad weather off Cape May. Also aboard were his 49-year-old son, Kenneth Rose Jr., and 55-year-old crew member Larry Forrest. They have not been found.

A life raft from the Sea Tractor had washed up at the wildlife refuge several days before Rose’s body was found.

© 2009 The Associated Press.

Suit seeks to stop grazing along upper Missouri

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A push to end grazing along a 150-mile stretch of the Missouri River would bar about 10,000 cattle from federal lands in central Montana so that the river valley can be restored to more natural conditions.

An Idaho-based environmental group and two Fort Benton canoe outfitters filed a federal lawsuit Friday seeking to revoke grazing permits in the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument and force an environmental review by the federal Bureau of Land Management.

The 586-square-mile monument was created in 2001 by then-President Bill Clinton, along a route explored by Lewis and Clark in the early 1800s. The arid landscape has remained largely undeveloped – it’s been called an “American Serengeti” – and cattle graze right up to the river’s edge under BLM permits.

But the lawsuit filed in Missoula claims the cattle are marring the monument’s recreational opportunities and stunting the growth of cottonwood trees along the river.

“The cattle have had their heyday for 70 years,” said Glenn Monahan, co-owner of Upper Missouri River Guides and one of the plaintiffs. “Times have changed, and the higher use for this country now is recreation.”

Despite research highlighting the harsh ecological toll of grazing, ranchers who run cattle in the monument say they’re using the land responsibly.

Joe DeMars, who runs cattle along about eight miles of the Missouri River, said he rotates his herd between pastures to reduce their impact. He said he also uses water tanks set back from the Missouri so the animals spend less time at the river.

The BLM issues grazing permits on 113 allotments within the monument to 93 cattle producers.

Ranchers warn the lawsuit could drive them out of business.

“I know they want to get back to having an old-time Serengeti, but people still have to live. This is the only way of life that we know,” said DeMars, who lives the largely agricultural community of Winifred just south of the monument.

Monument manager Gary Slagel said the agency has been working for years to reverse the effects of decades of grazing. Among those attempts are fencing off some areas and limiting access to others during the hottest times of the year.

Slagel added that some problems were outside his agency’s control, such as upriver dams that decrease spring runoffs. Historically, those seasonal floods would carry nutrient-bearing sediments to areas where new cottonwoods could take root.

The suit assigned to Judge Donald Molloy is the third federal case against the BLM since a new management plan for the monument was approved in January.

The first two – challenging the number of backcountry airstrips and roads in the monument – have been consolidated into a single case before U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon in Great Falls. It is not likely to be heard until next summer.

© 2009 The Associated Press

4 NBC affiliates ban PETA’s Thanksgiving Day ad

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Four NBC affiliates broadcasting the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade are banning a commercial promoting veganism sponsored by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

PETA spokesman Michael Lyubinsky said Tuesday the organization wanted to air the commercial during the parade but stations in Raleigh, N.C., Columbia, S.C., Savannah, Ga., and Little Rock, Ark., had banned it.

The commercial depicts a young girl saying grace at Thanksgiving, giving thanks for “the turkey farms where they pack them into dark, tiny little sheds for their whole lives.”

The ad encourages viewers to “Go vegan.” Brad Moses, general manager of Raleigh’s WNCN, said he decided to ban the ad in Raleigh and Savannah because it’s not appropriate for the spirit of the parade.

© 2009 The Associated Press

One bullet = two bucks

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