PETA has given Samsung its GOODY Award for an anti-hunting video the electronics manufacturer produced to promote its Bluetooth technology.

The video, titled, “Deer Rudolph and Eagle Eye team up to escape Redneck Hunter,” paints a negative, untrue picture of hunters. The unrealistic ad shows a hunter miss a buck and, in disbelief, look down the gun’s barrel. After subsequent misses (with the hunter aiming for the buck’s eye), the hunter begins swearing and firing wildly, a sequence that ends with him shooting the hat off a game warden’s head. 

We learn at the end of the video that a bald eagle flying overhead has been “phoning” the deer on the ground using a Bluetooth device and warning it to avoid the hunter.

If nothing else, it’s unbelievable that Samsung would choose to perpetuate negative, false stereotypes about hunters and hunting with such an offensive ad. Ridiculous advertising like this only serves to typecast hunting as a dangerous, “redneck” sport among those that have never been exposed to what real hunting is all about.

Of course, PETA uses its propaganda to fuel that misconception, too.

“Samsung’s ad reflects society’s evolved attitudes toward animals and shows that compassion is a far better marketing tool than cruelty,” said PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman in a news release touting the award it present to Samsung. “Hunting has no place in a modern society that is striving to protect animals and be kind.”

The simple fact that PETA is endorsing this video shows just how crazy it is.

Both PETA and Samsung must have ignored the research showing that 73 percent of Americans support hunting, or the fact that hunting strengthens family bonds, maintains healthy, abundant game populations, and mitigates crop damage that benefits farmers (and even vegans).

Watch the ad and tell us what you think. Does it change your perception of Samsung? Does it make you think twice about buying the company’s products?

If 15-year-old Sara Brandenburg bags a Stone’s sheep on a family hunting trip in the Yukon this week, she’ll become the youngest woman ever to complete the North American sheep grand slam.

Having hunted all over the world, Sara and her 18-year-old sister, Katey, have perhaps more hunting experience that many hunters three or even four times their age. They’ve successfully hunted everything from deer in Colorado to grizzlies on Vancouver Island to eland in South Africa.

They’re nice young women, too, having grown up in a Colorado hunting family that’s taught them to love and respect the outdoors. “My parents introduced me to the outdoors,” said Sara. “They didn’t want us growing up playing video games and eating potato chips.”

That’s why it’s so unfortunate that several British tabloids, including the Daily Mail and The Sun, chose to run a demeaning article that portrays the young huntresses in the worst light possible.

The Sun started off its story with this: “PRETTY teenage sisters have turned themselves into angels of death—shooting dead DOZENS of wild animals then smiling for sick photos with the bodies.”

The title of the Daily Mail piece read, “Bloodlust: Meet the ‘twisted’ teenage sisters who love shooting rare wild animals.”

Those “sick” photos show the girls posing in normal hunting pictures alongside their proud mom and dad. None of the animals pictured with the girls—which include a whitetail, pronghorn and dall sheep—are rare or even threatened.

To make matters worse, Sara told Outdoor Life’s Alex Robinson that she and her family had no idea that the reporter who interviewed them was planning to write such a sensationalized piece.

“We were really nice to them, the guy even stayed in our house for like three days,” Sara told Outdoor Life. “We all thought he was just going to do a story about how we really like hunting.”

Instead, the reporter chose to degrade, smear and outright attack the girls and their family. In doing so, he attacked all hunters, everywhere.

Read the full stories in both newspapers (and check out the photos) and tell us what you think.

Bloodlust: Meet the 'twisted' teenage sisters who love shooting rare wild animals

Twisted sisters

Be sure to read the comments after the stories, too. Goes to show how little the Brits and non-hunters know about the tradition we love—and the battles we continue to face as a hunting community.

From time to time, I hear it said that the Sierra Club is pro-hunting.

For the record, here is what the Sierra Club New Jersey Chapter had to say in reaction to an announcement—long awaited by hunters—that New Jersey has finally approved a bear management plan that includes a hunting season.

“The state has eliminated funds for education, programs that deal with garbage, bear aversion therapy, bear wardens, conservation officers, and other non-lethal methods of management.

“The Sierra Club opposes the bear hunt and will continue to fight for a strong bear management plan that actually works."

The full press release is here.

Call me crazy but that does not sound pro-hunting. And I do not think that educational information about bear-proofing your garbage needs any significant funding. It’s all over the Internet, or you could even pick up the phone and call the game and fish department.

And the conservation officers New Jersey already has don’t have time to be conservation officers because they—and the police—are too busy answering bear nuisance complaints, coaxing bears off porches and away from schoolbus stops, and dragging road-killed bears off the highways.

As for management plans “that actually work,” Sierra Club NJ might do well look at nearby states like New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia – all of which have bear hunting seasons-- and compare the number of bear nuisance complaints, not to mention the overall health of the bear populations in those states. Hunting in those states has kept bears within their carrying capacity, whereas in New Jersey, bears are fast outpacing theirs.

There are many sources of lead in the environment, and NRA is on the record as raising serious questions about studies claiming that condors are dying in great numbers because of lead bullet fragements they supposedly pick up in gut piles left by hunters. But citing just such concerns, Utah is instituting a voluntary non-lead ammunition program for deer and elk hunters in the southwestern part of the state.

Utah’s 2010 Big Game regulations (page 35) announce that the Utah Division of Wildlife and Utah Wildlife in Need joined together to offer coupons for one free box of lead-free ammunition for deer and elk hunters in certain parts of southwestern Utah.

Arizona has had a similar program for several years, and the word "voluntary" has helped achieve a compliance record of about 90 percent.

Both states may be more concerned about lawsuits filed by radical environmental groups than about any widespread danger to condors. But whatever the motivation, let's make sure this program stays "voluntary."

OK, now I’ve heard everything.

Scientists at Carnegie Institution for Science are arguing that “overhunting” of wooly mammoths 15,000 years ago led to a small but measurable change in the planet’s weather.

Their reasoning is as follows: When the last Ice Age ended 15,000 years ago, the warming temperatures started die-offs among mammoths, which were more suited to frigid weather. Human hunters then decreased the mammoth population “far more rapidly than would have occurred otherwise,” according to the scientists.

As mammoth populations dropped, one of their favored foods—birch trees—was allowed to grow and spread freely. According to the study, the trees grew “more than enough to blot out the sun from the grass below. The trees actually darkened the color of the landscape, increasing the amount of sunlight absorbed and heating up the area.”

(Personally, I thought such a condition was called “shade.” Shows you how smart I am.)

So, as mammoths died off, birch trees spread uncontrollably, and a vicious cycle of warming ensured. Researchers did find that the amount of birch pollen in northern areas increased dramatically, coinciding with the arrival of human hunters and drops in mammoth populations.

I confess I have not read the complete report, but I suspect the scientists did not suggest what human beings 15,000 years ago were supposed to do for food other than hunt.

Should you want to know another perspective on climate change, read Beyond Seasons’ End. The single biggest problem I have in grappling with the whole issue is simply knowing who to believe. Beyond Seasons’ End was written by a group of people I actually trust—hunters. Habitat experts from Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, Boone and Crockett and other conservation groups all contributed. I don’t pretend to accept all of it, but hunting is too important to me not to consider all perspectives of a complicated issue.

Even though there are hunter harassment laws on the books in every state, ruining hunts is still a favorite tactic of animal rightists and anti-hunters. It is illegal in Colorado, for example, for anyone to “willfully prevent or interfere with the lawful participation of any individual in the activity of hunting, trapping, and fishing,” but one hunter has reported to us that he feels the Forest Service in Boulder County has turned a blind eye to hunter harassment.

Here’s the hunter’s account in his own words, describing how anti-hunters are flooding hiking trails on Forest Service land to scare off deer and elk during hunting season:

“I had the supervisor in the [Forest Service’s] Boulder office tell me that he would stop all hunting on public ground if he could. There seems to be some cooperation between the Forest Service and the anti-hunters in Boulder County. Just speculation on my part, but I have seen their officers turn a blind eye to hunter harassment in the past.

“On that subject, the anti-hunters now seem to be using a new tactic. Last year during my elk hunt, I was talking to a nice-sounding bull and all of a sudden he left the country. We hadn’t moved, the wind was right and, after a few minutes, I heard talking down the ridge where the bull was. The same thing happened to my brother-in-law, and my nephews. I was walking down a trail that is pretty open, and I turned around to look behind me (I always do, as sometimes critters will cross the trail behind you), and two people were following me, about 75 yards behind. When they saw that I was looking at them, they did an about face and left. My nephews ran into the same couple, and [my nephew], Ross, said that the girl smelled to high heaven.

“So putting things together, I think they are using the excuse that they are hiking, which is legal, and ‘just happening’ to run into animals and hunters. And they are using the wind to do their dirty work. I and my family talked to other hunters that were seeing nothing but were seeing lots of hikers on trails that weren’t there before. And there were new trails everywhere. I have hunted this area for 36 years and have never seen so many people and new trails. I called the Division of Wildlife officer that has that area, and she said there was nothing she could do about it, because hiking is not illegal.

“We’ll see what happens this year, should I draw a deer tag. Maybe I can film this scenario.”

--Mike Brines, NRA Life Member, Longmont, Colo.

Do you have any horror stories of hunter harassment happening to you? If so, please leave us a comment below.

Ted Nugent is famous for his rock music and prowess with an electric guitar. He’s also famous for his love of hunting, firearms, personal freedom and the NRA--not to mention his tell-it-like-it-is style.

All of the above were on display in classic fashion Sunday afternoon at the 139th NRA Annual Meetings in Charlotte, N.C.

“If you have someone in your life who is not an NRA member, it is your duty to fix them,” said Nugent, who also serves on the NRA Board of Directors.

Nugent is never one to mince words or refrain from speaking his mind, and his legendary disdain for anti-hunters and anti-gunners was in rare form at the Charlotte Convention Center.

“I spend every waking moment crushing anti-hunters and anti-gunners,” he jubilantly told his fans, many of whom lined up outside the auditorium more than an hour before the seminar’s 12:30 p.m. start.

The approximately 1,000 NRA members in attendance were treated to Nugent’s legendary rock music, as he played songs in tribute to his late friend Fred Bear, the well-known archery manufacturer, as well as the men and women who have given their lives and health while serving in the military.

“If you want to say thank you to a hero, buy them an NRA membership,” he said.

Nugent is a devoted hunter and conservationist and takes hunting so seriously that he halts his busy music career and public speaking schedule every fall to go hunting with friends and family.

“I wake up early and work extremely hard to be extremely productive so I can take the entire hunting season off,” Nugent said. “I extremely crave opening day of deer season.”

He may be known as the “Music City Madman,” but Nugent made it clear that he’s bent on ending what he calls the “crazy” ideology of anti-gunners and anti-hunters.

“When you ban hunting and fishing, then the government hires guys to shoot and net them for you. Ain’t that crazy?” he said. “So our job is to fix crazy.”

Nugent said to accomplish that we need to initiative dialogue about hunting and firearms, not defend ourselves after the fact. He also said we need to be more proactive in writing letters to newspapers and elected officials. Above all, he said we must support lawmakers who believe in the Second Amendment, become active in the NRA, and work to recruit more people into the NRA family.

“The charge of Charlotte 2010 should be single: You get it. You are involved. You are part of the most important grassroots organization in the history of mankind. I refuse to believe every one of you couldn’t sign up one new NRA member once a month,” Nugent said.

Article II, Section 5 of the NRA Bylaws states that it is the NRA’s purpose and objective “To promote hunter safety, and to promote and defend hunting as a shooting sport and as a viable and necessary method of fostering the propagation, growth and conservation, and wise use of our renewable wildlife resources.”

NRA is the largest pro-hunting organization in the world, and through the strength of our hunter recruitment programs and direct lobbying efforts, we work to both promote and defend hunting all across the country, everyday.

To obtain a free package of information (while supplies last) highlighting how NRA is THE hunters’ organization, send an e-mail to huntersrights@nrahq.org with “Hunting Information” in the subject line and your name and address in the body of the email.

The package will include a brochure commemorating the 25th anniversary of NRA’s Youth Hunter Education Challenge, the largest and most successful youth hunting program in the country, which has helped introduce more than 1.3 million youngsters to hunting over the last quarter-century. We’ll also send you a brochure on NRA’s Women On Target Hunting Program, complete with a schedule of NRA’s 2010-2011 women-only hunt excursions, as well as a brochure highlighting all of the things that NRA does for hunters both in the legislature and in the field. Finally, we’ll include a free NRA hunting mouse pad that will certainly be a conversation starter in your office.

If you’re a hunter but haven’t yet joined NRA, you can sign up online today via the Official NRA Membership Application.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission reported on Monday that hunters harvested an estimated 308,920 deer in the state’s 2009-10 hunting seasons, which is an 8 percent decline from the 335,850 deer harvested in 2008-09.

The kill was Pennsylvania’s lowest in 23 years, dating back to 1986-87’s estimated harvest of 300,014.

Hunters took 108,330 antlered deer in 2009-10, down 11 percent from the previous license year’s harvest of 122,410, but similar to the 2007-08 harvest of 109,200. Last season’s buck kill represents a 47 percent decline from the record-high buck kill of 203,247 posted in 2001-02, the last season before the state’s controversial antler restrictions went into effect.

Also, hunters harvested 200,590 antlerless deer in 2009-10, a 6 percent decline from the 213,440 antlerless deer taken in 2008-09. The 2007-08 antlerless deer harvest was 213,870.

For comparison, here are Pennsylvania’s estimated deer harvests for the past 10 seasons:

2009-10: 308,920

2008-09: 335,850

2007-08: 323,070

2006-07: 361,560

2005-06: 354,390

2004-05: 409,320

2003-04: 464,890

2002-03: 517,529

2001-02: 486,014

2000-01: 504,600

Bureau of Wildlife Management personnel currently are working to develop 2010 antlerless deer license allocation recommendations for the commission’s April board meeting. Calvin W. DuBrock, Game Commission Bureau of Wildlife Management director, said that in addition to harvest data, the staff will be looking at population trends, deer reproduction, forest regeneration, and deer-human conflict for each Wildlife Management Unit (WMU).

Harvest estimates for 2009-10 seasons are based on 105,192 usable harvest report cards (41,251 antlered; 63,941 antlerless) returned by hunters to the commission, which included 64,945 reported by mail and 40,247 reported by the new online harvest reporting system. Reporting rates are determined by cross-referencing these report cards with the data collected from the 24,839 deer (7,942 antlered; 16,897 antlerless) examined by Game Commission personnel in the field and at processors.

Yearling bucks comprised 49 percent of the 2009-10 antlered harvest. Since 2003, the percent of yearling bucks in the annual harvest has varied between 49 and 56 percent. Button bucks represented 22 percent of the antlerless harvest, which is the same percentage from the 2008-09 harvest.

The 2009-10 hunting seasons marked the first time crossbows were legal in statewide archery deer seasons for all hunters. In those 19 WMUs outside of the three urban areas, the archery harvest increased 13 percent. The proportion of the archery harvest taken by crossbows in the 19 WMUs increased from 15 percent to 30 percent. Crossbows have been legal in WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D since 2004.

“Although we do not use season-specific harvest data for management purposes, we recognize the public is interested in these harvest estimates,” said DuBrock. “For that reason only, we provide estimated deer harvest breakdowns for firearms, archery and muzzleloader seasons, but we only use total deer harvest estimates when making recommendations for each WMU.”

Check out the final harvest statistics below to see how hunters in various parts of the state fared last year, with 2008-09 figures in parentheses:

WMU 1A: 5,500 (5,400) antlered, 10,700 (12,600) antlerless;

WMU 1B: 5,100 (7,500) antlered, 9,500 (13,400) antlerless;

WMU 2A: 6,800 (6,700) antlered, 13,900 (15,300) antlerless;

WMU 2B: 4,300 (4,000) antlered, 20,000 (15,300) antlerless;

WMU 2C: 6,500 (7,500) antlered, 10,900 (12,800) antlerless;

WMU 2D: 10,000 (9,500) antlered, 16,000 (15,600) antlerless;

WMU 2E: 3,700 (5,000) antlered 5,300 (6,200) antlerless;

WMU 2F: 5,200 (7,000) antlered, 6,600 (9,100) antlerless;

WMU 2G: 5,200 (6,800) antlered, 4,200 (6,500) antlerless;

WMU 3A: 3,300 (4,100) antlered, 6,000 (7,500) antlerless;

WMU 3B: 4,900 (5,500) antlered, 9,100 (9,900) antlerless;

WMU 3C: 6,200 (6,300) antlered, 7,100 (7,300) antlerless;

WMU 3D: 3,100 (3,900) antlered, 6,300 (6,700) antlerless;

WMU 4A: 3,700 (4,200) antlered, 7,400 (6,900) antlerless;

WMU 4B: 4,000 (3,900) antlered, 4,100 (3,800) antlerless;

WMU 4C: 4,700 (5,000) antlered, 7,200 (8,000) antlerless;

WMU 4D: 5,000 (6,600) antlered, 7,200 (9,300) antlerless;

WMU 4E: 4,100 (4,300) antlered, 6,300 (7,200) antlerless;

WMU 5A: 2,200 (2,100) antlered, 4,200 (3,800) antlerless;

WMU 5B: 6,000 (6,800) antlered, 11,300 (11,200) antlerless;

WMU 5C: 7,600 (8,700) antlered, 23,200 (20,200) antlerless;

WMU 5D: 1,100 (1,300) antlered, 3,900 (4,500) antlerless; and

Unknown WMU: 130 (310) antlered, 190 (140) antlerless.

Smaller harvests are exactly what the Game Commission envisioned when it increased antlerless tag allocations and lengthened the doe season early last decade, but they don't win any favor among hunters. While part of the commission's task is to manage deer for all Pennsylvanians, it must remember that hunters are the ones picking up the tab. And there are a lot of hunters who are pretty discouraged right now with the state of the deer herd, especially considering that hunters routinely killed half a million deer not long ago.

The commission has plenty of scientific reasons behind its current deer management policies, such as forest regeneration, better buck to doe ratios, a higher age class of bucks, and so on. But all of that science ignores the one number that matters most: the number of hunters in the woods. The number of hunters has dropped 14 percent in the last 10 years, and unless the commission really listens to how dissatisfied hunters are with its deer plan, more and more hunters will ultimately stop hunting.

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation held Elk Camp in Reno, Nev., March 4-7, a yearly celebration of elk, elk country, and elk hunting.

The convention is a place for hunters to book trips, swap stories, purchase gear, and attend seminars from legendary elk hunters like Wayne Carlton of Carlton Calls and Al Morris from Hunter’s Specialties. Even if you’ve never hunted elk before, Elk Camp will get you fired up to buy an elk call and head for the timber.

Considering that elk are one of North America’s most expensive—and difficult—animals to hunt, the approximately 20,000 hunters in attendance were some of the most die-hard outdoorsmen and conservationists you’ll find anywhere.

That’s why I found two pieces of information that I gleaned from the show particularly interesting.

The first involves a new land access/conservation program known as the Dale Earnhardt Land/Wildlife Legacy. The new venture is a partnership between the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the Dale Earnhardt Foundation.

This new partnership is a big deal because, as more than one hunter expressed to me at the show, gaining access to land and preserving existing wildlife habitat from development are two of the greatest challenges that we face.

“There are lots of NASCAR fans in the RMEF membership, and lots of conservationists among race fans,” said David Allen, president of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. “Teaming up allows us to redouble our efforts on projects that honor Dale’s memory—things like wildlife habitat improvement, land conservation, hunting access improvements and more.

“When Dale wasn’t thinking about racing, he was thinking about hunting and sharing his passion for the outdoors with others.”

Allen was a personal friend of Earnhardt. In fact, he directed marketing and sponsorships for the Dale Earnhardt/Richard Childress race teams and other NASCAR teams until Earnhardt’s fatal crash in the 2001 Daytona 500. Allen still remains close to the Earnhardt family.

Earnhardt’s son, Kerry, was in Reno for the announcement and to represent the Earnhardt family and others involved in the Dale Earnhardt Foundation. The nonprofit group based in North Carolina funds charitable programs and causes that sustain Dale Earnhardt’s lifelong commitment to children, education, and wildlife conservation.

Teresa Earnhardt, Dale’s wife, said, “As a lifelong outdoorsman, Dale was committed to wildlife and land conservation, a passion which he shared with his friends and family. Now that legacy lives on through his foundation and we are honored to have a partner in RMEF. Our shared mission to conserve and restore native game and their habitat will ensure the same opportunities for future generations.”

Childress, an NRA Board Member and Earnhardt’s long-time friend and team owner, said, “Dale was ‘The Intimidator’ for his fearlessness and competitiveness on the track, but the peacefulness of the outdoors also was a big part of who he was. I believe his quiet-time hunting and fishing helped recharge him for racing, and I know he’s smiling down now at being able to help other people enjoy the outdoors like he did.”

In addition to restoring and preserving elk herds and elk habitat, a challenge of perhaps equal concern is a hunter’s ability to actually land an elk tag. Ever-changing regulations, a state-by-state patchwork of confusing tag drawings, and the high-cost of guided hunts are all significant barriers to entry for the average person who wants to get involved in elk hunting.

To make sense of it all, a cottage industry has popped up to help hunters land big-game tags in the West. The Huntin’ Fool is a magazine and consulting service devoted to providing hunters with information on new regulations, application deadlines and fees, and advice on how to go about applying for tag drawings and which units in each state provide the best opportunities for trophy-class hunts. They will also recommend guide services, fill out your application for you, and answer any question you have about applying for a tag over the phone.

“You’ve got to get in and play the game,” said Garth Carter, founder of The Huntin’ Fool magazine, during a seminar he hosted at Elk Camp. “Very few states do over-the-counter tags anymore. We specialize in drawings, landowner tags, and the overall process of helping people find places to kill trophy-class animals.”

In essence, The Huntin’ Fool teaches hunters the ins and outs of the application process, a service that has become almost imperative in light of how often states change their regulations—and how burdensome the process of getting a tag has become.

To learn more about The Huntin’ Fool, visit www.huntinfool.com.

While certainly a valuable tool, one has to wonder if states need to re-evaluate how they issue tags if people need to hire consultants just to make sense of the process.

Next year’s 27th annual Elk Camp will return to the Reno-Sparks Convention Center March 3-6, marking the 13th time Reno has hosted the event.