10 Tips To Turkey Hunting

This slideshow is one that I found with 10 simple tips to really help a novice turkey hunter.

Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge, Alabama

Share Your Wildlife

In today’s world there are an endless number of ways to post, share, tag, and tweet your thoughts or opinions. It may seem counter productive to use these technologies while in the woods, but I encourage you to share your experiences in nature! If people see your posts and like them, it could recruit more outdoorsmen to experience the joys Alabama Wildlife can bring. After all, nature lovers breed conservationists and the more we conserve our resources the longer they can be enjoyed!

Hunting Waterfowl

For a while I have been very interested in hunting ducks because I have a number of friends that do and they say that it is incredibly exciting. After watching a few episodes of Duck Dynasty (filmed in Louisiana), I decided it was very possible for me to do it in Alabama or at least very close. I cannot say anything helpful to an aspiring Waterfowl enthusiast yet, since I am one too. However, I have recently been given a 12 gauge shotgun and a puppy which I know are good tools to help out (if I can train my puppy to fetch a duck). I want to try it out soon and see what all the hype is about. If anyone has any knowledge on this, please leave a comment on your experience.

(pic by www.outdooralabama.com)

Twenty-Five Seven

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Twenty-Five Seven.”

What would you do if there were 25 hours in a day instead of 24?

Official Web site of Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

Anyone who is interested in the well-being of Alabama Wildlife should take a look at this website for really great information on all kinds of ways to enjoy Alabama’s beautiful Wildlife.

http://www.outdooralabama.com/

The Game Warden

Alabama Game Warden (www.al.com)

In each region, Game Wardens are officials that are responsible for law enforcement pertaining to all laws for hunting, fishing, and trapping animals. Though they specialize in laws of wildlife regulation, they also have to power to arrest you for some other offenses, like a DUI. They also have rights that other officers do not, especially considering their ability to search property of vehicles without search warrants in some cases.

The Pros and Cons of Hunting

The killing of wildlife for food used to be a part of everyday life for humans. In the past, before modern society came to be, hunting animals was an essential key to survival to the human race. However, it is no longer the main source of food for most people in modern America, and there are differing views on whether hunting is still necessary. Today, hunting is a debated issue because it is often regarded as a recreational activity, citizens are worried about safety issues, and society’s approaches towards animals have altered over time. Though there are both good and bad aspects of hunting, it is still legal in some fashion for most of the United States.

Those who are against hunting argue that the practice is dangerous, useless, ineffective, and morally wrong. Opponents of hunting agree that hunting is extremely more dangerous than other recreational activities because the use of guns and killing is involved. According to them, this means injuries suffered in a hunting accident are more likely to be fatal than in other sporting activities. They also think hunting is an ineffective tool at managing populations of animals. This is because of the fact that animal populations have some ability to self-regulate their population my natural means. Therefore, when there is not enough food, animals will tend to have less offspring and some may even starve if the population gets too large to be supported by the habitat. To them, this means hunters are essentially useless in the struggle to maintain appropriate population densities, but if the problem still existed without hunting, making the animals infertile is, to them, a more humane form of regulation than killing ones already living. Some Americans do not agree with hunting on the basis that some hunting lands are managed with the use of taxpayer money, even though only a small percent of Americans hunt. Hunting opponents also find hunting unethical for many reasons. From a pure animal rights standpoint, killing any animal for food is morally unacceptable. Many find hunting to be unethical because the killing is recreational. Some hunting opponents also believe that modern technology has erased any chance of fairness in hunting. Certain practices are also considered especially objectionable, such as trophy hunting, baiting, and hunting of stocked animals in a high fence.

Supporters of hunting believe that the practices are safe, effective, and important—both culturally and scientifically. Statistically, hunting has much fewer injuries than other recreational activities like football, biking, rugby, etc. Moreover, there are laws set in place that help protect legal, informed hunters from being shot. Hunters also know that they save taxpayers money by performing the service of keeping populations of game animals somewhat low. Alternative methods to do this such as making them infertile are very expensive. Hunters buy permits in order to hunt legally as well, which gives money to wildlife managing agencies and state governments instead of costing a lot of money. These agencies do not only manage government land for game animals, however. This money also helps manage for threatened or endangered species as well. It is also argued that killing animals with a gun in much more humane than letting them starve to death naturally in the wild. Additionally, hunting is a cultural bonding experience and tradition in many parts of the country. Regarding ethics, hunting proponents argue that killing wildlife for food cannot be worse than killing a cow or a chicken. Furthermore, unlike the cow or the chicken, the wild animal lived a free life before being killed and had an opportunity to escape. Hunters also argue that killing a number of overpopulated animals benefits the ecosystem as a whole. Some hunters also oppose certain practices they consider unethical, such as baiting, trophy hunting, and hunting of stocked animals.

“The hunting debate may never be decided. The two sides will continue to debate safety, effectiveness and cost, but will probably never agree on the ethics of killing wild animals for food, trophies or recreation”
(http://animalrights.about.com/od/wildlife/a/HuntingArgument.htm)

Whitetail Deer & Wild Turkey

The Whitetail Deer and the Wild Turkey are some of the most frequently hunted game in our state. Many of my friends hunt both of these animals every year (oftentimes along side their entire families). Because of this, a lot of good is done to manage land for the successful growth and development of these species. Hunters spend a lot of time and effort chasing a big buck or a tom to cook up and enjoy. Most hunters will tell you, though, that watch the animals in their natural state is their favorite part of the hunt.

Alabama Whitetail (www.al.com)

Wild Turkeys (www.thesouthernlandbrokers.com)

The Green Field

(www.afieldandfarm.com)

This is an example of a well managed and planted green field. A field like this is often set up with a shooting house (the vibrant green box in the corner of the field). This provides a place for a hunter to observe nature in a comfortable, concealed way. The field was likely planted to help feed the whitetail deer in the region, but a variety of different species benefit from it as well.