Dinsdale

BY RICHARD T. CHEATHAM, DSC FOUNDATION PRESIDENTThis article is featured in the Spring 2017 issue of Game Trails, our quarterly publication for DSC members.Hunting, as an essential element of a well-managed wildlife management plan, works. It protects wildlife. It preserves wild places. It feeds the hungry. It brings benefit to the people who live and work among wildlife.Here are some facts you should know. About funds contributed by U.S. sportsmen and women:• $823 million was raised from Pittman-Robertson excise taxes in 2016.• $18 billion has been generated since the PR Act was passed in 1937.• $81 million was generated by sale of Federal Duck stamps last year and $800 million has been raised since the Federal Duck Stamp program was created.• $821 million of revenue was generated from the sale of hunting licenses in 2016.Who paid that money? Hunters.On feeding America’s hungry:• Over 8.1 million meals were provided through the Hunters for the Hungry program last year. That’s 2.1 million pounds of game meat.On feeding Africa’s hungry:• Over 135,000 pounds of game meat was distributed by the operator of a single hunting organization in Mozambique over the last three years.• Over 285,000 pounds of game meat was distributed in Zambia last year, the equivalent of over 1 million meals.Who provided that meat? Hunters.On the protection and conservation of wildlife In the U.S.• Whitetails: In the early 1900s, there were fewer than 500,000 total white-tailed deer in the continental U.S. The estimated current population is over 32 million. There are more white-tailed deer in the Texas Hill Country today than there were in the entire U.S. in 1910. In 2015, Texas hunters harvested more deer than existed in the U.S. a century ago.• Rocky Mountain Elk: In 1900 – 41,000. Now – 1 million. • Pronghorns: In 1900 – 12,000. Today – 1.1 million.• Wild turkey have been successfully reintroduced in every one of the lower 48 states. There were 100,000 in the U.S. in the early 1900s. Today there are more than 7 million.Internationally• Namibia: elephant numbers grew from 7,000 to over 20,000. Mountain Zebra expanded from 1,000 to over 27,000.• Bubye Valley Conservancy introduced 17 lions 21 years ago. Today there are more than 500.• Republic of South Africa and Namibia: white rhinos grew in number from 1,800 to 19,200 since 1968. 45 years ago in South Africa there were 557,000 wild game animals. Today there are more than 18 million. Namibia’s game population has increased 200 percent since the 1970s. • Mozambique (Coutada 11) – 44 sables have grown to over 4,000 today.Who’s responsible for those remarkable numbers? Hunters.What now?Arm yourselves with the facts and help DSC and DSC Foundation turn the tide of public sentiment. Counter the emotion-based arguments with facts on the benefits of hunting. Use the examples provided here. Memorize them. Verify them if you have any doubts. And be prepared. DSC and DSC Foundation are about to change the conversation. When someone asks you why we hunt, try this: tell them we hunt for the adventure it brings to life. We hunt to feed ourselves and others. We hunt so that our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will experience freeranging wildlife in natural habitats rather than animals in zoos. We hunt so that future generations can share our proud hunting heritage. We hunt to benefit the people whose livelihoods depend on a time-tested wildlife policy grounded in sustainable use. Tell them we hunt for life.

A thread by one of the featured hunters in the film; https://www.africahunting.com/threads/trophy-the-film.34748/ Be in Zimbabwe in a little more than a week, so have a clue about how all this works. Been to SCI show a few times too..... I believe in the "if it pays,it stays" mantra; many of the places I have visited are former cattle operations that have returned the land to native species. That would include for both hunting and photographic purposes. I hope I can return to Africa for years to come, but I fear the issues will see some of the hunting ending in my lifetime. Damn shame, terrific experience that many hunters should get to see once in their lifetime.

Fairly common for African herbivores to eat carrion. Also common for a few species to hunt and consume meat, Hippo and some Duikers make it a regular habit in some ecosystems. I have a cool pic with a big bull Hippo with half an Impala sticking out its mouth I have to scan. Others herbivores will regularly eat bone in areas with poor phosphorous content in regular grazing, called Osteophagy,. Cattle and Giraffe are 2 examples that will make it a regular habit.

Hunted there in 2015.....love to go back. Didn't fish as river/stream season just ended, but lakes were still open. Like to fix that. Underwater pics from dock in Queenstown, South Island.

Toyota offers their Tacoma in a plain jane wrapper (I have one) that helps keep the cost down for a 4x4 albeit with a smaller bed. All things considered if I didn't need it for work? I'd buy the M3.

North of Dutchess.

And God bless every single one of them.....90% of my clientele. In Columbia county now doing $600K of renovations on a $286K house with 26 acres. Already get to plan next years hunting trip. My dad who lives in Buffalo in the same modest capecod for last 52 years can't figure why my place is worth $325K..... Location,location,location.

+1.....go when you can. Good stuff on the hunt.

Good luck; Hope the kid gets one!

Well done on hunt and a cool trophy.

I clicked on this thread thinking this was going to be about a new rifle and buying new glass for it..... Uhh.....different kind of scope. Hope things are ok for both of you.

Tandy Leather box came yesterday. LOL Nothing fancy, as I don't really like a knife on my belt, just a simple sheath for in a pack. Thanks; This was loads of fun and I decided to do almost everything by hand even with a shop full of equipment. I started from scratch as part of the project; build a knife and take it on a specific hunt as a keepsake......but kits are easy and cheap. Already looking to make another when I'm not so busy!

Not light and not near as classy as that wood Sako; but got spare scope sighted in yesterday for my Oct 1 opener.....375H&H with 1.5-5x20 shooting 300gr Woodleigh Solids and 300gr Swift A-frames.

Heat treating came out easier and better than expected. Pre warmed vegetable oil to 125* for quench and then tempering at 400* for an hour. Handle still might get whittled on a bit.....

Sorry you took offense to my question. You can put me on ignore, simple enough in a few easy steps.

Bad shoulder and buying a relative light rifle?

You have some varied talents, always fun to see what you're up to..... Maybe some inspiration;https://www.davidwhymancrystal.co.uk/ (I have one of his decanters)

Always enjoy small game with my sub gauge shotguns; good luck!

Now I'm worried again...... Better than half the airfare to Zimbabwe for an old geezer chambering. There's still time to get a ticket....35 days.

At first you had me worried you were buying a 30-06; thank god it was a righty not a lefty.

On the outfitters end some hunters can gut clean, and even fewer skin worth a $hit, and you can count on one hand how many they've seen who can cape a skull for a taxidermy job......may not find all that many even on here except some that are doing mounts, maybe trapping; handful at best. I've done done a few hunts here and there, I often ask the outfitter to get a feel for where they are at for this topic as I like to pitch in when I can. That has ranged from gutting, skinning and caping, to being too busy trying to keep my barrel warm by hunting rather than time spent at the skinning shed. So it just matters how deep you want to delve in.

+1......lots of good stuff to take in but I'm as comfortable in a city as woods. Train for sure. I'd suggest American Museum of Natural History to add if you are overnighting anyway.

Thread hijack.....I'm guessing you just found that with a google search; spent every summer vacation in Sutton Mass as a kid ,I hadn't thought about that place in years. Found out the Blue Jay restaurant burned down back in 06', damn, remember some good meals there. Back to our regularly scheduled programming.....

I came home from last trip to South Africa with some "sneezewood" and did similar to fill some fairly loose material but with epoxy (West Systems) for some pens. Came out nice and sent them back as gifts to some friends there. This Turkish takes oil quite well so that's what it will get. Wood is easy part; I have several thousand board feet to choose from and when I get some unique figure I have stock piled that for many years for personal projects.

Office for horse vet's..... Figuring out imgur still, but its faster than photobucket ever was and no ads! Got the resize thing down for automatic now too....