Jennifer

Hi Wooly, here is my winning painting of Ruddy Ducks: Larger copy here. The competition is very tough and the other artists that enter this are truly exceptional. It's hard to believe I won! This will be the 2015-2016 stamp. There may be a "home town" event next year after the stamps are issued, in which case I'd be happy to sign them if anyone is into that sort of thing. It is an immense honor!

Mike, that would be me. I'm still in shock and am extremely honored to be part of this program.

Not a feather nor a carbuncle did I see this year! But, it was a lovely spring, and delightfully mosquito/blackfly free up until last weekend.

Good for you!! If you ever want to chat about painting, let me know.

I know this thread is a month old but I'm happy to see someone else on here that paints!

Have only heard one gobble (far, far away, haha!) so far this season, but I can normally only hunt on weekends. I'm in 9x. I haven't heard any hens (or guys!) yapping either. I stay patient and hope maybe one will come in silently but so far not a feather. It's okay, I have to say this has been the least buggy year in memory so far (at least where I am) so the woods are very enjoyable even without turkeys talking to me.

Turkeyfeathers and Machinist, Thank you so much for what you do for your daughters, respectively. I felt the same way as your daughter does, Turkeyfeathers, and was more excited about going hunting with my dad than I ever was for things like birthdays etc. He used to take me even when I was too young to know better and sit still.. tromping around in the woods with my Sesame Street boots on and so forth. I'm sure I busted us on several of our hunts back then. My dad's patience and care in taking me out and teaching me about the woods and critters-- not just the ones we hunt-- instilled a livelong passion in me for hunting, conservation, and respect for nature. I was also very concerned about the chance of wounding an animal when I started (I am still concerned that I only make a good shot but not scared silly like I used to be as a child), and my dad was very patient with me as I worked up the courage to shoot my first squirrel, then my first turkey, then my first deer... So, thank you, from someone who has been where your daughters are at now.

Some of the migratory birds I am used to seeing in mid-late April are just starting to show up this week. Turkeys aren't migratory of course, but I do wonder if nature is 'later' than we are used to, this year. Spring is never late, nor is it early; it arrives precisely when it means to...

I'm in 9x and it's been very quiet here, too. I am also a birdwatcher and I will note that this is the first year in memory that I have gone out turkey hunting in May and haven't heard about half the migratory wild bird species I am used to. Have any of you also noticed a "diminished" dawn chorus of wild birdsong? Now of course this has nothing to to with turkeys but everything seems very 'late'. The Mayapples, Trilliums, and ferns are just barely starting to peek out of the ground. I can only hunt weekends due to work and Saturday was a calm, beautiful spring morning. It was dead silent all morning and I didn't hear another shot. No distant gobbles mocking me either! Usually at least one will holler from a distant property that I don't have permission to hunt on. Haha. But not this time. Sunday was windy and was quiet as well.

Actually you don't want to do anything that makes the tick back out. Anything you do to irritate the tick greatly increases the chances that it will regurgitate. By this I mean that they will essentially put some backwash into your bloodstream, which will also greatly increase the chance for Lyme and other tick-borne disease. So whenever you read about methods to get them to let go, avoid! Don't mess with those methods. The best thing is to get a tool for pulling them, or use a loop of fishing line. Create a slip knot and loop it over the tick. You want to get it as close to your skin as possible before pulling it tight. It should be pulled tight between the head and body of the tick. This will keep it from regurgitating. Use slow, steady pulling to pull the tick out (don't tug, just pull slowly but firmly). Most of the time the head will come out this way too but sometimes you will need the tweezers for it. Tick pulling tools work similarly and are easier, if you can get one. Less fiddly.

Add in the fact that many raptor species are migratory to the mix, and that they cross international borders during migrations, and it is a whole different ballgame than something like a coyote. Management, if there were to be any (I don't honestly think there ever will be), would be immensely complicated. You think the DEC is inept when it comes to monitoring and managing a non-migratory deer herd? Imagine international management of migratory raptors. Of course, we DO harvest other migratory birds such as waterfowl, but they procreate at many times the rate as most raptors do. It's not quite as cut and dry as it seems. All that said, I do not really support a bounty on any species. Predators play an important role in our ecosystems and it's a bit egotistical to think that only humans can or should manage or have access to prey populations.. or even that we know or understand fully "how many" of any given species is ideal. Surely, we do studies and can make educated guesses as to populations (in which overpopulation can lead to disease, overpredation, and starvation in some species), but I don't think a bounty is a good management approach. I find some of our more embarrassing moments are those in history where people have knocked back or even made extinct entire species with our attempts to out-compete them for prey. Not that I begrudge hunters that needed to protect food supplies during the 'shoot it to survive' days- I would have done the same- but we do have a history of doing stupid things from time to time in regards to wiping animals out. Seeing a lot of any given predator and a reduction of any given prey species is looking too hard at the tree and not seeing the forest-- not looking at the whole picture. Our development and habitat fragmentation have put a lot more hurting on critters than 'letting' a predator population rebound. There are way more factors at play than simple predation to know exactly what is going on, and some prey populations are cyclical even during ideal conditions! Rabbits and grouse come to mind, even without predation. All of this said, I do not think predator hunting is bad. Not at all! I just am not happy with the idea of bounties. But that is my personal opinion only and I respect anyone that disagrees with it. I don't think poorly of anyone that thinks differently than I. No hard feelings, just my disjointed thoughts!

Dude, I don't think for a moment A&E thinks he does not have the right to speak about his opinions. They simply don't want to be associated with it, and let him go. When you enter the entertainment industry-- and make no doubt, that is what this is-- you sometimes have to sign agreements that for the duration of your employment, you cannot make certain PUBLISHED remarks (remember, he didn't just say this to someone, he was published saying this, which is a whole different ballpark). Such remarks include racism and bigotry (he was quoted making some very racist remarks, too, also published). They aren't sending the police after him for heaven's sakes. They are just saying they don't want him on the show any more. Good grief. I think if you look at the situation rationally, it may be a bit frustrating depending on where you stand on some issues, but it is hardly worth the rage-festivals I am seeing all over the internet the past few days.

This is why I still use my shotgun even though we can use rifles now in this area. I grew up with it, and use it year round for hunting and skeet, and it's like another appendage to me.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/meet-the-coywolf/meet-the-coywolf/8605/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=pbsofficial&utm_campaign=nature The Eastern timber wolf is more closely related to coyotes than to grey wolves, thus why they interbred so easily. Also, a nitpicky observation-- they are not different 'breeds', but different species. A breed is a variation on the same species, as produced by human selection (dog breeds, horse breeds, etc).

To my understanding, our 'hybrid' coyotes have filled the predatory niche that the extirpated wolves and cougars of the past used to fill. Of course, it is much more complicated now, as habitat fragmentation and loss combines with the ability of coyotes to adapt to living near human areas.

Thank you! Competition is very tough for these. The entry fees are considerable, too ($125 for the Fed) which goes into conservation funds. I also buy duck stamps even though I am not able to hunt migratory birds yet, to support the program. Maybe someday you'll have to sign across one of my paintings. I can dream, at least.

Not Red Wolves as we know them in the states, but yes, our yotes have wolf DNA: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/11/111107-hybrids-coyotes-wolf-virginia-dna-animals-science/

I do compete in the Federal and several state level stamps. I made it to round 2 in the federal this year, and have placed (but not won) in NC's stamp a few times before. PA's competition is a youth competition for school age students. Here's my NC entry from this year, 4th place.

To me, any day in the woods is a good day; I love all of it. Except maybe for miserable weather. That said, for me to consider having a good deer season, I really like to see deer. Even if I do not get a shot, seeing the critter I am after once in a while is what I love. It gets really frustrating to not see any deer after hunting from for 60+ hours in the woods. I'm not an awesome hunter but I am a careful and thoughtful one, and always consider wind, I scout starting in August, and work my hunt carefully based on knowing the property very well and historical movement patterns of the deer. So, to not see even a rocket-powered tail leaping away from me once in a while.. well, that's frustrating. A good season is seeing deer ... hmm, at least once every other hunt, to keep my enthusiasm for hunting them. A GREAT season is harvesting one deer, doe (if I have a DMP) or buck. A bad season is seeing less than two or three deer all season (my dad did not see a single deer during open season this year! And he took two weeks off and hunted hard) and then coming home and watching them party in my back yard!

A gobble is sort of like a rooster crowing-- they do it for different reasons. The one we are most familiar with of course is to draw attention of the hens to his location during spring courtship, but they can do it when they are trying to intimidate (a treat, a predator, another turkey), as a location call, and sometimes I think just to hear themselves yodel! Ever heard a young jake practicing his gobble in the fall? It sounds terrible. Gotta start somewhere!

Ah, I see... and understand. I have noticed this, too, as some of my female friends are becoming wildlife biologists and one is already working on a state level. Fortunately she too hunts. The others I do try to educate, and have offered to mentor through hunting, if they should desire. One friend has taken up falconry and is interested in hunting, so there is some hope (I hope)! As an artist, I get a different sort of outreach and have touched a lot of people through my personal blogs, and have changed opinions about hunting. I don't know if it will help, but it is what I know how to do. I sort of hope that the Duck Dynasty fad will give the Duck Stamp program a little kickback. It's hard for me to speculate upon, though.

Darn right we are! Let me tell you about how rough it is to get the urge to pee when you are a lady in a tree... Hmm, on second thought, let's not go there.

Is Women in Hunting a craze? I am asking genuinely. I don't have TV so I am a bit out of touch with what goes on these days.

How wonderful!! I am jealous. What a fantastic experience, and very nice buffleheads!

I use the wool 'fingerless' type gloves that have a flipping mitten section. The wool stays warm even if it gets wet, and I can have dexterity when I need it. When it is very cold, I wear a thinner pair of knit type gloves under this. That really seems to do the trick for me. The key is that my flipping mittens are a bit baggy on my hand so the thin, inner pair of gloves is not uncomfortable. I have thought about muffs but the way I carry my gun it would be hard to pull off.