In September, 4 Minnesota hunters filed a class-action lawsuit against Scent-Lok (view  court documents here). According to a recent post on The Michigan Sportsman.com, the case was dismissed on January 18th. It seems that the plaintiff’s allegations were too vague to continue in a court of law.

NOTE: This doesn’t mean the case is closed - just delayed for some time. Also, this doesn’t mean that the company’s claims are true or false…it’s no decision at this point.

lawsuit, Michigan, Minnesota, Scent Lok, ScentLok, Sportsman, update

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The glory of cell phones! Mine just rang — I answered to find an invitation to do some doe hunting on this final weekend of the Ohio Archery Season. There’s a long story behind my relationship with the person who invited me on the trip, but I’ll save that for another day. For now, just know that he’s been featured in North American Whitetail and Buckmaster’s Magazine for a non-typical whitetail that grossed over 218 inches! He and I also co-authored an article on the mental side of hunting that was published in North American Whitetail.

Forecast for Saturday: 35 degrees, cloudy, 7-11 MPH winds

This trip will offer an opportunity to try my new boots! I’ll be taking my crossbow and my camera - so check back next week for a full report! I’ve never hunted this late into the season - so I’m really looking forward to the trip.

I should also say explicitly that I’m very thankful for my wife, Ericka, who supports this last minute weekend getaway!

archery, Crossbow, hunting, Ohio

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I just learned about a Nationwide effort to protect the outdoors of America: the Forest Legacy Program. According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, this program involves a mutual agreement between a landowner and the Division of forestry. Once an agreement is reached, the landowner can receive a one-time payment for participation in the program. Volunteers will also help maintain the land according to the agreement.

Why is this a WATG post? Several reasons…

• I’m all for anything that will protect our outdoor ranks.
• I love that the landowners can profit from the program. With so many builders buying up our precious outdoors and turning them into developments (see In the Name of Progress by Othmar) , landowners need incentive to keep their land.
• Landowners retain rights! What does this mean? It means that in the agreement that is established, landowners can specify how they want to harvest trees and whether or not they want the land made available for public hunting.

For more information, check-out the ODNR’s Forest Legacy FAQ page.

Forest Legacy, ODNR, Write about the good

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Kristine is someone who needs no introduction in the blogosphere. Beyond heading up a blog for Gun Safety Innovations (GSI), she’s a founding member of the Outdoor Bloggers Summit. I just learned that today is Kristine’s 2-year anniversary at GSI. I don’t know too much about the company, but everything I do know comes from Kristine. The fact that her blogging efforts have raised so much awareness for the company speaks volumes to what she means to GSI.

Be sure to head over and tell Kristine HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

Anniversary, GSI, Gun Safety Innovations, Guntriever, Kristine

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If you checked cnn.com this monring, you may have found the following Title: Fishermen beat dolphin to death.

If you decide to read the entire article, you’ll find a staunching lack of detail about what went on.

I find this VERY frustrating. Studies suggest that most news consumers don’t read entire stories, and they take in their news primarily from news headlines. In this case, fishermen are portrayed as brutal murderers.  To someone who opposes outdoor pursuits, titles like this add fuel to the fire. Where was CNN when so many GOOD things happened in the outdoors?

Times like this make me very thankful for the Write About the Good Series that is circulating the blogosphere (see Kristine’s Archive of WAG posts at the Outdoor Bloggers Summit).

cnn, fishermen beat dolphin, Kristine, Outdoor Bloggers Summit, Write about the good

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Many of the comments to my most recent What Would You Do Series got me thinking about ethical decision-making. For example, in response to a scenario in which a hutner sees a wounded buck but doesn’t have the proper tag to harvest the buck, Kris from Jake’s Outdoors wrote:

I hate to see any animal suffering, but i would have to do as the rest have already said: let him walk. Like Othmar [Outdoors with Othmar], I will not do anything that endangers my hunting privilege. Like Chris [Penn’s Outdoors] said, I don’t know too many game wardens who would accept this as an excuse for shooting a deer.

Echoing these sentiments, everyone else who replied (including myself) decided going with the law was the best way to go (other respondents included the likes of Arthur [Simply Outdoors], Rick [Tails & Trails], Matt [Bright Idea Outdoors], Brad [Southern Adventures], Marc [NYBowhunter], and Marian [Marian’s Hunting Stories].

What does that say about hunting culture? While many people seem to agree that shooting the wounded animal would be the most ethical think to do, we all seemed to go with the most legal route. Now, I realize that my little blog comments don’t represent the whole hunting culture, but I think we might be onto something here. Let me explain…

A Little Psychology For You…

A developmental psychologist named Lawrence Kohlberg theorized that humans develop through different stages of moral development. I’ll save you all the details, but basically, he said that the way we respond to ethical dilemnas reflect our moral development. The most matured levels of development, according to Kohlberg, involved ignoring the law and doing what’s right. Examples of people who may have reached this stage include people like Martin Luther King, Jr. He ignored the law to better our world.

Is there a place for this in Hunting?

I hope so, but I know I don’t want to risk my hunting privileges (my hunting excursions are already too far and few between)…so how can I expect it from others?

But wait…maybe it goes beyond individuals?

Hmmm…what could I mean here. Ideally, we wouldn’t have to worry about telling the truth. That is, if I honestly shoot an animal for the better of the world, and not just because I wanted to (i.e., harvesting a wounded buck), and I then took this deer to the game warden to report it — in an ideal world this would all check out smoothly. Unfortunately, our hunting culture is infiltrated with 1- selfish liars…which leads to 2- wardens who are out to get us. (I know “out to get us” is a negative term…but my run-ins with wardens have been mostly negative - and for no good reason).

Conclusion:

It is hard to do good in a culture that focuses on the negative…and unfortunately our hunting culture reflect the culture of society (one in which we are punished for wrongdoings much more than we are rewarded for good deeds). Even so, I hope that someday I am able to find a balance between these two - doing what’s right — even if I can find a way to bend the law!

development, ethics, hunting, Kohlberg, law, morals, Psychology of Hunting, theory, truth

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My blogging buddy, Bill Anderson, posted a spoof tax form that reminded me of something similar I’ve seen tossed around the world of academia. Unfortunately, I’ve experienced it a bit over the last 2 months as I search for a clinical internship. You may also have experienced it when applying for jobs — the infamous REJECTION LETTER!!!

We all know that they go something like this, “Dear XXXX, Thank you for your application…blah blah blah…we received applications from many qualified individuals…blah blah blah…we are sorry to inform you that we cannot accept you at this time…blah blah blah.”

When I was in high school applying for college, my buddies and I drafted the following letter in response to us receiving too many rejection letters.

January 29, 2008

NAME OF INSTITUTION

To Whom It May Concern:

Thank you for taking the time to reject my application to your institution. Please know that I received many qualified rejections this year, and as a result, I am sorry to inform you that I am not able to accept your rejection. Therefore, I will be attending your school this Fall, and I will look forward to continuing my academic career under your supervision.

Until then, best regards…

Applications, internship, Psychology, rejection, University

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I don’t know about all of you - but I hate this time of year with respect to sports. Hunting season is coming to an end (I know Arthur struggles with this as well), football season is almost over, and I can’t stand all of the basketball hype. I’m a football/baseball kind of guy. However, with that said, we do have the biggest game on earth coming up this weekend - maybe you heard of it! If you haven’t CLICK HERE!

Here’s my take on the SuperBowl - I wish it would end in a tie! Here’s why:

• Everyone’s sick of the Patriots: I’m tired of the “Patriots are the best ever” suggestions. Everyone knows that the late 70’s Pittsburgh Steelers were the best team ever (Okay - I’m very biased here…and I’ll admit a little jealous!)

• Cheaters do win: Anyone else upset that the whole SpyGate thing went away too quickly?
• Not an Eli fan: I always viewed Eli Manning as a wanna-be Peyton — and then he refused to sign to the team that drafted him. With that being the case, I always loved it that the Chargers were better than the Giants — until now. But, I guess it’s for the good of the game that the Manning era continues…
• Oh Plaxico: I didn’t like Burress when he was in Pittsburgh - and now that he’s not I don’t like him even more. Bad attitude, selfish, but good!

Wow, I have a bad attitude today! That being said, I do think it will be a great game. The current spread is New England by 12. If I were a betting man, I’d take the Giants and the points…though part of me does think that the Brady foot injury is a mind-game.

What about you — what’s your pick?

Burress, Eli Manning, NFL, Plaxico, Super Bowl, Superbowl, Tom Brady

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This week’s What Would You Do comes from one of the hunting world’s greatest ambassadors - Babe Winkleman…

————————————————

I found an interesting article written by hunting great, Babe Winkleman. In this article, Babe discusses interesting What Would You Do Scenarios in light of the fact that ethical decisions sometimes contrast with the law. For example…

You’re sitting in your deer stand with an anterless permit when a large buck comes into view. The animal has obviously been injured and is not likely to survive. The ethical course of action would be to put the deer out of its misery, but technically speaking killing the deer is illegal because you don’t have a buck permit. If you kill the deer, you also should draw it so the meat doesn’t go to waste, then try to track down the hunter who shot it.

Be sure to check-out the full article for more fun examples, including whether or not you should tag a buck with a child’s deer tag or tracking a buck onto posted land.

ONE MORE THING: I’m always looking for new What Would You Do Posts. If you have any ideas, drop me an e-mail at deerPhD@gmail.com. Any contributors will receive a free link back to their site in the post.

 ———-UPDATE: 1/29/08———-

Many thanks to all who commented on this ethical dilemma presented by Babe Winkleman. This might be the first time that everyone agreed!!!  As many pointed out (see comments), often times our decisions are driven not by what we think we ‘ought’ to do because it’s right - but by what the law says. This brings to mind some interesting Psychological theories and other fun stuff I hope to expand on in the near future. But for now, I’ll say that I would likely do the same as everyone else - stick to the law because I want to keep hunting!

Thanks again to everyone for commenting - have a great week!

Babe Winkleman, buck, deer, ethics, hunting, What would you do

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A while back I made a Write About The Good post on the Archery in the schools program. Here’s a really cool updated I just learned about from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR):

Nearly 700 students from all over Ohio will compete in the state’s second annual National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) State Tournament, scheduled for Friday, February 29, at Veterans Memorial, 300 W. Broad St., Columbus.

For more information, check-out ODNR’s news release!

archery, Archery in the schools, ODNR, Ohio, Schools

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