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Have you had a Man vs. Wild encounter?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Have you ever seen a bear in the woods while hiking or trout fishing in north Georgia? Was it no big deal? Or did it scare the heck out of you?
The state DNR sent out a press release late in the week reporting that a black bear was spotted in Roswell, and that, obviously, local residents were concerned.
It’s no surprise a bear was seen in the ‘burbs, especially this time of year, when young male bears on their own for the first time begin roaming to establish their own territories. That sometimes mean they stumble into urbanized areas. If left alone, the bears will eventually return to their traditional range.
“If a black bear is sighted passing through an area, the best thing to do is to leave it alone,” said Adam Hammond, WRD wildlife biologist. “Residents should never approach a bear and never, under any circumstances, feed a bear. Even worse, attempting to ‘tree’ or corner a bear in a certain area often compromises both the safety and welfare of the bear and the safety of the residents in the surrounding area.”
This got me thinking about wildlife encounters that outdoors enthusiasts have. I’ve never really some across a wildlife situation that I thought was dangerous.
Earlier this month, me and my 10-year-old participated in a Scout camping weekend near Clayton and were awaken by a bear, whose roar echoed through the woods. The animal roared three or four times, and while it was a bit unsettling, it really was no big deal.
I’ve surprised a few poisonous snakes over the years, and I had strange staredown with a raccoon that had me getting my fishing pole ready to use to swat it. But that’s about it.
Not exactly Man vs. Wild, huh?
So, what about you? Do you have a story, whether scary or funny, to tell about a wild encounter?
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Is this how buying a license will be?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As I stood helplessly at the “sporting goods” counter recently at a Gwinnett County Wal-Mart, I couldn’t help but wonder if this is what the future holds with the new fishing/hunting/boating licensing system the state will implement by year’s end.
My fishing license was about to expire and, with a bass-fishing trip planned to start the next day, I stopped into a Wal-Mart close to home to re-enlist. I figured I’d pick up a license, maybe some offset hooks, and be home in less than a half-hour.
Um, no.
It was nearly an hour just to get someone to turn on the cash register and key in my info. That was only after going to the front of the store three times to tell them what I wanted and that I needed help (that didn’t help) and then flagging down another store employee who eventually found someone who could help.
I was told that nobody works at the sporting goods counter for an entire shift, but instead alternates between that department and the hardware area. I found nobody in either department, by the way.
Then, I had to explain to the person helping me what trout and WMA licenses were.
I wondered, is this how buying a license will be in the new system?
The state announced the new system earlier this year, saying the decade-old current system is antiquated and falling apart, and must be replaced. Contracting with Central Bank, a Missouri data and financial firm that manages similar licensing systems in 21 other states, the state put into motion a new system that will be Internet-based and offer real-time license sales. Real-time data is important in preventing duplicate licensing and blocking sales to those who are not allowed to have a license.
Central Bank will charge an additional fee — call it a handling fee — of at least $2.75 per transaction, but more troubling may be the certainty that there will be far fewer places to walk in and buy a license. Central Bank will contract with the top 20 percent volume sellers in the state to offer in-person sales, leaving many Mom-and-Pop stores out.
Most of those in the top 20 percent are big-box stores like Wal-Mart.
The state says it’s still a work in progress with Central Bank. The exact number of retail outlets there will be once the system goes online (boating licenses by September; hunting/fishing by December) hasn’t been finalized. And, since the new system is web-based, virtually any store with the needed computer equipment may still be able to facilitate sales.
Like the current system you still will be able to purchase licenses from your home computer, which, I suppose, is where all of this is headed anyway.
But know that there will be far fewer than the 1,100 outlets which currently sell licenses in the “old” system.
More than 90 percent of Georgia hunting/fishing/boating enthusiasts buy their licenses in person, while they buy a pack of hooks, new line, or live bait. At small tackle shops, they also can talk to people who know where the fish are biting or spin a story about the guy down the road who bagged a 10-pointer.
At Wal-Mart?
Um, no.
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What’s your fondest outdoors memory?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There were many firsts during the summer between by seventh- and eighth-grade years and they all came on the same trip.
It was the middle of the summer of ‘75 when I went on the fishing trip of a lifetime — 10 days in the Canadian wilderness with family and friends. We were in a group of eight who drove from my native Wisconsin to Vermillion Bay in Ontario, then airplaned deep into the some of the most beautiful lake country on Earth.
It was my first trip out of the country, first time in a plane, first camping trip to the middle of nowhere and first experience catching fish in a barrel. It was the coolest thing I’ve ever done.
It was a 12-hour car ride from Central Wisconsin to Ontario and another two hours on a plane. The outfitters shuttled the group and gear on several trips back and forth, and once they were done we didn’t see them again for five days, when they brought ice.
No electricity. No running water. If you could brave the cold Canadian water (perhaps in the 50s) you could take a bath, but once was enough of that. We had tents, food and a fleet of fishing boats owned by the outfitters.
It was incredible fun.
To this date, I have never caught as many fish as I did on that trip. Northern pike, walleye and smallmouth bass bit so frequently that if we made five casts without something biting our Daredevle spoon we moved on. And if we got a little bored, me and my best buddy would race the boats across the lake and back.
It also was the first time I remember feeling somewhat equal to my father, which is a big thing for a 12-year-old boy who wants to be treated more like an adult than like a child. He let me drive the boat, pick spots to fish and our conversations were deeper than ever before. He went to get the firewood while I started a fired — and not the other way around. Wow.
That trip ended too soon. I was ready for another week once the plane returned to pick us up. I still hope to take a similar trip with my son and help him start feeling like an adult, too.
So, what’s your fondest outdoors memory?
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Do fish feel pain?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I love this question.
It’s one of the most visible dividing lines between outdoors people and animal-rights activists because the only ones to know the true answer are the fish themselves. And they ain’t talking.
I figured that with the warm spring weather prompting anglers to flock to area lakes and rivers to go fishing, opening up this conversation would at least be provocative. We’ll see, I suppose.
Both sides say they have science on their side.
Dr. James Rose of the University of Wyoming, who has studied animals’ reactions to painful stimuli for three decades, has concluded that fish do not have the brain system necessary to feel pain. They react to being hooked but don’t have the ability in its brain to define it as pain. In “Do Fish Feel Pain?” Rose wrote, “The facts about the neurological processes that generate pain make it highly unlikely that fish experience the emotional distress and suffering of pain. Thus, the struggles of a fish don’t signify suffering when the fish is seized in the talons of an osprey, when it is devoured while still alive by a Kodiak bear, or when it is caught by an angler.”
In 2003, a study at Edinburgh University and the Roslin Institute in the United Kingdom — one that is used by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in its Fishing Hurts campaign — concluded that fish feel “emotional stress” in response to pain stimuli. The study was based on subjecting anethesized trout to damaging stimuli. The research team, according to PETA, concluded that fish clearly experience pain in the same way as mammals, both physically and psychologically.
That’s enough with the science.
My take on this has always been from a simple observation. If fish feel pain, why would they eat things that would cause them pain? Bass eat crawfish, which I’m sure probably uses its pinchers to defend itself. I’ve been pinched, and man it hurts. With so many things a bass can eat, why do they keep coming back for a meal of crawfish? Saltwater species eat urchins, spiney fish like pinfish and sting rays. They keep coming back for a meal, too.
So what’s your take? Do fish feel pain? Do you care?
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What’s your take on wildlife feeding charts?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My father always knew when the best fishing day was, and he never once used one of those moon phase charts to tell him so.
“Saturday,” the career factory worker would say, “because that’s when I can go.”
He was right. The wildlife activity charts that are based on moon and/or sun positioning might say next Wednesday is the best day to go fishing. But if you’ve got to work it really doesn’t matter, does it? Dad figured the best fishing day was one that was dry, not too cold or hot, and with little breeze. He knew he’d catch fish anyway, so why be uncomfortable doing it?
Dad didn’t pay attention to those wildlife activity forecasts, but many outdoors people do. Ever since Pennsylvania banker John Alden Knight published the first solunar table in 1936, hunters and anglers have used them to predict when wildlife is most active. The argument is that if you can pinpoint when game is most active, your chances of success are increased.
Such tables are found everywhere — in magazines, on the Web and even on the nightly news. WSB-TV Channel 2 shows a Datasport Fish and Game forecast graph to end each night’s 11 p.m. newscast that local anglers swear works. The AJC publishes a lunar chart every Sunday in the Sports section that suggests the top times for fishing. A variety of these are for sale, too.
There’s no question that celestial positioning has an affect on wildlife. Many fish species, for instance, spawn around the full moon. Saltwater fish are atune to the rising and falling tides caused by gravitational pull of the sun and moon in their search for food.
I keep an eye on the so-called “feeding charts,” but I’m not sure if my results have been anything more than anecdotal. I’ve been skunked on peak days, and had success during down cycles.
However, last week on a short fishing trip on vacation. I caught two bass in the morning and did not get another bite until mid-afternoon. After that, I caught three (one a 4-pounder) and had at least three other good bites (let’s not talk about why I missed them). The peak time for the day was 2:30 p.m.; it was after that time when the activity picked up.
The question is, do these wildlife activity charts work or are they just a bunch of stinkbait?
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I went camping once at Oak Mountain State Park near Birmingham and was awakened in the wee hours by a coyote sniffing the tent just a few inches from my head. Another time while hiking on Fort Mountain in Murray County, I heard something large crashing... read the full comment by Omar | Comment on Have you had a Man vs. Wild encounter? Read Have you had a Man vs. Wild encounter?
I killed me a bar when I was only three.... read the full comment by D. Crockett | Comment on Have you had a Man vs. Wild encounter? Read Have you had a Man vs. Wild encounter?
It doesn’t really affect me personally (except that the added service charge sucks), as I have been buying my licenses online for several years (as well as doing about 95% of my other shopping online…..my career has been in IT/computer support... read the full comment by Jim H. | Comment on Is this how buying a license will be? Read Is this how buying a license will be?
Gene, Good point. Going online to get a new license is easy (even in the current system) and more of us should be doing that. But the state says more than 90 percent of license-buyers do it in person. I suppose having fewer retail outlets... read the full comment by Scott Bernarde | Comment on Is this how buying a license will be? Read Is this how buying a license will be?