In my youth, I was known somewhat as a rabble-rouser. I liked to create controversy and enjoyed all of the excitement and anxiety of it all. Well I guess I still do. So that is what I plan to do today. Through all of my writings so far I have told stories of past events & tried to equate them to the ì moral of the storyî, or I have given some brief and polite opinions. Not today. I have several topics that I want to go into and how many of them I get to depends how long I can stand to sit at this infernal contraption.

Since we are fast approaching hunting seasons lets start there. The first subject is CWD. I know, I know. Another boring article about Chronic Wasting Disease. Not this time I think I have some serious and effective answers to keeping this hideous scourge in check. First, let me back up a bit. Since itís discovery by the science of white European american culture in 1978 in the geographic area of Colorado, Wyoming & Nevada, { as if it never existed before } it has been spread to 15 different states & provinces that are not all contiguous. How does this happen? Usually in nature such disease spread across distance as a ripple from a stone cast in a pond. Such as rabies. Rarely does it jump from location to location unless it is airborne, by birds, insects or literally by air movement. Which in this case CWD is not. So how does it spread in this manner. Simple, by MAN. Thatís right by us. Sometimes unknowingly, sometimes maliciously. In the August issue of Hawkeye on the front page there is a brief article about how to keep CWD out of NH. Those measures are a good start but not enough.

It is known that CWD does effect Whitetail deer, Mule deer & Elk. What is not known is if CWD can effect Moose or Caribou. They are members of the deer family and I would have to think that they would be at a high risk of infection also. Imagine that. If CWD got into our state not only the whitetail heard would be at risk, but possible the moose also. The moose is a cash cow { pun intended } for NH in all forms of recreation. Just think how that could have a hugely negative impact on the state.

Chronic Wasting Disease is the result of infected & corrupted pirons. Which are amino acids in the brain and neurological tissues. This can be spread by close contact of members of the deer family. It can also be spread by exposure to brain & neurological tissues. That is why it is only legal to bring back boned out meat or skullcaps or hides with all soft tissue removed from area that have CWD. Those are all good steps but not enough to keep CWD out of NH or stop the spread of CWD. The largest single threat to the spread of CWD is the game farm. It has been documented that in all area that CWD has spread to there where game farms there prior to the out breaks. Some animals escaped and in some cases, some animals were deliberately released. In both cases, many animals were not recovered. Then CWD was discovered in those areas. Oh what a surprise!! While the stopping of transportation of game farm animals from one area to another is once again a good idea it is not enough. One way that this disease is being spread is by contaminated feed to the game farm animals. That is one way it cousins Mad Cow & Scrappy in sheep is spread. The game farm managers will claim otherwise but it is a documented fact that is one of the ways that CWD is moving around the continent. To me the answer is obvious. Make game farming illegal. Kill off all the stock & dispose of all the carcasses in a proper manner not to further spread the disease. Game Farms only benefits the few individuals in the industry and puts the rest of us and our natural resource at risk. In my opinion that is a small price to pay for keeping our resource safe. Will it end the problem? Probably not. However, it is the kind of strong step that is needed to be taken before CWD spreads any further. Not after the fact as Wisconsin is trying to do now. So what is done when CWD is found in the wild in a area. It is planned to be dealt with by an ever-widening eradication zone. In Wisconsin the original eradication, area was 400 sq. miles. Now it is up to 1300sq.mi., and it will get larger while not solving the problem. We can not afford for this to happen here. ACT NOW!! Call you state representative & state senator and tell them that the strongest possible steps are needed now. Not later. If we band together, we can make this happen. We can make a difference. It is vitality important for these strong acts to be taken now and not allow them to be watered down by the few that benefit at our expense. STAND UP AND SPEAK. MAKE A DIFFERENCE. NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a radical idea. That is what is needed to be effective. However I fear that we as sportsmen & women will not act strongly. That is our history. We only deal with something when it is placed directly in front of us. We then throw puny and ineffective stopgap solutions that do not work. Heed my words. Act strongly now or forever rue your decision not to.

Now for controversy number two. As sports people we all have had the unscrupulous individuals that go out of their way to find where we hunt of fish and then go there and either fish or hunt. Not caring if they screw it up for us or anyone else as long as they get what they want. When I was a young teenager my Grandfather told me that the world is changing. Itís used to be that people had respect for other people, other peoples property and other peoples rites. He told me then that it was becoming the hurray for me and to hell with you attitude. I never knew just how prophetic his words were, never mind are!!

As a professional, Iím a marked man. My license plate is IGUIDE and my truck has my company name on it. I get targeted all the time. I regularly find people hunting near my baited bow sites and even running their rabbit hounds off my apple piles. When I contact Fish & Game law enforcement, which inform me that there is not a whole lot they can do as there is no law to prevent people from targeting licensed guides for this ìfree serviceî. They then dutifully contact the people involved who deny the accusations. However, since there is no law they can tell the officer who is trying to be of help to me and other guides to go pound sand and there is nothing that the officers can legally do about it.

For many of the past 12 years when I have been guiding I have been interfered with by private hunters, that follow to me to where I take my clients or are in the area and once they are aware of our presence try to intercept the target species. In the spring when I am locating a Turkey's and am calling Tom's in for my client regularly does someone get between me, my client and the responding bird, intercepting them while not doing any calling or work on their own, basically stealing from my client who's paying for my services. In the fall this is also been a regular occurrence of calling bear, deer, coyote and especially moose. Every year I usually lose 1 or 2 bear for deer to other people and every single year I lose several bull moose to other hunters that interfere with my hunt's, by getting between me and the responding bull, while he's approaching shoot him not allowing him to come to me and my clients.

Also there needs to be given protection to the property of guides. Quite a number of times over the past years when I've set out legal baits for deer and I've often found other hunters sitting close to my baits on trails the deer are using, coming to my baits and then shoot them for themselves. I paid for the bait, and put it out for my clients, and for other people to utilize it without my permission is in my opinion stealing. I've also had a number of times where people who are hunting none target species would bring their bird and rabbit dogs directly to my baits and then run the them directly off of my baited area, and continued to hunt in the immediate area around my baits for extended period of time until they have removed most of the species that they are targeting. Leaving their human scent and the scent's of their dogs in the area is a deterrent to my targeted species from coming into my legally baited area for my clients.

Another concern is of non target species feeding at a baited area leaving their scent and therefore deterring the target species from arriving and feeding at the baited area for my clients. An example is that this past fall I had a very large numbers of coyotes coming into my apple piles for bow hunters at night, but legally there's nothing that I could do to remedy the situation. This is a very serious problem in that once again my clients have paid for an opportunity to harvest the target species and I should be able to reasonably assure them of that opportunity. If I'm not allowed to do that I'm not being honest with my clients when I take their money for a given hunt. Currently these are situations that are beyond my control, that need to be addressed so a legal remedy can be found.

A year ago this past spring during turkey season I had a client who was a licensed Maine guide. We had gotten to our spot donned our waders crossed the river & got all set up decoys & all by 4am. About 4:15 I heard a truck come along the road & slow down as it went by my truck. It went about another 1/4mi & turned around once again slowing way down as it went by my truck. It then turned into the field the trail goes through to this backfield. Not wanting any one to inadvertently interfere with my clients hunt I went to where the trail crosses the river to ask this person to please hunt somewhere else. It only take about 8 minutes to walk down to the river & I waited 20. When no one showed & it was beginning to get light I went back & talked to my client and got set to call. As it goes two hens flew right down into the decoys and started feeding the tom who was roosted just opposite us was having a grand old time telling every one that he was the badist and prettiest bird in the county. All he had to do was pitch down just like the hens and my client would have his shot. However, that was not to be. The tom just about fell to the ground just below his roost, and proceeded to strut toward the hens and decoys. At about 30yds there was a shot and the tom tumbled forward toward me and my client and we could hear turkey shot hitting the brush around us. Then this guy runs out of the woods from behind the tom and grabs the flopping bird. We were both quite up set and went over to talk to this ìgentlemanî. His response was quit rude filled wit profanities. When we asked if he heard my calling he responded that the though that it was just the hens. When asked if he saw my decoys he responded he though that they were left there from last night. Yea right. I then asked to see his license. The name on the license was Allen Patterson of Lincoln NH., & he had a lifetime license. I informed him I was going to report him to fish and game for interfering with my clientís hunt. To which I received more profanities. As this gentleman was heading back to waders and then his truck he went to a spot 60yds up stream of where the trail crosses the river. In a area that the banking were so steep and the brush so thick that he had to use his hands to go down on his butt to and pull himself up from as he was on his knees on either side of the river.

I did call Fish and game and got the very legitimate response that the law that states that no one can interfere with a hunt only pertains to anti-hunters harassing hunters.

If this happens to me as a private person I am upset but I can accept that some people are just that way. However, when it is done to my client I feel that my clients have been stolen from. They paid for a fair hunt and I should be able to give it to them without outside interference. So I called my state representative who worked with me about developing a law that would protect licensed guides while they are working. We eventually got state senator King involved and he was making some progress on getting something to put forward to the legislature until he talked wit Fish and Game Law Enforcement. They were not in favor of any such law and were not sure how they would enforce it. That ended it there so far. While it was explained to me that there was a need for protection for guides, there was no idea what to do with it. I took it as far as I can by myself. Other guides and I need your help in getting the protection that we need from unethical sports people. 2 a. Protecting a guideís ability to do his job from other hunters and people from interference and harassment in addition to protecting his property from other hunters, people and not targeted species.

The guides of New Hampshire provide a broad spectrum of services for their clientele. People whose use our services purchase hunting and fishing licenses, in addition to spending money on food and lodging. Proceeds of the licenses goes directly to the budget of the Fish and Game Department, while additional funds that are spent by clients are an additional economic gain for the state. In order for guides to provide the highest quality product and experiences for clients it must be realized that we have a different set of circumstances and criteria than do private hunters and fishermen. It is necessary that the state of New Hampshire Fishing and Game Department work with the guides to realize the assets that we provide to the state and to help us create legislature will allow us to better provide our services to our clientele while guiding and not be in conflict with the conservation directives of the Fish and Game Department and the state of New Hampshire.

Lastly I would like to address bear season. After two years with little food in the woods, we finally had a year with good mast production. This is a good thing for all the creatures that roam our lands here in NH. During the past two years, we have experienced record bear kills due to the lack of food and high percentage of movement by our local bruins. I hope that this year we will see a harvest more in line with long term management goals. Management. So just what is management. Well my old 1947 Funk & Wagnalls dictionary (Get this Microsoft word does not recognize Wagnalls as a word. That says it all right there.) has 5 different definitions. (Boy I like old stuff. New technology is not always better.) The one I think best fits this use is "To effect or carry out by action, effort or skill". Our management of bears recognizes two main types of harvesting. One, baiting & two with hounds. Both have their attributes that make them exciting. Personally, I bait only with natural foods and then hunt with a bow, & that is what I do for my clients also. The excitement and anticipation combined with minimal movement & sound is the challenge. The second hunting with hounds is the thrill of the chase & the song of the hounds. While both have, their own different appeals one is not "better" than the other and are very different. The one thing that they both have in common is that they do not mix well with one another. Often if there are hounds around a hunters baits will turn sour & the animals often will go nocturnal. This is not the fault of the houndsmen & their charges. It is just that while there is a law that prohibits dogs from being run off baits it can not be helped if the dogs take up a sent that is either going to or coming from an area the holds a bait. That is one serious reason that tends to put bears off of a bait. I use to be that we had two pretty much separate seasons for bear. One for baiting and one for hounds. Traditionally baiting came first followed by the hound season. The gentlemen with the hounds did not all feel that was a fair shake and the seasons were changed and they now run more in parallel. With the hounds having about twice the time that bait hunters have. Two things that I disagree with here are 1. The seasons running together as it ,does have a adverse affect on the baiters and 2. The houndsmen having almost twice as much time as the baiters. I do have a solution though. It is a combination of old & new. The houndsmen are allowed over the summer to train the hounds on bears. So in this day of I must come first attitude I purpose that we let the houndsmen start the bear season without imposing valuable time off from training to their season. That way they have that benefit of keeping their dogs freshly focused on the task at hand & not have to start over again a little later. Let them have the month of September as their season. Then let the baiters have their season for the month of October, until the start of Rifle season for deer. Now for all of those who cannot stand to see the other person go first, grow up, & deal with it! When I am deer hunting with my bow late in the season, after Hound season I see more action at my natural baits by bears than I do when it is warm and the hounds are running. When talking with other hunters & baiters the information I am given is basically the same. I am certainly not so insecure that I have to thrust my "needs" before someone else's needs, & I'll just bet that if you stop & think it over you just might find merit to my suggestion. In any event this is change. It is a departure from the established thinking and norm. There will naturally be resistance to this suggestion on those two items alone. However change can occur. Often with improved results that the current management approach to bears. I will need your help in getting this done. So if you would please take the time to think it over and please feel free to contact me with your suggestion or support.

Once again this is a radical idea. That is what it takes to get the necessary action. Would you please consider contacting me, your state representative and senator to help get something that will protect the licensed working guide. Well that is enough rabble rousing for this issue. You and I will have to wait until the January/February issue to go into my thoughts on licensing all outdoor guides in the state of NH. Also my thoughts on why all hikers should be required to take a hiking safety course, like hunters do, just that it designed for hikers.

You all take Care, and may you allow the Lord to help you help yourselves and others to make it a Great Day in His World.