Slugs & Plugs

Oh Sh**! Wild turkey in a big rig

If you were to make the assertion that manure is Scott Fisher’s bread and butter, you’d be correct.

You see, Fisher, 38, of Lisbon, New York makes his living hauling livestock waste with a tractor/trailer rig.

But this week, the semi driver found himself in deep sh** of a different kind, so to speak.

Fisher was cruising through the St. Lawrence County town of Oswegatchie, near the  Canadian border Monday afternoon, enjoying the pleasant breeze wafting through the open cab window on the driver’s side of his rig. And you can bet the farm this trucker knows how and when to enjoy fresh air whenever he has the opportunity.

About that time, fate turned the tables on Fisher. The sh** hit the fan, you might say.

According to the New York State Police, an airborne wild turkey burst through the open truck window and began flopping around inside the cab. In the mayhem that ensued, Fisher tried his best to remove the crazed fowl from inside the truck while struggling to retain control of the moving rig.

Unfortunately, he failed on both counts.

Veering off the roadway, Fisher’s rig clipped down a row of fenceposts before sliding into a ditch, finally coming to a rest on its side. In the meantime, the bird that caused such a sh**load of trouble escaped from the semi cab, leaving behind only a few keepsake feathers for Fisher, who was  not injured in the mishap.

Watertown’s WWTI television interviewed the New York State Trooper covering the accident, and he offered an astute and profound assessment.

“That doesn’t happen every day,” he observed.

 Yeah, no sh**, Sherlock!

Gun Sales Spike Fading?

(A similar version of this story appears on Shooting Illustrated's  Guns & Hunting Web site) 

If Mark Twain were still with us, he might contend that the rumors of the firearms industry’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Selected Wall Street investment analysts announced downgrades to some firearms manufacturer’s stocks this week, based on the premise that the unprecedented spike in the sales of certain guns and ammunition since the November General Election is nearing the end of its historic run.

“THE OBAMA GUN RUN IS SLOWING,” shouted the lead line in Barron's Senior Editor Bill Alpert’s feature, “Shooting a Hole in the Outlook for Gun Stocks,” appearing on Monday, June 22.

“When the Democrats swept into Washington in November, gun fanciers scrambled for 15-round pistols and tactical rifles equipped with grenade launchers, flash suppressors and bayonets—in fear the new administration would reinstate a ban on the sale of such weapons,” Alpert wrote. 

Grenade launchers, flash suppressors and bayonets?

Based on the arrogant and sarcastic tone of the article, one wonders whether the author’s contention that the increase in firearms sales and related jump in concealed-carry permit applications may be waning is based more on wishful thinking than facts and accurate data.

S&P Almanac: ZEBCO turns 60

Ask a fisherman if he’s ever tried any products made by the Zero Hour Bomb Company and you’ll probably get a weird look—especially if he's younger than 40.

But chances are, like most active anglers today, he (or she) has used one of this company’s fishing reels that first rolled off the assembly line 60 years ago this month.

In the 1940s, this Tulsa, Oklahoma company specialized in making electric time bombs used in the oil-well drilling business. About that time, R.D. Hull, a West Texas watchmaker came knocking on their door for a job. However, instead of a resume, he carried a strange-looking contraption that was little more than a tin can with a hole in both ends. He explained it was his concept for a new, backlash-free fishing reel.

Up until that time, the common baitcast reels of the day were known for their inherent and irritating problems related to backlashing or “bird-nesting.” Hull’s concept featured a fixed spool instead of a revolving one—a brainstorm he said came one day while watching a clerk pull string from a stationary spool to wrap a package of meat. Company officials liked what they saw and agreed to make Hull’s reel.

On a June day in 1949, the first 25 commercial “spin-casting” reels rolled off the assembly line at Zero Hour Bomb Company, which soon after was changed to the acronym that is now synonymous with American fishing—ZEBCO.

Facebook page leads Coast Guard to ‘missing’ angler

A U.S. Coast Guardsman’s use of the online social-networking site Facebook this weekend helped locate a fisherman thought to be missing and prevented the launch of a search mission that could have cost taxpayers as much as $30,000. 

An angler was presumed overdue early Sunday morning after a ranger at Cobscook Park in Eastport, Maine reported a lone vehicle with an empty trailer parked at a launch-site parking lot. Using the vehicle’s license plate, the Coast Guard’s Northern New England sector office located a name, address and phone number, but attempts to contact the tardy owner were unsuccessful.

Before ordering a full-fledged search involving Coast Guard aircraft and cutter vessels, Internet-savvy Paul Conner, the officer in charge of the case, opted to do some online searching via the popular networking site, Facebook. He was able to locate an e-mail address belonging to a relative of the missing man, and subsequently discovered the boater/angler had simply opted to moor overnight at a different location than where his vehicle and trailer were parked.

“Sometimes we have to be very creative in our information gathering,” Connor said later. “A simple Internet search can often help us locate a missing person before a boat or aircraft is even on scene.”

We’re guessing that Conner—and perhaps the entire U.S. Coast Guard—now appear prominently on the fisherman’s Facebook “friends” list.

New Jersey OKs crossbows for archery season

Those who have been involved in archery and bowhunting for an extended number of years will agree that last week’s move by the New Jersey Fish and Game Council to approve crossbows for the state’s regular archery-only hunting seasons is one more incredible occurrence in an already unbelievable year.

That’s because New Jersey was the fourth state in the past three months to approve crossbows for use in archery hunting seasons—something that is truly unprecedented in state hunting regulatory action.

It means the number of states permitting crossbows in bow-only seasons increased by a whopping 25 percent since April 2009.

And, in addition to New Jersey, we’re talking some heavy-hitter states in terms of hunting participation, too.

State game commissions in Pennsylvania and Michigan approved crossbows for archery seasons through regulatory action, while Texas passed legislation to that end. All three states are consistently among the top five in the country in overall hunter numbers as well as bowhunting participation.

The New Jersey Fish and Game Council voted unanimously Tuesday to amend the state Game Code the definition of “bow” by removing the prohibition on all draw locking and draw holding devices and by including crossbows in the definition. Crossbows must have a minimum draw weight of 75 pounds and a minimum stock length of 25 inches.

S&P random quote

“Down here in the Ozarks, asking whether a fat dog farts is the equivalent of enquiring if the Pope is Catholic or if a pig’s butt is made of pork. The answer, of course, is yes; fat dogs fart. So do skinny dogs, old dogs, young dogs, and especially, gun dogs. This often is directly related to an appetite for carrion and cow pies, but I’ve know some dogs who could manufacture an endless supply of noxious gas on a diet of cornflakes.”

-Michael McIntosh, “Tales From the Dark Side,” from A Breed Apart, 1993 

Pennsylvania to name an official firearm?

Most states have an official flower, song, flag, mammal or even fish. But thanks to the dedication of some devoted fans of historic firearms, Pennsylvania may soon be the very first to have an official firearm.

In late May, State Sen. Pat Browne of Allentown introduced legislation designating the historic Pennsylvania Rifle as the official firearm of The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

“The Pennsylvania Rifle was the first truly American firearm and, due to its exceptional accuracy and range, was considered the greatest achievement in the development of firearms during the 18th century,” Senate Bill 895 states, in part.

The legislation is the result of several years of hard work by front-loading long rifle aficionados in Pennsylvania, in particular those affiliated with the Jacobsburg Historical Society’s Pennsylvania Long Rifle Museum.  

“We have been working toward this resolution, actively with Rep. Craig Dally, for the last three years,” said museum president Dave Ehrig, a writer specializing in muzzle-loading subjects.  “It was only after a summit at the museum, followed by a luncheon reception for Sen. Pat Browne, did the good senator become swayed.”

Ehrig also serves as director of the Longhunter Society for the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association (NMLRA), which scores and records outstanding big game animals taken exclusively with muzzle-loading firearms.

“The color combinations, carvings, engravings and graceful slenderness of the Pennsylvania Rifle cause it to stand alone and remain unchallenged as a primary example of early American art,” said Ehrig.

S&P random quote

"I love pack trips and I love getting away from people, telephones, the smell of gasoline, typewriters, cocktail parties, television, importunate letters from editors. A long pack trip enables one to get back to basics. On each pack trip I relearn how important such things as food, warmth and rest are. A washpan filled with hot water is an incredible luxury, a seat on the pack pannier with a Scotch and creek water in hand is contentment."

-Jack O’Connor; "The Stone Sheep"; Sheep and Sheep Hunting, 1974 

The S&P Almanac: It's a Daisy!

In the late 1800s, Clarence J. Hamilton worked as a watch and clock repairman in R.L. Root’s drug and jewelry store in Plymouth, Michigan. With a mind for machines and inventing, he developed a concept for all-metal windmills to replace traditionally wood structures used for many water wells of the time. A stock company, Plymouth Iron Windmill Company, was incorporated on January 9, 1882.

Unfortunately, the windmills did not sell and the company nearly liquidated in 1888. It was then that Hamilton designed an all-metal air rifle to be used as a premium giveaway to windmill purchasers. As the story goes, the company’s general manager, Lewis Cass Hough, fired Hamilton’s creation into an old shingle and exclaimed, in slang of the time, “Boy, that’s a Daisy!”

The popularity of the Daisy airgun soon outpaced windmills, so that by 1890, the company produced 50,000 guns. On January 26, 1895 the company officially became Daisy Manufacturing Company, Inc. 

The sturdy little Daisy BB gun quickly became a staple with American youngsters who enjoyed their first shooting experience with guns such as Bulls Eye, Dewey, Hero, Dandy, Atlas and, of course, the Daisy Red Ryder. Introduced in 1939, the Daisy Red Ryder to date has sold over 9 million units, easily making it the most famous BB gun ever made.

Kudos to N. Dakota G&F

You’ve got to give credit to the folks at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department: they have a crystal clear understanding of where their bread is buttered.

Announcing the results of its recent review of activities taking place on wildlife management areas (WMAs) in the state, the agency said it would prohibit paintballing and geocaching on those public lands, beginning immediately.

In paintballing, teams square off and compete in simulated combat games. Geocaching participants utilize GPS units and follow a series of coordinates while attempting to locate a position, or “treasure” before a competitor does.

The lion’s share of the funding used to purchase WMAs across the country comes from federal excise taxes generated by the sale of firearms, ammunition and bowhunting equipment. The funds are distributed to the states by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service each year and are required to be used for hunting land acquisition, hunter safety programs and other specified purposes.

Scott Peterson, Game and Fish Department wildlife resource section supervisor, said the agency determined that paintballing and geocaching activities could potentially interfere with those using the WMAs for their primary purpose, which is hunting and fishing.

“While these types of activities may not always create a significant impact to an individual WMA, they do create a considerable amount of unnecessary disturbance to both wildlife and wildlife habitat,” Peterson said. “They also have the potential to create competition with hunters and anglers who help pay for managing WMAs.”

Here at the Slugs & Plugs, we say hats off to the North Dakota Game and Fish Department for the respect it has shown for hunters, anglers and wildlife habitat.

Or, in the words of President Theodore Roosevelt, who once called the Dakota Territory his home: 

“Bully!”