Where is all the Game?
Sheriff Mike Cook
I spent the day this Sunday with family riding my ATV in the back country in my home county here in Coos County Oregon. We covered a lot of ground and there was some things I noticed. No deer sign anywhere and no deer. We did see a large herd of elk and got to see some eagles searching for food. But not one deer or any sign of any. There was a lot of bear sign and cougar sign however mixed in with coyote sign.
Now I have lived and hunted this back country all my life here and ten years ago you couldn't spend a day out without seeing a lot of deer and deer sign. Once in a while you would see cougar sign and the bear were here as were the coyote's but not in the numbers they are now. They are far more abundant now than deer sign.
Now I know that the logging has been cut back and that makes for a lose of habitat for deer and elk, however it hasn't been that great. The Biologists try to blame it on Hair Lose Disease and that may have some effect but nothing like what we are seeing now. I say it is predation that is killing out our deer. It doesn't take a degree to see the sign on the ground when you spend as much time in the back country as I and my friends do.
The sad fact is the Department is still issuing a lot of doe and cow tags for this part of Oregon and all over, it's the money you know. They say it is management of the heard, what a joke that is.
Now we have a movement by our Game Management people and the powers that be in our capital Salem to allow the wolf into Oregon. Just what we need is another large predator to kill what is left of our deer and elk.
The large ranchers in eastern Oregon have made a decisions this year to not allow anyone to hunt on their ranches because of the pending wolf problem. That means that more and more people will quit hunting and buying tags and spending money in the local economy that many of the businesses depend on each year.
This is the agenda of those who want to stop all hunting of animals. They are winning because it won't be long before the animals we like to hunt will be listed as endangered if they aren't already. Then we will no longer need the Department of Fish and Wildlife and there will be no money to support them. Many of the businesses that depend on the hunting industry for making a living will also go broke and this will be one more strike against the economy of Oregon.
Right now in our legislator here in Oregon is a bill that was introduced to allow the hunting of cougar and bear with hounds in southern Oregon. This is the only way that these animals can be kept in check in this part of Oregon because of the terrain and brush. However I don't see it of having much of a chance of passing because the Senate is controlled by liberals and the Governor is a liberal green person who wouldn't sign it anyway.
The only answer I see is to sell out and move to another state where they value the hunter and the life style we enjoy. Many states are passing legislation that makes it a right to hunt in that state, which is a good thing. However here in Oregon we are controlled by the Portland area and as anyone who watched the news at all knows that is a large population if liberal whacko's who want to stop everything that even looks like people enjoy the back country, or if they attempt to make a living in rural Oregon. Perhaps they will enjoy being the food source for all these predators, because I don't.
Many have talked about skipping one year and not buying any licenses or tags to hunt and fish. The ranchers are closing their property as I speak, I don't know if this will work. It's to late for many like me that buys my license and tags prior to the end of each year for the next year, but it looks like another year without any meat in the old freezer for us here in Oregon. Too Bad.
God Bless America and God Bless our troops still in harms way.
Michael E. Cook, Coos County Sheriff, Retired.
This should be of interest to itchaca
Sheriff Mike Cook
I spent the day this Sunday with family riding my ATV in the back country in my home county here in Coos County Oregon. We covered a lot of ground and there was some things I noticed. No deer sign anywhere and no deer. We did see a large herd of elk and got to see some eagles searching for food. But not one deer or any sign of any. There was a lot of bear sign and cougar sign however mixed in with coyote sign.
Now I have lived and hunted this back country all my life here and ten years ago you couldn't spend a day out without seeing a lot of deer and deer sign. Once in a while you would see cougar sign and the bear were here as were the coyote's but not in the numbers they are now. They are far more abundant now than deer sign.
Now I know that the logging has been cut back and that makes for a lose of habitat for deer and elk, however it hasn't been that great. The Biologists try to blame it on Hair Lose Disease and that may have some effect but nothing like what we are seeing now. I say it is predation that is killing out our deer. It doesn't take a degree to see the sign on the ground when you spend as much time in the back country as I and my friends do.
The sad fact is the Department is still issuing a lot of doe and cow tags for this part of Oregon and all over, it's the money you know. They say it is management of the heard, what a joke that is.
Now we have a movement by our Game Management people and the powers that be in our capital Salem to allow the wolf into Oregon. Just what we need is another large predator to kill what is left of our deer and elk.
The large ranchers in eastern Oregon have made a decisions this year to not allow anyone to hunt on their ranches because of the pending wolf problem. That means that more and more people will quit hunting and buying tags and spending money in the local economy that many of the businesses depend on each year.
This is the agenda of those who want to stop all hunting of animals. They are winning because it won't be long before the animals we like to hunt will be listed as endangered if they aren't already. Then we will no longer need the Department of Fish and Wildlife and there will be no money to support them. Many of the businesses that depend on the hunting industry for making a living will also go broke and this will be one more strike against the economy of Oregon.
Right now in our legislator here in Oregon is a bill that was introduced to allow the hunting of cougar and bear with hounds in southern Oregon. This is the only way that these animals can be kept in check in this part of Oregon because of the terrain and brush. However I don't see it of having much of a chance of passing because the Senate is controlled by liberals and the Governor is a liberal green person who wouldn't sign it anyway.
The only answer I see is to sell out and move to another state where they value the hunter and the life style we enjoy. Many states are passing legislation that makes it a right to hunt in that state, which is a good thing. However here in Oregon we are controlled by the Portland area and as anyone who watched the news at all knows that is a large population if liberal whacko's who want to stop everything that even looks like people enjoy the back country, or if they attempt to make a living in rural Oregon. Perhaps they will enjoy being the food source for all these predators, because I don't.
Many have talked about skipping one year and not buying any licenses or tags to hunt and fish. The ranchers are closing their property as I speak, I don't know if this will work. It's to late for many like me that buys my license and tags prior to the end of each year for the next year, but it looks like another year without any meat in the old freezer for us here in Oregon. Too Bad.
God Bless America and God Bless our troops still in harms way.
Michael E. Cook, Coos County Sheriff, Retired.
This should be of interest to itchaca
