Do you like to write about your experiences in the field? Gamebirdhunts.com is currently looking for some good outdoor writers to write articles on topics ranging from dog training to hunting techniques. Get paid for publishing your work on one of the top hunting sites on the internet. Please email jballard@gamebirdhunts.com for more information.

Calling All Pheasant Hunting Video Producers

We are looking for some good quality pheasant hunts that you may have on film to add to our brand new www.gamebirdhunts.com website that is launching next week. If you have video of sporting clays, dog training, pheasant hunting or other upland related stuff that would fit nicely on our site we would love to hear from you. Please email me at jballard@gamebirdhunts.com. We have added a very robust video section to the new Gamebirdhunts.com website and would love to include your content. Once the new site launches you can post the videos your self or our staff can help you. It's like the YouTube of Hunting : pheasantTube if you will.

If you just want to watch some great videos on pheasant hunting or sporting clays please stop by the new site next week. We are sure we will have something you will like.

Check out the new home for Gamebirdhunts.com on Twitter- www.twitter.com/gamebirdhunts

We are a few days away from the launch of the all new GameBirdHunts.com website. Please stay tuned!

CHEYENNE- For more than 10 years Wyoming hunters and fishing enthusiasts have been able to access more hunting and fishing waters and woods thanks to AccessYes, a program by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

Shortly after the walk in access program was established, the AccessYes program was started to help provide the dollars needed for the walk in program and compensate land owners for providing access. Game and Fish state access coordinator Matt Buhler said that in 2008, hunters and fisherman donated $131,375 to the AccessYes program. Above and beyond that an additional $45,261 was gifted by conservation organizations and sportsmen. "Most of the donations are made at the time of license purchase," according to Buhler.

Wyoming sportsman are encouraged to remember the AccessYes program and consider giving a gift. These gifts help Montana Fish and Game enhance the access Wyoming Sportsman now have and can provide more places to hunt and fish.

Learn More About Hunting In Wyoming

For more information on hunting and fishing in Wyoming please visit: http://www.foremosthunting.com . To view the complete article from the Wyoming Fish and Game please visit: http://tinyurl.com/mmo2ue

I have to admit, like many others I really saw no value for Twitter when I first heard about the concept but I've been playing with it a bit and have found some usefulness in it's ability to connect me with other hunting website owners. Perhaps it is more then just a complete waste of time. I would love to hear your opinions. Please comment on if you think twitter has any value for hunters. I've been thinking about Twitter blogging from my deer stand this year. Who knows...

Here is my Twitter Page: http://twitter.com/foremosthunting

When I get some more time I may even start a Twitter Page For Gamebirdhunts.com although it is hard to tweet and hunt roosters at the same time.

I just read an article about some teens from Minnesota that killed 100 Coots

Two juvenile teen brothers from Laporte and another juvenile teen from Akeley have been fined $1,600 and placed on probation after pleading guilty on Feb. 4 to killing 109 American Coots. Coots are defined as migratory game birds and protected by both state and federal law.

I really believe that kids today are being desensitized to violence and killing by video games and media. I think if more kids got off the couch and out in the field with a parent or mentor that could teach them the value of conservation these types of things wouldn't happen as often. What's your take on the issue?

Do you have some pictures of taxidermy projects you have completed or have you taken some pictures of unique taxidermy mounts? www.taxidermytube.com has just released a new photo gallery section that allows registered members of the site (Free Registration) to post pictures of taxidermy projects. "It is our hope that this becomes a gallery of inspiration for taxidermists across the globe" say Jon Ballard of Taxidermy Tube. To view the gallery please visit: http://www.taxidermytube.com/Resources/TaxidermyPhotoGallery/tabid/1003/Default.aspx

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has announced the distribution of more than $740 million to 56 state and territorial fish and wildlife agencies to fund fish and wildlife conservation efforts, boat access, shooting ranges, and hunter education.

The Funds are generated by federal excise taxes on purchases of firearms, ammunition, archery, and angling equipment and boat motor fuels.

It's great to see some of that money going back into conservation.

I read a feel good story that made my stomach turn today. The title of the article was: An Unusual Menu Item Is on Its Way to New York Soup Kitchens

The story was written by the "Editorial Board" of the New York Times and the first thing that strikes me as funny is the writer wasn't brave enough to sign their name. Anyway, the article was about how the Governer of New York was shutting down a state run pheasant breading operation and donating all the birds to a soup kitchen. The author went on to say that birds from this operation cost tax payers $100 each and they clipped the wings before releasing the birds into the field (No sources sited)

"In the past, the Reynolds Game Farm near Ithica raised pheasants that were released for bird hunters who could go out to the woods in season and shoot one of nature’s most elegant of winged creatures. (In most cases, these pheasants had their wings clipped, so in reality it was about as sporting as shooting squirrels in Central Park)."

You can read the complete article here:
http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/an-unusual-menu-item-is-on-its-way-to-new-york-soup-kitchens

I posted a comment but since I don't agree with them it will proabally never get published so I felt like I should rebut the article. Here are my comments on the issue:

If I had to guess I would say you have never been hunting in your life. Many of the states in the US raise and release pheasants for hunters. Were did you get your facts related to the wings of the birds being clipped? I have worked with 100’s of different bird breading operations across the country and none of them clip the birds wings. Hunters want birds that fly. The second point that you completely missed is that most of the money used to support these operations comes from hunters paying a special fee through their license purchase in the form of a pheasant stamp or habitat management fee. The fees collected help not only pay to support the game farms that raise the birds but also help pay to maintain undeveloped wild life areas and habitat restoration for hunters and non-hunters alike to enjoy. Not to mention all the people at the breeding operation that will be loosing their jobs and the revenue generated from hunters purchasing sporting goods, gas, lodging etc for their pheasant hunting trips. If you plan to write a article like this I suggest you check your facts and consider both sides of the coin.

Jon Ballard
http://www.gamebirdhunts.com

What do you think? Should states be cutting their budgets on pheasant breading operations with the economy the way it is currently?

There is a lot of bad news coming at us all the time these days but I just have to say I have a lot to be thankful for. A great wife and kids, health, great friends and the the blessing to hunt and fish.

Today (Thanksgiving 2008) my 4 year old son decided to join me in the woods for a little deer season. He did great. We didn't last long but he sat still and even thought he heard a deer. We didn't see anything today but the time spent was memorable for me and I hope it to be the first of many father son trips.

Some times all the bad news gets me down but that's not really what matters. Spend some time in the woods with some friends and family and remember what is really important.