Spirit of the Sportsman

In 2008, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service established the Light Goose Conservation Rules. The new regulations where established due to an overabundance of light geese which threatened aviary habitat. Under the new order, hunting of snow geese is dramatically liberalized and the season is extended through to April.

Fewer people know more about hunting snow geese than Tony Vandemore.

In this Ducks Unlimited interview ‘White Goose Wizards’ Tony does a Q and A on harvesting snow geese.

DU: What does one do with 2,030 snow geese once they’re in the back of the truck? NOTE: Vandemore, Keller and their friends killed 2,030 snows in spring 2006. Really.

Vandemore: We had people in place – needy families, church pantries, soup kitchens – to take the birds before we started hunting. Snow goose is by no means poor table fare; it’s actually very good. With snows, you can pick out the (grey) juvenile birds a lot easier and concentrate on those. But I had folks lined up who would take just about every snow goose we could bring them.

“Realism.  It’s all about realism.”

Click icons below to share this post

Ideally, every CCW permit holder would volunteer to regularly train on shooting and tactics. Firearms training is a moral responsibility for those who have chosen to carry gun. Reality is almost all concealed firearm permit holders are regular people who do not have the time in invest in rigorous training.

“95% of the people who carry have no training beyond their permit. We have a responsibility to be well trained.”
Dennis Kennedy, CounterTerrorism Institute of America

We at Spirit of the Sportsman recommend a compromise. We recommend shooting the guns you carry at least once per quarter (every three months) and at least one major training class (3-5 days in length) once per year.

The annual training class should go beyond basic shooting skills and include real-life shooting tactics.

For those interested in real-life gun fight training an excellent option is the CounterTerrorism Institute of America.

CTIA director Dennis Kennedy is the right guy to go to for defensive training.  With 35 years of experience in the Special Forces and Law Enforcement, Kennedy has forgotten more about weapons and tactics than most people ever learn. 

Seeing a need for specialized training, Kennedy and his partners opened up the CounterTerrorism Institute of America to provide force-on-force gun fighting experience for military, law enforcement, and civilian personnel.  

Courses are affordable and hands on, taking place at the Urban Warfare Center, Swanson Tactical Center, and local ranges.

Students at CTIA listen to instructor setting the stage to "inoculate the brain."

Even as an observer, I learned new terms that will stick with me.  “Get off X!”  “Inoculating the brain.”  Real life threat situations just never work out like they did on paper.  You have to train as real as you can.  That’s why Dennis Kennedy and the CounterTerrorism Institute base their lectures around doing things for real. 

Simunition, air-soft hand guns, rubber knives and a simulated urban setting let you fire at your real life class mates as you role play and train. 

Air soft, gas blow back semi-auto ready for action

Highly trained instructors provide immediate feedback.

One-on-one instruction and feedback with Dennis Kennedy, founder of CTIA

You’ll never learn if your carry holster actually works with your wardrobe until you try it under stress.  What happens if you fall down?  How quickly can a bad guy actually cover 20 feet? You will NEVER know unless you do real life training.

Students at CTIA watch and learn in the Urban Warfare Center

CTIA: The Tueller Drill

“Paper targets aren’t real life”
Dennis Kennedy, CTIA

Click icons below to share this post

The effect of improvised explosive devices on US military casualties has been devastating. The US Marine Corps is responding to the threat of IED’s by deploying the Assault Breacher Vehicle.

The US Marine Corps Assault Breacher Vehicle is actually a set of modifications to the M1 Abrams tank.

The modifications include devices to locate, un-earth and detonate IED’s without exposing US military forces to harm.

The Assault Breacher Vehicle looks like a mix between a construction machine and a warfare vehicle and was almost removed from development and deployment due to budgetary concerns. Given the coming campaign in regions of Afghanistan that are known to contain Taliban militants and IED’s, the USMC is glad they funded the Assault Breacher Vehicle project out of their discretionary funds.

“Marja is located 380 miles southwest of Kabul, the national capital. Taliban forces have had months to bury roadside bombs in anticipation of an assault by Western troops. Increasing the difficulty, the land is broken up by irrigation canals, built by the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s, that could stop the advance of tanks and other assault vehicles.

Enter the breacher, a cross between a tank and a bulldozer, armed with a .50-caliber machine gun and grenade launcher, powered by a 1,500-horsepower turbine engine, and manned by a driver and an operator of the vehicle’s weapons and communications systems.

The breacher operator fires line charges loaded with explosives. Once the lengthy lines hit the ground, they can be detonated by the operator from inside the vehicle. The pressure of the explosives is designed to detonate any roadside bombs buried by an enemy.

Two breachers, side by side, are meant to clear a path wide enough for other vehicles and infantry troops. The scoops on the front of the vehicles can help deflect the explosion from buried bombs; a different scoop can fill irrigation canals with dirt to permit passage.

The Marja campaign will involve Marines and Afghan soldiers and will probably be seen as a major test for the Afghans, whose army is still in the formative stage. Eight senior Afghan officers were recently hosted by Marines at Quantico, Va., Camp Pendleton and Twentynine Palms.

“Afghans have been fighting for 30 years,” Afghan Lt. Col. Abdulltai Nashat told reporters at Camp Pendleton. “They will fight forever — don’t worry about that.”

And where do the Marines expect the Taliban fighters to go?

“To their graves,” said Nicholson at the Marine base in Afghanistan.”

Click icons below to share this post

Joe Bacal is a motorsports champion, a cancer survivor and an inspirational story to anyone who has faced health issues.

“Joe Bacal refuses to let chaos bring him down. He thrives in the extreme world of off-road racing. And he waged war on cancer and won. Now, Joe’s on a mission to help others take control of the chaos in their lives.

A lifelong car enthusiast and professional test driver, Joe was on vacation with his family when he discovered a lump that seemed to randomly grow and shrink. Months later, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Throughout 2007, Joe endured surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Faced with his own mortality yet bolstered by the support of his family, friends and the experts at Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Joe’s vision to start a professional driving business and compete in world-class off-road racing crystallized.

Beating cancer takes stamina, endurance and a supportive team – not so different from off-road racing. Joe crossed the Baja 500 finish line in June 2009 after 16 hours of continuous driving. And he took control again in the “granddaddy” of off-road racing at the perilous Baja 1000, driving more than 27 hours across desert terrain.

A true iron man, Joe wants other patients to know they are in the driver’s seat when it comes to fighting cancer.

“You can’t win the race if you don’t finish,” says Joe. “To finish, you need to be in control of what’s ahead of you and supported by a great team and family and friends who love you.”

Here is Joe Bacal in an ad he made for the Cancer Treatment Centers of America.

Drive

Click icons below to share this post

February 5-7, 2010 is NRA weekend at Cabelas!

“Cabela’s will host an NRA Weekend, February 5-7, offering exclusive discounts and specials to members of the National Rifle Association. During the event, customer donations to the Cabela’s Add-A-Buck program supporting the Cabela’s/NRA Youth Hunter Education Challenge Endowment will be matched by Cabela’s (up to $35,000). The World’s Foremost Outfitter will also introduce a new NRA co-branded Cabela’s Gift Card, which will return 5 percent of the proceeds to the endowment. NRA membership staff recruiters will be on hand at all 29 Cabela’s U.S. retail locations to sign up new members and renew current memberships. The store will also host seminars and product demonstrations.”

Shop for liberty

Click icons below to share this post

I lived in Siberia for four months in 1989.  It was a remarkable experience with only one regret.  I didn’t take my fishing gear.  I’ll kick myself for the rest of my life.  That is until I get back to tackle the “Russian river wolf.”

The Russian water tiger or river wolf

Fish Mongolia

Russian Hunting Agency

Sweetwater Travel

Nat Geo article

Click icons below to share this post

The U.S. Army has need for shoulder-fired, precision guided explosive weapons. American soldiers in theater in South Asia regularly engage enemy in fortified positions such as caves and bunkers which are designed to resist bombing from air, ground artillery and long range missiles.

American soldiers also regularly engage enemies in urban settings where full-scale air strikes would result in massive civilian casualties.

Weapons designers have come up with a solution. The XM25 ‘Smart’ High Explosive Weapon.

“When the HEAB round explodes, the target is peppered with fragmentation,” Murray said. “Our studies indicate that the XM-25 with HEAB is 300 percent more effective at incapacitating the enemy than current weapons at the squad level.”

Because of the XM-25’s unique TAFC and HEAB round, Soldiers will be able to engage enemy forces located in the open and “in defilade” -behind cover, such as walls, rocks, trenches, or inside buildings. The semi-automatic weapon’s magazine holds four 25mm rounds and can be employed at night or during inclement weather thanks to the XM25’s built-in thermal sight.”

The XM25 is so effective, it has TV reports trembling with fear.

Lead on target

Click icons below to share this post

This may not seem as glamorous as some other possible destinations but, I love Washington DC, the Virgina coast, etc.  The Chesapeake has had ups and downs over the last few decades and is a unique natural gift that deserves our care.  It is an amazingly rich, diverse, and generous habitat.

Striper fishing info

East side fly fishing

Maryland State Fisheries Report

Striper tackle

Click icons below to share this post

A 50-year-old Hmong immigrant from northern Laos, Mr. Yang is the host of a regular all-things-hunting program on KJAY 1430-AM. The station serves one of the nation’s largest Hmong populations — one for whom the link between hunting and survival is still palpable.

Yia Yang, who hosts a Hmong radio show about hunting, and an on-air guest, Capt. Roy Griffith, who runs California’s hunter education program.

Important contribution by Mr. Yang to help preserve our hunting resources and heritage. Kudos to California Fish & Game.

Click icons below to share this post

The good people at usacarry.com have created a firearms carry permit reciprocity map for people who want to know if their home state’s permit is valid in other states.

The reciprocity map classifies the concealed firearms carry permits into five groups:
1. Shall Issue Residents Only:

“A shall-issue jurisdiction, within the context of gun law, is one that requires a permit to carry a concealed handgun, but where the granting of such permits is subject only to meeting certain criteria laid out in the law; the granting authority has no discretion in the awarding of the permits. Such laws typically state that a granting authority shall issue a permit if the criteria are met, as opposed to laws where the authority may-issue a permit at their discretion.”

2. Shall Issue to Residents and Non-Residents.

3. May Issue to Residents Only:

“A may-issue jurisdiction, within the context of gun law, is one that requires a permit to carry a concealed handgun, and where the granting of such permits is partially at the discretion of local authorities (frequently the sheriff’s department or police): the law typically states that a granting authority may issue a permit if various criteria are met.”

4. May Issue to Residents and Non-Residents.

5. Right Denied: The state denies the issue concealed carry firearms permits and it is against the law.

Technically there is a sixth category
6. Unrestricted

“An unrestricted jurisdiction, in the terminology of firearm laws, is one where no permit is required to carry a concealed handgun.”

Since there is no restriction, no permit is required and is therefore not relevant to the CCW mapping.

If you travel like I do, you may find this CCW reciprocity map useful. The Interactive map toggles between ‘Permits Honored By State’ and ‘States That Honor My Permit(s)’.

It is in your interests not to rely solely on the reciprocity map and to contact the local law enforcement authority before you travel.

Click icons below to share this post