Hunt Lake Manitoba Narrows

Television viewers soon will have the chance to watch Pat Stashek’s dream hunt, but a few challenges almost kept it from being a success.

Television viewers soon will have the chance to watch Pat Stashek’s dream hunt, but a few challenges almost kept it from being a success.

Footage of his September caribou hunting trip to Manitoba, Canada, will be aired starting Sunday on the “Escape to the Wild” program on the Versus network.

Nominated for the trip by his wife, Kay, Pat, 53, of Wisconsin Rapids, got an all-inclusive trip from the hunting show, joining 30 other hunters at Noname Lake.

Each hunter was given two tags, and by the end of the second day, only four tags were filled.

“Nobody in camp was really seeing caribou,” Pat said.

“It was actually too warm for caribou hunting, because temperature triggers the caribou migration.”

The hunt was even more challenging for Pat because it was being filmed for the show, and certain criteria had to be followed.

By midafternoon of the last day, Pat and the filming crew boarded the float plane to scope the area for a bull.

“There is no cover out there, so you can see for miles,” he said.

And there it was. When all was in place, Pat dropped the caribou with one shot.

“I ran across the tundra to get to the animal,” he said. “I was just so happy.”

He and the show’s host, Tom Ackerman, exchanged “handshakes and the old man hug.”

“I don’t think you could have wiped the smile off my face at that point,” Pat said.

Pat was told he got the biggest bull in camp during the three-week season, and it should qualify for the Boone and Crockett Club, which maintains records of native North American big game.

The men had to quarter and remove the hide in the field, no easy chore.

“I (carried out) the antlers, the head and the cape, and that was well over 100 pounds,” Pat said.

The meat, which he and his wife have been enjoying since his return, was estimated to weigh about 100 pounds.

“It’s the best game meat you’re going to eat,” he said. “Tastes a little sweeter than venison.”

While that taste will someday be a memory, he has other treasures as reminders. He received warm and cold outerwear, a wool sweater with wind-block lining, and a Beretta rifle.

Upon his return, he received a buck knife engraved with his name.

“I was supposed to get that in caribou camp, but they couldn’t spell ‘Stashek,’” he said.

Despite the challenges, the trip lived up to the outdoorsman’s dream.

“It was more than I thought and more than I expected,” he said.

Pat is having the head and antlers — estimated to be about 5 feet tall with a 3- to 4-foot spread — mounted in Canada, and sent to him at home.

“It’s a huge rack,” he said. “I told my wife we’re going to have to build a new house, or add on.”

A 35-year-old man was fatally shot while he and others were hunting moose in the darkness of eastern Manitoba early yesterday morning, RCMP said.

The man’s name hasn’t been released.

RCMP didn’t reveal the circumstances of the incident but Sgt. Line Karpish, a spokeswoman, said the man was shot by a fellow hunter.

Police are investigating the possibility the man was mistaken for a wild animal.

Karpish said police were interviewing the people who were present yesterday to piece together the chain of events. Charges haven’t been laid. She said the incident involved two different groups of hunters.

Police said the victim, a resident of Fort Alexander near Sagkeeng First Nation, and others were hunting about 45 km north of Powerview. Powerview is 130 km northeast of Winnipeg.

The shooting was reported around 2:30 a.m. but it’s believed the man was shot about an hour to 90 minutes earlier, Karpish said.

There was a delay in reporting the incident to RCMP because the hunters had some frantic moments afterwards where they tried to figure out how to help the man and what to do, and it took some time to get to a place with a phone, Karpish said.

Karpish said it’s believed the man’s hunting party immediately knew he had been shot.

The group was hunting near Happy Lake Road off Trans Licence Road, which is unorganized territory designated Crown land, RCMP said.

The victim and his hunting party are status Indians, meaning it is legal for them to hunt on Crown land and other lands outside hunting season.

Karpish said it was legal for the parties to be hunting after dark because of their status.

An autopsy will be conducted on the man at Health Sciences Centre, RCMP said.

Powerview RCMP and Winnipeg RCMP forensic identification services continue to investigate.

First Nations Voice

Fish the Narrows

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Lake Manitoba Ice Fishing Lodges

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www.huntlakemanitobanarrows.com

But Inuit leader disputes starvation is cause

The late formation of Arctic sea ice may be forcing some hungry and desperate polar bears in northern Manitoba to resort to cannibalism.

Eight cases of mature male polar bears eating bear cubs have been reported this year among the animals around Churchill, according to scientists.

Four cases were reported to Manitoba Conservation and four to Environment Canada.

Some tourists on a tundra buggy tour of the Churchill wildlife management area on Nov. 20 were shaken and started crying after witnessing a male bear eating a cub, said John Gunter, general manager for Frontiers North Adventures, an area tour operator.

“A big male polar bear separated a young cub from its mother and had its way with the cub,” he said. “But the whole time, while that mother polar bear watched and witnessed, and actually after the big bears left, she still tried to take care of it.

“It was difficult for our guests to witness and it was difficult for me to hear about and learn about. It was a sombre day on the buggy that’s for sure.”

In recent years, Manitoba Conservation has received one to two reports each year about bear cannibalism.

Retired Environment Canada biologist Ian Stirling, who has studied bears all over the arctic, said evidence suggests the cubs are being killed for food, not just so the male can mate with the sow. The Hudson Bay sea ice, which the bears use to get at the seals they need to fatten up for winter, isn’t appearing until weeks later than it used to, he said.

However, an Inuit leader in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut said the incidents are non-events and that it’s wrong to connect the bear’s behaviour with starvation.

“It makes the south — southern people — look so ignorant,” said Kivalliq Inuit Association president Jose Kusugak.

“A male polar bear eating a cub becomes a big story and they try to marry it with climate change and so on, it becomes absurd when it’s a normal normal occurrence,” Kusugak said.

Kusugak admitted some communities are having polar bear problems because warmer than average temperatures means sea ice hasn’t yet formed properly.

But he disagrees that their numbers are dwindling or that polar bears are in other danger because of climate change.

Bears trying to survive longer on fat reserves, conservationists say

Infanticide occurs among all species of bears but can become accentuated among polar bears when they run low on fat reserves and become hungry enough to resort to cannibalism, according to Polar Bears International, a non-profit organization dedicated to the worldwide conservation of polar bears and their Arctic habitat.

Scientists predict that with later formation of ice in the fall and earlier breakup in the spring because of climate warming, polar bears in places like western Hudson Bay will have to survive on land for longer on their diminishing fat reserves instead of hunting seals.

“At this time of year, polar bears are hungry because they have been surviving on their stored fat reserves since the ice cover of Hudson Bay broke up a few months ago. Thus, days they spend waiting for the sea ice to return, they are losing weight and eventually get quite hungry,” said Stirling, who has studied the western Hudson Bay polar bear population for over 35 years.

“During the summer and autumn, polar bears lose up to 30 per cent of their body mass because they burn up to one kilogram of stored body fat every day while they are waiting for the ice to freeze.

“We have observed that the average body condition of the western Hudson Bay polar bears has been declining for almost 30 years. By mid-to-late November, if they can’t get on the sea ice to feed on seals, males may seek out alternate food sources.”

Killing of a cub for food by an adult male has also been recorded in Svalbard, in the Norwegian Arctic, said Stirling.

And in the southern Beaufort Sea, where the body condition of polar bears has also declined apparently because of deteriorating ice conditions, there have been four cases of cannibalism by adult male bears in the last few years.

In those four cases, the victims were three adult females and one yearling, according to Stirling.

Ice breaking up earlier than ever

The average date of breakup of the sea ice in western Hudson Bay is about three weeks earlier than it was 30 years ago, although there is a lot of variation between years, said Robert Buchanan, president of Polar Bears International.

In 2008, the breakup was later, in early August, so the bears came ashore in better condition than in most recent years.

But that advantage has been lost due to the current delay in freeze-up, Buchanan said.

This year may be an even longer wait for the bears to return to the sea ice to hunt as the current long range forecast calls for above average temperatures in the region until the second week of December.

Twenty years ago, the average date the bears returned to the ice was Nov. 8, Buchanan noted.

“While these images are very difficult to look at, we need to remind people that there is hope and each of us can help save polar bears and their habitat,” he said about the photos provided by the organization of the Nov. 20 incident of cannibalism.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2009/12/03/mb-polar-bear-cannibalism-churchill-manitoba.html

Fish the Narrows

Lake Manitoba Ice Fishing Lodges

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www.huntlakemanitobanarrows.com

You don’t just run out there and gun down the wary crow. Take time setting up. He has his blind spots. Learn to use them.

A pair of crows, their big mouths spieling out raucous threats, was tearing in from our right. “Take the front one,” I whispered to Gordie Pleiss, my hunting partner. Blamity blamm! echoed over the field. The pair collapsed in midair, thumping to the ground.

“They never saw us,” chuckled Gordie, stuffing in a new shell to replace the spent one.

“That just shows you how wrong you can be,” I laughed.

The crows were retrieved. They were the first of many to fall for the setup we’d thought impossible. By the time the sun was 10 o’clock high, a sizable stack of black marauders would be piled next to our blind. This first barrage was only the beginning.

Crow blinds are the most important part of successful crow shooting. They are equally as important as a duck blind or a goose blind, in my book – my theory being, the smaller and lower the better. Even if it means waiting and shooting from an uncomfortable position.

In 18 years of trying to outsmart crows, this one thing has been proved over and over. Shooting will be only as good as your preparation in building a blind.

Unfortunately, the best place to shoot crows is usually where there is a scarce amount of available cover. At least this is true in my part of Michigan, were farm fields offer little concealment. Gordie and I had run into this knotty problem on an early spring day last year.

The north-bound crows were just filtering into Michigan after spending their winter vacations south of the Mason-Dixon line. This particular spot was a cut over cornfield.

The crows were using it to supplement their meager spring rations. They were picking up corn left over from a mechanical picker. It was t a five-acre field, with nothing but an old barbed-wire fence and a few trees running through the center. We’d cased the place on numerous occasions; each time we’d given up. At times we’d shot a few crows by drawing them to the far edge, where sufficient cover offered concealment for a gunner.

When we’d arrived on Saturday morning there were about 150 crows frolicking around. Singles and doubles were dropping in quite regularly. Finally I couldn’t stand it any longer. In the back of the sta tion wagon was a brand-new 20-gauge shotgun. I’d gotten delivery on it on Wednesday and was bustin’ to try it out. We just had to figuic on a way to get at this noisy outfit.

Lookouts in trees are a must in crow shooting. Sentries give incoming crows the assurance all is well. They also can be seen a long way off.

“To heck with it,” I finally said, putting down the binocular. “Let’s try to make a blind with the camou flaged netting, right next to that tree. That way we’ll be protected from the right, and if we keep it low, we can pull up some grass to give it a natural look.”

“What can we lose?” agreed my partner.

I slung the carrying case over my shoulder, and after Gordie grabbed the guns, we set out across the field.

Crows lifted in a screaming mass, hollering about being disturbed from their morning breakfast. Dig ging out two rotten fence posts, we propped them up, stringing the 20-foot piece of camouflaged netting around them. With two six-foot pieces of light metal tubing, carried for just this purpose, we made enough room to shoot from a kneeling position.

A made-over mosquito-netting tent is the most important part of an effective crow rig, it can be used anywhere as a base to build from.

Hunt Lake Manitoba Narrows

http://huntlakemanitobanarrows.com/

Manitoba Auto Dealers

There’s a “perfect” rifle for every man; but it takes study, time and know-how to find it

There are two broad, general schools of traditional varmint-hunting devotees. For this particular narrative we shall classify them in this manner, anyway, to spare you a belaboring of way-out aspects of the game. The first type we’ll define as “The Stalker.” This good chap gets his jollies by steathily approaching Farmer Rogowski’s north pasture in quest of a grizzled trophy-type woodchuck. He cautiously peeks through the hedgerow with the skill of a Sioux warrior contemplating a mayhem on a hapless sodbuster. When our hero locates a good woodchuck specimen munching away with contented abandon on Brother Rogowski’s alfalfa, his joy knows no bounds. With exaggerated concern, he moistens a forefinger and tests the wind with the care of a top grizzly guide. He observes the contour of the terrain and mentally notes each bush, tree, knoll and other area of concealment. His purpose is to get as close as possible to the quarry.

     When he achieves this (and it isn’t easy to do), he is often within 50 feet of the trophy. He sometimes shoots it in the head or neck, carefully placing his bullet for the ideal instantaneous kill. His rifle? It more often than not is a .22 rimfire with open sights.

     The other breed of varmint hunter, extravagantly overwhelming in numbers (and popularity), we can safely refer to as “The Rifleman.” While his ultimate goal (a clean kill) is the same as the Stalker’s, he goes at it a bit differently. His objective (in a manner of speaking) is to get, within reasonable limits, as far from the mark as seems prudent. Instead of stalking-type terrain, he seeks a good open shot – with a safe background so that his bullet fragments (in the event of a miss) will not jeopardize person, beast or property. In passing, varmint bullets from high-velocity rifles do not ricochet, as do .22s and other low velocity cartridges – hence, they are safe even in settled areas.

     But to resume - the farther away from the chuck (or whichever) The Riffleman can get, within the capabilities of his rifle, the better he likes it. His rifle, It’s a flat-shooting precision centerfire with telescope sight. He often locates his varmint with binocular and even studies it with spotting scope (checking mirage). He has to learn to be an excellent judge of distance and wind, else he’ll miss more than a hit. (Many advanced varmint hunters would just as soon have a close miss as a hit. If they strike within an inch or two of the chuck, they consider it a hit.)

     It is significant that in each instance the technique strongly resembles that of serious big-game hunting. It is no secret that long-experienced varmint hunters are the most successful big-game trophy hunters on the continent. For when the chips are done, they rarely fail to anchor their ram, grizzly or other species. Woodchuck hunting is, these days, the very best training for big-game markmanship, for the methods are quite similar – and any fellow used to knocking off a wary woodchuck with regularity is going to have no trouble getting a bullet into the lung cavity of big game. Even if he has a “touch of the buck,” as all humans do on occasion, he automatically and subconsciously shoots well, because of his long training in the field with comparatively tiny beasts at unknown ranges. Not to say that other varmint hunting isn’t excellent too - such as gunning for jackrabbits, coyotes, crows, marpies, prairie dogs, ground squirrels and so forth. It is all good and all fun.

     I have employed both techniques, but my interest is irrevocably entrenched in that of the Rifleman. I get no particular kick out of stalking close to varmints, unless it is for study or photographic purposes. This is merely a matter of personal preference, nothing more, and is akin to the fact that some guys get a glazed look at the sight a voluptous blonde whereas others assume the expression of a stricken moose calf when they feast their eyes upon a svelte brunette.

     I have an affliction concerning rifles that could best be described as a recurring ailment. We’ve all heard tales of how the moon affects animals and people. A well-designed and accurate example of the gun art is a source of infinite joy and satisfaction to its owner.

Winnipeg Auto Financing

Dick Herfindahl, Woods & Water

Published Friday, November 6, 2009

I have often stated that fall is my favorite season. Although the weather can be a real mixed bag, it is still No. 1 with me.

I don’t think that there is anything more refreshing than taking a nice long walk on a brisk sunny fall day. My favorite time to walk is early morning when everything seems just a little fresher. While walking the side streets of our neighborhood there are times when the occasional smell of someone cooking breakfast floats in the breeze. There is no mistaking the aroma of bacon being cooked and then there is the smell of someone’s wood stove or fireplace, which always gives me a cozy feeling. Another smell that I always associate with fall is when we were allowed to burn leaves in town, that is another smell that, of course, is truly unique.

This is the time of year when I enjoy just driving around the countryside and taking in the beauty of fall. There doesn’t have to be any fall foliage left on the trees for one to enjoy the beauty of the countryside. The different shades of rust and brown and of course the golden color of the dead grass and the still-standing corn add to the colorful countryside.

Most of this year’s corn crop is still in the fields because of our rain-filled fall and I hope we get the much-needed dry weather so that the farmers can get the crops out before the snow falls. While driving around the lake the other day it was nice to just take in the beauty of a sunny, late fall day. A few fishermen were scattered along the channel below the dam and down by Frank Hall Park where some nice perch were being caught.

The perch bite should be good right up until ice-over.

Dick Herfindahl

With the start of deer season I mentioned in my last column about being safety conscious. I have known a few folks that have done some pretty remarkably dumb things and still managed to be with us.

On one occasion a guy that I knew decided that staying up most of the night consuming alcohol and then going hunting was OK. He then proceeded to take a bottle of brandy with him to the deer stand (to keep warm?). About an hour into it his hunting partner heard a terrible commotion and went to check and found that the guy had apparently passed out and toppled out of his deer stand.

Luckily he wasn’t hurt but it could have been a real disaster. This is probably a worse case scenario (except for serious injury) but it did actually happen. There is always plenty of time to socialize with your hunting buddies after the hunt is done. Alcohol and guns just do not go well together and the aforementioned person is lucky to be around to hunt another day.

Musky talk

The November meeting of Southern Crossroads Chapter 54 of Muskies Inc. will be Wednesday, at 7 p.m. at Eagles Club in Owatonna.

Our speaker is Randy Jacobs. Randy has guided for 30-plus years from Southern Missouri to Manitoba. He has guided for muskies in Northern Minnesota.

There will be nominations for officers and board members for the coming year. Keep your calendar open for our open to the public, third annual, money for muskies banquet, Dec. 2 at 6 p.m. at Eagles Club in Owatonna. Our speaker is Bob Mehsikomer, host of TV show, “Simply Fishing.” Bob reveals his secrets for finding and catching big fish and educates people on fishing techniques etc. There will be door prizes, raffles, silent auction, and special events and drawing for kids. Tickets are $20, kids 12 and under free. Chicken and ribs dinner. Ticket info call 507-390-3549 or 507-259-5074. Help support and improve musky fishing in Southern Minnesota.

Our meetings are second Wednesday of every month that includes informative speakers, door prizes, raffle, updates and reports. Also, great conversation. Anyone interested in musky fishing is always welcome. Musky hunters bring a friend and check us out. Check our Web site, www.michapter54.com.

I know of quite a few local anglers that venture north to Red Lake during the “hard water” fishing season so the following news release from the DNR may be of interest:

Upper Red Lake walleye regulations to change Dec. 1

Upper Red Lake walleye anglers still can keep four fish beginning Dec. 1, but all walleye 17-to 26-inches in length must be immediately released. Anglers can keep one walleye longer than 26 inches.The change from the open water 20- to 26-inch protected slot limit to the winter 17-to 26-inch protected slot limit that begins, Dec. 1 will continue through Feb. 28, 2010.

The estimated open-water walleye harvest from state waters of Upper Red Lake for 2009 was 147,000 pounds. That harvest level is 21,000 pounds below the threshold that would trigger a more conservative three-fish limit.

Regulations for the 2010 open water fishing season will be determined later this winter and announced in advance of the walleye opener on May 15, 2010.

More fishing and hunting:

CROSBY — Walleye fishing continues to be productive on Rabbit, Serpent, Pelican and the Mississippi River. Jigs and minnows have been the setup of choice, while Lindy Rigs, crankbaits and jigs tipped with plastic have been producing some fish as well. Key depths all around have been 20-22 feet.

Some trout have been caught as well on Pennington, Huntington and Portsmouth pits from boats on crankbaits, while Manual has been kicking out some rainbows as well. Grouse hunters have been reporting some success in the area, and waterfowlers have been seeing plenty of geese to supplement their duck numbers. Most of the birds in the area are mallards at this time, with lots of birds still using the river and the backwater ricebeds. Archery hunters registered a few more deer this past week than before, signaling a jump in deer activity.

ELY — Bird hunting still tops the list of outdoor activities, with most hunters scoring at least a couple of grouse each trip. Crappies are starting to show up in some better numbers. Twin Lakes, White Iron and Fall lakes are the spots to be. The fish are suspended 6 to 10 feet from the bottom in 20 to 35 feet of water. Minnows under a slip bobber or jigs tipped with a minnow seems to be working best. Walleyes are beginning to turn up in the deeper holes on Shagawa Lake and White Iron with floating jig heads or floating Lindy rigs being the top producers. If you get a break in the foul weather try to make one last trip of the season before putting the boat up for winter. Remember, the weather can change rapidly, so always wear a life jacket when on these colder waters.

WATERVILLE — Walleyes hitting the near the bridge on Sakatah using Rapalas. Also Lake Elysian is giving up a few walleyes to the shore fisherman near Highway 60.

LEECH LAKE — Leech Lake’s hot news is the muskies! We have heard of eight muskies caught and released over 50 inches in the last 10 days — the biggest 54 inches — but fishermen reported seeing a bigger one beside the boat. Walker Narrows, Pelican Island, are the two most fished spots. Perch and walleyes are still going strong on a jig and minnow. Crappie action is also picking up. Fall is a busy time, but if you can break away, it could really pay! Fishing in November is awesome and the lake is not very busy — great time to catch a wall hanger! There is a lot more to do up here as well — grouse numbers are up and deer are plentiful. Archery season has been great for me personally and I have talked to many people seeing lots of young deer. I have never been a trophy hunter but there are some around. Lots of public land, so come enjoy Leech Lake area with us!

Until next time keep fishn’, hunt safe and always take a little time to enjoy our great Minnesota outdoors.

Remember to keep our troops in your thoughts and prayers throughout the year.
http://www.albertleatribune.com/news/2009/nov/06/take-time-enjoy-crisp-fall-days/Dick Herfindahl, Woods & Water

I have often stated that fall is my favorite season. Although the weather can be a real mixed bag, it is still No. 1 with me.

I don’t think that there is anything more refreshing than taking a nice long walk on a brisk sunny fall day. My favorite time to walk is early morning when everything seems just a little fresher. While walking the side streets of our neighborhood there are times when the occasional smell of someone cooking breakfast floats in the breeze. There is no mistaking the aroma of bacon being cooked and then there is the smell of someone’s wood stove or fireplace, which always gives me a cozy feeling. Another smell that I always associate with fall is when we were allowed to burn leaves in town, that is another smell that, of course, is truly unique.

This is the time of year when I enjoy just driving around the countryside and taking in the beauty of fall. There doesn’t have to be any fall foliage left on the trees for one to enjoy the beauty of the countryside. The different shades of rust and brown and of course the golden color of the dead grass and the still-standing corn add to the colorful countryside.

Most of this year’s corn crop is still in the fields because of our rain-filled fall and I hope we get the much-needed dry weather so that the farmers can get the crops out before the snow falls. While driving around the lake the other day it was nice to just take in the beauty of a sunny, late fall day. A few fishermen were scattered along the channel below the dam and down by Frank Hall Park where some nice perch were being caught.

The perch bite should be good right up until ice-over.

Dick Herfindahl

With the start of deer season I mentioned in my last column about being safety conscious. I have known a few folks that have done some pretty remarkably dumb things and still managed to be with us.

On one occasion a guy that I knew decided that staying up most of the night consuming alcohol and then going hunting was OK. He then proceeded to take a bottle of brandy with him to the deer stand (to keep warm?). About an hour into it his hunting partner heard a terrible commotion and went to check and found that the guy had apparently passed out and toppled out of his deer stand.

Luckily he wasn’t hurt but it could have been a real disaster. This is probably a worse case scenario (except for serious injury) but it did actually happen. There is always plenty of time to socialize with your hunting buddies after the hunt is done. Alcohol and guns just do not go well together and the aforementioned person is lucky to be around to hunt another day.

Musky talk

The November meeting of Southern Crossroads Chapter 54 of Muskies Inc. will be Wednesday, at 7 p.m. at Eagles Club in Owatonna.

Our speaker is Randy Jacobs. Randy has guided for 30-plus years from Southern Missouri to Manitoba. He has guided for muskies in Northern Minnesota.

There will be nominations for officers and board members for the coming year. Keep your calendar open for our open to the public, third annual, money for muskies banquet, Dec. 2 at 6 p.m. at Eagles Club in Owatonna. Our speaker is Bob Mehsikomer, host of TV show, “Simply Fishing.” Bob reveals his secrets for finding and catching big fish and educates people on fishing techniques etc. There will be door prizes, raffles, silent auction, and special events and drawing for kids. Tickets are $20, kids 12 and under free. Chicken and ribs dinner. Ticket info call 507-390-3549 or 507-259-5074. Help support and improve musky fishing in Southern Minnesota.

Our meetings are second Wednesday of every month that includes informative speakers, door prizes, raffle, updates and reports. Also, great conversation. Anyone interested in musky fishing is always welcome. Musky hunters bring a friend and check us out. Check our Web site, www.michapter54.com.

I know of quite a few local anglers that venture north to Red Lake during the “hard water” fishing season so the following news release from the DNR may be of interest:

Upper Red Lake walleye regulations to change Dec. 1

Upper Red Lake walleye anglers still can keep four fish beginning Dec. 1, but all walleye 17-to 26-inches in length must be immediately released. Anglers can keep one walleye longer than 26 inches.The change from the open water 20- to 26-inch protected slot limit to the winter 17-to 26-inch protected slot limit that begins, Dec. 1 will continue through Feb. 28, 2010.

The estimated open-water walleye harvest from state waters of Upper Red Lake for 2009 was 147,000 pounds. That harvest level is 21,000 pounds below the threshold that would trigger a more conservative three-fish limit.

Regulations for the 2010 open water fishing season will be determined later this winter and announced in advance of the walleye opener on May 15, 2010.

More fishing and hunting:

CROSBY — Walleye fishing continues to be productive on Rabbit, Serpent, Pelican and the Mississippi River. Jigs and minnows have been the setup of choice, while Lindy Rigs, crankbaits and jigs tipped with plastic have been producing some fish as well. Key depths all around have been 20-22 feet.

Some trout have been caught as well on Pennington, Huntington and Portsmouth pits from boats on crankbaits, while Manual has been kicking out some rainbows as well. Grouse hunters have been reporting some success in the area, and waterfowlers have been seeing plenty of geese to supplement their duck numbers. Most of the birds in the area are mallards at this time, with lots of birds still using the river and the backwater ricebeds. Archery hunters registered a few more deer this past week than before, signaling a jump in deer activity.

ELY — Bird hunting still tops the list of outdoor activities, with most hunters scoring at least a couple of grouse each trip. Crappies are starting to show up in some better numbers. Twin Lakes, White Iron and Fall lakes are the spots to be. The fish are suspended 6 to 10 feet from the bottom in 20 to 35 feet of water. Minnows under a slip bobber or jigs tipped with a minnow seems to be working best. Walleyes are beginning to turn up in the deeper holes on Shagawa Lake and White Iron with floating jig heads or floating Lindy rigs being the top producers. If you get a break in the foul weather try to make one last trip of the season before putting the boat up for winter. Remember, the weather can change rapidly, so always wear a life jacket when on these colder waters.

WATERVILLE — Walleyes hitting the near the bridge on Sakatah using Rapalas. Also Lake Elysian is giving up a few walleyes to the shore fisherman near Highway 60.

LEECH LAKE — Leech Lake’s hot news is the muskies! We have heard of eight muskies caught and released over 50 inches in the last 10 days — the biggest 54 inches — but fishermen reported seeing a bigger one beside the boat. Walker Narrows, Pelican Island, are the two most fished spots. Perch and walleyes are still going strong on a jig and minnow. Crappie action is also picking up. Fall is a busy time, but if you can break away, it could really pay! Fishing in November is awesome and the lake is not very busy — great time to catch a wall hanger! There is a lot more to do up here as well — grouse numbers are up and deer are plentiful. Archery season has been great for me personally and I have talked to many people seeing lots of young deer. I have never been a trophy hunter but there are some around. Lots of public land, so come enjoy Leech Lake area with us!

Until next time keep fishn’, hunt safe and always take a little time to enjoy our great Minnesota outdoors.

Remember to keep our troops in your thoughts and prayers throughout the year.

http://www.albertleatribune.com/news/2009/nov/06/take-time-enjoy-crisp-fall-days/

http://www.resolutionmediation.net

British Columbia Auto Financing

Hunt Lake Manitoba NarrowsDick Herfindahl, Woods & Water

Published Friday, November 6, 2009

I have often stated that fall is my favorite season. Although the weather can be a real mixed bag, it is still No. 1 with me.

I don’t think that there is anything more refreshing than taking a nice long walk on a brisk sunny fall day. My favorite time to walk is early morning when everything seems just a little fresher. While walking the side streets of our neighborhood there are times when the occasional smell of someone cooking breakfast floats in the breeze. There is no mistaking the aroma of bacon being cooked and then there is the smell of someone’s wood stove or fireplace, which always gives me a cozy feeling. Another smell that I always associate with fall is when we were allowed to burn leaves in town, that is another smell that, of course, is truly unique.

This is the time of year when I enjoy just driving around the countryside and taking in the beauty of fall. There doesn’t have to be any fall foliage left on the trees for one to enjoy the beauty of the countryside. The different shades of rust and brown and of course the golden color of the dead grass and the still-standing corn add to the colorful countryside.

Most of this year’s corn crop is still in the fields because of our rain-filled fall and I hope we get the much-needed dry weather so that the farmers can get the crops out before the snow falls. While driving around the lake the other day it was nice to just take in the beauty of a sunny, late fall day. A few fishermen were scattered along the channel below the dam and down by Frank Hall Park where some nice perch were being caught.

The perch bite should be good right up until ice-over.

Dick Herfindahl

With the start of deer season I mentioned in my last column about being safety conscious. I have known a few folks that have done some pretty remarkably dumb things and still managed to be with us.

On one occasion a guy that I knew decided that staying up most of the night consuming alcohol and then going hunting was OK. He then proceeded to take a bottle of brandy with him to the deer stand (to keep warm?). About an hour into it his hunting partner heard a terrible commotion and went to check and found that the guy had apparently passed out and toppled out of his deer stand.

Luckily he wasn’t hurt but it could have been a real disaster. This is probably a worse case scenario (except for serious injury) but it did actually happen. There is always plenty of time to socialize with your hunting buddies after the hunt is done. Alcohol and guns just do not go well together and the aforementioned person is lucky to be around to hunt another day.

Musky talk

The November meeting of Southern Crossroads Chapter 54 of Muskies Inc. will be Wednesday, at 7 p.m. at Eagles Club in Owatonna.

Our speaker is Randy Jacobs. Randy has guided for 30-plus years from Southern Missouri to Manitoba. He has guided for muskies in Northern Minnesota.

There will be nominations for officers and board members for the coming year. Keep your calendar open for our open to the public, third annual, money for muskies banquet, Dec. 2 at 6 p.m. at Eagles Club in Owatonna. Our speaker is Bob Mehsikomer, host of TV show, “Simply Fishing.” Bob reveals his secrets for finding and catching big fish and educates people on fishing techniques etc. There will be door prizes, raffles, silent auction, and special events and drawing for kids. Tickets are $20, kids 12 and under free. Chicken and ribs dinner. Ticket info call 507-390-3549 or 507-259-5074. Help support and improve musky fishing in Southern Minnesota.

Our meetings are second Wednesday of every month that includes informative speakers, door prizes, raffle, updates and reports. Also, great conversation. Anyone interested in musky fishing is always welcome. Musky hunters bring a friend and check us out. Check our Web site, www.michapter54.com.

I know of quite a few local anglers that venture north to Red Lake during the “hard water” fishing season so the following news release from the DNR may be of interest:

Upper Red Lake walleye regulations to change Dec. 1

Upper Red Lake walleye anglers still can keep four fish beginning Dec. 1, but all walleye 17-to 26-inches in length must be immediately released. Anglers can keep one walleye longer than 26 inches.The change from the open water 20- to 26-inch protected slot limit to the winter 17-to 26-inch protected slot limit that begins, Dec. 1 will continue through Feb. 28, 2010.

The estimated open-water walleye harvest from state waters of Upper Red Lake for 2009 was 147,000 pounds. That harvest level is 21,000 pounds below the threshold that would trigger a more conservative three-fish limit.

Regulations for the 2010 open water fishing season will be determined later this winter and announced in advance of the walleye opener on May 15, 2010.

More fishing and hunting:

CROSBY — Walleye fishing continues to be productive on Rabbit, Serpent, Pelican and the Mississippi River. Jigs and minnows have been the setup of choice, while Lindy Rigs, crankbaits and jigs tipped with plastic have been producing some fish as well. Key depths all around have been 20-22 feet.

Some trout have been caught as well on Pennington, Huntington and Portsmouth pits from boats on crankbaits, while Manual has been kicking out some rainbows as well. Grouse hunters have been reporting some success in the area, and waterfowlers have been seeing plenty of geese to supplement their duck numbers. Most of the birds in the area are mallards at this time, with lots of birds still using the river and the backwater ricebeds. Archery hunters registered a few more deer this past week than before, signaling a jump in deer activity.

ELY — Bird hunting still tops the list of outdoor activities, with most hunters scoring at least a couple of grouse each trip. Crappies are starting to show up in some better numbers. Twin Lakes, White Iron and Fall lakes are the spots to be. The fish are suspended 6 to 10 feet from the bottom in 20 to 35 feet of water. Minnows under a slip bobber or jigs tipped with a minnow seems to be working best. Walleyes are beginning to turn up in the deeper holes on Shagawa Lake and White Iron with floating jig heads or floating Lindy rigs being the top producers. If you get a break in the foul weather try to make one last trip of the season before putting the boat up for winter. Remember, the weather can change rapidly, so always wear a life jacket when on these colder waters.

WATERVILLE — Walleyes hitting the near the bridge on Sakatah using Rapalas. Also Lake Elysian is giving up a few walleyes to the shore fisherman near Highway 60.

LEECH LAKE — Leech Lake’s hot news is the muskies! We have heard of eight muskies caught and released over 50 inches in the last 10 days — the biggest 54 inches — but fishermen reported seeing a bigger one beside the boat. Walker Narrows, Pelican Island, are the two most fished spots. Perch and walleyes are still going strong on a jig and minnow. Crappie action is also picking up. Fall is a busy time, but if you can break away, it could really pay! Fishing in November is awesome and the lake is not very busy — great time to catch a wall hanger! There is a lot more to do up here as well — grouse numbers are up and deer are plentiful. Archery season has been great for me personally and I have talked to many people seeing lots of young deer. I have never been a trophy hunter but there are some around. Lots of public land, so come enjoy Leech Lake area with us!

Until next time keep fishn’, hunt safe and always take a little time to enjoy our great Minnesota outdoors.

Remember to keep our troops in your thoughts and prayers throughout the year.

http://www.albertleatribune.com/news/2009/nov/06/take-time-enjoy-crisp-fall-days/

New Brunswick’s largest gun shop owner is shedding no tears over the passage of a federal private member’s bill that is designed to kill Canada’s long-gun registry.

Ross Faulkner, the owner of the McAdam, N.B.-based Gun Dealer, sells more than 9,000 firearms annually.

That means Faulkner is required to enter data in a book and again online in the federal registry each time he sells a weapon. This task creates hours of work each day, especially in hunting season when he said he can sell 40 rifles or shotguns a day.

Faulkner said he is relieved to hear the registry could soon be shut down.

“I think common sense has prevailed. The objective to eliminate crime in Canada has not been met. It’s been too costly,” he said.

“I believe that the money that could be saved here would be better used by putting police on the streets where we do have problems with crime.”

Faulkner said he does not accept the position of Canada’s police chiefs that they need the information collected by the Miramichi, N.B.-based registry.

“I cannot believe that they continue to say this. The information is already available at store level,” he said.

“The police chiefs know there is a lot of inaccuracies in the system. It is not 100 per cent accurate.”

In an annual report from Canada’s firearms commissioner prepared by the RCMP, police said they used the registry more than 2.5 million times in 2007.
Liberals introduced gun registry

The Conservatives have long opposed the gun registry, brought in by a former Liberal government in response to the killing of 14 women at Montreal’s L’École Polytéchnique in 1989.

Conservatives often argue the long-gun registry has been a billion-dollar boondoggle.

However, a 2006 study by the auditor general found that eliminating the long-gun portion of the registry would only save taxpayers about $3 million a year.

Manitoba Tory backbencher Candice Hoeppner’s private member’s bill to eliminate the long-gun registry still has a few parliamentary hurdles to overcome before people such as Faulkner can finally say goodbye to the gun registry.

The bill must go to a parliamentary committee for examination before heading back to the House of Commons and the Senate for votes.

With support from 18 Liberals and New Democrats, the private member’s bill passed second reading 164-137.

Madawaska-Restigouche Liberal MP Jean-Claude D’Amours voted with the Conservatives in support of ending the gun registry.

Liberal MPs Dominic LeBlanc and Brian Murphy and NDP MP Yvon Godin voted against the bill, while the province’s Tory MPs all endorsed the private member’s bill.

If passed, Bill C-391 would scrap the decade-old registry and destroy existing data within the system on about seven million shotguns and rifles.
Rural opposition

Opposition against the gun registry was especially acute in rural areas of Canada.

In New Brunswick, several Liberal backbenchers have voted against the gun registry over the years, fearing a backlash in their ridings.

But not everyone is celebrating the loss of the gun registry.

Deborah Glazebrook, a St. Stephen resident, said the gun registry is needed to protect police officers entering homes where there are domestic disputes.

“They might be able to keep an eye on what’s going on with different houses,” she said.

“They could say, OK, this household has registration of four guns, this name keeps popping up.”

She said she hopes MPs think twice about scrapping it before their final vote.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2009/11/06/nb-gun-registry-reaction-541.htmlNew Brunswick’s largest gun shop owner is shedding no tears over the passage of a federal private member’s bill that is designed to kill Canada’s long-gun registry.

Ross Faulkner, the owner of the McAdam, N.B.-based Gun Dealer, sells more than 9,000 firearms annually.

That means Faulkner is required to enter data in a book and again online in the federal registry each time he sells a weapon. This task creates hours of work each day, especially in hunting season when he said he can sell 40 rifles or shotguns a day.

Faulkner said he is relieved to hear the registry could soon be shut down.

“I think common sense has prevailed. The objective to eliminate crime in Canada has not been met. It’s been too costly,” he said.

“I believe that the money that could be saved here would be better used by putting police on the streets where we do have problems with crime.”

Faulkner said he does not accept the position of Canada’s police chiefs that they need the information collected by the Miramichi, N.B.-based registry.

“I cannot believe that they continue to say this. The information is already available at store level,” he said.

“The police chiefs know there is a lot of inaccuracies in the system. It is not 100 per cent accurate.”

In an annual report from Canada’s firearms commissioner prepared by the RCMP, police said they used the registry more than 2.5 million times in 2007.
Liberals introduced gun registry

The Conservatives have long opposed the gun registry, brought in by a former Liberal government in response to the killing of 14 women at Montreal’s L’École Polytéchnique in 1989.

Conservatives often argue the long-gun registry has been a billion-dollar boondoggle.

However, a 2006 study by the auditor general found that eliminating the long-gun portion of the registry would only save taxpayers about $3 million a year.

Manitoba Tory backbencher Candice Hoeppner’s private member’s bill to eliminate the long-gun registry still has a few parliamentary hurdles to overcome before people such as Faulkner can finally say goodbye to the gun registry.

The bill must go to a parliamentary committee for examination before heading back to the House of Commons and the Senate for votes.

With support from 18 Liberals and New Democrats, the private member’s bill passed second reading 164-137.

Madawaska-Restigouche Liberal MP Jean-Claude D’Amours voted with the Conservatives in support of ending the gun registry.

Liberal MPs Dominic LeBlanc and Brian Murphy and NDP MP Yvon Godin voted against the bill, while the province’s Tory MPs all endorsed the private member’s bill.

If passed, Bill C-391 would scrap the decade-old registry and destroy existing data within the system on about seven million shotguns and rifles.
Rural opposition

Opposition against the gun registry was especially acute in rural areas of Canada.

In New Brunswick, several Liberal backbenchers have voted against the gun registry over the years, fearing a backlash in their ridings.

But not everyone is celebrating the loss of the gun registry.

Deborah Glazebrook, a St. Stephen resident, said the gun registry is needed to protect police officers entering homes where there are domestic disputes.

“They might be able to keep an eye on what’s going on with different houses,” she said.

“They could say, OK, this household has registration of four guns, this name keeps popping up.”

She said she hopes MPs think twice about scrapping it before their final vote.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2009/11/06/nb-gun-registry-reaction-541.html

British Columbia Auto Financing

Winnipeg Auto Financing

Hunt Lake Manitoba Narrows

www.huntlakemanitobanarrows.com

New Brunswick’s largest gun shop owner is shedding no tears over the passage of a federal private member’s bill that is designed to kill Canada’s long-gun registry.

Ross Faulkner, the owner of the McAdam, N.B.-based Gun Dealer, sells more than 9,000 firearms annually.

That means Faulkner is required to enter data in a book and again online in the federal registry each time he sells a weapon. This task creates hours of work each day, especially in hunting season when he said he can sell 40 rifles or shotguns a day.

Faulkner said he is relieved to hear the registry could soon be shut down.

“I think common sense has prevailed. The objective to eliminate crime in Canada has not been met. It’s been too costly,” he said.

“I believe that the money that could be saved here would be better used by putting police on the streets where we do have problems with crime.”

Faulkner said he does not accept the position of Canada’s police chiefs that they need the information collected by the Miramichi, N.B.-based registry.

“I cannot believe that they continue to say this. The information is already available at store level,” he said.

“The police chiefs know there is a lot of inaccuracies in the system. It is not 100 per cent accurate.”

In an annual report from Canada’s firearms commissioner prepared by the RCMP, police said they used the registry more than 2.5 million times in 2007.
Liberals introduced gun registry

The Conservatives have long opposed the gun registry, brought in by a former Liberal government in response to the killing of 14 women at Montreal’s L’École Polytéchnique in 1989.

Conservatives often argue the long-gun registry has been a billion-dollar boondoggle.

However, a 2006 study by the auditor general found that eliminating the long-gun portion of the registry would only save taxpayers about $3 million a year.

Manitoba Tory backbencher Candice Hoeppner’s private member’s bill to eliminate the long-gun registry still has a few parliamentary hurdles to overcome before people such as Faulkner can finally say goodbye to the gun registry.

The bill must go to a parliamentary committee for examination before heading back to the House of Commons and the Senate for votes.

With support from 18 Liberals and New Democrats, the private member’s bill passed second reading 164-137.

Madawaska-Restigouche Liberal MP Jean-Claude D’Amours voted with the Conservatives in support of ending the gun registry.

Liberal MPs Dominic LeBlanc and Brian Murphy and NDP MP Yvon Godin voted against the bill, while the province’s Tory MPs all endorsed the private member’s bill.

If passed, Bill C-391 would scrap the decade-old registry and destroy existing data within the system on about seven million shotguns and rifles.
Rural opposition

Opposition against the gun registry was especially acute in rural areas of Canada.

In New Brunswick, several Liberal backbenchers have voted against the gun registry over the years, fearing a backlash in their ridings.

But not everyone is celebrating the loss of the gun registry.

Deborah Glazebrook, a St. Stephen resident, said the gun registry is needed to protect police officers entering homes where there are domestic disputes.

“They might be able to keep an eye on what’s going on with different houses,” she said.

“They could say, OK, this household has registration of four guns, this name keeps popping up.”

She said she hopes MPs think twice about scrapping it before their final vote.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2009/11/06/nb-gun-registry-reaction-541.html

Tom Longboat had a lot to lose when he joined the army in 1916.

An Onondaga from the Six Nations Grand River Reserve in Ontario, Longboat was a world champion long-distance runner. In 1907 he won the Boston Marathon in record time, and two years later triumphed in the world professional marathon championships at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

His athletic career was thriving. Nonetheless at the age of 29 he set it all aside and went to fight in the chaos that was Europe during the First World War.

Longboat was just one of the estimated 15,000 Aboriginals, including Inuit and Métis, who served in the Boer War of 1899, the First and Second World Wars, and the Korean War. Of these, more than 500 lost their lives.

In both world wars, Canadian aboriginal soldiers were part of every major land battle and campaign, and earned many medals and decorations. Some excelled as snipers and reconnaissance scouts, drawing upon their traditional hunting and warrior skills.

Tom Longboat was able to put his prowess as a runner to good use—he became a dispatch carrier with the 107th Pioneer Battalion in France, running messages and orders between units.

Many of them struggled afterwards because they weren’t prepared to go back to that same subservient role that was expected of them at that time and I think it was a difficult homecoming.” — Scott Sheffield

Most aboriginal recruits served in the army because Canada’s navy and air force had race restrictions. Although natives were not obliged to join the armed forces, enthusiasm was such that some reserves became almost depleted of young men.

As with non-aboriginals, the reasons natives so eagerly joined up were many and varied. But for some communities it may have been a “culturally driven thing,” says Scott Sheffield, a historian at the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia.

“Some of the Plains First Nations had strong warrior traditions and those had become impossible to sustain with the onset of the reserve era in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many hundreds of Plains First Nations men were able to enlist and serve in the First World War and maybe recapture or sustain some of those warrior traditions.”

There’s also no doubt, Sheffield says, that some Aboriginals—living at the time in a society where racial prejudice was very real in their daily existence—enlisted out of a desire to prove themselves.

Sergeant Tommy Prince (R) was the most highly decorated aboriginal soldier of WW II and did two tours of duty in the Korean War. (Library and Archives Canada)
“Soldiers like Tommy Prince, for example, the most highly decorated indigenous soldier of the Second World War. Some of the biographies that have been done on his existence talk about him almost having a chip on his shoulder; he just had to prove himself as good as or better than any white man. And his war service was really quite extraordinary, perhaps in part because of that driving need.”

A member of Manitoba’s Brokenhead Ojibway Nation, Prince was one of Canada’s most decorated soldiers. A hero of both the Second World War and the Korean War, he was one of the few non-Americans ever awarded the Silver Star, an American decoration for gallantry in action.

One of Prince’s legendary feats of bravery occurred in the summer of 1944 when he walked across miles of mountainous terrain deep behind German lines in southern France to locate an enemy camp, going days without food or water. He reported back and led his brigade to the encampment, which resulted in the capture of more than 1,000 German soldiers.

But Prince returned from Europe to a country where Aboriginals were not deemed citizens and didn’t have the right to vote. To add insult to injury, aboriginal veterans had to fight another kind of war when they got home in order to receive the same benefits and assistance as white veterans were given.

Coming home was also problematic for many because they had been treated as equals while in the army—they were accepted and respected. And while training in England aboriginal soldiers could go to a pub and have a beer with their comrades, something they couldn’t do in Canada where status Indians were banned from any place that served alcohol.

In addition, life back on the reserve was controlled in large part by Indian agents, many of whom ruled with an iron fist, says Sheffield.

“A lot of veterans didn’t want to take that any more. Many of them struggled afterwards because they weren’t prepared to go back to that same subservient role that was expected of them at that time and I think it was a difficult homecoming.”

This may explain why, after the start of the Korean War, many Aboriginals who had fought in Europe re-enlisted.

“When Korea broke out, the first contingent that was recruited to go overseas in 1950 had a large number of Indian soldiers,” says Sheffield, who is conducting a study on the comparative wartime and post-war experiences of the indigenous peoples of Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.

Aboriginal women also contributed during WW II as nurses tending the sick and wounded soldiers. They also helped raise funds to provide medical supplies and comforts for the troops, and served in non-combatant roles in the women’s branches of the forces.

Tommy Prince did two tours of duty in Korea. By the time the war ended, he walked with a noticeable limp from a previous knee injury and was discharged from the army with a disability pension. Sadly, he descended into alcoholism and poverty and died, anonymous and virtually alone, in 1977 at the age of 62.

As for Tom Longboat, he was wounded twice during his time of service and was once ‘missing declared dead,’ but he survived the war and returned to Canada. He died in 1949, also at the age of 62. He is a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and the Indian Hall of Fame.
Last Updated
Nov 5, 2009

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/24812/Tom Longboat had a lot to lose when he joined the army in 1916.

An Onondaga from the Six Nations Grand River Reserve in Ontario, Longboat was a world champion long-distance runner. In 1907 he won the Boston Marathon in record time, and two years later triumphed in the world professional marathon championships at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

His athletic career was thriving. Nonetheless at the age of 29 he set it all aside and went to fight in the chaos that was Europe during the First World War.

Longboat was just one of the estimated 15,000 Aboriginals, including Inuit and Métis, who served in the Boer War of 1899, the First and Second World Wars, and the Korean War. Of these, more than 500 lost their lives.

In both world wars, Canadian aboriginal soldiers were part of every major land battle and campaign, and earned many medals and decorations. Some excelled as snipers and reconnaissance scouts, drawing upon their traditional hunting and warrior skills.

Tom Longboat was able to put his prowess as a runner to good use—he became a dispatch carrier with the 107th Pioneer Battalion in France, running messages and orders between units.

Many of them struggled afterwards because they weren’t prepared to go back to that same subservient role that was expected of them at that time and I think it was a difficult homecoming.” — Scott Sheffield

Most aboriginal recruits served in the army because Canada’s navy and air force had race restrictions. Although natives were not obliged to join the armed forces, enthusiasm was such that some reserves became almost depleted of young men.

As with non-aboriginals, the reasons natives so eagerly joined up were many and varied. But for some communities it may have been a “culturally driven thing,” says Scott Sheffield, a historian at the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia.

“Some of the Plains First Nations had strong warrior traditions and those had become impossible to sustain with the onset of the reserve era in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many hundreds of Plains First Nations men were able to enlist and serve in the First World War and maybe recapture or sustain some of those warrior traditions.”

There’s also no doubt, Sheffield says, that some Aboriginals—living at the time in a society where racial prejudice was very real in their daily existence—enlisted out of a desire to prove themselves.

Sergeant Tommy Prince (R) was the most highly decorated aboriginal soldier of WW II and did two tours of duty in the Korean War. (Library and Archives Canada)
“Soldiers like Tommy Prince, for example, the most highly decorated indigenous soldier of the Second World War. Some of the biographies that have been done on his existence talk about him almost having a chip on his shoulder; he just had to prove himself as good as or better than any white man. And his war service was really quite extraordinary, perhaps in part because of that driving need.”

A member of Manitoba’s Brokenhead Ojibway Nation, Prince was one of Canada’s most decorated soldiers. A hero of both the Second World War and the Korean War, he was one of the few non-Americans ever awarded the Silver Star, an American decoration for gallantry in action.

One of Prince’s legendary feats of bravery occurred in the summer of 1944 when he walked across miles of mountainous terrain deep behind German lines in southern France to locate an enemy camp, going days without food or water. He reported back and led his brigade to the encampment, which resulted in the capture of more than 1,000 German soldiers.

But Prince returned from Europe to a country where Aboriginals were not deemed citizens and didn’t have the right to vote. To add insult to injury, aboriginal veterans had to fight another kind of war when they got home in order to receive the same benefits and assistance as white veterans were given.

Coming home was also problematic for many because they had been treated as equals while in the army—they were accepted and respected. And while training in England aboriginal soldiers could go to a pub and have a beer with their comrades, something they couldn’t do in Canada where status Indians were banned from any place that served alcohol.

In addition, life back on the reserve was controlled in large part by Indian agents, many of whom ruled with an iron fist, says Sheffield.

“A lot of veterans didn’t want to take that any more. Many of them struggled afterwards because they weren’t prepared to go back to that same subservient role that was expected of them at that time and I think it was a difficult homecoming.”

This may explain why, after the start of the Korean War, many Aboriginals who had fought in Europe re-enlisted.

“When Korea broke out, the first contingent that was recruited to go overseas in 1950 had a large number of Indian soldiers,” says Sheffield, who is conducting a study on the comparative wartime and post-war experiences of the indigenous peoples of Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.

Aboriginal women also contributed during WW II as nurses tending the sick and wounded soldiers. They also helped raise funds to provide medical supplies and comforts for the troops, and served in non-combatant roles in the women’s branches of the forces.

Tommy Prince did two tours of duty in Korea. By the time the war ended, he walked with a noticeable limp from a previous knee injury and was discharged from the army with a disability pension. Sadly, he descended into alcoholism and poverty and died, anonymous and virtually alone, in 1977 at the age of 62.

As for Tom Longboat, he was wounded twice during his time of service and was once ‘missing declared dead,’ but he survived the war and returned to Canada. He died in 1949, also at the age of 62. He is a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and the Indian Hall of Fame.
Last Updated
Nov 5, 2009

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/24812/

Winnipeg Downtown Hotel

Hunt Lake Manitoba Narrows

www.huntlakemanitobanarrows.com

Tom Longboat had a lot to lose when he joined the army in 1916.

An Onondaga from the Six Nations Grand River Reserve in Ontario, Longboat was a world champion long-distance runner. In 1907 he won the Boston Marathon in record time, and two years later triumphed in the world professional marathon championships at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

His athletic career was thriving. Nonetheless at the age of 29 he set it all aside and went to fight in the chaos that was Europe during the First World War.

Longboat was just one of the estimated 15,000 Aboriginals, including Inuit and Métis, who served in the Boer War of 1899, the First and Second World Wars, and the Korean War. Of these, more than 500 lost their lives.

In both world wars, Canadian aboriginal soldiers were part of every major land battle and campaign, and earned many medals and decorations. Some excelled as snipers and reconnaissance scouts, drawing upon their traditional hunting and warrior skills.

Tom Longboat was able to put his prowess as a runner to good use—he became a dispatch carrier with the 107th Pioneer Battalion in France, running messages and orders between units.

Many of them struggled afterwards because they weren’t prepared to go back to that same subservient role that was expected of them at that time and I think it was a difficult homecoming.” — Scott Sheffield

Most aboriginal recruits served in the army because Canada’s navy and air force had race restrictions. Although natives were not obliged to join the armed forces, enthusiasm was such that some reserves became almost depleted of young men.

As with non-aboriginals, the reasons natives so eagerly joined up were many and varied. But for some communities it may have been a “culturally driven thing,” says Scott Sheffield, a historian at the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia.

“Some of the Plains First Nations had strong warrior traditions and those had become impossible to sustain with the onset of the reserve era in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many hundreds of Plains First Nations men were able to enlist and serve in the First World War and maybe recapture or sustain some of those warrior traditions.”

There’s also no doubt, Sheffield says, that some Aboriginals—living at the time in a society where racial prejudice was very real in their daily existence—enlisted out of a desire to prove themselves.

Sergeant Tommy Prince (R) was the most highly decorated aboriginal soldier of WW II and did two tours of duty in the Korean War. (Library and Archives Canada)
“Soldiers like Tommy Prince, for example, the most highly decorated indigenous soldier of the Second World War. Some of the biographies that have been done on his existence talk about him almost having a chip on his shoulder; he just had to prove himself as good as or better than any white man. And his war service was really quite extraordinary, perhaps in part because of that driving need.”

A member of Manitoba’s Brokenhead Ojibway Nation, Prince was one of Canada’s most decorated soldiers. A hero of both the Second World War and the Korean War, he was one of the few non-Americans ever awarded the Silver Star, an American decoration for gallantry in action.

One of Prince’s legendary feats of bravery occurred in the summer of 1944 when he walked across miles of mountainous terrain deep behind German lines in southern France to locate an enemy camp, going days without food or water. He reported back and led his brigade to the encampment, which resulted in the capture of more than 1,000 German soldiers.

But Prince returned from Europe to a country where Aboriginals were not deemed citizens and didn’t have the right to vote. To add insult to injury, aboriginal veterans had to fight another kind of war when they got home in order to receive the same benefits and assistance as white veterans were given.

Coming home was also problematic for many because they had been treated as equals while in the army—they were accepted and respected. And while training in England aboriginal soldiers could go to a pub and have a beer with their comrades, something they couldn’t do in Canada where status Indians were banned from any place that served alcohol.

In addition, life back on the reserve was controlled in large part by Indian agents, many of whom ruled with an iron fist, says Sheffield.

“A lot of veterans didn’t want to take that any more. Many of them struggled afterwards because they weren’t prepared to go back to that same subservient role that was expected of them at that time and I think it was a difficult homecoming.”

This may explain why, after the start of the Korean War, many Aboriginals who had fought in Europe re-enlisted.

“When Korea broke out, the first contingent that was recruited to go overseas in 1950 had a large number of Indian soldiers,” says Sheffield, who is conducting a study on the comparative wartime and post-war experiences of the indigenous peoples of Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.

Aboriginal women also contributed during WW II as nurses tending the sick and wounded soldiers. They also helped raise funds to provide medical supplies and comforts for the troops, and served in non-combatant roles in the women’s branches of the forces.

Tommy Prince did two tours of duty in Korea. By the time the war ended, he walked with a noticeable limp from a previous knee injury and was discharged from the army with a disability pension. Sadly, he descended into alcoholism and poverty and died, anonymous and virtually alone, in 1977 at the age of 62.

As for Tom Longboat, he was wounded twice during his time of service and was once ‘missing declared dead,’ but he survived the war and returned to Canada. He died in 1949, also at the age of 62. He is a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and the Indian Hall of Fame.
Last Updated
Nov 5, 2009

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/24812/

It’s a good time for the federal gun registry to die. After 11 years of low-calibre crime-fighting — shooting blanks at bad guys, backfiring financially or taking aim at all the wrong targets — the billion-dollar boondoggle uncovered in 2002 by the Auditor General will likely be placed on the de-registration block this afternoon.

The magic number to send the gun registry bill off for committee scrutiny and sober Senate thought is 10 opposition MPs.

Under intense pressure from an attack ad campaign against MPs in ridings the Conservatives don’t hold, and where local opposition to the registry is strong, at least five Liberals and six New Democrats will likely be spooked enough to vote with the government or abstain on Manitoba MP Candice Hoeppner’s private member’s bill.

Unless the two opposition party leaders successfully plead for unity at caucus meetings this morning, that count should stick, lifting the bill over its highest hurdle and putting it on track to unplug the registry and shred its records.

The beauty of using the private-member process is how it allows the Conservatives to scrap a registry they have demonized for a decade without tarnishing their law-and-order credentials.

As a free vote, the bill’s passage will allow Prime Minister Stephen Harper to tell police organizations and urban voters who support the registry that a three-party, um, coalition of MPs actually put it out of its misery, not government ideology.

That’s just optics, of course.

The Conservatives have tried three times to legislate the firearms registry into oblivion, only to watch the bills die on the order paper or languish in the Senate. The private-member bill route at least offers them some political cover.

The premise behind registering long guns (handguns will remain subject to a registration requirement that began in 1934) was always suspect. The greater the owner’s propensity for illegal gun activity, the less likely they’d be to register their weapon.

“We do have a problem in Canada with gun crime, but it’s handguns mixed with drugs and gangs,” says Ms. Hoeppner. “It’s not the law-abiding long gun owners.”

The better approach, she argues, would be to track those who are prohibited from owning firearms, most of them living without any form of weapons surveillance, and leave hunters and sport shooters subject only to obtaining a licence when they purchase unrestricted firearms.

It’s the right move, but it doesn’t mean they will be shuttering any time soon that unmarked brown box of an office building that houses registry computers in Miramichi, N.B. Opposition MPs supporting the move could get cold feet when the final roll is called or the Liberal-controlled Senate could stonewall the bill until the next election kills it yet again.

But that would really prolong the inevitable. Despite the 7.3-million firearms on file now, the vast majority being hunting rifles or unmodified shotguns, the registry has become outdated and thus unreliable after three years of reporting amnesties.

Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=0be68578-76fa-4f1d-895f-9ed56a8a8e6e#ixzz0W5fIAEM9
The New Financial Post Stock Market Challenge starts in October. You could WIN your share of $60,000 in prizing. Register NOW

Besides, it just doesn’t seem to work.

While proponents point to the falling crime rate as proof it has merit, serious crime rates are falling much faster in the United States where the right to bear arms is constitutionally guaranteed.

Police have warped its merits by recently showcasing a weapon seizure and wrongly boasting their haul was helped by the registry. They also exaggerate law enforcement reliance on the registry by insisting police access it about 5,000 times a day, knowing full well every search of the Canadian Police Information Centre for any reason generates an automatic search of the firearms registry.

There’s lingering political sensitivity to axing the registry. Prime Minister Harper, for example, has promised to preserve the 290 Miramichi and Ottawa headquarters jobs at risk from the closure. How? Why? The last thing this bloated, deficit-ridden government needs to do is preserve employees for eliminated jobs, particularly ones of dubious merit.

Later today, if the bill passes second reading, a billion-dollar loss for taxpayers and inconvenience for honest gunowners will finally move up the Parliament Hill it should die on.

dmartin@nationalpost.com
http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=0be68578-76fa-4f1d-895f-9ed56a8a8e6e&p=2It’s a good time for the federal gun registry to die. After 11 years of low-calibre crime-fighting — shooting blanks at bad guys, backfiring financially or taking aim at all the wrong targets — the billion-dollar boondoggle uncovered in 2002 by the Auditor General will likely be placed on the de-registration block this afternoon.

The magic number to send the gun registry bill off for committee scrutiny and sober Senate thought is 10 opposition MPs.

Under intense pressure from an attack ad campaign against MPs in ridings the Conservatives don’t hold, and where local opposition to the registry is strong, at least five Liberals and six New Democrats will likely be spooked enough to vote with the government or abstain on Manitoba MP Candice Hoeppner’s private member’s bill.

Unless the two opposition party leaders successfully plead for unity at caucus meetings this morning, that count should stick, lifting the bill over its highest hurdle and putting it on track to unplug the registry and shred its records.

The beauty of using the private-member process is how it allows the Conservatives to scrap a registry they have demonized for a decade without tarnishing their law-and-order credentials.

As a free vote, the bill’s passage will allow Prime Minister Stephen Harper to tell police organizations and urban voters who support the registry that a three-party, um, coalition of MPs actually put it out of its misery, not government ideology.

That’s just optics, of course.

The Conservatives have tried three times to legislate the firearms registry into oblivion, only to watch the bills die on the order paper or languish in the Senate. The private-member bill route at least offers them some political cover.

The premise behind registering long guns (handguns will remain subject to a registration requirement that began in 1934) was always suspect. The greater the owner’s propensity for illegal gun activity, the less likely they’d be to register their weapon.

“We do have a problem in Canada with gun crime, but it’s handguns mixed with drugs and gangs,” says Ms. Hoeppner. “It’s not the law-abiding long gun owners.”

The better approach, she argues, would be to track those who are prohibited from owning firearms, most of them living without any form of weapons surveillance, and leave hunters and sport shooters subject only to obtaining a licence when they purchase unrestricted firearms.

It’s the right move, but it doesn’t mean they will be shuttering any time soon that unmarked brown box of an office building that houses registry computers in Miramichi, N.B. Opposition MPs supporting the move could get cold feet when the final roll is called or the Liberal-controlled Senate could stonewall the bill until the next election kills it yet again.

But that would really prolong the inevitable. Despite the 7.3-million firearms on file now, the vast majority being hunting rifles or unmodified shotguns, the registry has become outdated and thus unreliable after three years of reporting amnesties.

Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=0be68578-76fa-4f1d-895f-9ed56a8a8e6e#ixzz0W5fIAEM9
The New Financial Post Stock Market Challenge starts in October. You could WIN your share of $60,000 in prizing. Register NOW

Besides, it just doesn’t seem to work.

While proponents point to the falling crime rate as proof it has merit, serious crime rates are falling much faster in the United States where the right to bear arms is constitutionally guaranteed.

Police have warped its merits by recently showcasing a weapon seizure and wrongly boasting their haul was helped by the registry. They also exaggerate law enforcement reliance on the registry by insisting police access it about 5,000 times a day, knowing full well every search of the Canadian Police Information Centre for any reason generates an automatic search of the firearms registry.

There’s lingering political sensitivity to axing the registry. Prime Minister Harper, for example, has promised to preserve the 290 Miramichi and Ottawa headquarters jobs at risk from the closure. How? Why? The last thing this bloated, deficit-ridden government needs to do is preserve employees for eliminated jobs, particularly ones of dubious merit.

Later today, if the bill passes second reading, a billion-dollar loss for taxpayers and inconvenience for honest gunowners will finally move up the Parliament Hill it should die on.

dmartin@nationalpost.com

http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=0be68578-76fa-4f1d-895f-9ed56a8a8e6e&p=2

Hunt Lake Manitoba Narrows

www.huntlakemanitobanarrows.com

It’s a good time for the federal gun registry to die. After 11 years of low-calibre crime-fighting — shooting blanks at bad guys, backfiring financially or taking aim at all the wrong targets — the billion-dollar boondoggle uncovered in 2002 by the Auditor General will likely be placed on the de-registration block this afternoon.

The magic number to send the gun registry bill off for committee scrutiny and sober Senate thought is 10 opposition MPs.

Under intense pressure from an attack ad campaign against MPs in ridings the Conservatives don’t hold, and where local opposition to the registry is strong, at least five Liberals and six New Democrats will likely be spooked enough to vote with the government or abstain on Manitoba MP Candice Hoeppner’s private member’s bill.

Unless the two opposition party leaders successfully plead for unity at caucus meetings this morning, that count should stick, lifting the bill over its highest hurdle and putting it on track to unplug the registry and shred its records.

The beauty of using the private-member process is how it allows the Conservatives to scrap a registry they have demonized for a decade without tarnishing their law-and-order credentials.

As a free vote, the bill’s passage will allow Prime Minister Stephen Harper to tell police organizations and urban voters who support the registry that a three-party, um, coalition of MPs actually put it out of its misery, not government ideology.

That’s just optics, of course.

The Conservatives have tried three times to legislate the firearms registry into oblivion, only to watch the bills die on the order paper or languish in the Senate. The private-member bill route at least offers them some political cover.

The premise behind registering long guns (handguns will remain subject to a registration requirement that began in 1934) was always suspect. The greater the owner’s propensity for illegal gun activity, the less likely they’d be to register their weapon.

“We do have a problem in Canada with gun crime, but it’s handguns mixed with drugs and gangs,” says Ms. Hoeppner. “It’s not the law-abiding long gun owners.”

The better approach, she argues, would be to track those who are prohibited from owning firearms, most of them living without any form of weapons surveillance, and leave hunters and sport shooters subject only to obtaining a licence when they purchase unrestricted firearms.

It’s the right move, but it doesn’t mean they will be shuttering any time soon that unmarked brown box of an office building that houses registry computers in Miramichi, N.B. Opposition MPs supporting the move could get cold feet when the final roll is called or the Liberal-controlled Senate could stonewall the bill until the next election kills it yet again.

But that would really prolong the inevitable. Despite the 7.3-million firearms on file now, the vast majority being hunting rifles or unmodified shotguns, the registry has become outdated and thus unreliable after three years of reporting amnesties.

Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=0be68578-76fa-4f1d-895f-9ed56a8a8e6e#ixzz0W5fIAEM9
The New Financial Post Stock Market Challenge starts in October. You could WIN your share of $60,000 in prizing. Register NOW

Besides, it just doesn’t seem to work.

While proponents point to the falling crime rate as proof it has merit, serious crime rates are falling much faster in the United States where the right to bear arms is constitutionally guaranteed.

Police have warped its merits by recently showcasing a weapon seizure and wrongly boasting their haul was helped by the registry. They also exaggerate law enforcement reliance on the registry by insisting police access it about 5,000 times a day, knowing full well every search of the Canadian Police Information Centre for any reason generates an automatic search of the firearms registry.

There’s lingering political sensitivity to axing the registry. Prime Minister Harper, for example, has promised to preserve the 290 Miramichi and Ottawa headquarters jobs at risk from the closure. How? Why? The last thing this bloated, deficit-ridden government needs to do is preserve employees for eliminated jobs, particularly ones of dubious merit.

Later today, if the bill passes second reading, a billion-dollar loss for taxpayers and inconvenience for honest gunowners will finally move up the Parliament Hill it should die on.

dmartin@nationalpost.com

http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=0be68578-76fa-4f1d-895f-9ed56a8a8e6e&p=2