Which One....

[Nershi]

Duplicate

[Nershi]

I like the looks of this one.

Paint a loon picking up a sinker off the bottom and mail it to the Get the Lead Out phags at the dnr.

You’ll need to put a title and artist name on it to make sure they don’t use it as a propaganda piece. They had a picture of a dead loon at their booth at a sport show and finally admitted the loon didn’t die of lead poisoning. Maybe title it - A Problem That Doesn’t Exist. Artist - Department of Negative Results. Then print out their latest loon count that shows the population is strong and stable in our state and staple it to the back of the frame.

[Fish Felon]

Oh dude, you just opened a whole can of worms.....I've recently learned about how insane those loon people are. The DNR is bad and going their direction, but until less than a month ago I'd never even heard of the National Loon Center.

Check this shit out.....

https://www.nationallooncenter.org/loons-lead/


I emailed asking them to cite their sources a couple weeks ago and haven't gotten a response, so thank you for reminding me.

This is pure and utter bullshit....I wish there was better or a more convenient way of holding people/entities accountable for pretending to be an authority figure on a specific topic, and then just totally make up complete bullshit to support whatever bullshit they're pushing.

They're in Cross Lake so I might need to pay them a visit in person.

I got into it with a lady who's heavily involved in the Loon Center after she cited a USFWS report for loon deaths.....there were like 260 dead loons from all over brought to the USFWS to determine cause of death for research. Over fifteen years ('81 to '96 I or in that vicinity) seven loons from MN tested positive for lead poisoning. I pointed out to her that's Not even a 0.5 half a loon a year average, and being that they were emaciated and had been sick for months to possibly over a year before dying.....just because they died from lead poisoning while in MN doesn't mean they got poisoned here. I explained how odds are extremely higher that they were poisoned down South on their wintering grounds than here.....because that's where lead poisoning hit ducks the most from shot pellets, the substrate is much harder unlike here where anything lead will sink into muck at least 95% of the time....and that's why it isn't a concern here. Even New Hampshire....way more likely for stuff to not sink in due to their rocky lake and waterway substrates.

Being that per her own source she cited only listed seven possible but very improbable examples of loons that could've been lead poisoned here, over a long period of time, and with the loons at 12K in the state (they've been on a nice constant increase ever since the 70's & 80's like most birds, despite not getting hit that hard from DDT in the first place), and with fishing being the most quintessential element of MN culture, it providing billions in direct money into the economy, and several times that in tourism and other non-direct fishing related expenditures into our state economy, and with lead inherently being a vital material for fishing tackle.......

......to not sweat it. Not a big enough of an issue (being polite enough to call it "an issue" when it's not) to worry about, and thanked her for illustrating that.

Then she went off on lead poisoning in eagles and loons, and how awful it is....and how saving one loon or eagle's life would make banning lead worthwhile and anyone who would be opposed to using alternatives is a monster who wants these birds to die.....

So I go,

"You know what kills more loons than anything in our state? Like number one with a bullet? Eagles."

Because that for her was a bit of a conundrum.....learning that the her beloved eagles are killing the shit out of her slightly more beloved loons.

She didn't believe that birds of prey....prey mainly on birds....so I sent her this video, and haven't heard from her since:

https://youtu.be/VbZIw1-pHdc?si=0TeBfNTn6ni7XwpO

To be honest, I watched the video once and can't watch it again. Nature is a cruel bitch.


But to your point.....these people are nuts....absolutely out of their minds....no way to discuss their "issue" and reason with them whatsoever......complete insanity.

[Fish Felon]

Still early, but I'm liking this one....

[Nershi]

The DNR is just as guilty as that stupid lady at the Loon Center. Just goes to show how politicized our DNR is by the liberals. Read the conservation dilemma section at the bottom. Here is the simple translation - there isn't dilemma, loons aren't really dying from lead poisoning in any significant numbers and their population is stable but.....there could be a dilemma if they start dying so let's ban lead tackle.

https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/eco/nongame ... adout.html

Then the state pays DNR employees to go to sports shows that are targeted for fisherman, pay for a booth and advocate for stopping lead fishing tackle for a problem that doesn't exist. They even went so far to print a picture of dead a loon that anyone would assume died of lead poisoning. I mean it is at the ban lead booth so obviously it died of lead, right. Nope, when really questioned hard about it they actual admitted that it did not die from lead poisoning and is just used to get their bullchit message across. Talk about pissing money in to the wind. This is what the DNR is using our fishing license fees for. Pretty much directly against the fishing industry and fisherman/woman.

And don't get me started on the flocking eagles. We have too many. We could kill half of them and we would still have too many. We should start a National Loon Center type organization with the goal to open a hunting season on eagles to save the poor baby loons.

[emptymag]

I have a book somewhere that has a story or a chapter in it about loon hunting.

I’d be all for a loon season. Have a tag and one per season limit, something like ND does with its swan tags.

[Fish Felon]

I've been very tempted to start shooting eagles. I think I'm going to where we deer hunt....behind a locked gate, in the middle of nowhere....had one gliding at even height of me while walking the ridge last time I was there. Could've shot it and thrown it on one of the fires and burned it in short order.....I actually know a dude who does that.....farmer who rents to an old restaurant buddy. He's got a little lap dog so whenever an eagle shows up within range of his deer rifle from his kitchen he shoots and then makes a fire. Way too many of them. It makes you wonder how much it impacts duck migration and reproduction in MN. In the 80's it was rare to see one. I remember driving to the cabin when i was in 2nd-4th grade and there were ten to a dozen vehicles stopped on the side of the road like at Yellowstone. Dad pulled over to let us all stretch our legs and see what people were looking at....Half of them had nice to super nice cameras for the time. A pair of eagles about a hundred yards out in a white pine caused all the commotion.

Now if you hunt any of the rice lakes up here for ringers.....they're lined in the tree line fifty yards apart at most, and at least a couple will have the balls to come take a look after you shoot to try to steal a duck from you. You float any creek for a mile or two stretch and you'll usually see a half a dozen.

Being that they eat birds.....yeah, they'll eat fish, rodents, small pets, roadkill, and the like.....but birds of prey eat birds. First and foremost in their diet is other birds. Between the eagles and the swans constantly harassing and trying to kill any other waterfowl.....there's an impact.....I'm guessing it has to be fairly significant to substantial. There's much less ducks here than there was a decade ago. I'm not trying to do my best h2ofwlr impression by sounding like an old timer talking about the glory years, but I moved back from a decade in ND and although expecting an obvious decline in opportunities.....I was presently surprised by how many ducks there were. One opener I shot twenty-six, cold-cocked over double that dead as a door nail and couldn't find them....and I was hunting with a girl. My then girlfriend who later became my ex-wife had never duck hunted....that being the good part of the relationship I brought her and didn't shoot until after she got her first duck....an unusually well plumed out drake woodie she got by flock shooting on like the 4th or 5th flock of 25-50 wood ducks that bombed in and landed in the decoys. Once that bird was bagged and pictures taken I then started shooting. About as leisurely hunting as it gets I still shot 26 between the rest of that hunt, the next morning, and jumps hooting a creek. On the jump shoot I had a 400-500 woodie flush that I dropped five out of stone dead.....the only one I found was a banded hen. I wasn't used to dropping birds back in East Central MN scrub but these were dead ducks that I dropped close.....the type of shit where you're waking around in sparse knee high grass right where the thing dropped Falling on it's back.....shooting least sixes and a much better shot than my out of practice azz is now.

As always I'm rambing....but point being.....there's a night and day difference between how many breeding ducks and offspring there was a decade ago to now, and it isn't me just being lazy. You can still shoot some wood ducks but you're limiting out and getting your three only if you're not blowing any opportunities, and they're all going to be adult mature ducks. I'll see maybe one or two hen woodies with a brood. My main spot would have five hundred hens and ducklings on it every year....a few years back I baited it and scouting it the night before opener there was a total of nine wood ducks.

I think West Nile might have done a number on them but all the eagles, other birds of prey, and fukcing swans.....if the DNR was actually useful instead of a bunch of liberal bureaucrats pushing bullshit and using climate change as their excuse to close seasons and not do shit......it'd be some very useful research to look into the predatory effect of having like a thousand times the amount of eagles as 20-30 years ago. But silly me....dumb to even throw such a notion out there.....the DNR actually doing something.

MN DNR Staff, half of which works in a Saint Paul office building = 4,000

ND Game & Fish = 178 employees

"The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy."

^^^one of the greatest quotes ever...can't remember who said it offhand but it's fukcing brilliant....and explains perfectly why we're fukced as sportsmen in this state. The DNR exists to serve the DNR. Higher state wages, netter benefits, and fatter pensions....oh, and circle jerking each other over PC liberal crap. That makes up most of their day. Any you ever interview for a DNR or state job? One of the most fukced and bizarre scenarios you'll find put you put yourself into. Pronouns, race, gender equality, DEI diversity shit or whatever they call it.

Did you guys hear they changed the titles for all their brass? Brad Parsons for instance....Chief of Fisheries......now Section Manager of Fisheries I believe. "Chief" was apparently too offensive for some phaggot in the the department whose job is to think about what might be offensive.....guarantee they employ a team of 'em.

Anyways, the only thing I liked about the eagles nesting on the lake is that they killed five of six trumpeter Cygnets last year.....and they weren't small. They made it to freaking August and were basically fully grown and then they started disappearing. Six became five....five became four....and until I saw an eagle get one I never considered them being the heroes....I mean, culprits. Figured some bobcat got a taste for them or something.

So in summary.....I agree it's high past the time we all tell the DNR to suck a dick, quit buying licenses and giving them money, and kill every eagle & swan possible....and fuggit
...i might start tagging some loons just out of spite. About the only thing more annoying than a loud ass loon is a loud ass trumpeter.


P.S. the duck decline I'm referring to is just East Central MN. The Ag....South & Western portion of the state where there isn't as many trees or eagles are doing great.

P.P.S. not totally done, but petty close....need to clean it up a bit and add a couple fish hitting cranks....but you get the idea.....

"Still Poaching on Lake Mille Lacs"

[Fish Felon]

Not "done-done" yet but getting closer....

[emptymag]

My uncle from SD called last week. He said there where 400-500 eagles following the snow goose migration not to far from Watertown SD. Might have made the news, I havent looked.

[Fish Felon]

I found a dead eagle (juvie) in a field across from the one we were glassing....I thought it was a dead goose and ran out to check it for bands....didn't mention it to the landowner when we got permission and had a nice shoot the next day. On one of our van spring trips to SoDak we all witnessed an eagle take down a large Canada in flight. The eagle did so with ease....surprising since the goose had to weigh double what the eagle did.

They're a glorified crow or vulture. Ben Franklin was a genius for a lot of reasons, and his nod to the turkey is one of them. Canada has waaaaaay more freaking eagles than the US. Turkeys range is basically the contiguous US....they're American. A bald eagle = Canada's version of a crow.



"Poaching on Lake Mille Lacs" & "Still Poaching on Lake Mille Lacs"