By Katie Meade
Special to the News-Times
I walked outside yesterday morning to the best temperatures we have had since the last cool front rolled through.
I was greeted by a doe and her fawn in our yard just twenty yards from the back porch.
They were feasting on acorns under the big pin oak tree by the driveway.
Today made me regret not taking a vacation day and climbing a tree.
I hope the mature bucks will start moving better with another front set to roll in later this weekend.
A good rain would help the cause as well.
With the doe only modern gun hunt this weekend, archery hunters need to remember to grab their orange hat and vest.
The doe only hunt starts Saturday morning and ends Wednesday, Oct. 18.
Muzzleloader opens on October 21 and close on October 29.
Then, just two weeks later, South Arkansas will sound like a war zone on opening day of modern gun on November 11.
A week later on November 18t brings the opening day of duck season. Hunting season will soon be in full swing.
I have not hit the woods yet except to scout.
It has just been too hot for me to get in the mood.
It is hard to hunt when you are fighting mosquitoes and having to keep your eyes peeled for snakes. The deer have not been moving well at all, but since the weekend rain and the cooler weather, the deer activity has increased.
I am ready to watch the sunrise from my tree stand.
There is one proposition that all hunters need to voice their opinion on that game and fish has proposed, concerning the exploding feral hog populations.
Arkansas Game and Fish wants to use Kaput, a poison bait, to help take out more wild pigs.
Personally, I do not want a poison out where other animals can consume it with unknown effects.
Do the deer leave it alone? What if a deer eats grass that the poison touched? What about water run off from rainfall? Can the runoff kill fish and animals that drink it? Dogs and cats could eat a mouse, rat or bird that consumed the poison and it could lead to their death.
I would also not prefer a wild hog to eat it and go to a water source and fall in it.
When an animal feels sick or near death, they usually run to water.
The chance of water contamination is high with a decaying carcass, let alone a poisoned carcass.
I have a feeling that a lot of animals besides wild hogs will succumb to this poison.
I encourage you to do research on this poison and voice your opinion to AGFC.
Arkansas needs to have a way of taking out hogs like most states already use.
Texas uses a bounty program.
Every hog you kill and register, you can get paid one to two dollars per pig.
Money talks and if a person can trap and kill 10 pigs at once, then you can help the population control effort, reduce timber and farmland destruction and reduce injuries to pets and livestock along with wildlife.
Hogs kill baby deer and wreak havoc on turkey nests.
They will eat everything they can find and the deer are left with little food to survive the winter.
Another way to help the cause to rid the land of pigs and help those in need is to kill them and donate the meat to food banks, soup kitchens and to families in need directly.
I personally believe that poisoning edible meat is wasteful when so many people can use it.
I also wonder what can happen if a pig eats just enough poison to make them a little bit sick and someone shoots it.
If that person takes home a pig to eat that just consumed poison, what will the affects be on the people that eat it?
There are too many “ifs” in these scenarios.
I think poison needs to stay out of the woods. It isn't naturally found there so it does not need to be introduced.
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