On Saturday, November 18, 2006, opening day of deer firearms season, Indiana Conservation Officers Dennis Talley and Terry Allen responded to a complaint of a poached bobcat in Crawford County. Ind.

Officers Talley and Allen met with a Larry D. Hall, 53, from Floyds Knobs, Ind. who admitted to officers he had killed the animal while deer hunting on private property on Novak Hill near English, on Saturday morning.

The bobcat was being tracked by Indiana DNR Fish and Wildlife biologists by means of a tracking collar the cat was wearing at the time of his death. The bobcat was a mature male weighing approximately 35 pounds. In late August of 2005, bobcat 264 had been captured and collared inside the Crane Navel Weapons Depot, and had been tracked traveling about southern Indiana until April of 2006, when the batteries in his collar ran out.

Conservation Officers Talley and Allen seized Larry D. Hall’s firearm and cited Hall into Crawford Circuit Court where he will face formal criminal charges for The Illegal Taking of a Bobcat.

Indiana Conservation Officers would like to remind sportsmen bobcats are protected by Indiana Law. If you’re lucky enough to observe the rare cat in the wild, Conservation Officers encourage you to report the sighting to the Department of Natural Resources.

USSF tells the rest of the story
According to the Untied States Sportsmen’s Alliance, one of America’s most well known radio commentators recently showed his anti-hunting colors in a nationally broadcast message.

On November 13, syndicated broadcaster Paul Harvey’s noon report announced how ‘thankful’ Michigan doves are that voters rejected the state’s dove hunting initiative. He proudly rattled off a number of other ballot issue campaigns to which the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has contributed in recent years, including efforts to ban trapping and bear hunting. Harvey concluded by praising the organization’s newfound political prowess, saying HSUS “has never had such clout on the Hill.”

Obviously, Paul Harvey is entitled to his opinion. In fact, it’s his job. However, the advocacy of an agenda that seeks to destroy the lifestyle and livelihoods of millions of Americans will elicit responses.

“America’s sportsmen do not stand idle when the faction that is trying to eliminate hunting, fishing and trapping is handed credibility,” said Bud Pidgeon, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance president. “Paul Harvey’s support and recognition of the animal rights movement, and HSUS specifically, is a blow to the pro-hunting movement and deserves to be addressed.”

This broadcast is not the first time Harvey has used his radio segment as a soapbox for his animal rights viewpoint. He has praised People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals leader Ingrid Newkirk “for her dedication and commitment towards making planet earth a better place for animals.”

He made the glowing comments about a woman who hopes hoof-and-mouth disease will come to America and destroy the beef and livestock industries.

The USSF is urging sportsmen to not take Harvey’s comments quietly. The watchdog of hunting rights is urging sportsmen to express their dissatisfaction with Paul Harvey’s controversial radio segment. The USSF is asking sportsmen to let the radio stations airing Paul Harvey’s program and the advertising and supporting sponsors of the program know they object to his extremely controversial views on animal rights.

This farm news was published in the Dec. 6, 2006 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.