An old friend and past president of the Essex County chapter of the Wild Turkey Federation wrote me about a bill filed in the House and Senate. If it passes, it may very well ban every type of shooting sport we have.
House bill 783 — www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/185/ht00pdf/ht00783.pdf — and Senate bill 558 — www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/185/st00/st00558.htm — was introduced by state Rep. Jay Kaufman, D-15th Middlesex District, and state Sen. Steven Tolman, D-2nd Middlesex District, respectively.
Hidden within the proposal from environmental and anti-gun extremists is a ban on all common rifle and handgun ammunition. This would ban the use of lead in all types of firearms. Non-toxic ammunition costs about $40 for a box of 25. It only costs $6 for lead ammunition.
Want to do some plinking with a .22 caliber pistol? Think again. Non-toxic ammunition for this type of firearm isn’t made, so your gun will be useless.
In fact, non-toxic ammunition isn’t made for many firearms. You may as well hang up the guns until the ammunition makers come out with non-toxic bullets, as they did for shotguns during waterfowl season. Here there are several choices, and none are cheap. The cost is like putting really high-test gasoline in your Volkswagen Bug.
It seems odd to me that the people who love to make our lives miserable out in this area are the lawmakers inside Route 128. They just don’t understand what it is we care about in our region. The shooting sports are important to us. This is another attempt at gun control and we must not let this happen.
I received a pair of JacWaders and have to tell you about them. They are the warmest pair of boots I have ever had. They have 1,200 grams of Thinsulate in neoprene and are all camouflaged. I wore them out in the snow then in the river. I never got wet and was always warm.
The waders aren’t cheap, but I do believe you get what you pay for. The $350 you spend on the waders will last for years, possibly a lifetime. For information call (814) 683-5082 or visit www.bestwaders.com.
Turkey permits for the spring hunt were mailed last week and should be in your hands by now. If you haven’t applied, call (978) 263-4347.
The Townsend Rod and Gun Club has postponed the spring derby planned for this weekend until April 27 because there is still ice on the club pond.
The New Hampshire Fish and Game officials donated nearly 600 pounds of venison and moose meat to food pantries this past season. The meat was confiscated from poachers after their cases were disposed of. No sense in letting the meat go bad, so they gave the meat away to people who could use it.
Trout stocking is underway and will continue for another eight weeks. Ponds stocked in this area are Fort, Wallum, Knopps, Baddacook, Long Sought For, Comet and Sandy.
Bill Biswanger has been writing about the outdoors for over 30 years, getting his feet wet with Mass Out of Doors, The New England Sportsman and Field & Stream. If there is something you would like to comment on, feel free to e-mail him at bboutdoor1@aol.com.
