Ohio's youth-only turkey hunt and opening day general spring season numbers are up

The numbers shows what good weather can do to get a tom turkey talking and shot instead of clamming up due to cold temperatures, bitter winds and persistent rains.

Both the just-concluded two-day/youth-only and the first day of Ohio’s general spring wild turkey hunting seasons were unqualified successes.

However, for 2018’s general spring season opening day figures, not every one of Ohio’s 88 counties saw gains when their respective 2018 numbers are stacked alongside their respective 2017 figures.

It is important to note, though, that the general season’s opening day numbers do not include figures for Lake, Geauga, Cuyahoga, Ashtabula and Trumbull counties. Beginning in 2017 these five counties were carved out as being a special Northeast Ohio spring wild turkey hunting season.

Thus , the state has been divided into two zones for spring turkey hunting: a South Zone, which opened April 23^rd and runs through May 20^th. The Northeast Zone opens April 30^th and continues through May 27^th

It is interesting to note as well that during the 2015 youth-only spring wild turkey season the total kill for the two-day/weekend format stood at 1,589 birds. Meanwhile, that figure for its comparable 2017 season was 1,564 birds, a statistically insignificant number.

Last year during its two-day season, youthful hunters age 17 and under killed 1,895 birds while for the just-concluded hunt, youths killed 1,860 birds: or again, a statistically insignificant figure. Also, the turkey kill numbers for both 2017 and 2018 youth-only spring seasons do show more turkeys being killed by kids than for either 2015 or 2016.

A few other interesting spring turkey-hunting snippets as gleaned from the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s 2017 spring turkey hunting report shows that since 2014, the number of turkey-hunting permits have fluctuated only slightly; up, down and then back up. The exact figures went from 68,960 licenses issued in 2014 to 65,883 licenses in 2015, 66,436 license in 2016, and 65,486 licenses last year. The year in which the most-ever permits issued was in 2003 when the state granted 94,889 documents.

Regarding the total birds being killed for all of the spring seasons, the highest number ever was the 26,156 birds shot during 2001. Also, last year’s total all-spring seasons kill of 21,097 turkeys ranks third, trailing behind the 2001 all-seasons’ kill, and 2010’s 23,421 birds.

As for the method of kill, not surprisingly shotguns lead the way and hovered very close to 97 percent for each of the years between 2014 and 2017. Vertical bows typical account for around 1.7 percent of birds killed annually with crossbows accounting for less than one percent for each of the years 2014 through 2017, the Wildlife Division report shows.

Here is the list of all wild turkeys checked by hunters during the 2018 opening day of the state’s spring hunting season, excluding the five Northeast Ohio hunting zone. The first number following the county’s name shows the harvest numbers for 2018, and the 2017 numbers are in parentheses.

Adams: 53 (92); Allen: 6 (8); Ashland: 53 (41); Ashtabula: 0 (0); Athens: 90 (61); Auglaize: 3 (8); Belmont: 128 (81); Brown: 54 (66); Butler: 31 (36); Carroll: 90 (91); Champaign: 18 (19); Clark: 1 (4); Clermont: 45 (75); Clinton: 4 (9); Columbiana: 57 (54); Coshocton: 149 (125); Crawford: 4 (8); Cuyahoga: 0 (0); Darke: 4 (5); Defiance: 33 (47); Delaware: 19 (17); Erie: 7 (4); Fairfield: 28 (16); Fayette: 2 (4); Franklin: 3 (4); Fulton: 14 (19); Gallia: 61 (69); Geauga: 0 (0); Greene: 4 (2); Guernsey: 136 (109); Hamilton: 12 (18); Hancock: 4 (6); Hardin: 11 (14); Harrison: 132 (92); Henry: 8 (8); Highland: 59 (86); Hocking: 63 (66); Holmes: 56 (58); Huron: 30 (31); Jackson: 70 (57); Jefferson: 78 (54); Knox: 85 (85); Lake: 0 (0); Lawrence: 28 (45); Licking: 77 (82); Logan: 25 (27); Lorain: 18 (22); Lucas: 16 (8); Madison: 2 (1); Mahoning: 27 (32); Marion: 3 (4); Medina: 30 (19); Meigs: 110 (84); Mercer: 5 (7); Miami: 3 (4); Monroe: 126 (83); Montgomery: 5 (5); Morgan: 95 (66); Morrow: 20 (37); Muskingum: 117 (89); Noble: 69 (72); Ottawa: 0 (0); Paulding: 9 (19); Perry: 67 (47); Pickaway: 3 (4); Pike: 43 (37); Portage: 47 (38); Preble: 25 (14); Putnam: 5 (9); Richland: 51 (39); Ross: 58 (70); Sandusky: 3 (4); Scioto: 36 (53); Seneca: 26 (27); Shelby: 5 (5); Stark: 38 (43); Summit: 10 (7); Trumbull: 0 (0); Tuscarawas: 147 (115); Union: 8 (6); Van Wert: 4 (7); Vinton: 84 (71); Warren: 6 (16); Washington: 107 (78); Wayne: 18 (21); Williams: 25 (41); Wood: 3 (2); Wyandot: 6 (18); TOTAL: 3,315 (3,127).

Here is the list of all wild turkeys checked by eligible youth hunters during the 2018 two-day youth spring hunting season is shown below. The first number following the county’s name shows the harvest numbers for 2018, and the 2017 numbers are in parentheses.

Adams: 28 (35); Allen: 8 (10); Ashland: 34 (25); Ashtabula: 35 (50); Athens: 29 (28); Auglaize: 6 (5); Belmont: 54 (40); Brown: 25 (36); Butler: 18 (14); Carroll: 36 (40); Champaign: 5 (5); Clark: 3 (2); Clermont: 24 (38); Clinton: 2 (4); Columbiana: 27 (26); Coshocton: 68 (63); Crawford: 9 (5); Cuyahoga: 0 (0); Darke: 9 (10); Defiance: 22 (36); Delaware: 10 (13); Erie: 1 (7); Fairfield: 4 (6); Fayette: 1 (0); Franklin: 1 (4); Fulton: 11 (13); Gallia: 31 (46); Geauga: 13 (19); Greene: 0 (4); Guernsey: 63 (46); Hamilton: 5 (2); Hancock: 0 (2); Hardin: 7 (8); Harrison: 66 (58); Henry: 9 (6); Highland: 28 (34); Hocking: 35 (15); Holmes: 36 (39); Huron: 13 (16); Jackson: 41 (44); Jefferson: 35 (34); Knox: 38 (32); Lake: 1 (4); Lawrence: 35 (44); Licking: 43 (35); Logan: 8 (10); Lorain: 9 (12); Lucas: 9 (8); Madison: 0 (0); Mahoning: 10 (15); Marion: 2 (5); Medina: 11 (10); Meigs: 60 (46); Mercer: 3 (3); Miami: 2 (5); Monroe: 81 (71); Montgomery: 1 (1); Morgan: 44 (47); Morrow: 19 (19); Muskingum: 90 (82); Noble: 74 (55); Ottawa: 0 (0); Paulding: 6 (8); Perry: 50 (30); Pickaway: 2 (0); Pike: 12 (26); Portage: 20 (26); Preble: 9 (8); Putnam: 9 (8); Richland: 31 (36); Ross: 36 (40); Sandusky: 0 (1); Scioto: 15 (20); Seneca: 12 (11); Shelby: 6 (2); Stark: 21 (21); Summit: 2 (1); Trumbull: 26 (42); Tuscarawas: 59 (56); Union: 4 (10); Van Wert: 2 (5); Vinton: 42 (32); Warren: 8 (11); Washington: 60 (58); Wayne: 13 (11); Williams: 19 (30); Wood: 0 (2); Wyandot: 4 (8). Total: 1,860 (1,895).

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

Ohio Division of Wildlife calls on Lake County with its Lake Erie fisheries summit

The Ohio Division of Wildlife took its 2018 Lake Erie Sport Fishing Summit on the road April 21^st.

By pitching its big top in Lake County, the agency’s periodic informational campaign came to rest in the Central Basin. Its venue was Lake Metroparks’ Painesville Township Park, a unit with a commanding view of Lake Erie, one that stretches west past the Grand River harbor and east toward the Perry Nuclear Power Plant.

Incorporating 10 segments with breaks and lunch wedged in-between, the summit featured items that addressed various fields. These subjects were presented by the Wildlife Division and several of its partners that also each keep close scientific tabs on Lake Erie, including the Central Basin – a location that some of the 60 or so invited attendees said was in need of more attention by all officials.

Topics during the six-hour-long summit included one that focused on a practical subject for sport anglers. This was a presentation of a citizen-initiated project on how walleye see colors differently under water clarity changes. And ultimately which lure color that walleye anglers said their target species seem to prefer when the water is clear, when silt dominates the water column, and when Lake Erie’s algal blooms are particularly heavy.

At the other summit presentation extreme was a 30-minute talk by a scientist associated with The Ohio Sate University’s Aquatic Ecology Laboratory. This talk featured the scholarly driven subject material “The phenotype of an organism is determined not only by its genotype and environment, but also by the genotype, phenotype, and environment of its mother.”

So from the pragmatic to the professorial, such summits are engineered to provide a wealth of diverse data to one of Lake Erie’s primary and devoted constituency groups; recreational anglers, said one of the program’s chief architects, Travis Hartman, the Wildlife Division’s Lake Erie Program Administrator.

“We had a similar summit the Western Basin in 2013 and so we wanted one for the Central Basin,” Hartman said. “We also are looking at the possibility of hosting a summit every other year, but we’ll see how this one goes.”

Hartman said the Wildlife division does host summits of similar sorts that relate to Ohio’s inland bodies of water but those meetings tend to “fish species specific.”

“That really doesn’t work as well for Lake Erie which is so much more multi-species oriented,” Hartman said. “The thing is, the Central Basin is so unique when compared to the Western Basin that we believed it needed - and was deserving of - its own summit.”

The thing is, too, says Hartman, that Lake Erie as a whole embraces not just a wide range of stakeholders from various commercial, recreational and scientific interests it also brings into play a host of inter-connected educational and government partners.

Which is why and how the Central Basin summit saw presenters from such diverse – but related – fields as the Wildlife Division, OSU’s Aquatic Ecology laboratory, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, Lake Metroparks, Cleveland Metroparks, Ohio Sea Grant Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey – Great Lakes Science Center, and the Lake Erie Charter Boat Association.

“We really believed that we need to include in this summit our many Lake Erie partners,” Hartman said.

That joint concern has led to a joint effort at pulling together for the good of Lake Erie – a situation that had not always existed, said Roger Knight, Fishery Management Specialist with the Great lakes Fishery Commission and who formerly had Hartman’s job with the Wildlife Division.

“The problem wasn’t that people weren’t trying; the problem was that the people were trying on their own by working independently,” Knight said. “(And) it’s easy for a new administration to come in not knowing about the lake’s fisheries let alone much caring about it.”

Knight focused on that topic by noting how following World War II, technology and the human desire to exploit the Great Lakes fisheries in general overcame the resource’s ability to keep pace. A collapse of the fisheries – including on Lake Erie – was inevitable, Knight said.

Thus from the ultimate acknowledgment that human activity had bested Lake Erie’s fisheries ultimately arrived a multi-jurisdictional consensus-driven strategy that benefits both the fisheries resources and the users, including recreational anglers, Knight said as well.

“People can walk away from this plan at any time but the idea is to find and reach common goals and strategies,” Knight said.

Yes, but those goals and strategies are sorely needed to focus even more attention on the Central Basin, noted some summit attendees.

“It’s great, and I didn’t know that the history of the lake’s fisheries (presented by Knight) was so fascinating,” said Al Kurrat, a summit attendee and a member of the Eastlake-based Chagrin River Salmon Association.

Yet Kurrat said the Wildlife Division and its Lake Erie partners “need to do more” to address the peculiarities of the Central Basin and its fisheries, especially the management unit’s stock of yellow perch.

Thus the Wildlife Division and its summit partners need to listen as much as to talk, Kurrat says.

“Hopefully they can address some of the issues and concerns we have here in the Central Basin,” Kurrat said. “But this is really good information and I hope it continues.”

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net

Ohio's wet, chilly spring has put the freeze on sales of fishing licenses

With the on-going cool-down of temperatures and the bountiful deluge of both rain and snow, to-date sales of fishing licenses in Ohio are experiencing a deep chill of their own.

These sales are the kick-off to the state’s fishing season, too, with anglers turning hopeful gazes at the walleye run in the Maumee River, reef fishing in the Western Basin, angling for spawning steelhead in Northeast Ohio, bass fishing in the Ohio River and crappie fishing everywhere else.

Statistics for both fishing license sales as well as weather data demonstrate how the two are joined at the hip.

The National Weather Service notes that during March at Cleveland, for example, the daily average temperature was 34.4 degrees, which was four degrees below the daily average. For precipitation the Weather Service reports that during March, Cleveland received 4.01 inches of precipitation, or 1.08 inches above the month’s average.

April has not proven any better, either. The to-date daily temperature at Cleveland for the month is 41.5 degrees, which is 6.2 degrees below the month’s daily average. Meanwhile, 3.86 inches of precipitation has thus far fallen which is 1.56 inches above average.

But the dismal weather pattern is not occurring just at Cleveland, of course. Over in Toledo for April, the to-date temperature stands at 39.4 degrees; a whopping 7.9 degrees below that city’s to-date average. And while the rainfall gauge at Toledo for April has not encountered the same overflow as seen in Cleveland it has still recorded a thus-far surplus.

What all of this is leading to are declines across the board in the to-date sales of fishing licenses of all kinds.

For to-date (as of April 17^th) sales of resident Ohio fishing license the number has plunged 28.5%; from 200,537 sold for the period February 22^nd through April 17^th in 2017 to 143,318 so far in 2018.

During this same period sales of non-resident fishing license has dropped from 13,125 to 10,032, or a decline of 23.6 percent.

One-day fishing license sales are off as well. Sales of these permits stood at 3,005 for the stated period in 2017 to 2,150 for the same recording period this year. That translates into a decline of 28.5 percent, the Wildlife Division’s statistics reveal.

Perhaps noteworthy also is the decline in the sale of one-day charter boat licenses to non-residents; presumably issued to visiting out-of-state anglers who want to fish for walleye on Lake Erie’s Western Basin reefs. Here, in 2017 the to-date sale of these tags was 641 while this year that number stands at 357, or a fall of 44.3 percent.

One of the few gains seen is the sale of three-day tags for some reason. This document has seen its sales rise by 7.6 percent.

In all, however, the to-date issuance of all types of fishing licenses in Ohio has dropped 25.4 percent. In 2017 the to-date total was 266,351 documents, and so far in 2018 the number is 198,659.

Interestingly the sale of spring turkey hunting tags in Ohio has not encountered issues. The Wildlife Division’s running scorecard shows that sales of resident spring turkey permits is down less than one percent while sales to non-residents are actually up 16.1 percent.

And sales of youth spring turkey permits have increased as well: 9.2 percent, to be exact.

The Wildlife Division has always said that it understands the dynamics that weather plays in sales of both hunting and fishing licenses. This is why the agency ensures that a fiscal buffer exists in order to prevent one bad year from depleting the Wildlife Fund, an act that requires careful money managing, the Wildlife Division has repeatedly said.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net

New Conneaut Creek angler access dedicated in memory of Wildlife Division biologist

On an unseasonably, bitterly cold day more than 60 people huddled together to dedicate a 30-acre state public fishing access to the memory of Ohio’s “Mr. Steelhead.”

The new Conneaut Creek angler access site in Ashtabula County is named after Phil Hillman who served for more than 30 years with the Ohio Division of Wildlife before his untimely death last July at age 62.

Hillman was employed as the fish management supervisor for the agency’s District Three (Northeast Ohio) office in Akron. However, he is remembered as much for his passion regarding the Wildlife Division’s steelhead program as well as his dogged work in expanding angler access throughout Northeast Ohio.

Dedicated April 14^th was the Phil Hillman South Ridge Road public fishing access site on a bluff bordering Conneaut Creek. This is the first time the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has ever named a public hunting or fishing area after one of its current or former employees.

On hand to commemorate the dedication was Hillman’s widow, Carolyn, and his three sons, Matt, Zach (who has applied to become an attendee for the Wildlife Division’s up-coming officer training academy), and Adam. Carolyn Hillman was accorded the honor of cutting the ceremonial ribbon to the new public fishing access site.

“I really don’t think Phil would have expected this, but I do know he would be humbled by it,” Carolyn said. “Our family is very much touched by this gesture.”

Adam Hillman humorously added that he often fished with his late father, sharing the opportunity to outrun any other angler they perceived as attempting to beat them to the choicest Conneaut Creek steelhead fishing holes.

“My dad loved what he did every day of his career; this is what he was born to do,” Adam said. “This dedication and this fishing access point being named after my dad means the world to me personally.”

Natural Resources Department Assistant Director Gary Obermiller said during the proceedings that the department “knows what Phil put into his work.”

“Maybe we would not have the steelhead program were it not for Phil,” Obermiller said. “Phil was the face of the program. This day gives us the opportunity to dedicate this site in Phil’s memory and to his family.”

Of course Phil Hillman was not the only Wildlife Division official who chipped in to assist with the state’s steelhead program. However, he was such an integral component that he and the project were joined at the hip, said Wildlife Division fisheries biologist Kevin Kayle.

Kayle, in fact, is the person officially in charge of the Wildlife Division’s steelhead program.

“We were ‘brothers in arms’ with the program for three decades,” Kayle said. “This site is a tribute to Phil and his efforts to create and enhance angler access along Conneaut Creek. And everywhere else, for that matter.”

Hillman’s former boss – District Three supervisor Peter Novotny – said it is a little known fact outside of the agency that the late fisheries biologist was the dogged advocate behind the state’s move to replace the stocking of the more erratically returning London-strain of trout with that of the more consistently returning Little Manistee strain of fish from Michigan.

“Phil’s enthusiasm inspired us all,” Novotny said. “I truly believe that Phil can never be replaced.”

Such an effervescent approach to helping shepherd the state’s steelhead program was due in no small measure to Hillman’s own driven angling pursuit of the species, several dedication attendees said.

“You could say that steelhead were Phil’s forth son, and I’m not sure which was his favorite,” Novotny said, a comment that elicited a good laugh from the dedication’s attendees.

Asked if Hillman was really that good of a steelhead angler, fellow trout fisher Les Ober of Geauga County’s Newbury Township responded with “oh, yeah.”

“When it came to steelhead fishing Phil was always on top of his game, which is why he won a whole bunch of tournaments,” Ober said. “He really knew what he was doing.”

The Phil Hillman South Ridge Road Fishing Access site is located south of Interstate 90 off Route 7, on South Ridge Road in Ashtabula County’s Conneaut City.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net

Ohio Attorney General warns of puppy scams; a growing problem in the state

(This is a press release just issued by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. It is being used in its entirety as the last blog. They are words to the wise in avoiding being scammed. - Jeffrey L. Frischkorn/JFrischk@Ameritech.net)

Ahead of National Puppy Day (March 23), Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is warning consumers to beware of online puppy scams, which cost victims about $1,000 on average according to dozens of complaints filed with the Attorney General’s Office. 

“Some scam artists will try to sell you a puppy that doesn’t exist,” Attorney General DeWine said.

“They’ll show you a picture and say they’ll deliver the puppy to you, but after you pay, you won’t get anything in return. We just warn people to be very careful if they’re trying to buy a puppy online.”

A typical puppy scam begins when a consumer finds a website offering a certain kind of dog, such as a Corgi, Shih Tzu, or teacup puppy. The website may include words like “adorable,” “precious,” or “cute” along with the name of the breed or the seller.

To buy a puppy, consumers are told to wire a few hundred dollars. After they pay once, they’re asked to send more money for shipping, insurance, or other costs. No puppy is ever delivered. 

In the past year, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office has received over 50 complaints about reported puppy scams. Consumers generally said the scams began with a specific puppy website, but some also reported finding ads on Facebook or another social media site.

Signs of a puppy scam include:

• A seller who requests payment via wire transfer or money order.
• Too-good-to-be-true prices, such as $500 for a puppy that normally would cost $1,000.
• Pictures of the same puppy appearing on multiple websites.
• Not being able to visit the puppy before the purchase.
• A seller with a poor reputation or no reputation.
• A seller who threatens to turn you in for animal neglect or abandonment if you refuse to send more money to the seller.

Tips to avoid the scam include:

• Research breeders and sellers carefully. Check complaints filed with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and review feedback from other customers. Don’t rely solely on information provided by the seller. Keep in mind that some con artists may list an Ohio address and phone number, when they’re actually located in another country. Verify the seller’s information with an independent source. If possible, work with a local, reputable organization.
• Never purchase a pet sight-unseen over the internet, especially from an individual who requests an “adoption fee” or “shipping fee” via money order or wire transfer. To help detect a possible scam, conduct an online image search of the puppy’s photo to see where else the picture is posted on the internet. (Search “how to search by image” for help determining how to do this.) If the same picture shows up in multiple places, it could be part of a scam.
• Visit the puppy in person. If you choose to purchase a puppy, visit the breeder in person. Ask many questions. Ensure the breeder has individual veterinary paperwork for the puppy on the letterhead of his or her veterinarian, and consider calling the veterinarian to verify the relationship. Obtain proof of purchase with the breeder’s full contact information on it.
• 
  
• Consider adopting from a local animal shelter, where the entire family can meet and interact with an animal prior to adoption. 
• 
  
• Watch for red flags. Beware of offers that are too good to be true, sellers who require payment via wire transfer or money order, requests for extra costs for airline pet insurance or a temperature-controlled crate, unexpected delivery problems requiring additional payment, or threats that you’ll be turned in for animal abuse or neglect if you don’t pay.
• Report potential problems. If you suspect a scam, contact the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. If you suspect animal cruelty, contact the seller’s local animal control agency or the humane society. The Humane Society of the United States has a puppy mill tip line at 1-877-MILL-TIP (1-877-645-5847).

Consumers can report scams to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office at www.OhioProtects.org or 800-282-0515.

Bass Pro/Cabela's indefinitely extend NICS 3-day default background check allowance

Bass Pro Shops appears to have quietly yielded to a request presented to it by 13 Democratic U.S. Senators regarding background checks on prospective firearms buyers.

The 13 senators are all largely regarded as being proponents of strict gun control laws with some of them promoting a ban on the sale of AR-platform rifles, rifle and handgun magazines with capacities greater than 10 rounds, and enhanced background checks.

Related to that last item, in 2015 the 13 senators sent a joint communique to Bass Pro Shops. These elected officials asked the outdoors retailer and Internet seller of firearms, ammunition and other outdoors wares to forego kicking in the federal government’s so-called “three-day default to proceed” background check provision.

This provision remains one of the few existing components of the Brady Violence Protection Act of 1993. It states that if the FBI does not complete its National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) protocols within a three-day period that a federally licensed firearms dealer may proceed with the sale.

However, a FFL dealer is not required to do so and may if it so chooses wait until it gets what amounts to a go/no go notification from the FBI.

The default provision was established as a compromise to ensure that the federal government conducts background checks in an expeditious manner. This was done so that such entities would be prevented from essentially achieving a pocket veto of firearms sales.

The FBI states that 91 percent of its NICS calls are completed within one day, and says also on its web site that its West Virginia-based NICS Section has an average wait and processing time of “446.3 seconds.” Also, the agency’s web site says it has fielded more than 230 million checks based upon the federal firearms application to-buy form, having rejected more than 1.3 million applications.

Still, even with a largely quick application go/no-go turn-around, Bass Pro Shop says it will wait until NICS clearance is actually received. This information is based upon a check made via the retailer’s Internet electronic customer “chat services.” The Q&A service confirmed that the retailer will “hold the order for 45 days at the store” before returning the firearm to inventory should Bass Pro Shops fail to receive an okay from the FBI’s NICS program.

A Bass Pro Shops spokesman did not return telephone calls requesting further formal input.

Likewise, Cabela’s – which Bass Pro Shops agreed to purchase for $5.5 billion in 2016 – has a similar policy. A sales representative at Cabela’s Avon Lake store said the operation there will not release for sale any firearm until it also receives a NICS okay-to-proceed notification.

Few people would argue that NICS is flawed. That is why a bi-partisan legislative effort is underway to enhance the program. It is dubbed as the “Fix NICS Act of 2017” bill and is now before the U.S. Senate. This adjustment seeks better accountability in ensuring that all federal agencies report persons convicted of crimes which would legally prohibit them from buying or possessing a firearm.

This prohibition is called a “disability” and came to the forefront during a couple of recent instances whereby a federal agency failed to include into systems that NICS could access the names of people ineligible to buy a firearm.

In another related matter, the on-line “Business Insider” magazine - and other media venues - reported earlier this month that Bass Pro Shops was being lobbied via social media and by telephone to stop selling AR-platform rifle through its outlets and its Cabela’s affiliates.

These requests came after Dick’s Sporting Goods said it would no longer sell AR-platform rifles through its chain of Field & Stream outdoors-supply stores. This, following the murder of 17 high school students by a killer who allegedly used such a firearm.

However, a check of both Bass Pro Shops’ and Cabela’s web sites showed that each retailer still had AR-platform rifles for sale.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net

Coast Guard's Great Lakes operation saw huge spike in 2017 hoax distress calls

With the boating season fast approaching, the U.S. Coast Guard is reminding mariners that making a hoax distress call or indiscriminately shooting off flares are more than simply practical jokes gone bad, they are also expensive.

And not to be forgotten, illegal.

So much so that making a false hoax call to the Coast Guard can result in a fine of up to $10,000, a 10-year prison sentence, or both. Oh, and possibly being told by a federal judge to pony up reimbursement money to the Coast Guard which is required to respond to every call for help.

Those kinds of expenses can accumulate quickly, too, says the Coast Guard. A distress call search using an HC-130 Super Hercules fixed-wing aircraft costs approximately $15,000 per hour. And a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter operates at approximately $10,000 per hour, the Coast Guard says.

As for a boat rescue search, that sort of activity tops out at approximately $5,000 per hour, says the Coast Guard as well.

And about 30-percent of the fake calls the Coast Guard receives are made by children who do not know the implications of their actions. the agency says as well. 

Thus making a hoax distress call is no laughing matter, says Petty Office Brian McCrum, spokesman for the Coast Guard’s Ninth District, headquartered in Cleveland.

The Ninth District covers all five of the Great Lakes and portions of eight states. Its 6,000 personnel – active duty, reserve forces and auxiliary volunteers – are responsible for 6,700 miles of Great Lakes shoreline, a length greater than the country’s entire Eastern Seaboard, are positioned in 80 stations and crew eight helicopters and 202 vessels, McCrum says.

“The Coast Guard treats all emergency calls as if they were real until they can be proved otherwise,” McCrum said. “A hoax mayday case can sometimes last an average of three hours before it is called off.”

Thing is, McCrum acknowledges, hoax distress calls are time-consuming. They also do not just take away personnel they likewise drain the agency’s financial assets; funds that should be going to the “Coast Guard’s actual and main mission,” McCrum says.

McCrum says too that hoax calls can involve bringing in the assets of Canada’s Great Lakes’ Coast Guard contingency; consequently tapping into that nation’s bank account.

“We really push the need to be vigilant during the summer months,” McCrum said.

McCrum said that last year by mid-June alone the Coast Guard’s Ninth District had fielded on the order of 160 total false distress calls, each one requiring a Coast Guard response.

“That was up from the 55 false distress calls for the same period in 2015,” McCrum said. “Those kinds of calls are not only expensive and time-consuming, they can and do put our personnel at risk.”

Going hand-in-glove with hoax distress calls is the shooting off of flares; the type of visual signaling activity that alerts the Coast Guard directly or causes a citizen to call in a reported sighting that may not be a real distress situation.

In one case in 2017 in the Coast Guard’s Seventh District (comprising Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Puerto Rico) responded to a false flare sighting that required the use of a Coast Guard C-130 aircraft and a small boat search crew. The total expense for this ultimately unnecessary response cost more than $43,000.

What should not be lost on would-be hoax distress call makers either is that technology has begun to catch up with the impostors, the Coast Guard says.

In addition to the capability to triangulate the location of most radio calls, the Coast Guard is developing new technology to identify hoaxers. The Coast Guard Research and Development Center’s newest tech can determine the unique vocal identity, like a fingerprint, of hoax callers, includes those wish to remain anonymously by using “silly voices,” the agency says.

“The Coast Guard works closely with the Federal Communications Commission and law enforcement partners to track and pinpoint potential hoax calls,” McCrum said.

If a mariner hears a hoax distress call they are urged to contact the Coast Guard through its mobile app at https://www.uscg.mil/mobile/. Reporting hoax callers helps save time and resources and stop further hoax calls, McCrum says.

“We don’t want people to be afraid of contacting us, and we recognize there is a difference between making a hoax distress call and a false alert, which would be something like a person mistaking a floating log for a body,” McCrum said.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net