Questions remain and scramble begins by muzzle-loaders as country's only black powder maker closes plant

 

With the largely unexpected closure of the GOEX plant at Camp Minden, Louisiana the end of the line likely has come to black powder production in the United States.

The firm’s parent company, Hodgdon, announced September 27th the immediate cessation of operations at the site while the company evaluates its “...strategic options for the black powder business.”

In its press release announcing the closure, Hodgdon said “The business will wind down operations while an evaluation process of the business takes place. Strategic options for the GOEX and Olde Eynsford brands of black powder, along with the manufacturing capabilities, will include a potential sale of the business.

“All affected employees will be retained through December 31, 2021, to assist in an orderly closing of the site and will receive severance commensurate with their years of service to the company.”

GOEX black powder was first made in 1802 in Delaware by the fabled E.I. Du Pont de Nemours Company; a firm well acquainted with manufacturing powders for military ordinance. That extended through many of the nation’s conflicts.

“Today, GOEX manufactures black powder used for sporting applications such as civil war re-enactments and flint lock firearms, and is a vital component for industrial and military applications. It remains as the only U.S. manufacturer of black powder.

“GOEX has over a 200 year history of black powder manufacturing in the United States and GOEX Powder, Inc. intends to be a good steward of this company’s history and tradition,” the GOEX web site says.

Production of GOEX black powder shifted to the Louisiana site in 1997 with the product line being bought by the huge gun powder manufacturer Hodgdon Powder Company in 2009.

However, the Louisiana plant has seen its share of explosions; one in June, 2011 when one-thousand pounds of the product blew up. The latest incident occurred less than three months ago that required evacuating the employees for up to two days to ensure that no further incident would be encountered.

And the US EPA said in a November 13, 2012 release that “Today's blast is at least the seventh at (GOEX) since it moved to the (Camp Minden) site in mid-1997.”

Also, according to the Louisiana EPA, “Camp Minden is almost 15,000 acres in size and located mostly in Webster Parish, Louisiana. The facility was formerly known as the Louisiana Military Ammunition Plant, which is a National Priorities List Superfund site primarily because of problems caused by groundwater contamination, remediation is on-going.”

Muzzle-loader enthusiasts who prefer black powder over substitutes are concerned that the loss of GOEX will hurt their pursuits. Such users as Revolutionary War and Civil War re-eactors, muzzle-loading competitors, and some hunters will either have to scrounge around and horde what the can find or else find a substitute instead.

“I’m glad I bought enough a while back to last me for a few years,” said outdoors writer Tom Cross who typically uses a traditional flintlock rifle during Ohio’s muzzle-loading-only deer-hunting season. “I don’t shoot all that much.”

Cross said he also has an in-line muzzle-loader that he has used with Pyrodex – a black powder substitute also made by Hodgdon - but that he hasn’t tried it with his flintlock.

There are at least two foreign-made black powder products – Schuetzen/Swiss and Slovian-made KIK - but their availability has proven challenging for some interested buyers in the U.S..

It is likewise uncertain how the demise of GOEX will impact the manufacture of fireworks, though it is known that both that product and Olde Eynsford are used in fireworks production.

Also, several web sites do exist that provide “recipes” for the making of black powder by the hobbyist.

The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says this on the subject: “Black powder is an explosive material for purposes of federal explosives laws and regulations.

“However, the law exempts from regulation commercially manufactured black powder in quantities not exceeding 50 pounds (as well as percussion caps, safety and pyrotechnic fuses, quills, quick and slow matches, and friction primers) intended to be used solely for sporting, recreational, or cultural purposes in antique firearms as defined in 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(16) or in antique devices exempted from the term "destructive device" in 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(4).

“Regardless, persons engaged in the business of importing, manufacturing, or dealing in black powder in any quantity must have a federal explosives license, and comply with record-keeping, storage and conduct of business requirements.”

By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com

Ohio's fall wild turkey hunting season may not greatly benefit from the 17-year cicada emergence after all

 

It appears the emergence this past summer of 17-year cicadas will likely minimally impact the take of birds during Ohio’s 2021 fall wild turkey-hunting season.

However, a slightly above average hatch of young turkeys – called poults – will still offer good hunting opportunity. Both for the small cadre of serious fall turkey hunters as well as for the believed-much larger opportunistic hunter.

This year’s fall wild turkey-hunting season runs Oct. 9 through Nov. 28 in 70 counties. Only one bird of either sex is allowed for those with a fall turkey-hunting tag. Spring tags are not legal tender, however. Hunting hours are one-half hour before sunrise until sunset, daily.

“Generally, we do see a spike in the fall turkey harvest when there’s been good poult production, and this year the statewide average was three poults per hen observed. The 10-year average is 2.7 poults per hen,” says Mark Wiley, the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s lead wild turkey biologist.

Wiley said broken down by the five wildlife districts, District 1, 4 and 5 showed the best gains though the other two districts “were also very close.”

As the up-coming season bears any correlation to this year’s Brood X emergence of 17-year cicadas, that phenomena was heavy – but not as being wall-to-wall throughout the area covered by the appearance, Wiley said.

And that lack of uniformity may have played in a role in a good – but not, spectacular – wild turkey hatch this past spring.

“In the poult data we don’t seem to have a clear picture of more cicadas resulting in more poults, but the emergence was still beneficial,” Wiley says.

The reason being, says Wiley, the additional protein provided by the cicadas may have led to faster growth of the poults that were hatched. In turn, that might mean the birds will be in better shape to survive this winter. And possibly mean birds taken this fall may prove to be chunkier, Wiley says.

Just how well hunters do this fall will largely depend upon how many persons actually participate, obviously, says Wiley.

In 2020, the total reported turkey kill was 1,063 birds, a statistically insignificant 1-percent increase from the 2019 fall season, but still 18 percent below the 5-year average of 1,294 birds, Wiley said.

“Notable upticks in the fall harvest were evident in years with high reproductive indices; e.g., 1999, 2008, 2016,” Wiley said.

The top Ohio counties for the fall turkey kill were Ashtabula (52), Coshocton (37), Trumbull (36), Guernsey (28), and Licking (28).

Thus, says Wiley, a kill of 1,000 to 1,500 birds is a good predictable range for the 2021 fall season, Wiley says.

Of some curiosity perhaps, the number of birds shot in the fall by all archery tackle combined (47.8 percent) almost equals that of birds killed with a shotgun (52.2 percent). And since 2016, the percentage of fall birds killed with a shotgun has dropped from 62.9 percent to the 52.2 percent. Meanwhile, the percentage of fall birds killed by all archery tackle combined has grown from 37.1 percent to the 47.8 percent.

This is a point Wiley has previously noted that may indicate how many fall birds are being taken opportunistically by archery deer hunters.

Interesting also, the 2020 fall season saw 467 adult female turkey shot, 106 juvenile female turkeys taken, 408 adult male turkeys shot, 70 juvenile males taken, with the rest being described as “unknown.”

Thus, 573 female turkeys were killed verses 478 males, for a difference of 95 more female turkeys than male turkeys having been killed during Ohio’s 2020 fall season .

Which might prove significant. Pressure is mounting to apply the brakes to the fall season’s kill, particularly as it relate to the taking of hens. Such a reduction in the cropping of the species’s females could lead to a rebounding over time of the wild turkey’s total Ohio population, its is being argued by more than a few hunters.

A tail-end shortening of the season is one hen-reduction idea being floated about. And that is a point the Wildlife Division is keenly aware of, says Wiley.

“It’s all still be discussed, and generally we begin preparing our hunting proposals in the fall and winter for the net series of regulations,” Wiley said. “But nothing has been decided yet.”

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com

Ohio DNR to spend $3.5 million in federal funds to outfit officers with body-worn cameras

 

Likely sooner rather than later a person being approached by an Ohio Department of Natural Resources officer might want to straighten the shirt collar.

And perhaps display a less intolerant posture.

The Department is readying the process of outfitting at least 227 of its law enforcement commissioned officers with body-worn cameras of the type being used by many other enforcement officers.

Body-worn cameras for law enforcement officers are not mandated in Ohio. And it is estimated that up to two-thirds of all law enforcement agencies in the state do not outfit their officers with body-worn cameras due to equipment and video storage costs.

Even so, the ODNR is moving to remove itself from the no-body-worn camera list. On August 30th, says ODNR chief of communications, Sarah Wickham, the agency received approval from the State Controlling Board to use $3.5 million in federal funds just for that purpose.

These monies are coming from the Federal Coronavirus Relief Fund under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and which can be used to purchase body cameras, Wickham says.

“The CARES Act allows states to use funding from the Fund for necessary expenditures (obtained) by the state due to the public health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic incurred after March 1, 2020 that were not authorized as part of the state budget,” Wickham said in her statement.

Therefore, such a request will allow the ODNR to purchase 350 body-worn cameras, “including the necessary hardware, software, and support during implementation,” Wickham says.

Whickham noted, too, that DNR officers “have been on the front-line of the pandemic with record visitation to parks, wildlife areas, forests, and nature preserves over the last year, ensuring safe recreation and adherence to new protocols.”

Consequently, such body-worn cameras “will provide critical documentation of interaction with the public to ensure the safety of both DNR officers and the visitors of state properties,” says Wickham.

“We expect that each officer would wear one, which today would be 227 officers between the (Wildlife and Parks and Watercraft) divisions. We are still working through some policy decisions that could increase that number,” Wickman said.

Related to a degree that such body-worn cameras which may be used by Natural Resources Department officers is how the DeWine Administration also has earmarked $5 million in grants funding “to help local law enforcement agencies invest in body camera equipment and pay for associated expenses,” Governor Mike DeWine’s office said.

"Body cameras are beneficial for peace officers and the public because they act as impartial eyes on events as they transpire, but most law enforcement agencies in Ohio don't have them because they can't afford them," said Governor DeWine. In his prepared remarks.

"One of my top priorities has always been ensuring that our law enforcement officers have the tools they need to best serve the public, and this new grant program will help eliminate the cost barriers associated with body-worn cameras and will contribute to a safer Ohio.”

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com

The state's 2021 Fish Ohio program will feature for the first time on its collectable pin the Longnose Gar

 

The Ohio Division of Wildlife is breaking the mold regarding which species will enjoy the honor of being displayed on the 2021 Fish Ohio pin.

After rotating through the usual cycle of Walleye, Sunfish, Smallmouth Bass, Steelhead, Crappie, Muskie, Yellow Perch – even the Freshwater Drum and Rock Bass – the Wildlife Division went bold. It has selected the Longnose Gar as the 2021 Fish Ohio pin beauty queen.

The agency’s Fish Ohio program currently recognizes 25 different species, each requiring a minimum length to be eligible for a collectible pin. The program’s species eligibility list does change from time to time.

Gar are hardly the program’s most popular species for entry, however. As of early September only 40 entries for the species were received. The most were coming from the Ohio River with 13 entries. The longest fish was a 50-inch specimen caught from the Scioto River and another 50-inch fish taken from the Ohio River.

The Fish Ohio program’s minimum length requirement for a Longnose (note: not “Longnosed”) Gar is 34 inches. Only the Flathead Catfish and the Blue Catfish (each being 35 inches), and the Muskellunge (40 inches) require longer qualifying lengths.

And to put the 40 gar caught-to-date figure into perspective, the also to-date tally by the end of August of all Fish Ohio applications stood at 7,436 entries. The figure for the same period last year was 7,921 entries.

No matter, as the Wildlife Division tossed the Walleye and the White Bass to the wind, so to speak, going for a new kid on the Fish Ohio pin block.

“We have our regular cast of characters we go to, but we certainly want to spread the ‘love’ around from time to time and include other Ohio game fish species that are a part of the Fish Ohio program,” said Brian Banbury, the Wildlife Division’s executive administrator for information and education.

As for the pins themselves, Banbury says the same supply problems that plagued the delivery of the 2020 Fish Ohio pins continue through to this year. That being, access due to slow shipping and delivery issues as a result of the on-going COVID-19 crisis.

Also Banbury says, the Wildlife Division cannot simply pluck a vendor of its own choosing. The agency must send out bids and wait for various prospective pin makers to return their respective bid packages.

“The bid went out but has not been awarded yet, so we don’t know of any production details, as of yet,” Banbury said.

For way of additional, related, information, the current Ohio hook-and-line state record Longnose Gar measures 49 inches, weighs 25 pounds, and was caught August 31, 1966 from the Ohio River.

The current Ohio bowfishing record for the Longnose Gar measures 53.1 inches, weighs 19.21 Pounds, and was taken May 12, 2011 from Turkeyfoot Lake.

Ohio’s state record fish program is maintained by the Outdoor Writers of Ohio, which works closely with the Ohio Division of Wildlife in proper species identification.

- By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com

Ohio sees rarer than rare new state record Pink Salmon taken

 

Using a 35-year-old boat he picked up for $500 and a lot of priceless angling experience, Anthony Hyvarinen used both August 17th to catch one of the rarest of rare Ohio state record trophies: a new Pink Salmon place holder.

Making the catch even more peculiar is that no Great Lakes state has ever actually stocked Pink Salmon. What’s more, rarely are Great Lakes Pink Salmon caught by boat anglers. If they are targeted or caught, Pink Salmon almost always succumb to shore anglers.

Officially, Hyvarinen’s fish weighed 4.3 pounds, measured 22.44 inches and had a girth of 13 inches. The previous Pink Salmon record holder was a fish that weighed 3.06 pounds, measured 20 1/8 inches, and was taken by Andy Janoski from Conneaut Creek on September 24th, 2004.

Ohio’s state record fish program has always been maintained by the Outdoor Writers of Ohio’s State Record Fish Committee. Weight only is the criteria with length being given for reference purposes only.

Hyvarinen, of Lake County’s Madison Township, and his wife, Mary, traveled eights out into Lake Erie off Geneva-on-the-Lake to where the blue water drops to 74 feet deep. Attaching a purple-colored Michigan Stinger spoon to a leader attached to a number one Dipsy Diver screwed down to a number three setting, Hyvarinen sent the rig on its way.

Using a couple of other directional divers as well, Hyvarinen had them all placed between 150 and 175 feet back, which put the attached lures down to between 40 to 45 feet.

“We caught four or five steelhead before I caught the salmon and another four or five steelhead after. Plus walleye, of course,” Hyvarinen said.

“What’s funny was that we caught the steehead and salmon trolling against the waves and the walleye trolling with the waves.”

Typically, Hyvarinen – who is looking to acquire his charter captain’s license – lets other people aboard his bargain-basement boat reel in the fish. However, by doing so Hyvarinen has given up some trophies to the point that when he sets the hook on a fish if it “doesn’t feel right” he continues the battle on his own.

“And the salmon didn’t feel right,” Hyvarinen said. “When the fish broke the surface I could tell it wasn’t a steelhead and I thought maybe it was a Pink Salmon.”

In fact, said Hyvarinen said he wasn’t even aware that Ohio kept a record log on Pink Salmon That was, until he and his wife were headed back to shore. At that point Hyvarinen did an app search on his cell phone, saw what the existing Ohio state record for Pink Salmon was - including its length - and decided then and there he needed to speed things up.

“My poor boat has never hit the waves so hard like that coming back in,” Hyvarinen said with a chuckle.

Having the foresight to call the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s Fairport Harbor Fisheries Research Station ahead of time, Hyvarinen said the staff there alluded to the likelihood he had caught a Coho Salmon or possibly a steelhead.

The state fisheries biologists had reason to be doubtful, of course.

Pink Salmon have reproduced and dispersed throughout the Great Lakes since their accidental introduction in 1955 into Lake Superior. However, pink salmon, or “humpback salmon” as they are sometimes referred to, are more common in the upper Great Lakes and continue to be fairly rare in Lake Erie, said Scott Hale, the Wildlife Division’s administrator of fish management.

“We can’t readily verify whether the new Ohio state record Pink Salmon was a stray from another one of the Great Lakes or reproduced in a Lake Erie tributary,” Hale said

Hale said also the Great Lakes Acoustic Telemetry Observation System - an inter-agency program that uses acoustic tagging of a variety of species paired with an extensive network of hydrophone receivers deployed throughout the Great Lakes - continues “to teach us how extensively many species travel.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me if this fish originated from as far away as the northern reaches of Lake Superior,” Hale said.

And like Hyvarinen’s fish, the vast majority of Great Lakes Pink Salmon are caught by shore fishers, not boat anglers, says the Michigan DNR in a fact sheet on the subject.

“Pink Salmon are rarely caught by boat anglers in the Great Lakes; most that are taken are caught while ascending streams along Lake Superior and northern areas of lakes Huron and Michigan. Streamers and nymphs account for the bulk of the ‘pinks’ taken in the St. Marys rapids, the most outstanding Pink Salmon fishery this side of Alaska,” says a Michigan DNR fact sheet.

Regardless, Hyvarinen has all ready begun the process of ensuring that his catch will be around for a long time for he and his family to enjoy – and for other anglers to only wonder “what if.”

Hyvarinen said he has given his Pink Salmon to a taxidermist in Columbus who specializes in trophy fish mounts.

“Even if it wasn’t a state record I’d still would get it mounted,” Hyvarinen said. “Hopefully, I can catch the new state record walleye some day, too.”

By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com