BAD breath is not only a no-no on dates – it’s a problem for deer hunters, too. Any deer hunter will tell you that human smells, good or bad, can ruin a hunt.
Now Neil Bretl, from Antigo, Wisc., says he has the answer to revealing human breath – it’s Gum-o-Flage. The Chiclet-style tablets have a pine taste and fragrance.
Bretl said he came up with the formula with the help of an organic chemist friend and his brother, who were in dental school at the time. Bretl claims Gum-o-Flage can mask odors of such human activities as smoking, beer drinking and even eating onions.
*
The Department of Agriculture has added nearly 1.2 million acres of some of the country’s most environmentally sensitive lands to the Conservation Reserve Program – which will be a big help to the duck population.
This was the CRP’s 29th general sign-up, and USDA has set a precedent by accepting 76 percent of the nearly 1.7 million acres that were offered for the program. This brings the total acres enrolled in CRP to 35.6 million.
“In August, I was there when the President promised to have USDA hold a CRP general sign-up in September and allow up to 800,000 more acres,” said Ducks Unlimited President John Tomke.
“Ducks Unlimited is delighted that the administration has increased its promise another 400,000 acres beyond that.
“This will certainly help waterfowl populations, as well as other wildlife. It’s also great for working farms and ranches. This increase in CRP acres is greatly needed, because the demand for this program has been so strong.”
The Conservation Reserve Program is a USDA program established in the 1985 Farm Bill that offers a per-acre rental payment for retiring previously farmed, marginal lands under 10-15 year contracts.
*
During the 2004 stocking season a total of 60,000 pheasants will be released, beginning Nov. 13, on designated New Jersey wildlife-management areas. The final stocking will be for hunting on Dec. 30.
The stocking of WMAs is paid for with a $40 Pheasant/Quail stamp that is required to hunt. The DEP admits the $40 price is high, but when compared to the cost of joining a semi-wild hunting club or a commercial preserve it’s a real bargain. And the additional birds going out this year will add considerably to the value of the stamp.
On Saturday, young New Jersey hunters (aged 10 through 15 with a valid Youth Hunting License and accompanied by a licensed, non-shooting adult aged 21 years or older) can hunt pheasant, quail and/or chukar partridge on licensed semi-wild or commercial preserves throughout the state.
