Noel Feather Plucked?
Patrick J. Sullivan
|>
|> I just recieved my latest issue of Bowhunter Magazine. Within I found a
|>blurb about how Noel Feather had been charged with Some sort of illegal
|>doings. Does Anyone out there have any details?
Hi,
I attended the United Bowhunters of Missouri winter festival a few weeks
ago. They gave an award to the Missouri game warden who plucked Mr. Feather.
The warden gave his story, what I can remember follows:
It seems the warden had been in New Mexico elk hunting and on his way home
stopped off at the bass pro shop. While there a Noel Feather viedo was
playing. The video showed Mr. Feather shoting a Boone and Crocket New Mexico
elk. The warden didn't think the terrain looked like New Mexico nor did he
think the elk was very alert. After shooting the bull the video
showed Noel thanking his guide. Well, having been a Missouri game warden
for 20 years he thought he knew the guide in the video. He also
knew the guide was not a New Mexico guide but an employee of the High
Adventure game ranch in southern Missouri.
After some phone calls it was discovered that the elk was indeed
registered with Boone and Crocket club as having been shot in New Mexico.
This started it all. The records from the game ranch were checked and
they indicated that Noel Feather had visted the ranch at least three previous
times (the warden gave the exact dates but I don't remember them).
It turns out that during the previous visits Noel and a hunting partner
had havested five deer(Noel taking three), the larget had been purchased the
night before at a wild game auction in Illinois and then illegally transported
accross state lines in the middle of the night. The following morning
Mr. Feather inspected the buck, gave his Ok, and went off to set up his
stands and vidoe cameras. Mr. Feather did a little rattling and afterward
the buck was herded past Mr. Feather who shot it with a bow while
being taped by video.
The five deer mentioned above were used to make a video called "Bitter Cold
Bucks II". In the video Noel claims all deer were taken in Illinois and
Missouri under fair chase conditions. Trophy fees for the five deer
amounted to over $25,000.
These five deer result in the majority of the infractions Mr. Feather was
chared with. Illinois is now considering fraud charges for the allegations
made in the video claiming it was instructional in nature. Mr. Feather's
response is that it is pure entertainment.
Furhter checking revealed that back in 1983(?) Noel had an Alaska
Mt. Goat tag. On the hunt he was unable to harvest an animal. During his
return from Alaska he stoped in British Columbia where he shot a Mt. Goat
and taged it with his Alaskan tag. As a result, Noel is currently banned
from hunting in the U.S for two years and his Mt. Goat infraction bans him
from hunting in a country which requires a CITES permit to import game back
into the U.S. for five years.
The warden stated that he has been working closely with M.R. James and
Bowhunter magazine whose the July/August issue will feature an article
with the full details of Mr. Feather's antics.
--
Patrick Sullivan / CON4_PJS%G...@HOBBES.CCA.ROCKWELL.COM
eli...@vt.edu
recognize this name?
Utterly out of touch with popular culture, I remain,
The Elitist
Robert Kirby
says:
>
> I just recieved my latest issue of Bowhunter Magazine. Within I found a
>blurb about how Noel Feather had been charged with Some sort of illegal
>doings. Does Anyone out there have any details?
I heard about Noel Feather a while back. Yeah, it seems that a sub-group
of bowhunters are very competitive people. I primarily bowhunt, but not
to compete with anyone! But, the point that I wanted to make was that
TROPHY HUNTERS seem to get a little carried away from time to time. I go to
some ranches and everyone is talking about how this deer grossed this and netted
that and green scored this and aged to be such and such years etc etc etc...
And then you have ranches where people become so hung-up on taking a Pope and
Young book buck that they practically buy the deer. I know of an outfitter
who has leased 17,000 acres of the King Ranch in Texas where for 5000$ you
will be GUARANTEED a 25 yard broadside bow-shot at a POPE and YOUNG book buck
ON VIDEO and I am sure that the outfitter will book up. So take that to
extreme and you have people who start breaking the rules and poaching and
killing deer just for the rack and leaving the meat to rot and arrowing
tame elk in Yellowstone Park. I don't know but to me there is something
twisted about going out into the great outdoors to "beat everybody"...
MTSully
banned from hunting forever. It's sad that as whitetail hunting,
especially trophy hunting, has become more popular, swine such as Mr.
Feather (who makes $$$$ from various calls and video products that bear
his name and image) have allowed ego and commercial gain to outbalance
the basic principals of fair chase ethical hunters deem more important
than the actual harvest of an animal.
The video mentioned (Fitzgerald's gorefest) is another case in point.
The goal of bowhunting isn't the hemoraging effect of a pass-through shot,
it's the demanding process of the hunt.
Unless we hunters speak out and censure the dark side of our sport we
will be in danger of losing it forever.
--Mark T. Sullivan
Dwayne Potter
>
>No offense intended, but who in the heck is Noel Feather? Am I supposed to
>recognize this name?
>
>Utterly out of touch with popular culture, I remain,
Whew...I don't feel so ignorant now.
Somebody with a lot more worldliness than me has no clue who this character is.
So - who is he and what is his claim to fame ? Other than being busted for some
game law violations.
James Rozum
|> >No offense intended, but who in the heck is Noel Feather?
is.
|>
|> So - who is he and what is his claim to fame ?
Noel Feather's claim to fame is that he is one of the few (only?) person to
shoot 3 Boone and Crocket whitetail deer. He is (was) a very popular
celebrity with the whitetail hunting crowd. He is shown in many videos on the
subject; some as guest, some as host. I don't believe he has (had) his own
line of calls or such, but had his name on some. In "recognizeable" names in
whitetail hunting (that are active), he is on most people's short list along
with Myles Keller, Jackie Bushman, and Bill Jordan.
From what I read about Feather's incident, it turns out that his 3 B&C bucks
were never officially entered, but were scored and legitimate. He had a few
bucks entered in Pope & Young. He withdrew his P&Y enteries before P&Y could
throw them out. By pleading guilty to the poaching, he is banded (sp???) for
life from both organizations. If he hadn't withdrew his P&Y enteries, they
would have been officially tossed out.
I guess in the end, his greed (or pressure to continue to kill) for trophies
got the better of him. It is a pressure and thrill of competition to be the
best (measured by shooting the deer with the biggest rack) that is both 1)
adding life to the sport by increasing (if only slowly) those who participate
it in it and 2) turning a relaxing and pleasant past time into a competitive,
win at all costs sport. We are in the early stages of what prefessional bass
fishing and bassmasters has done to fishing. Unfortunately, (fortunately?)
catch and release isn't possible!
A question to those readers who haven't yet hit the "N" key, if the person is
found quily of poaching, should trophies shot legally be allowed in the B&C or
P&Y before or after the incident?
Jim Rozum "The 1996 Presidental dream ticket = 2 one way tickets
from Washington D.C. to Arkansas" Quinn in the morning
Bryan Logan
<snip>
> A question to those readers who haven't yet hit the "N" key, if the person is
> found quily of poaching, should trophies shot legally be allowed in the B&C or
> P&Y before or after the incident?
I think that legally taken trophies entered prior to an admission of, or
conviction for poaching, should be allowed. Once the offender has admitted,
or been convicted of, poaching, then no entries from that person should ever
be allowed.
Happy Hunting,
***********************************************
* =- Bryan Logan -=<>=- bvl...@delphi.com -= *
***********************************************
AZDav
with Myles Keller, Jackie Bushman, and Bill Jordan.
On a related note, I'll add that I'm not renewing my subscription to
"Buckmasters" magazine produced by Jackie Bushman.
The constant emphasis on getting trophies at all costs, is getting old.
I have no information that Jackie Bushman has ever violated game laws, but
his whole trip is too commercial for me.
Everytime I see him, I can't help imaging with a little colorful make up,
what a clown he would be.
Gee, Chuck Adams would be good too with such a quick smile...now if there
was a quick way to rub his face off of Easton's arrows, I'd be very happy.
David
WizeGuy2
Illinois Department of Conservation:
________________________________________________________________
'BITTER COLD' LANDS ILLINOIS MAN IN HOT WATER.
A consent decree has been entered in Carroll County Circuit Court against
a Mt. Carroll man for failing to notify consumers that depictions in a
videotape he made and sold to the public called "Bitter Cold Bucks II"
were dramatizations and were not actual hunts.
The decree requires all copies of the tape, and several others produced
and sold by Noel Feather, to carry a statement indicating they are for
entertainment purposes, they may be dramatized and should not be construed
to depict actual hunts.
A complaint against Feather alleged the deer used in the video were raised
in pens on a farm and tranquilized for their use in a video and were not
wild whitetailed deer.
Feather has been ordered to provide refunds to individuals seeking them.
A refund can be obtained by sending the videotape to the Carroll County
State's Attorney's Office at 301 N. Main, P.O. Box 209, Mt. Carroll, IL
61053 along with proof of purchase. A proof of purchase can be a written
signed statement that the individual is the purchaser.
___________________________________________________________________
Laszlo Nobi
: A question to those readers who haven't yet hit the "N" key, if the person is
: found quily of poaching, should trophies shot legally be allowed in the B&C or
: P&Y before or after the incident?
I personally think that *any* trophy, whether legally or illegally taken
should be allowed. After all, isn't it a place to record the *biggest in
the world*?? I do think, however, that the listing should include the name
of the person who took the animal, as well as whether or not it was legally
taken.
Laszlo
Member: Wildlife Legislation Fund of America
National Rifle Association
Colorado Bowhunters Association
Ft. Collins Archery Association
PETA-- People for the Eating of Tasty Animals
eli...@vt.edu
writes:
>: A question to those readers who haven't yet hit the "N" key, if the person is
>: found quily of poaching, should trophies shot legally be allowed in the B&C
or
>: P&Y before or after the incident?
>I personally think that *any* trophy, whether legally or illegally taken
>should be allowed. After all, isn't it a place to record the *biggest in
>the world*?? I do think, however, that the listing should include the name
>of the person who took the animal, as well as whether or not it was legally
>taken.
Do B&C or P&Y record stats on domestic animals? We have a couple of
Holsteins out in the feedlot behind the vet school I think would qualify, and
if they do, I'll load them in the truck and take them down to the
slaughterhouse. After we've cut them up, I'll send the skulls off to be
measured. Would be nice to have a World's Record Holstein to my credit, and
I'd have taken it legally, too.
The Elitist
AZDav
taken
should be allowed. After all, isn't it a place to record the *biggest
in
the world*?? I do think, however, that the listing should include the
name
of the person who took the animal, as well as whether or not it was
Are you nuts? The books presently give recognition to the hunter. A hunter
who has illegally taken a book animals doesn't deserve recognition, but
rather censure.
David
rec.hunting moderator
To: rec-h...@uunet.uu.net
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From: r...@sccsi.com (Robert Kirby)
Newsgroups: rec.hunting
Subject: Re: Noel Feather Plucked?
Date: 9 Mar 1995 13:22:16 GMT
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In article <3jijpm$n...@tadpole.fc.hp.com>, Laszlo Nobi <las...@hpfcla.fc.hp.com>
says:
>I personally think that *any* trophy, whether legally or illegally taken
>should be allowed. After all, isn't it a place to record the *biggest in
>the world*?? I do think, however, that the listing should include the name
>of the person who took the animal, as well as whether or not it was legally
>taken.
You can't be serious on this one. You obviously haven't been around many
"trophy" hunters or many poachers. A lot of old timers used to poach and aren't
very shy in telling people about how back in those days there was no one around
and you could pull off on the side of the road and blast away. People who
covet large racks are also pretty disgusting at times. They lose site totally
of what hunting is all about and become obsessed with scoring points and often
end up BUYING a book buck simply by paying big money for an animal that is
confined in some sort of way so that the kill is idiot proof. Either way you
look at it, I don't think these type of situations should be rewarded with
their names in the trophy books. The trophy books are not just about tracking
the antler growth of a breed, it's about the hunter who took the game also.
Fair chase should be observed in hunting game.
rec.hunting moderator
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Path: usenet
From: rjle...@cacd.rockwell.com (RODNEY J LEITING)
Newsgroups: rec.hunting
Subject: Re: Noel Feather Plucked?
Date: 9 Mar 1995 18:50:43 GMT
Organization: Rockwell International Corp
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In article <3jijpm$n...@tadpole.fc.hp.com>, las...@hpfcla.fc.hp.com says...
>
>James Rozum (j...@SEI.CMU.EDU) wrote:
>
>: A question to those readers who haven't yet hit the "N" key, if the person is
>: found quily of poaching, should trophies shot legally be allowed in the B&C
or
>: P&Y before or after the incident?
>
>
>I personally think that *any* trophy, whether legally or illegally taken
>should be allowed. After all, isn't it a place to record the *biggest in
>the world*?? I do think, however, that the listing should include the name
>of the person who took the animal, as well as whether or not it was legally
>taken.
>
>
>Laszlo
> Member: Wildlife Legislation Fund of America
> National Rifle Association
> Colorado Bowhunters Association
> Ft. Collins Archery Association
>
> PETA-- People for the Eating of Tasty Animals
Wronr answer!!! How can one ethically promote poaching or other illegal
activity
by publishing their name in bold letters saying they harvested a trophy animal.
If I were to prescibe to your beliefs I would be out fishing with dynamite and
bowhunting with a bazooka (as long as I didn't hurt the rack). The intentions
here are to promote a sport for what it really is, a sport. I'm sure you are an
ethical sportsman, but your message doesn't imply that.
I believe the record books were made as a gauge to judge all harvested animals,
not to promote the illegal harvest of trophies. Sadly I believe they have
mutated
into a "kill the biggest however you can" attitude.
Trophies taken only by legal methods should be counted in any record books. Any
animal taken by illegal methods is not a trophy, it is just another dead animal.
In the state of Iowa the IA DNR displays at the state fair the heads of poached
trophy deer they have confiscated. There are some pretty incredible racks
displayed. I believe that the names of the poachers at such a stand should be
printed in bold letters along with their mug shots!!!
RJL
These opinions are the opinions of the author and not Rockwell International
rec.hunting moderator
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Subject: Re: Noel Feather Plucked?
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In article <950309225...@seahawk.fc.hp.com>, "rec.hunting moderator"
<hun...@seahawk.fc.hp.com> writes:
>Forwarded message:
>
>To: rec-h...@uunet.uu.net
>Path: usenet
>From: rjle...@cacd.rockwell.com (RODNEY J LEITING)
>Newsgroups: rec.hunting
>Subject: Re: Noel Feather Plucked?
>Date: 9 Mar 1995 18:50:43 GMT
>Organization: Rockwell International Corp
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> <3jijpm$n...@tadpole.fc.hp.com>
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>Status: RO
Why all of a sudden are all the posts comming from the moderator instead of
his usual forwarding without the altering this is making my replying via mail
a real pain. But I can live with it if I must. :)
BKT
[Moderator: Sorry guys, I'm doing this for Chris but my mailer doesn't
do the job as smoothely. I'm trying to find a way around it short of
editing everything by hand before sending it - if that's what it
comes down to, you folks will just have to put up with the problem
until Chris returns next week. Sorry.]
Laszlo Nobi
: >I personally think that *any* trophy, whether legally or illegally
The "book" was originally conceived to record where the largest animals were
being taken, as I understand it. I think the original intent of it has been
lost. I usually don't pay too much atention to who harvested the animal,
unless it's someone I know. As I said, I personally think any animal should
be listed, and a note as to where and how it was taken. If a 500 point bull
elk was shot by someone using an uzi, where should it be recognized?
Perhaps in the Guiness Book ;-) I think an animal like that deserves
recognition.
Laszlo
: David
Laszlo Nobi
: Do B&C or P&Y record stats on domestic animals? We have a couple of
: Holsteins out in the feedlot behind the vet school I think would qualify, and
: if they do, I'll load them in the truck and take them down to the
: slaughterhouse. After we've cut them up, I'll send the skulls off to be
: measured. Would be nice to have a World's Record Holstein to my credit, and
: I'd have taken it legally, too.
Maybe you just created a new category!!!
Laszlo
: The Elitist
Scott Knight
writes:
>The "book" was originally conceived to record where the largest animals
were
>being taken, as I understand it. I think the original intent of it has
been
>lost. I usually don't pay too much atention to who harvested the
animal,
>unless it's someone I know. As I said, I personally think any animal
should
>be listed, and a note as to where and how it was taken. If a 500 point
bull
>elk was shot by someone using an uzi, where should it be
recognized?
>Perhaps in the Guiness Book ;-) I think an animal like that
deserves
>recognition.
>
Let me quote from the P+Y invitation for membership--(That would be into
"the Book")--
"Our membership is open to all those who believe in the
bowhunter ethic and adhere to the principles of FAIR CHASE. To be an
associate member a person must have accepted the bowhunting challenge
and have pursued that challenge until he has been successful in taking,
under the rules of FAIR CHASE, one adult big game animal."
So, there you have it. Straight from the pages of the P+Y club's
invitation sheet. I could go on, but I hope you get the point. I
suspect that the B+C club has a similar purpose. 'Nuff said.
BE SAFE!
S Knight
Houston, TX
Kevin Graham
<las...@hpfcla.fc.hp.com> wrote:
> The "book" was originally conceived to record where the largest animals were
> being taken, as I understand it. I think the original intent of it has been
> lost. I usually don't pay too much atention to who harvested the animal,
> unless it's someone I know. As I said, I personally think any animal should
> be listed, and a note as to where and how it was taken. If a 500 point bull
> elk was shot by someone using an uzi, where should it be recognized?
> Perhaps in the Guiness Book ;-) I think an animal like that deserves
> recognition.
>
>
> Laszlo
How about the record book deer that gets run over in the highway? Shall we
post the drivers name with his record?
--
Kevin Graham
kgr...@erinet.com
Check out the "Deer-Tales" WWW page at
http://www.erinet.com/kgraham/kgraham.html