OK I want your opinions on this. I wrote a piece about this event at the Black Bear Blog. I also saw a snippet this morning on the CBS Early Show and how the reporters were making a big deal about the event because the birds weren't being saved, but rather just rounded up for the camera and the kids and then released back into the wild. You can read it here http://mainehuntingtoday.com/bbb/?p=1250 If you click on the link that says CBS Early Show half way down you can see the article they posted. They are saying the kids were tricked. I find this reporting terrible... We know it has nothing to do with that, as these same people promote Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, both fictitious characters which are portrayed to children as real. You know it has everything to do with hunting and that guns are involved. :roll:
I knew there was a reason I never watch that channel. I hope that the NWTF find another outlet and explains the whole thing thoroughly and completely. Sad thing is that one piece, no matter if its retracted and apologised for or not , It still got out there, and lots of people seen it. And way to many of those people will offhandedly and absentmindedly believe it as gosple. Whether this yo-yo knew what he was doing or not he sure screwed the NWTF.
I wonder if that reporter is having pen raised turkey for Thanksgiving dinner? It is because of reporters like him we need organizations like the NWTF to teach children conservation and to give them the opportunity to see game in the wild. I'm sure (though not positive) all of the kids at the release were inner city children who have never experienced the thrill of being in the wild.
Before I start just let me say that I am a member of the NWTF, that I also help in the turkey trapping programs (Gould's) here in SE Arizona and that I also volunteer for turkey habitat improvements here in SE Arizona. In my opinon whatever chapter/group that came up with this idea should be sternly chastized by the NWTF Hq's and by all of us. In the first place whatever made them think that a CBS report would be favorable to hunting? That was error number one. The stress placed on a captured bird is great and at times will result in death, so why take the chance of killing a bird or two? If they wanted to "tell the story" why not do an actual trap and release the birds into places that needed to be re-stocked? Watching a flock of big birds coming into the trap area would have these kids remembering it forever and also at the release site when you open the cages and they all scatter would be something inprinted into them for a lifetime. As much as I hate to say it I agree with he comment "all they got was a bad night in a box". We tried to exploit this magnificent bird for our own interest and we failed - badly. The NWTF does an excellent job and will continue to do great things for the turkey populations here in the United States and they will overcome this bad piece of PR, I just hope they have learned a lesson from it.
Steve, Do youby chance happen to have the origional press release? I wonder if it was a relocation? Which is the first thought I had. If it was just a catch and release back into the same area they were captured from. Then I agree with Chief in that they screwed up. Thats something thats going to be bad press no matter which way its released. I hope it was actually a relocation that was twisted vs the other option. What a mess either way. I hope they can get soem good press out to counter at least a little of what this caused.
I can look for it. I didn't realize how much stress is put on the turkeys when captured. Hopefully this won't backfire on them!
"They were trapped because of this event we're having here today to show the kids", said James Earl Kennamer, the Federations vice president. "so we're turning them lose, right back were they started." To quote another: "Stupid is, as stupid does", they were only trapped "because of this event." I am curious as to how many kids Mr. Kennamer has ever taken out hunting, or taking along on a NWTF volunteer project, has he ever bought one a membership to the jakes program. I think that is how you get them involved in hunting, not some bogus publicity stunt.
Chief, Sorry I was trying real hard to give them the benefit of the doubt. Figuring that that particular statement was misspoken. I really hope I'm right. if not I hate to say this but he got almost what was deserved if it actually happened that way. I'm not real up on how NWTF does things. But conscidering what I know of them and what they have done around the country. I just cant believe someone would be that misspoken in a leadership role, But still think thats more probable then them catching and releasing turkeys back into the same spot they caught them just for publicity. Dosent the NWTF have enough catch and release programs in full swing to have a real one on tape for something like this. Or at least be abel to send the camera crews to a spot where they are running one. I dont know..
Well I emailed them back when I felt more like I sided with them. But after more learning I tend to agree with Chief. But I got an email back today and this is what they had to say for whatever it's worth: Steven, Thank you very much for your support. The story was a very distorted piece of editing from a reporter that did not read our press release and was obviously against hunting. (See Tampa Tribune article below). What's even more frustrating is Dr. James Earl Kennamer spoke to the reporter at length the night before the release so he did understand it was a symbolic release to celebrate this restoration success story. But he chose to file a story that was biased and inaccurate. We've been doing wild turkey releases at Thanksgiving for many years now as a way to focus on the good things hunters and wildlife professionals have done for wild turkey restoration. Prior to Thanksgiving, the media is looking for a story about wild turkeys. We've provided them with that through these wild turkey releases as well as an opportunity to get our message out about hunters and wildlife restoration. And, 99 percent of the time, we've received positive stories in newspapers and TV about the work of our members and partners. There will always be reporters who will twist our message because they don't like hunting. However, we can't let that stop us from continuing to try to get the word out. The hunting community has long said we shouldn't just preach to the choir, and I plan to continue telling the nonhunting public about the millions of dollars hunters have spent for wildlife conservation. Your words of support had a healing quality and I appreciate your efforts! Best Regards, Tammy Sapp Senior Vice President/Communications National Wild Turkey Federation 803-637-3106 http://sports.tbo.com/sports/MGB100MPOUE.html TV Reporter Wields Hatchet Against Turkey Federation By FRANK SARGEANT Published: Nov 19, 2006 In a story he called "The Great Turkey Rescue That Wasn't," CBS national news reporter Steve Hartman did a hatchet job on the National Wild Turkey Federation on Friday's evening news, based on an event that brought the reporter to Tampa last week. Hartman, like many other reporters, was invited to a symbolic turkey release at Two Rivers Ranch near Thonotosassa to celebrate the restoration of the wild turkey across America, mostly funded by hunters. Hartman got the same press release everyone else did-in fact, he showed it on the air. But apparently Hartman didn't have time to read any farther than the headline - he got the idea that wild turkeys were to be released into some sort of preserve where they could live happily ever after, and came primed to do that story - a "turkeys reprieved at Thanksgiving" tale of the sort that is so popular with TV stations at this time of year. In fact, limited hunting is allowed on Two Rivers, and that didn't sit right with Hartman. He totally ignored the thrust of the event, which was to point out that wild turkey numbers nationwide have come back from fewer than 30,000 to more than 7 million thanks to transplants, as illustrated in the Two Rivers release. The restocking programs have been paid for almost entirely by hunting license fees, excise taxes on hunting gear, and donations from the National Wild Turkey Federation, a hunting/conservation organization. Instead, Hartman homed in on the fact that the turkeys were trapped and kept overnight in release boxes, then released into areas where some of them might eventually wind up being taken by hunters. Of course, Hartman did not get the fact that hunting has been allowed on this particular ranch for more than 40 years, and that it has perhaps the most dense turkey population in the state despite the controlled hunts. Hartman said that the turkeys had been "abducted" and also that they had been "kidnapped," and that he "felt bad for the turkeys." Fortunately, 13 of the trapped turkeys were released without incident, and most are probably back sitting on their roosts along Blackwater Creek this morning. All except one, that is. That would be the gobbler that ran into the fence. For reasons known only to Hartman, when a big gobbler was released, he laid down his camera and began to sprint after the bird. The turkey wasn't about to be caught by a guy from New York with a doughnut around his middle, of course, but in running away from Hartman it ran full tilt into a barbed wire fence. Feathers and blood flew. The turkey made it through the fence and wobbled off toward a nearby cypress head, drooping one wing and limping. That gobbler probably wound up as coyote food shortly after sundown - nature does not provide much slack for the infirm. For some reason, the footage from that part of the "Great Turkey Release That Wasn't" didn't make the air. Like many, I have admired the often funny, whimsical or touching stories generated by Steve Hartman in his travels around the nation. But this time he wandered far off the track and insulted both the NWTF and the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, without the likes of which there would be no wild turkeys anywhere in the nation these days, and missed an opportunity to share a story that should have been told to the national audience of CBS. Tammy Sapp Senior Vice President/Communications National Wild Turkey Federation 803-637-3106