The Last Big Push...

Good morning friends and family. It's Tuesday morning, exactly 2 weeks before the elections. Last night I received word from MOGA that Judge Sherlock in Helena did not rule in our favor regarding the court case to dismiss I-161 on the grounds of fraudulent signature gathering activities. So, it's on the ballot.

Where do we go from here? All we can do at this point is get the word out. I'm weary of writing the same old rhetoric- it's bad for the economy, bad for the FW&P, bad for sportsmen, etc. You all know this. Now we need the people of Montana to know this. What can you do? If you live in Montana, order a sign. Put it in your yard. Talk to your friends and neighbors. Write letters to the editors of our local newspapers. You can do this if you don't live in Montana. I just hope that when the dust settles, the people of Montana will see I-161 for what it really is- Kurt Kephart's vendetta against the outfitting industry.

Nothing more.

If I-161 passes, the sportsmen of Montana will see NO reciprocal benefit. It will ultimately hurt both hunters and outfitters in our great state.
Visit our Facebook page at Say No to I-161, or go to

http://www.stop161.org/

http://www.nbcmontana.com/keci/25433917/detail.html

Oh- we had a GREAT time this year in hunting camp. Met some great new guys and reconnected with some old friends. I'll post more later.
Until then,
Happy Trails,
Greg

Kephart is falling apart. Good!

Tomorrow we're off to the Danaher for a week. It'll be a great trip; all the way through the Danaher Valley to the South Fork, then back out over Lodgepole. Great Trip.

I thought I would update you on the I-161 battle. All the petitions are in now. The last day to gather signatures was June 18th, and the last real battle came on June 8th, during the primaries. Kephart stooped to his lowest point that day. He and his henchmen actually got ahold of convicts from some of our state pre-release centers and used them as signature gatherers, counting their time as "community service". The long and short of it is this- the next day the state Director of Corrections order this practice stopped, and folks at the capitol are still ferreting out all the legal implications of that stunt!!

On Wednesday of last week the Billings Gazette and The Missoulian both reported a county in central Montana confirmed one of Kephart's paid signature gatherers had falsified signatures on an I-161 petition. By the next day, 4 different counties reported the same. The Blaine County attorney was quoted in the paper saying that it appeared the guys turning in the petitions had used local phone books and randomly entered signatures... in alphabetical order, just like they were in the phone book. Now all the counties are comparing notes. You know what they say... if it walks like a duck...!

Grass Roots Effort??? What a bunch of knuckle draggers. I'm sorry if I seem to be losing my knack for tact here- we can only call these guys what they are: sad and disillusioned. They are so blinded by their personal agenda that they can't see the real damage they are doing. It appears that not only will they not make the ballot, but Kephart and his boys could face their own legal fight.

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_70e30538-8003-11df-b22c-001cc4c002e0.html?mode=story

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_f1f864d2-809f-11df-9554-001cc4c002e0.html

I attached both the stories. I won't be able to follow this next week, but I can only imagine that Kephart's going to start unraveling like a ball of yarn.

When I get back, I'll post some photos from the trip.
Have a great week.
Greg

Time to catch up...

Wow. Have I really dropped the ball. It's been a long time since I have updated the blog. I had a laundry list of excuses to air out... all of them were weak. I have been really busy working with MOGA to defeat Kurt Kephart and his ill-advised initiative. If you follow this blog at all, you know what I'm referring to. If you are new, go to Face Book and look for 'Say No to I-161' or look for our web site at http://www.stop161.org/
We've been working daily to defeat this initiative, and our efforts are close to paying off. Kephart has two weeks from today to reach approximately 24,000 signatures. We hope he won't make it. For all of you who have supported us through this, I sincerely thank you. We could not have done this without all of you, around the country, supporting us.

Now, some other news. We finally got track season over with. Paige and Alan both did great. Alan did very well in junior high- competing for Seeley Lake Middle School. He qualified for the Meet of Champions in both the long jump and the 800 meter run. Unfortunately, both his events got rained out during the meet. So, he will come back better than ever next year. He starts football camp in three weeks, and he's pumped for that! He's growing like a weed, and he's just like a 13 year old boy- imagine that. He'll spend a lot of time with us in the hills this summer. I'm really looking forward to that.

Paige did phenomenal this year. She took first place at divisionals in Helena in the 1600 and the 3200, then it was off to State. At the state meet, she wound up placing 6th in the 3200, so she made all-conference, all-state, and medaled. Not bad for a freshman. She was honored last week with the MVP for the Hellgate women's team. Now, she's already looking forward to cross country in the fall.

Julie went to California to run the Big Sur Marathon. She did great, as usual. She got 2nd in her age group, and (I think) top 10 overall women. I get mixed up on the stats for all the running these girls do... Anyway, we're very proud of her, and she keeps on running too.

The summer season is about to kick off. Next week we host the MOGA/USFS pack trip, then it's Chris Bohenek Clinic time, then it's off to the Bob Marshall. I had a bunch to say about politics, iniatives, wolves, and other things, but I had a lot more fun talking about my family so I'm going to leave it at that. I hope everyone is doing great out there, and I'll see you soon.
Greg

Spring has Sprung... I think!

Howdy Upsata Folks!

OK- I'm over it. The Mighty Mule Draggers went down fighting in the playoffs, and I pouted for a while, but now spring league is off and running, we're all back together now, and we're plotting our revenge for next winter. We hold the Cup in 2011! Mule Dragger hockey rules!



The outfitting season is really shaping up. We have the busiest summer we've ever booked. The pack trips will be going almost every week from late June until late August, and we have a full slate of drop floats. Gunnar is heading back up here soon, so we'll have a strong start to our crew. And, as always, we'll be breaking in some new guys. Hopefully we can get a trip or two out of Al Maul, Brandon Ice, Nick Bennett... you know, the old gang. It's just hard to keep crew together in this game. It's going to be a great year.



Hunting season is booked for the first two hunts, and it looks like the state is going to have some tags left over again. The state's outfitters didn't reach their non-resident target sales this year (again) so they will probably stay on sale for a few more months. We look forward to capitolizing on that. We also welcome Mr. Daniel Dixon to the crew. He'll be manning the frying pans and dutch ovens in hunting camp this year. I met Dan last year on a late hunt while working for Brett Todd of KLazy3 Outfitters. Dan agreed to help us for the early hunts, then roll over and finish the season for Brett. It should be a win-win for everybody, and he does a great job. I'm looking forward to it.



Our MOGA team is still out there battling Kurt Kephart on the I-161 front- that fight is not over with, but we hope to win in the long run. Ands, our nation now has a health care plan also. Anyone care to weigh in on that? Julie and I still aren't quite sure where to stand on this. What I do know is we cannot afford health insurance, so we do need some help. I just don't know where to hang my hat on this one. I can't yet see how this hurts Julie and I at this point. Again, I encourage your thoughts.



So, with that- a few last thoughts: Alan made it to state in wrestling. He didn't win there, but he came a long way this year and I'm really proud of him. Paige is ready to tear up Montana on the track. I really can't believe the times she is posting, and the season hasn't even started. If you get a chance to see her run, don't miss it. Watch the paper for her!



Until we meet again,

Happy Trails,

Greg

Still Workin' on I-161...

Howdy Folks-
Just in case you're wondering, the photo at right has nothing to do with today's blog. It's just a great shot of some really great pack trip guests on a trip with us. And...
Yes, I'm doggin' the blog. I need to spend more time typing. But, I've been traveling all over western Montana doing a variety of things. First it was my horses and mules... they didn't want to stay in the pasture they were in. So they've been roaming all over the mountains south of Helmville. We now seem to have that under control. (That's good!)

Alan has had a good wrestling season so far, and we've been all the way to Polson and Florence, and a few stops in between, plus two practices in Seeley Lake and two in Missoula every week. It's taken a LOT of time, and we are off to Hamilton this week.
And, I've been traveling around helping with the anti I-161 campaign.

On March 10th, Mac Minard, Darren Dunham and I met with some good folks from the 5 Valleys Chapter of the Safari Club International. We talked about I-161 for over an hour, and it was a very good discussion. The SCI members present were all aware of 161, and had some great questions and comments for us. I think the meeting went well, and most importantly, they all know a lot more about the bill and whether or not those individuals choose to support the bill, they can now make a better informed decision. We all worked in shifts over the weekend to man the MOGA booth at the Great Rockies Sport Show in Kalispell. Again, same old thing- just getting the message out to the masses: I-161 is bad for hunters, bad for the state's economy, bad for the FWP, and just bad for Montana.

So, if you see anybody out there gathering signatures for I-161, please don't sign the petition, and you might take a minute to just ask this simple question: "If I sign that petition, what good does it do me as a Montana sportsman?"

That seems to be the golden question- Jim Posewitz couldn't answer that. Kurt Kephart either can't or won't answer that. Nobody in the 161 camp can answer that. An initiative without a positive outcome for the citizens of Montana has no place on the ballot in this state.
Go to the website www.stop161.org for all the latest news, articles, etc. about this critical issue.

So, with that thought- I'm off for the evening. Be sure to fill out your March Madness brackets.
Greg

Big Hitters are Opposing I-161!

It's play off time in the Glacier Hockey Leage, and the mighty Mule Draggers are in the second round. Next game is Sunday, March 7th, at 4:30 pm at the Missoula County Fairgrounds.

Sorry to be late on catching up. Julie and I have been running all over the place chasing kids, chasing horses, chasing work, hockey, wrestling, running, etc. Paige went to the Simplot Games in Pocatello, Idaho. She ran really well against some of the top high school runners in the state. We're really excited about how well she is doing. Alan is wrestling again this spring. He's doing good also. It's just a tough sport, and take s a long time to learn. Julie and Paige ran the half-marathon in Seeley Lake last weekend. Paige set a new record for her age group, so the race was again... a great success for her!

The upcoming season is shaping up to be a real busy one. We have a lot of pack trips booked, and our first two hunts are booked up also. We just need to get the last hunt filled and fill up a few pack trips with some more people, and we're off and running. But, we need more crew. That's always the challenge.

Now for a quick update on the I-161 battle. Some really big organizations have signed on in opposition to I-161. The National Rifle Association, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and the Safari Club International have all issued press releases in opposition to the Kephart Initiative, known as I-161. Kephart took a big hit in mid February- a public debate was scheduled in Bozeman between outfitter and MOGA board member Rob Arnaud and outdoor writer and conservation academic Jim Posewitz, author of "Beyond Fair Chase". I want to point out I think it's unfortunate that Kirk Kephart can write this initiative, but can't defend it well enough to stand in public and defend it's supposed merit in a public debate, but... when Jim Posewitz was directly asked "What will this do for the "Joe Six-Pack sportsmen of Montana?" Posewitz replied "We don't know." I read a blog post on the Billings Gazette (I think it was Billings, but there's a million of them out there) that said "...65 jaws hit the floor." There was no positive answer.

Doesn't that sound just like the blog I posted back on February 8th after my conversation with Kephart himself?

Posewitz was supposed to be their Champion- the man that would show the Montana sportsman what I-161 was all about. Unfortunately for the Kephart crowd, I think Jim did just that. This initiative has no merit, no value, no real positive outcome for Montana. It will damage small business, it will hurt the Montana tourism economy, it will endanger funding for the states Block Management program, and it will have the 'trickle-down' effect of additional private land leasing. He has pitted hunter against hunter in a time when we should all stand together to secure the future of our outdoor heritage. None of this is good for Montana. So, go to http://www.stop161.org/ and read up. It will take a while- get a cup of coffee and browse. There is an amazing amount of information on the web site, and it continues to grow. There is also a link on there that allows you to make a small cash donation to help the effort. The battle to stop this initiative has been costly, and these guys will likely come back at us in two years in the state legislature. So, the fight is still out there.

As always, we appreciate your support and friendship. Remember...
This place in going to change your life!


Greg

A Great Day in the Valley

Had a great day today. It's a nice change to get out and do something fun with your kids instead of worrying about things. No Internet forums, no blogs, no letter writing, meetings or hard feelings!
Jack Rich, my good friend and mentor of the famous Rich Ranch http://www.richranch.com/ invited Alan and I to come along on one of their snowmobile tours. It was absolutely awesome. We traveled up the Swan and went past Morrell Falls to some slides way up in the hills... and had a barbecue. Now folks, that's livin'.

Anyway, I'm home now, and blissfully tired. Julie and Paige are returning from Spokane, WA. They went over to watch the national cross country championships. They're returning tonight so they can do a road race tomorrow. My girls love to run. Next week we're taking Paige down to Pocatello, Idaho so she can run in the famous Simplot Games held each year at Idaho State University.

Hope you all have a great weekend, and we'll talk to you soon. Go out and do something fun with someone you love. It'll change your life.
Greg