— HB45/SB17 is scheduled for a hearing and possible vote today at 1:30 p.m. in room 116 at the state Capitol.

If passed, it will allow citizens who hold a valid concealed handgun license (CHL) to carry a firearm in restaurants that serve alcohol.

To do so, license holders may not consume any alcohol and must not be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Remember, when it comes to alcohol and your Conceal Carry permit it’s a zero tolerance policy. According to OpenCarry.org, 42 states (including every state that borders Ohio) allow non-drinking license holders to carry firearms in restaurants.

These bills also reduce burdensome restrictions regarding how a license holder must transport a firearm in a car.

Currently, Ohio is the only state to place such complex limitations on license holders. Violation of these restrictions can result in felony charges that are mostly of an “administrative” nature and do not involve any intent to do harm.

Still, violation of these complex rules can result in costly court proceedings and incarceration for the license holder.

HB 54/SB 61 would align Ohio law with Federal statutes and protect citizen rights. Due to a U.S. Supreme Court decision, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) has stopped accepting Ohio’s court orders restoring a citizen’s right to own firearms.

The purpose of this bill is to update Ohio’s statutes to address this issue and protect Ohio citizens’ legal rights under the law. We need to put pressure on elected officials to move these bills and vote on them as soon as possible.

Call your Senator and Representative today! Ask them to vote for Restaurant Carry (HB 45/SB 17) and Restoration of Rights (HB 54/SB 61), Columbus office of State Senator Capri Cafaro, 614) 466-7182 and let them know:

1. You support Restaurant Carry (HB 45/SB 17) and Restoration of Rights (HB 54/SB 61).

2. You expect them to vote in favor of both bills.

3. You want them to move on these bills immediately.

Phone calls are always the best. As always, be polite! A bill with identical language passed the previous Senate, and had the clear majority of support in the previous House, but was stymied by then Speaker Armond Budish. These bills have received more scrutiny in the past year in committee hearings than most legislation ever will. It’s time our Senators and Representatives to bring these bills to a vote.



Get your permit

And as a reminder, if you want to get your Conceal Carry Permit give myself or Janie a call. We have the best class going in Ashtabula or any surrounding county.

A one-day class, you’re in you’re out in one day. An inside firing range hence you stay warm and dry and shoot that day no matter what the weather.

And most importantly a set of instructors who have been teaching since the inception of the law and know it better than anyone else out there.

If you’re interested, give us a call, 466-2223 or email us at djss@roadrunner.com. 



Silence can be deadly

Turkey hunting is one of those hunting sports that require lots of calling and in the last few decades calling has become more important to many turkey hunters than woodsmanship. Everyone loves to brag about how good of a caller they are. Many hunters enjoy telling their buddies just how awesome they are with a diaphragm call, a slate call or a box call. There is no question being a good caller can help you bag birds but after several decades of chasing the elusive spring monarchs I’ve learned that calling is important but not as important as woodsmanship and knowing when to call and when to be quiet.

It’s kind of like Kenny Rogers in the song, “The Gambler:”

“You have to know when to hold ’em and know when to fold ’em.”



Breathtaking sound

Most turkey hunters including myself love to hear the turkey gobble, after all the very sound is one of the main reasons most of us enjoy turkey hunting. It’ll send goose bumps up your spine and make the hair stand up on the back of your neck.

Other than an elk bugle it has to be one of the most breathtaking sounds a hunter can hear in the woods. But because we love hearing tom’s gobble we often yelp, yelp and yelp until the tom we are trying to bring within range of the gun gobbles.

The problem with this approach is every time you call the tom tends to stop, strut, gobble and wait for the hen to show herself. In the wild the hen typically comes to the tom not the other way around so every time we call the tom anticipates that the hen will yelp and come running to meet him. The more we call the more the tom gobbles, struts and carries on in hopes that the hen will quit hiding in the brush and come to him.

That’s why so many hunters complain of tom’s hanging up 80-100 yards away and never coming in. In many of these situations eventually the tom and the hunter give up on one another and the hunter leaves the woods without a filled tag.



Call, then shut up

Silence, on the other hand, can sometimes bring a tom to the gun quicker and easier then any call ever will. You might want to try this tactic, call just a few times and then shut up. If you call just once and a tom fires back at you, then wait before calling again, if you have to give it as much as 15 minutes or more without calling. After calling just a couple times a tom may eventually walk or even run within gun range.

He will often gobble several times as he approaches your setup, resist the temptation, and stay quiet. Silence frequently messes with the tom’s head.

When he hears a hen just a time or two and he gobbles repeatedly without her coming to him or even responding to his gobbles he will often times get fired up, ticked off and comes in looking for the hen playing hard to get. Playing hard to get often drives a tom crazy thus confusing him and inevitably making him more vulnerable, jackpot!



Way back when

When I first started turkey hunting, I loved hearing myself call and I called every two minutes when hunting.

Sometimes, I killed birds but many times I went home without a bird and still do. Eventually I figured out being quiet sometimes works better then calling but I still love to hear myself yelp and cackle like a wild man, it’s just a turkey hunting thing.

So in and effort to play the game in a different manner, I force myself to call less. I keep a close eye on my watch and oblige myself to wait 15 minutes between calls, as hard as it is, even if a tom is gobbling at every call I made.



Basic vocabulary

If you want to be a better turkey hunter, understanding the basic vocabulary of the turkey will help but what will help better is knowing when to call and when not to. Knowing what call to use at the right time is also important. For instance a soft purr as a tom approaches will often bring him within gun range.

A loud cut or cackle when a tom is only slightly out of range will likely spook him because hens often call softly as a tom approaches. Loud calls are unnatural and a tom knows something is up when he hears it.



Woodsmanship

Lastly, learn the woods you are hunting like the back of your hand and pattern the birds you are hunting. Knowing the lay of the land and where a tom likes to travel and call home is far more important then knowing how to call like Will Primos.

If you want to tag more birds, practice your calling some but more important than that learn the vocabulary of the turkey and when to use what vocalization, and remember that being silent and playing hard to get can put a bird in the freezer many times quicker then yelping your brains out ever will.

Give it a try and see if works, you may be surprised and inevitably be walking out of the spring woods with a big ol’ gobbler hanging over your shoulder.



Banquet circuit

The Western Reserve Friends of the NRA 4th Annual Banquet and Auction is being held Friday, May 27 at Cappelli’s Restaurant, located at 7701 Reynolds Road, Mentor 44060 at the intersection of Route 306 and Route 2. Seating is limited and attendance is by reservation only. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and dinner is at 7 with a cash bar. A single ticket is $40 and a full table is $320. Up to today, banquet ticket purchasers ($40) receive $40 of raffle tickets and a priority for any of our pre-event special drawings. The current special pre-event drawing is for a Colt Commander. To qualify for Early Bird Bonuses and priorities on special offers, ticket orders must be received (email or phone) or postmarked (USPS) by today. For more information, call 888-752-9119 or email WesternReserveFNRA@gmail.com.



My call

When it comes to turkey hunting strategies and calling you can talk to 10 different hunters and come up with 10 different scenarios on the best way to go about it. The end result is this, find what works best for you and stick with it.

But you need to realize that on any given day an ol’ gobbler may or may not be on the same page as you. They’re just like every other living creature out there, they have good days and they have bad days. Heck maybe some supercilious farmer plowed under his soy bean patch and Tom Turkey has to walk an extra mile to get breakfast. Or the boss gobbler of the woods got to his women before he did.

There are a slew of different situations that may alter his mood and you need to be ready for all of them. The summation is this, you need to be versatile and change your tactics accordingly. Try my way, try your way, heck try any way you can.

What’s the worst that can happen, you either come with a turkey in your game bag or not. It won’t be the first time and it won’t be the last but dang you had fun makin’ it happen and that’s all that counts.

Remember, pass it on or it will surely pass on.

Sunderlin is a freelance writer from Geneva. Reach him at djss@roadrunner.com.