Vern concedes it is time for a change.

 

Whether you loved him or hated him, almost everyone who knows him personally says he is a [heck] of a nice guy.

 

A peculiarity about Vern was that his personal, deeply-held convictions about the tradition of hunting and the independence of the PGC did not translate into defensive or aggressive actions as our Executive Director.

 

In other words, Vern did talk the talk privately, but he didn't walk the walk, publicly. 

 

From what I can gather from sources close to Vern, he defends himself by saying that he did all he could to fend off the sharks and wolves continuously poised to devour the PGC. He might be right. We will not know in the short run. Later, history will put its own spin to the past five incubus years.

 

I will say Vern's sense of timing is impeccable. The Unified Sportsmen of PA lawsuit is mere days from being filed.  

 

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's five year audit of the PGC is about to go public.  

 

I wrote about the last USFWS audit and I don't suspect this one will be any different. Actually, it might be worse.  

 

However, Vern's true genius shines by staying with us through this upcoming, disastrous deer season.

 

Dr. Gary Alt is still knocking around, waiting in the wings, writing editorials that sound like they were written by the Audubon Society or the Heinz Foundation. 

 

I predict our buck harvest will drop below 100K, regardless of what the PGC estimates or calculates. Our doe harvest will take a nosedive as well. This deer season will be the final chapter in the saga of Dr. Gary Alt becoming our next Executive Director.  

 

Interestingly, things have changed enormously in my life, too. My radio show went national about 20 months ago and I find myself with less time every week. My network is approaching sixty stations, broadcasting into sixteen states.  

 

In the national radio business, I am a babe in the woods.  

 

National advertisers with deep pockets want one hundred and sixty stations broadcasting into thirty-six states. I have much work to do. My goal is to become the second most popular weekend show in the country. I would say "the most popular" weekend radio show, but Kim Komando's computer show has 400 stations and I don't think I will catch her.

 

I also have plans to write my first book.

 

Furthermore, this is the third column of Month 77, which translates into six years, five months and 307 columns. I have covered it all and now find myself writing about the same issues for the second time. As my good buddy Don Clemmer likes to say, "it never ends." The truth is that I have done an excellent job of informing and educating you to the real issues and their core causes, but I have not effected change.

 

Frankly, I am beginning to feel like I am beating the proverbial dead horse.  

 

Deer management is still in shambles, Sunday hunting is still thrown out as a red herring and the US Fish & Wildlife is about to issue a blistering report.  

 

Small game is all but gone; bear and coyotes run roughshod over our deer herd.

 

The DCNR (Department of Conservation and Natural Resources) is out of control, our commissioner system has been undermined, acid rain continues and forestry rules the roost.  

 

Adding insult to injury, the PGC is seeking a license [fee] increase.  

 

Actually, these quite fixable issues are the precise reason why I started this column, but almost seven years later, we are in the same, exact condition.

 

I can't dissolve this column because people will accuse me of being a quitter. I am not a quitter, but at some point one must face reality and intelligently manage his time. Unfortunately, I must reduce my writing to a "guest columnist" producing one to two critical columns per month. No longer can I write every week.

 

As usual, there is great irony in all of the above. I agonized for months on how to handle this situation. I am certain Vern agonized for months, as well.

 

Vern and I are two completely different people fulfilling completely different roles in the scheme of things.

 

Incredibly, at the almost precise time in history, we both realized that it is indeed time for a change.

 

Jim Slinsky is the host and producer of the "Sportsman's Connection", a nationally syndicated, outdoor-talk radio program. For a station near you or to contact Jim, visit his website at http://www.outdoortalknetwork.com