PRESIDENT CLINTON HUNTS TAYLORS ISLAND
NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE - DECEMBER 28, 1993
Excerpts from the article:
President Clinton bought a $41 Maryland hunting license in Annapolis today and spent two hours lying in wait for mallard ducks.
Responding to an invitation extended several weeks ago by Representative Bill Brewster, an Oklahoma Democrat who is a board member of the National Rifle Association, Mr. Clinton rose well before dawn to renew his sportsman's credentials at the Fruit Hill Farm hunting lodge on Taylor's Island, Md.
Who Shot the Duck? For the record, the hunting party managed to fell only one duck in today's 16-degree cold. Mr. Clinton, who was carrying a borrowed 12-gauge Winchester shotgun and wearing camouflage and waders, said Mr. Brewster shot it; others said the duck was felled by the President's shot, the only one he took during the hunting trip.
One hunting opponent, Heidi Prescott of the Fund for Animals, a nonprofit organization opposed to trapping and hunting, trailed the Presidential motorcade to the Eastern Shore and protested while Mr. Clinton went to the farm. But none of that seemed to stand in the way today.
Mr. Brewster, who admitted that he was a little surprised that the busy President had taken him up on his offer, said they had "great fun" on the outing. "He's a well-rounded fellow," Mr. Brewster said of the President.
Mr. Brewster said that at a social gathering some time ago Mr. Clinton had confessed his fondness for hunting. Today, he said, the southpaw President did not seem one bit rusty as he handled the borrowed shotgun. "The President had a good time this morning," he said.
By most accounts, it was not a great day for hunting, and only two birds flew past while the President waited for two hours in a duck blind with Mr. Brewster; Representative John D. Dingell, Democrat of Michigan, John Tieder Jr., who owns the farm, and Patrick J. Raffaniello, Mr. Brewster's administrative assistant. 'The Male Bonding Bit' "It's the old camaraderie thing and the male bonding bit," said Mr. Tieder's wife, Kathy. "They enjoy getting together as much as they enjoy the shooting."
A hunt breakfast of sausage, ham, eggs and biscuits followed.
The farm's owner, Mr. Tieder, is also an officer in a political action committee, Duckpac, which raises money to support candidates who oppose tightening fish and game rules on regulated hunting areas like his.
Washington Post article about the hunt:
By ANGUS PHILLIPS
January 4, 1994
Sometimes it pays to be the chief, sometimes it doesn't. President Clinton by all accounts enjoyed his two-hour duck-hunting trip to the Eastern Shore last week but he sure didn't do much shooting. For that he can blame his lofty office.
The President picked a duck farm on Taylors Island below Cambridge for his first public stab at blood sport. Just about anyone else could have expected a bang-up time at John Tieder's Fruit Hill Farm, tailor-made for duck shooting with hundreds of captive-reared mallards usually buzzing around the custom-dug duck ponds.
But White House schedules are rough and everyone by now knows Clinton is often tardy for appointments. The combination of a late start and early quitting time proved costly, and Clinton and his two congressional hosts managed to shoot at and pot just one bird, a hen mallard released earlier in the season by the state of Maryland.
The birds just wouldn't fly in the brief time they had afield, said Rep. Bill Brewster (D-Okla.), who set up the trip and shared the blind with the President.
Yet the ill-fated hen wasn't the only duck that ventured in range. "A couple of teal flew by early on," said Brewster, "but we wanted the President to get the first shot and we really didn't get him ready quick enough." (Anyone who hunts ducks knows few gunners are ever ready quick enough for speedy, wild teal.)
The pokier hen mallard swung by later with her drake, said Brewster, filling an empty sky with hope. The drake spied the ruse and peeled off, but the hen decoyed-in and the President emptied his borrowed, three-shot, 12-gauge semiautomatic, with Brewster adding a final blast. So whose duck was it?
"The guy with the highest rank always gets the duck," said Brewster.
Such was the only tangible fruit of a Presidential escapade that began at the blue-collar hour of 4:45 a.m., when Brewster and Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) fetched up on the White House driveway. A seven-car motorcade headed out New York Avenue about 5:15, slightly late, with a camouflaged Clinton perched in a GM Suburban instead of his usual limousine.
The mob stopped 45 minutes later at Anglers Sporting Goods in Annapolis, where Clinton bought a three-day license, then headed across the Bay Bridge. It was after 7 and full daylight when the caravan rolled up to Tieder's place on Slaughter Creek, just south of the Taylors Island causeway.
Clinton, Dingell and Brewster made it into their blind about 7:30, said White House media affairs director Jeff Eller, who stayed back at the hunt club, ducking temperatures in the teens outside.
Normally, a 7:30 start spells ruin for a waterfowler chasing wild ducks, which fly best at dawn and dusk. But Tieder, one of the many gun club owners on Taylors who release captive-reared ducks into their ponds so guests can shoot unlimited numbers of them during Maryland's 30-day duck season, told his guests the hour probably wouldn't matter.
"He said his ducks don't like to fly when it's cold, but if we could stay around till 10 or 11 when it warmed up, they might," Brewster said.
Sadly, the Clinton crowd had only two hours to give to the exercise. He was due in Arkansas that night, and managed to arrive early enough to bowl a game in Hot Springs before bedtime, scoring 126 in tenpins, said Eller.
Clinton also felt the need to quit hunting in time to wolf down a huge breakfast of cholesterol-laden goodies at Tieder's, commenting as he helped Brewster carve up an Oklahoma country ham that "they only let him have a bagel and some juice at home," Brewster said.
Of course, everyone knows Clinton likes to eat. Eller said hunting and fishing sit lower on the President's list of recreational delights. "I don't think he fishes," said the aide. "He has hunted, but I don't know to what extent." Eller ranked Clinton's top five interests as golf, running, playing hearts, reading and bowling.
Hearts?
In any event, Brewster, a diehard gunner who returned yesterday from a week of deer hunting in Texas, said the President looked comfortable with a shotgun and spun some yarns about previous experiences he'd had hunting turkeys, quail and ducks in Arkansas.
Eller declined to comment on whether his boss is now in danger of establishing a reputation like his predecessor, George Bush, who went fishing a lot but rarely hooked a keeper.
Brewster said he's just as glad they didn't have a great day, anyway. Gunners at Regulated Shooting Areas such as Tieder's can kill as many ducks as they like, as long as they are captive-reared birds bearing identifying leg tags. But Brewster said he didn't relish the prospect of explaining to the press and the public how the President came to shoot a dozen ducks when most hunters must stop at three.
"If we'd been out for 12 apiece, there would have been all sorts of negative press," Brewster said. "We were hoping to get six or eight and get the President some shooting. But as it is, we had a good time, and you can't beat a deal like that."
Except, of course, if you can find a nice game of hearts.
January 4, 1994
Sometimes it pays to be the chief, sometimes it doesn't. President Clinton by all accounts enjoyed his two-hour duck-hunting trip to the Eastern Shore last week but he sure didn't do much shooting. For that he can blame his lofty office.
The President picked a duck farm on Taylors Island below Cambridge for his first public stab at blood sport. Just about anyone else could have expected a bang-up time at John Tieder's Fruit Hill Farm, tailor-made for duck shooting with hundreds of captive-reared mallards usually buzzing around the custom-dug duck ponds.
But White House schedules are rough and everyone by now knows Clinton is often tardy for appointments. The combination of a late start and early quitting time proved costly, and Clinton and his two congressional hosts managed to shoot at and pot just one bird, a hen mallard released earlier in the season by the state of Maryland.
The birds just wouldn't fly in the brief time they had afield, said Rep. Bill Brewster (D-Okla.), who set up the trip and shared the blind with the President.
Yet the ill-fated hen wasn't the only duck that ventured in range. "A couple of teal flew by early on," said Brewster, "but we wanted the President to get the first shot and we really didn't get him ready quick enough." (Anyone who hunts ducks knows few gunners are ever ready quick enough for speedy, wild teal.)
The pokier hen mallard swung by later with her drake, said Brewster, filling an empty sky with hope. The drake spied the ruse and peeled off, but the hen decoyed-in and the President emptied his borrowed, three-shot, 12-gauge semiautomatic, with Brewster adding a final blast. So whose duck was it?
"The guy with the highest rank always gets the duck," said Brewster.
Such was the only tangible fruit of a Presidential escapade that began at the blue-collar hour of 4:45 a.m., when Brewster and Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) fetched up on the White House driveway. A seven-car motorcade headed out New York Avenue about 5:15, slightly late, with a camouflaged Clinton perched in a GM Suburban instead of his usual limousine.
The mob stopped 45 minutes later at Anglers Sporting Goods in Annapolis, where Clinton bought a three-day license, then headed across the Bay Bridge. It was after 7 and full daylight when the caravan rolled up to Tieder's place on Slaughter Creek, just south of the Taylors Island causeway.
Clinton, Dingell and Brewster made it into their blind about 7:30, said White House media affairs director Jeff Eller, who stayed back at the hunt club, ducking temperatures in the teens outside.
Normally, a 7:30 start spells ruin for a waterfowler chasing wild ducks, which fly best at dawn and dusk. But Tieder, one of the many gun club owners on Taylors who release captive-reared ducks into their ponds so guests can shoot unlimited numbers of them during Maryland's 30-day duck season, told his guests the hour probably wouldn't matter.
"He said his ducks don't like to fly when it's cold, but if we could stay around till 10 or 11 when it warmed up, they might," Brewster said.
Sadly, the Clinton crowd had only two hours to give to the exercise. He was due in Arkansas that night, and managed to arrive early enough to bowl a game in Hot Springs before bedtime, scoring 126 in tenpins, said Eller.
Clinton also felt the need to quit hunting in time to wolf down a huge breakfast of cholesterol-laden goodies at Tieder's, commenting as he helped Brewster carve up an Oklahoma country ham that "they only let him have a bagel and some juice at home," Brewster said.
Of course, everyone knows Clinton likes to eat. Eller said hunting and fishing sit lower on the President's list of recreational delights. "I don't think he fishes," said the aide. "He has hunted, but I don't know to what extent." Eller ranked Clinton's top five interests as golf, running, playing hearts, reading and bowling.
Hearts?
In any event, Brewster, a diehard gunner who returned yesterday from a week of deer hunting in Texas, said the President looked comfortable with a shotgun and spun some yarns about previous experiences he'd had hunting turkeys, quail and ducks in Arkansas.
Eller declined to comment on whether his boss is now in danger of establishing a reputation like his predecessor, George Bush, who went fishing a lot but rarely hooked a keeper.
Brewster said he's just as glad they didn't have a great day, anyway. Gunners at Regulated Shooting Areas such as Tieder's can kill as many ducks as they like, as long as they are captive-reared birds bearing identifying leg tags. But Brewster said he didn't relish the prospect of explaining to the press and the public how the President came to shoot a dozen ducks when most hunters must stop at three.
"If we'd been out for 12 apiece, there would have been all sorts of negative press," Brewster said. "We were hoping to get six or eight and get the President some shooting. But as it is, we had a good time, and you can't beat a deal like that."
Except, of course, if you can find a nice game of hearts.