Last week, President Trump announced he would be making E15 available year-round. NMMA is urging EPA and the Trump Administration not to harm boaters and the recreational boating industry by allowing the sale of E15 year-round. NMMA has been working hard to ensure E15 stays out of the market, given its damaging effects on marine engines. Recently, NMMA issued a Boating United alert and is encouraging the industry to take action on this now more than ever given last week’s announcement. (CLICK HERE to access the alert).
Thom Dammrich, president of NMMA, issued the following statement after President Trump’s announcement:
“President Trump’s promise to expand E15 sales into the summer months will needlessly put 141 million American boaters in danger. Unfortunately, far too few boating enthusiasts are aware that boat engines cannot process higher blends of ethanol safely. In fact, 63 percent of consumers assume any gas sold at a retail gas station must be safe for their product.
This shift in policy is simply a political decision meant to appease American farmers who, like American marine manufactures, will be severely harmed by the Administration’s recent trade actions. Rather than negotiating smart policy that benefits all stakeholders, the Administration is trying to fix bad policy with more bad policy. Read more
MISSOULA, Mont.— The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s volunteer force of 11,000-strong donated more than $21 million in labor during 2017.
“We have a profound gratitude for our volunteers who give so much of their time, talents and energy on behalf of RMEF,” said Nancy Holland, RMEF president and CEO. “They constantly go above and beyond in helping to further our shared conservation mission of ensuring the future of elk, other wildlife, their habitat and our hunting heritage.”
The Independent Sector used data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to calculate the 2017 value of one volunteer hour as $24.14. RMEF volunteers average approximately 80 hours of service annually. If you do the math, that equates into $21,243,200 of total value for elk and elk country.
RMEF volunteers host fundraising banquets, membership drives and other events across more than 500 chapters from coast-to-coast. Those generated dollars are put back on the ground in their respective states and around the country to benefit elk, elk habitat, public access projects, hunting outreach events and scientific research. Read more
This past Wednesday, the Michigan Supreme Court heard oral arguments in MGO v. Ann Arbor and MOC v. Clio. At issue in the cases is whether schools, as local units of government, are subject preemption by the State of Michigan preventing them from creating and enforcing their own firearms restrictions. While MCL 28.425o prevents concealed carry in schools, MCL 750.237a provides an exemption for concealed pistol license holders, allowing a CPL holder to openly carry. MCL 123.1102 prevents local units of government in Michigan from enacting their own firearms regulations, a law that has been supported by Michigan courts in past cases, most notably MCRGO v. Ferndale in 2003.
Chief Justice Stephen Markman dominated questioning and appears to be supportive of preemption. He repeatedly referenced the sentence in state law that says school gun prohibitions don’t apply to people who are licensed to carry a concealed weapon. “I don’t mean to be flippant about this, but I don’t understand why that isn’t perhaps the beginning, the middle and even perhaps conceivably the end of the argument,” Markman argued. Justice Richard Bernstein and Justice Bridget McCormack, who has a son at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, suggested there’s a need for schools to set restrictions, indicating the court may be divided on it opinion.
The Michigan Supreme Court will now meet privately to discuss the case and to agree on how the case is to be decided. A Justice will be selected to author an opinion of law, explaining the Court’s decision. Another Justice may write a dissenting opinion or an opinion expressing a separate point A decision on the case is expected to be decided by July 31 but could come much sooner.
Anniston, Ala. – Creedmoor® Sports, the leader in precision rifle equipment and gear, is pleased to announce that Aztec Mode Software from Annealing Made Perfect is now available for purchase. This patent-pending, brand new software was debuted by Annealing Made Perfect at the 2018 SHOT Show and is considered a major upgrade in the way the annealer operates, allowing customers to calibrate their own annealing settings without sending samples to New Zealand. Read more
According to a report from the Associated Press, retired U.S. Marine and film actor R. Lee Ermey, age 74, died Sunday morning from complications related to pneumonia. The report was seen on Ermey’s Facebook page and Twitter feed. He represented Glock, Inc. and other companies in the outdoors industry.
GW: Merry ol’ England could use a good man like Doug Ritter.
Knife Rights’ bill to repeal Louisiana’s antiquated ban on the possession of switchblade knives, HB 892, was unanimously passed by the House today by a vote of 83-0. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration. Read more
Even though this sailboat had been fully prepared for the storm, Hurricane Irma swept it ashore into the end zone of a football field. The BoatUS policy’s salvage coverage paid to safely remove and refloat the vessel – will your policy do the same?
Top 6 things to know about insuring a boat in a hurricane zone
ALEXANDRIA, Va.– Will you have a recreational boat located in hurricane country as of June 1? According to recently released predictions by experts at Colorado State University, the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season could be a doozy. If your boat may be in the crosshairs of one of the 14 tropical storms or seven hurricanes predicted, Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) recommends that boat owners check their boat insurance policy now for these six most important things to know. Read more
Burnsville, NC – Thorn Archery revolutionized the hunting and archery market in 2017 with the introduction of the Thorn broadhead. Now, Thorn Archery is proud to announce the release of the next evolution in “Hidden Blade” Technology, the Thorn HPX.
Designed for high-performance crossbows that are capable of shooting up to 500 feet per second, the Thorn HPX features a new, solid titanium Rip-Tip™. It also employs Thorn’s patented “Hidden Blade” technology making it deadly accurate out to 100 yards. Read more
“Where the rubber meets the road” are lyrics coined by an old Firestone tire commercial with a simple meaning: For anything with wheels and rubber, handling and control come down to the tires. Similarly, all the shiny steel and fine optics of a firearm come down to one moment of truth: when the bullet strikes its target. This all-important aspect of hunting – specifically deer for the purposes of this discussion – is often overlooked by some relatively savvy hunters.
Recently, I took the opportunity to compare results of two completely different styles of ammunition for the enormously popular .450 Bushmaster caliber. As you may know, several Mid-Western states, including Michigan, have adopted hunting regulations allowing the use of size-limited, straight-wall-case cartridges in areas heretofore primarily relegated to shotguns. The .450 Bushmaster is near the maximum allowable length and provides ethical hunters a viable option. Although the caliber got its beginning in AR platform rifles, economical bolt –action rifles are now flying off the shelves in an effort to accommodate the growing demand.
Specifically, the Ruger American was the first one to hit the market, because of the prompting of Randy Brown of Randy’s Hunting Center in Bad Axe, Michigan to produce it for the clamoring whitetail deer hunters. Ruger subsequently cornered the market and Randy became famous for his efforts.
Factory ammunition, however, has been limited in selection with Hornady taking over the lion’s share of sales with its Flex Tip, 250-grain offering. This sledge hammer of a round leaves the muzzle at 2200 feet-per-second (fps) developing a whopping 2686 foot-pounds of energy and has become the go-to ammo for sportsmen and women. Personal anecdotal evidence, plus that conveyed to me, bears out the inherent accuracy and effectiveness of the powerful combination of the handy rifle and load.
Always striving for something better, I was interested to learn of a new ammunition offering in .450 Bushmaster produced by ARX with its 158-grain Inceptor bullet at a substantially faster 2620 fps and 2409 ft. lbs. of energy.
L-R: ARX Inceptor, Hornady Flex Tip, and Recovered Flex Tip bullet
This non-expanding bullet, comprised of copper particles blended with a polymer, is engineered for maximum hydraulic displacement and terminal energy transfer to targets through fluted bullets with lateral dispersion creating a venturi effect. Initially, this frangible bullet had been developed to disintegrate upon impact with hard targets such as steel to eliminate ricochets in competition shooting, or to avoid over-penetration in self-defense situations with handgun calibers.
My unscientific test to compare the two different styles of ammunition involved the Ruger American rifle and a stack of soaked newsprint catalogs. Fortunately, I was able to locate two shoulder blades found as remnants from a deer that had obviously expired many years ago and placed them in front of the catalog expansion medium. Here’s where the “rubber met the road.”
At close range the ARX Inceptor bullet struck the bone and proceeded through some 2200 pages of wet pages – one complete catalog plus 10 percent of the next one. The Hornady Flex Tip bullet hit a corresponding bone and traveled through two complete catalogs and well into a third one.
The experiment concluded with a search for what remained of the two bullets. The recovered Inceptor made a violent entrance and completely disintegrated to its final resting place where only a tiny fragment of the original projectile was found – not even enough to bother weighing! On the other hand, the Hornady Flex Tip was peeled from well over 4,000 layers of paper, weighed 170 grains and had mushroomed to about 50-percent more than its original diameter of .452 inches, although the copper jacket had separated from the lead core.
The conclusion is that velocity and energy are only important if they can deliver a better wound channel and the less-expensive Hornady ammo and its Flex Tip design provide a much more appropriate transfer of said energy for a big-game hunting round.
Fourteen habitat restoration projects totaling more than $2 million will be funded by several Michigan Department of Natural Resources grant programs in 2018. Nonprofit organizations, government agencies and private citizens submitted a total of 41 applications requesting more than $7.72 million in funding to complete priority habitat projects in their areas. These projects were submitted, evaluated and awarded through three grant processes.
The Aquatic Habitat Grant Program seeks to protect and restore fish and aquatic habitats; the Dam Management Grant Program focuses on dam removal, maintenance and repair; and the Habitat Improvement Account provides funding for habitat projects in the Manistee, Muskegon and Au Sable rivers’ watersheds.
“These projects continue our investment in habitats to sustain healthy fisheries for generations to come,” said Joe Nohner, a DNR fisheries biologist. “We’re excited to award these grants and work with the recipients to improve upon Michigan’s already world-class fisheries.” Read more
