The IHEA-USA announced today that it is raffling off a QuietKat Apex Pro electric bike, which was generously donated to them by QuietKat.

The Apex Pro is one of the most capable hunting and hauling e-bikes built by QuietKat and offers all the latest features like a 1000w motor and an industry leading 100 lbs hauling capacity. With hydraulic disc brakes, 4.5” tires, and a wide assortment of accessories for your hunt, the Apex Pro will efficiently and quickly haul the game back to camp or the truck with minimal effort.

“QuietKat’s generous donation will allow us to further IHEA-USA projects that ensure new hunters get safely into the field and offer them additional resources to learn to hunt outside the Hunter Education classroom,” states Alex Baer, Executive Director of the IHEA-USA. “The opportunity to raffle this and offer it to our audience and the general public is greatly appreciated. We sincerely thank QuietKat for this generous donation.”

Raffle tickets are now available through the IHEA-USA website for only $20.00 each. Only 250 tickets will be sold. The raffle will net the IHEA-USA $5,000 for its general fund to support its research and develop resources supporting Hunter Education and R3 Initiatives. Read more

A visit to Fort Wilkins is a treat in itself, but the weekend of July 28-30 offers even more – an encampment with the Civil War living-history group Battery D, 1st Michigan Light Artillery, featuring 25-plus costumed interpreters, a depiction of army barracks life and soldiers’ pastimes, full-scale cannon, and authentically reproduced clothing, tools and weapons.

It’s an annual tradition that was paused during the COVID pandemic. Battery D’s return coincides with Fort Wilkins Historic State Park’s 100th anniversary.

“In 1923, Fort Wilkins became a state park, and today the site includes camping, picnicking, fishing and other recreation opportunities as well as this wonderfully preserved historic site,” said Barry James, Upper Peninsula historian for the Michigan History Center.

“You’ll hear the echo of cannon fire rolling down the length of Lake Fanny Hooe, just as soldiers heard it more than 175 years ago. It is an experience not to be missed!”

• The encampment is open to park visitors 8 a.m. to dusk Friday and Saturday, July 28 and 29, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, July 30.
• Demonstrations, including Civil War medical and undertaking procedures, drills and skits are featured throughout the weekend.
• For the daily schedule of activities, call 906-289-4215. Read more

The journey from rural roots in small town Georgia to the Fox News studio was a long and treacherous one for Johnny Joey Jones. While he may have grown up poor in the financial sense, he was blessed with a large, close-knit family that would later become his life support following a horrific encounter with an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) that took his legs in Afghanistan in 2010.

In Unbroken Bonds of Battle (part of Fox News’ Modern Warriors series), Jones showcases his life growing up in the rural South and the days and years leading up to his enlistment in the Marine Corps where he served as Staff Sergeant. Like many Marines, the Corps would become part of Jones’ extended family, a brotherhood of soldiers who were made inseparable through the experiences of combat.

Jones became an EOD Tech, short for Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician, one of the deadliest jobs in the War on Terror—the real-life Hurt Locker. The book consists of personal accounts from soldiers and others close to Jones, including fellow Marines and EOD techs—a special subset of warfighters who have the unenviable task of staring death in the eye daily to save fellow soldiers. While a sniper may provide a similar battlefield life insurance policy, if an EOD tech misses, they’re often dead. In the bloodiest years of the War on Terror—including the year in which Jones’ suffered his injuries—staggering percentages of bomb techs were killed or injured in combat.

To read the rest of this column click here.