Zinke Selects Eight Boone and Crockett Members to Serve on Hunting and Shooting Sports Conservation Council

MISSOULA, MT  – Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke has selected five Boone and Crockett Club members for the Interior’s Hunting and Shooting Sports Conservation Council along with three more members serving as alternates. The council’s role is to advise the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture on existing and proposed policies that affect wildlife and habitat conservation.

“This is how conservation was established and has been maintained and advanced in this country,” said Ben B. Hollingsworth Jr., president of the Boone and Crockett Club. “Roosevelt built a network of experts passionate about wild places and wild things to ensure that generations of people would have the opportunity to enjoy them, and a lot of these conservationists were members of the Club.”

Theodore Roosevelt and George Bird Grinnell founded the Boone and Crockett Club in 1887 to address the decline of wildlife, especially game species on a national scale. Read more

Houston Safari Club Awards Grant to Sportsmen’s Alliance

Houston, TX  – Houston Safari Club (HSC) continues its support of Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation through a grant of $15,000 to support their incredible efforts to defend hunting, fishing and trapping against lawsuits, legislation and ballot issues initiated by animal rights and anti-hunting organizations.

For 40 years, the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation has been able to achieve a 95% success rate of defeating anti-hunting led initiatives. Unfortunately, the number of new anti-hunting initiatives is increasing and the only way they can meet those challenges is with increased funding from supporters like HSC. “We’re extremely grateful that the Board and members of the Houston Safari Club continue to demonstrate the importance of fighting to protect our heritage,” said Evan Heusinkveld, Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation president and CEO. “It’s through the commitment of organizations like HSC that we’re able to engage in battles all across the country.” Read more

Cirrus Wind Indicator

Victoria, TX- Cirrus Outdoors changed the wind detection game with the launch of the Cirrus Wind Indicator®. “We tested the indicator for several years before bringing it to market. Being the first wind indicator on the market to utilize true vaper technology we had to make sure everything was right. Over the last year we developed our base unit into the ultimate hunting tool. Our product development team built the technology to not only have the best wind indicator on the market but the best multi tool as well.” Said Jim Angott President of Cirrus Outdoors.

The new Cirrus Wind Indicator® features three multi colored LED Lights. (red and white) This new lighted unit allows hunters to monitor and check the wind and thermals in total darkness or extremely low light. Not only do the lights help you detect the wind but they can be used as a flashlight when needed as well. Not only will the Cirrus Unit work as a wind checker and a flashlight built into one compact design, it will also act as a USB charging bank for your phone. “With all the technology, we take into the woods I find myself looking to downsize on how much I take with me to the stand. While testing the new Cirrus Wind Indicator® I had a flashlight, charger, and most important a wind indicator that all fit into my pocket.” Mike Hecht General Manager of RubLine Marketing.

Cirrus Wind Indicator® is available at several fine retailers across the country as well as several online retailers.

MSRP $44.95

ScrapeFix’s The Vine

Any scrape fanatic knows that vertically hanging licking branches are the key to mock scrapes. Whitetails can’t resist vertically hanging branches and will travel long distances to visit these locations.

CHALLENG IS TO THE PERFECT LICKING BRANCH:
• The perfect licking branch is never readily available near your trail camera locations or shooting lanes.
• As the rut gets closer bucks will often break of licking branches and abandon the scrape.
• Whitetails will rarely make scrapes in locations without the perfect licking branch.

Now you can make the perfect mock scrape in any location with ScrapeFix’s TheVine. The Vine Package comes with 5′ Fully Adjustable vine and a bottle of ScrapeFix. Place TheVine on any tree, adjust to desired height and WATCH IT WORK! 

Nature Blinds HERO Advantage and Stalking Shield

Kerrville, TX (May 2, 2018) – The deer rut is synonymous with freezing weather, when the biggest limiting factor for some hunters is staying warm to remain in the field all day. Heated blinds are ideal for dealing with Mother Nature, but many are obtrusive in contrast to their surroundings.

The Nature Blind Hero provides all the advantages a hunter needs to be successful. Not only are these self-contained blinds warm and dry, but they blend like a chameleon into their surroundings.

The Hero is designed to be aesthetically pleasing to hunters but is simply part of the neighborhood for local deer. The Hero looks like a weathered old tree trunk and will even fool other hunters. It isn’t uncommon for hunting buddies to open and check out the blind in detail to see if it is real wood or a perfect replica.

The Hero is fully insulated and has a carpeted floor. Fully locking doors secures your secret blind, if anyone could find it in the first place. Read more

Swagger Bipods – Anywhere, Any Terrain

You found the perfect pinch point to catch a big buck flat-footed while traveling from his bedding area. Setting up at the base of a tree, you fold out your bipod to hold your rifle at shoulder height, aimed down the trail where you expect to see the deer approach. In typical big-buck fashion, tall antlers appear far to your right and not on the game trail. With most bipods, you’d be hard-pressed to lift your rifle, aim towards the deer in tight quarters, and still manage to get a shot.

With a Swagger Bipod, the fact the buck showed up within range would be its last mistake. The flexibility of the Flex-Ready legs would allow you to simply swing your rifle barrel in the direction of the deer and fire. The legs would stay in place, where you originally set them, extended to the desired length, and they would twist to keep up with your rifle movement while continuing to provide rock-solid support. Read more

Legislation Expanding Youth Hunting Opportunities Passes Michigan House

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Take Action Today! Michigan members should contact their state senator and ask them to vote YES on House Bill 5711. Michigan sportsmen can contact their state senator by using the Sportsmen’s Alliance Legislative Action Center.

In Michigan, legislation that would expand access to public land for young people has passed the House of Representatives. House Bill 5711, introduced by Rep. Triston Cole (R-105), will permit youth 10 and older to hunt on public land. Under current law, a person must be at least 14. Those under the age of 14 may only hunt on private land.

On May 2, the Michigan House of Representatives passed HB 5711 by a vote of 102-7. The bill now heads to the Senate where it will be assigned to a committee.

Often, youth begin to get involved at an early age with extracurricular sports and other after school programs, which makes it harder for them to try hunting. Access to quality hunting areas is crucial in maintaining hunter participation. By allowing parents to take their child hunting on public land, House Bill 5711 will make it easier for parents to get youths more involved in hunting. More importantly, HB 5711 will help in the retention of these new young hunters.

Birds and ‘Shrooms

By Glen Wunderlich

Ever since my first wild turkey hunt in Michigan back in the ‘70s, the fascination has always evolved into a fair amount of anticipation leading to opening day.  As has been the case over the years, I’ve opted for the late season, which runs just about the entire month of May.  Much of the mystique of a novice is gone with experience and the advent of television shows featuring turkey hunting.  A bit of complacency seems to have set in, however.

Morning finds me outdoors stocking wild bird feeding sites before sun rise, which also offers opportunities to listen for neighboring gobblers.  A single trailcam was installed where a portable blind would be placed days before the opener.  Only a couple of turkey hens had been spotted – one with a beard

Bearded Hen

– and, that was good enough to assume a Tom would show eventually.  However, the afternoon before that first day of the season, I remembered I had yet to sight in my gobbler-getting shotgun.  Four shots later it was centered on the target, but my only morning hunt produced one sighting on stand – a lone hen.  The Toms have shut down their early morning gobbling from the roosts and seem to have changed routines, but plenty of opportunities remain.

Unseasonably dry weather conditions and lingering cold has put growing conditions behind quite a bit.  We needed rain and we finally got a good dose.  Predictably, spring finally sprung with wild asparagus and morel mushrooms pushing through the ground cover overnight.  While I have no taste for the widely sought-after ‘shrooms, a neighbor didn’t hesitate, when I called to let her know I found a few.  Her mesh bag was filled in short order.

Morel Mushrooms

On another note, the spring bird migration has brought in some of my favorite feathered friends to feed.  Several Rufous-sided Towhees have become regular freeloaders the past several days and I’m hoping they’ll take up residence instead of moving on like usual.  And, another of our most colorful flying spectacles – the Rose-breasted Grosbeak – finally arrived, as well, along with the dazzling Baltimore Orioles.  Looks like it’s time to get the grape jelly out for them, too.

Another familiar harbinger of spring is our state bird:  the American Robin.  Although they are not seed eaters, their antics in search of insects and worms sure can be entertaining.  This spring, one has built its nest on top of a security light controlled by a photocell attached to the fixture.  The huge nest has totally blocked the electric eye and relegates me to manually operate the light; otherwise it would stay on.

What prompts birds to build nests where they do?  Some of their real estate choices are real head-scratchers and that’s where the “Funky Nests in Funky Places contest comes in.  If you find a nest built in a quirky, even downright crazy spot, you may want to share a photo before the June 30th deadline.  The contest is hosted by the Celebrate Urban Birds citizen-science project at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Entries can be photos, poems, stories, or artwork.

Participants don’t have to be bird or photography experts. All ages are welcome to participate as individuals or with a class, community center, or afterschool program. Entries are being accepted from anywhere in the world. You don’t have to be a participant in the citizen-science project either–just sign in as a guest.

Winners in each category will receive Celestron binoculars and other prizes are available for honorable mentions.

 

Find more information about how to locate nests, approach them without disturbing the birds, and enter the contest at www.funkynests.org.

Michigan Offers Fly Fishing, Wildflower Photography and Other Outdoor Skills Instruction

There’s still space available in some of our upcoming Outdoor Skills Academy classes. You can learn about fly fishing with our Women in Waders class at Bay City State Park on May 19 and our Beginner Fly-Fishing Clinic at Tahquamenon Falls State Park on June 9. Or learn how to take better photos at our wildflower photography workshop with renowned nature and wildlife photographer Tom Haxby, at Mitchell State Park in Cadillac on May 12-13.

The Outdoor Skills Academy offers expert instruction, gear and hands-on learning for a range of outdoor activities, from hunting and fishing to hiking, birding and much more. Classes explore each topic in-depth, for a full day or more, with knowledgeable and skilled instructors leading the way.

 

Check out the full calendar of classes at michigan.gov/outdoorskills.

Meet Marcus the Leupold Llama

BEAVERTON, OR — Leupold & Stevens, Inc. is working with long-time partner and dedicated backcountry hunter, Randy Newberg, to provide a unique look at public land hunting opportunities in 2018 through the eyes of Randy’s new hunting partner, Marcus the llama.

Sharing a first name with Marcus Leupold – son of legendary co-founder Fred Leupold and the man who famously threw aside a riflescope that failed him and vowed to build something better more than 70 years ago – the llama will serve as Newberg’s lead pack animal on public land hunts throughout the western portion of the United States this fall.

Provided by Beau and Kristin Baty of Wilderness Ridge Trail Llamas, Marcus comes from a herd of Ccara Pack llamas. Ccara’s are representative of the traditional llama breed, and make for excellent pack animals, thanks to their athleticism, strength and trainability.

“I had the opportunity to borrow llamas from Beau earlier this year,” said Newberg. “I was impressed with how much weight they could carry, and how low-maintenance they are – horses are great pack animals, but the smaller body of a llama means they eat and drink much less in comparison. They’re an easier companion to care for, and you lose none of the benefits of a larger-bodied pack animal.” Read more

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