Outdoor commentary and legislative issues.
Swagger’s exclusive Crazy Legs Technology allows the All-Terrain Bipod legs to flex and move as a hunter shifts his point of aim. The Crazy Legs springs provide support but also respond to pressure, allowing the crosshair to remain steady, even as the hunter adjusts to game movement. Crazy Legs Technology also means the legs can hyper-extend to adapt to any shooting position, including prone, kneeling or standing. Read more
The DNR will provide weekly blogs that offer a closer look at life in this year’s Conservation Officer Recruit School. The blogs highlight weekly training events and challenges. You can subscribe to the blogs, which also will be posted on the Michigan DNR Facebook page.
“These men and women have the chance to be part of something special, but they have to earn it,” said Gary Hagler, chief of DNR’s Law Enforcement Division. “Anyone who wears the green and gray uniform of a Michigan conservation officer must carry on our 130-year tradition of service and excellence. Those who have what it takes can look forward to an exciting, rewarding career protecting Michigan’s natural resources and the people who enjoy them. But it all starts at Recruit School.” Read more
The National Shooting Sports Foundation® (NSSF®), the trade association for the firearms and outdoors industry, is conducting the following consumer study in an effort to better understand sportsmen’s and sportswomen’s hunting and target shooting participation.
Your individual responses will remain fully confidential and will not be shared with anyone for any reason and you will not be contacted as a result of taking this survey.
Manufacturers, retailers, state wildlife agencies and industry organizations rely on feedback from outdoor enthusiasts to shape future programs, products and wildlife restoration efforts so your input is extremely valuable and we appreciate you completing this survey in its entirety.
For additional information on National Shooting Sports Foundation, please visit www.nssf.org
MISSOULA, Mont. – Iowa-based Boyt Harness Co. is the latest name added to a growing list of supporters behind a new initiative led by the Boone and Crockett Club intended to highlight the core values of fair chase and to strengthen the image of the North American hunter.
“There was a time when sportsmen were openly admired and praised for their commitments to wildlife and habitat conservation,” said CJ Buck, the Club’s vice president of communications. “Today we’re subject to increasing attack and misrepresentation. As grossly unfair as this has become, no one is going to restore the positive image of hunters and hunting other than sportsmen themselves. The Hunt Fair Chase initiative seeks to help sportsmen become better brand ambassadors for hunting by rallying behind the time-honored traditions of fair chase and putting our best foot forward.”
The Hunt Right: Hunt Fair Chase initiative hopes to inspire sportsmen to unite behind an effort to improve their own public image and control the narrative about hunting that others have taken. The initiative will launch later this summer.
“Our society is governed by laws. Hunting too is governed by laws, but out of a sense of responsibility for the game we hunt and the country they live in, sportsmen go one step further,” said Buck. “A sporting approach ensures the game is respected and never threatened; the privilege of hunting is honored, and the no-guarantees nature of hunting and the memorable experiences we seek remain intact. There is a lot tucked up under the umbrella of what we know as fair chase.” Read more
If you want to hunt bull elk in Utah this fall, it’s easy to get a permit to hunt during the general season. Just log onto www.wildlife.utah.gov, or visit a Division of Wildlife Resources office or your nearest Utah hunting license agent, and buy one.
A total of 30,000 rifle and muzzleloader permits went on sale July 11.
If you didn’t get a permit on July 11, don’t worry: it usually takes a few weeks for general elk permits to sell out. “Don’t wait too long, though,” says Lindy Varney, wildlife licensing coordinator for the DWR. “If you want to hunt elk in Utah, I’d encourage you to buy a permit as soon as you can.”
General archery elk permits are one type of elk permit that won’t sell out. They aren’t limited in number, so you’ll have no problem getting one.
General archery elk permits also went on sale July 11. They’ll be available until the extended archery elk hunt ends on Dec. 15.
Two types of units
Before you buy a rifle or muzzleloader permit, you need to decide which units you want to hunt on: any-bull units, where you’re allowed to take a bull of any size, or spike-only units, where only spike bulls may be taken.
If you buy an any-bull permit, you can hunt on all of the any-bull units in Utah. If you buy a spike-only permit, you can hunt on all of the spike-only units in the state.
While many hunters dream of taking a large, branch-antlered bull, Varney says a hunt on a spike-only unit provides several advantages.
“One of the neat things about hunting on a spike-only unit is the chance to hear and see big, mature bulls,” she says. “The spike-only hunts are held on the same areas where the limited-entry hunts are held. You can’t take a branch-antlered bull with a spike-only permit, but you can still experience the thrill of being near these big elk.”
The spike-only units are mostly public land, so you’ll have lots of places to hunt. And—just like taking a branch-antlered bull—taking a spike bull will provide you with lots of tasty, healthy meat.
If you’d rather hunt branch-antlered bulls on an any-bull unit, Justin Shannon, big game coordinator for the DWR, says two units in the Uinta Mountains—the North Slope unit and the South Slope unit—are the most popular units in the state. “Hunting any-bull units can be a challenge,” Shannon says, “but they hold some big bulls.” Read more
Enter for a Chance to Win a Hunting Experience with Wade Middleton
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Smith & Wesson Corp. today announced the launch of the “Performance Center – Texas Whitetail Hunt Sweepstakes“, which began on June 23, 2017 and will run until October 30, 2017 at 11:59 p.m. EST. Thewinner of the Texas Whitetail Hunt Sweepstakes will be awarded a Performance Center 460XVR™ revolver, as well as an all-expenses paid trip to participate in an exciting, three-day, filmed hunt with Wade Middleton of Yamaha’s Whitetail Diaries at his ranch located outside of San Antonio, Texas.
Tony Miele, General Manager of the Performance Center, said, “With all of the recent interest in handgun hunting, we are excited to offer an opportunity to hunt with one of the Performance Center’s flagship handguns and learn from Wade Middleton of Yamaha’s Whitetail Diaries, a professional handgun hunter. It’s not often that we are able to offer this type ofexperience, and we are looking forward to hosting the sweepstakes winner at Wade Middleton’s ranch this fall.”
The Performance Center – Texas Whitetail Hunt Sweepstakes is open now for entries, and will close October 30, 2017 at 11:59 p.m. EST.
To enter the sweepstakes, visit the Performance Center Facebook Page. Read more
A package of bills just introduced has bipartisan support and will benefit habitat, access, and conservation funding
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Only hours ahead of their departure for the Fourth of July recess, Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), and a bipartisan group of senators introduced S. 1514, a strong package of bills that would benefit fish and wildlife habitat nationwide, while funding critical watershed restoration efforts in the Mid-Atlantic and improving access for recreational shooters on public lands.
The legislation would include the following:
“What makes this effort different from sportsmen’s packages of the more recent past is that, right from the outset, it deals with meaningful conservation priorities by reauthorizing and instituting programs that will actually enhance fish and wildlife populations, habitat, and access,” says Whit Fosburgh, president and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “We applaud Sen. Barrasso, Sen. Cardin, Sen. Boozman, Sen. Klobuchar, Sen. Capito, and Sen. Baldwin for their leadership and recognition of what American hunters and anglers value.” Read more
The last century has seen a multitude of wildlife conservation success stories thanks to the efforts of the professional fish and wildlife management community. The restoration of once depleted species such as the white-tailed deer, wild turkey, bald eagle, wood duck, and Rocky Mountain elk, to name only a few, was no accident, nor was it the result of guesswork or management through blind optimism. Rather, these once-struggling populations successfully rebounded because biologists and resource managers applied scientific principles dictated by the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.
The same governing principle—the use of sound science to dictate policy—also applies to the work now being done to increase participation in and support for hunting, fishing, sport shooting, and archery: R3 (recruitment, retention, and reactivation) efforts must be based on high-quality research and a solid foundation of fact. Read more
By Glen Wunderlich
With the Yellowstone population of grizzly bears having grown from a threatening low number of 136 bears in 1975 to a present estimate of 700, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, has announced that federal protections are to be removed. Accordingly, management of the magnificent beasts is to return to the affected states and tribes. The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) Distinct Population Segment (DPS) consists of portions of northwestern Wyoming, southwestern Montana and eastern Idaho. Grizzly bear populations outside of this DPS in the lower 48 states will be treated separately under the ESA and will continue to be protected.
Success? Not so fast, says the largest anti-hunting organization in the world, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). Its lawyers have lined up in advance of the next round of nonsensical court battles between scientific game management and its emotionally charged rhetoric. It matters not that grizzly bears have more than doubled their range since the mid-1970s, now occupying more than 22,500 square miles. Once again, the fight is over hunting.
One thing we’ve learned over the years is that sustainability of any species of game animal is guaranteed, if hunting is permitted. Although it may seem counter-intuitive, it works every time it is employed. Just like so many other North American success stories including whitetail deer, wild turkeys, elk, antelope – you name it. They are all thriving under management plans that use hunting as a primary tool to manage the balance between a growing human population and habitat resources.
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) grizzly bear population was determined to be recovered because multiple factors indicate it is healthy and will be sustained into the future. These factors include not only the number and distribution of bears throughout the ecosystem, but also the quantity and quality of the habitat available and the states’ commitments to manage the population from now on in a manner that maintains its healthy and secure status.
The GYE population of grizzly bears has surpassed recovery goals in both population benchmarks and duration of time meeting those goals, proving that the population is not just recovered, but stable and growing. Moreover, more than 100 grizzly bears have been killed for depredation of livestock or attacks on humans in the last two years – a significant number indicative of the population having reached social tolerance levels within the available habitat.
However, Wayne Pacelle of HSUS states in his blog, “ Specifically, the delisting rule ignores the ongoing existential threat posed to these bears by habitat loss, disappearance of staple foods like whitebark pine and cutthroat trout…”
What is ironic about this statement is that if these essential elements of the bears’ existence actually remain in jeopardy, then why would any group supporting the animals’ welfare take taxpayer dollars for lawsuit expenses earmarked for the very habitat improvements it says are lacking?
Simply stated, it’s to pad its annual $130 million budget and fund its hefty retirement accounts, to stop all hunting, and to put us all on strict diets of vegan shoots and sprouts.
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