EDGEFIELD, S.C. — The number of sportsmen and women in the U.S. has been declining since the 1980s. As they diminish, so does funding and support for wildlife conservation. The National Wild Turkey Federation has proudly joined forces with the Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports and the Wildlife Management Institute to strengthen national efforts to recruit, retain and reactivate hunters and target shooters.

The national partnership of more than 33 non-profit and conservation groups, firearms and archery industry leaders and state fish and wildlife agencies has pulled together a coalition of experts who have been working for the past year to draft a comprehensive action plan that outlines the critically needed strategies and tools to create more hunters and shooting sports participants.

“The completion of this action plan signifies a monumental achievement and is a real game changer for our sporting community,” said Dan Forster, director for the Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division. “The Council’s innovative approach to address a national problem will now serve as a catalyzing agent for conservation partners to develop strategic approaches for addressing localized challenges.”

This plan to recruit, retain and reactivate, abbreviated to R3, is designed to re-energize past shooters and hunters, bring more non-traditional audiences into the fold, and ensures that conservation organizations are maximizing the impact of their R3 efforts. Read more

St. Paul, Minn. – Pheasants Forever is the recipient of a $100,000 grant from the Cabela’s Outdoor Fund in support of the organization’s wildlife-habitat conservation and outdoor youth education efforts. The new funding will support various aspects of Pheasants Forever’s No Child Left Indoors® Initiative, including pollinator habitat projects, the FOREVER Shooting Sports program and conservation leadership training for members of the organization’s National Youth Leadership Council. Read more

DNR wildlife technician ages an 8-point buckThe Michigan Department of Natural Resources deer check stations are ready for the start of the upcoming firearm deer hunting season in the Upper Peninsula.

If the archery season is any indicator, there likely will be some great bucks harvested in the weeks to come.

“We’ve had some really nice deer checked here in Marquette over the past few weeks,” said DNR deputy public information officer John Pepin. “Some hunters think last winter’s big snowfall just before the start of the firearm deer hunting season may have been a blessing in disguise.” Read more

COLUMBUS, GA — With Realtree’s new online Antler-Scoring Tool, you can score your rack quickly and easily and then share the results with a cool graphic image through social media.

Realtree’s Antler-Scoring Tool provides a handy step-by-step process with video tutorials for easily scoring your rack. Simply upload the measurements online and click “submit” for an accurate score. Once you get your score, you can share it directly to social media via Facebook with an automated image. You can also upload a photo of your buck for an image of the score superimposed directly on top of the photo.

Developed by Gray Loon Marketing Group, this responsive tool works on all devices, whether in the field, in camp or at home.

For the old-school types who could care less about social media and prefer to use pen and paper instead, a printable score sheet is available. Read more

Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation on the Internet about how to improve your deer hunting, including tips on how to rattle in more bucks. I’m sorry to say that all too often these scripts are based on opinion rather than science. If you want to be more successful this season, use these 10 science-based rattling tips to put the odds in your favor.