POMA Set to Celebrate 10th Anniversary Business Meeting

GW:  I’ll be in Springfield.

The Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA) will celebrate its 10th Annual Business Meeting in Springfield, Mo., March 18-21, with a packed program and an announcement about the group’s future leadership. POMA President Tom Opre said, “The POMA board of directors is excited about the possibility of introducing a new executive director at the conference in Springfield. A search committee, led by industry icon and POMA founding member Tom Gresham, has narrowed the field of applicants and we’re confident POMA’s future will be in good hands.”

POMA has built a reputation of offering its members fast-paced, information-packed meetings and the 2015 event will be no exception. “POMA’s 2015 conference program is focused on today, tomorrow and helping communicators keep step with technology, trends and important business-building techniques,” said Kevin Tate, POMA chairman of the board and head of the 2015 conference program. “How communicators think, adjust and adapt to the changing environment, incorporate multi-media technologies and understand their markets and audiences directly impacts their success. To keep POMA members on the cutting edge, we’ve assembled a bevy of top-notch business, communications and media and technology gurus to help conference attendees stay ahead of the curve and the competition.” Read more

Win a Once-in-Lifetime Filmed Elk Hunt with Randy Newberg

To enter, fans must purchase a special copy of On Your Own Adventures DVD for $29.99, a three-disk set that includes a compilation of six seasons of successful elk hunts from On Your Own Adventures and Fresh Tracks. In total, eight hours of self-guided hunting on public lands in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico and Wyoming. To purchase a copy and get entered to win, visit http://onyourownadventures.com/store/ Read more

The Retro Series World Champion Triple Glass Call Can Make You A Winner

Hunter’s Specialties® brings back some of their classic favorite turkey calls for 2015 with the new Retro Series Calls.

The Retro Series World Champion Triple Glass Call has a molded pot for added resonance and it features three layers of glass to produce realistic hen yelps, cutts and purrs. The glass surface is pre-conditioned and ready to play right out of the package. It comes packaged with a rosewood striker.

The World Champion Triple Glass Call sells for a suggested retail price of $29.99. Read more

Pennsylvania Bear Harvest Impressive Again In 2014

With the totals now official, the top seven harvests in state history all have occurred in the past decade. It’s official: The trend of recent bear seasons taking their place in the Pennsylvania record books continues.

Pennsylvania hunters harvested a total of 3,366 bears in 2014, the seventh-highest tally in state history, the Pennsylvania Game Commission reported yesterday.

With 2014 totals now official, the seven largest bear harvests all have occurred in the past decade.

The all-time high was recorded in 2011, when 4,350 bears were harvested. Hunters harvested 3,510 bears in 2013 – the third-largest harvest on record. Read more

52-Pound Coyote Taken in Michigan’s Thumb Region

by Lia Biondo, Policy Intern MUCC

Photo courtesy of Scott Parr.

The coyotes of Lapeer County have earned recent notoriety among southeast Michigan locals. Last week, they were accused of taking down a horse from the Lapeer County Sheriff’s Mounted Division. A few days later, another coyote-horse attack was reported. Though neither attack was able to be confirmed by DNR officials, the incidences have many Metro Detroiters wondering if their animals could be next.

Through the power of social media, Scott Parr of Brown City, MI was recently thrust into the same limelight as the Lapeer County coyotes when he posted this picture of himself on Facebook last night.

A local news station picked up the picture, and – as it goes with local news stations – the facts became fiction as the story spread across the Metro Detroit area and beyond.

I tracked down Scott for some salt-of-the-Earth truth behind the picture, and to give us his perspective on the coyote population in Michigan’s thumb region.

So, tell me about this picture.

S: “I took that specific coyote on December 23, 2013 with my Ruger M77 Mark II .223. It came out to weigh 52 pounds.

I had put the picture on Facebook the other day, without even thinking about it. That night, the Lapeer County Sheriff’s Department called me and asked for permission to use the picture to raise awareness for the coyote problem in our area. I woke up the next morning, and my Facebook, email and phone were full of people telling me to turn on the news. ABC news had taken the picture and made up a story about it. Then Fox 2 called and wanted an interview. They had recorded my phone call and played it on air, without telling me that was their intention. Other local news stations were calling. NBC wanted to come out and film at the farm.” Read more

Tracking Help with Michigan Dog Trackers

By Glen Wunderlich

Last week’s column covered the rationale for recovering Michigan big game through the use of blood tracking dogs.  What follows is an outline detailing one means to retrieve animals and provides an option to access the assistance of trained tracking dogs alluded to in the hunting regulations.

Any hunter can appreciate a clean, ethical killing shot with no measureable tracking involved on a whitetail deer.  However, conditions afield, equipment failures and human error may contribute to a less-than-perfect result.  Of course, those opposed to hunting in any of its forms will jump at any chance to exploit unfortunate circumstances to further their anti-hunting agenda.

Funny how the same “logic” is never applied to automobile or plane crashes.  If it were, we’d all be riding horseback or safer yet, walking.  Instead, we have mandatory seat-belt laws and rigorous airline safety oversight – all designed to minimize the chances of the unthinkable.  Similarly, dedicated sportsmen do everything within their control to make the perfect kill shot, but being human and using equipment produced by humans means things can go awry.

It’s perplexing to comprehend the paradox in a dozen states or more such as Colorado.  There, it is illegal for a hunter to “fail to make a reasonable attempt to track and kill animals you wound or may have wounded” but the use of blood tracking dogs is illegal, as well.  How any of this can be perceived as “reasonable” is beyond me.

On the contrary, in Michigan, common sense has prevailed and such nonsense is no longer the case.  But, what if you or a friend has no tracking dog to aid in the recovery of a big game animal?  Answer:  Michigan Deer Tracking Dogs.

For a negotiable fee, certified dog trackers, such as Rob Miller of Linden may come to your aid.  Rob and his dachshund, Sypris, have recovered over 90 whitetail deer over the past few years to the delight of hunters within a one-hour radius of Linden.  Others within the organization throughout Michigan have had similar results recovering all manner of big game, although for numerous reasons, successful recoveries cannot be guaranteed.

Each tracker sets their own rate, typically based on the distance they must travel and $100-$150 is a general starting point for local tracks (within a half hour drive), and it will go up from there.  Success varies from 25 to 50 percent based on myriad variables.

Typically deer are recovered within two hours but if there is significant positive sign (i.e. good blood, or a visual on the deer and it appears severely wounded) the tracker will proceed.  They will keep tracking until the deer is recovered or it is determined that signs indicate a deer is not mortally wounded.

Without a certified tracker, Michigan hunters can still track game animals with a dog, but no firearms or bows can accompany them on a retrieval mission (day or night), thus preventing what may appear to others as illegal hunting activity.  Under Michigan regulations relative to certified trackers, law enforcement must be notified when a recovery effort begins and ends, regardless of the outcome.  But, only with a certified tracker, can an animal be dispatched on the spot, if necessary.

Fortunately, contradictory terms in Colorado need not apply to Michigan sportsmen and women seeking to finish the admirable job of game recovery.

For more information on tracking dogs, the website is www.michigandeertracknhounds.com.

Tracking Dogs: Waste Not, Want Not

Joe Reynolds' fine muzzleloader buck with tracking dog, Reese

Joe Reynolds’ fine muzzleloader buck with tracking dog, Reese

By Glen Wunderlich

No ethical sportsman wants to lose big game after the shot. In fact, it is the hunter’s responsibility and obligation to make every effort to recover game animals that have been shot, or to make every attempt to determine, if in fact, an animal has been shot at all. Yet, over a dozen states prohibit the use of the most refined search “tool” available to them: tracking dogs.

As contradictory as it may seem, a dozen or so states, do not allow any attempts to retrieve deer with dogs. Instead of writing laws to manage wildlife resources better, such states have all-encompassing laws under the guise of keeping unscrupulous persons from “running” deer or actually hunting them with dogs; however, this means that recoverable deer will go to waste in some instances. These states don’t have to reinvent the wheel to get on board with a more sensible approach to this dilemma.

Consider Michigan’s law: It is illegal to make use of a dog in hunting deer or elk except that a dog may be used to locate a down or mortally wounded deer or elk, if the dog is kept on a leash and those in attendance do not possess a firearm, crossbow, or bow. Exception: If accompanied by a licensed dog tracker, a hunter may possess a firearm, a cocked crossbow, or a bow with nocked arrow, only at the time and point of kill.

If the tracking is done at night, artificial lights ordinarily carried in the hand, or on the person, may be used. A dog that barks while tracking the deer shall not be used on public lands. A licensed deer, elk, or bear hunter, if accompanied by a certified dog tracker, shall not have a live round in the chamber, a cocked crossbow, or a bow with a nocked arrow, except at the time and point of kill of the wounded deer, elk, or bear.

If a hunter hires a certified dog tracker to recover game, other requirements relative to notifying the DNR must be met so that law enforcement knows the effort is taking place. That way, if someone contacts them about what they believe may be an illegal hunting operation after hours – dogs, lights, even gunshots – officials have the facts at hand and are able to calm potential conflicts.

On the other hand, if a hunter has an uncertified dog and wants to track a deer, he can do so, as long as he is not carrying a firearm or bow on the retrieving effort and keeps the dog on a leash. This provision eliminates nighttime shooting of any kind, which is illegal under the hunting regulations for deer – again, unless certified trackers are employed.

Personally, I have had the pleasure of recovering several deer with dogs over the years. The first episode was with an untested Labrador retriever, who found my fatally shot deer within minutes, after my hunting partner and I couldn’t do it in hours.

Since then, several other dogs have been used with success. This past season, Reese – a dachshund/beagle mix – located a whitetail deer in the dense cover of high grass along a creek, when we had found no clues prior to calling in the dog.

I’ve yet to hear of any complications with Michigan’s dog-tracking law. Those states with blanket prohibitions against the use of dogs for tracking game, can take a lesson from the forward-thinking majority of states like Michigan. There is a right way to do it opposed to the wrong way of not doing it at all.

Congressional Leaders Introduce New Sportsmen’s Act in 114th Congress

Sportfishing industry is optimistic about chances for passage

Alexandria, VA – The American Sportfishing Association (ASA) applauds the introduction of the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act of 2015, which includes numerous legislative measures beneficial to anglers and hunters across the nation. Sponsored by Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act of 2015 contains provisions that will benefit our nation’s sportsmen and women by providing increased access to our public lands and waters, improving fish and wildlife management and protecting the use of traditional fishing tackle.

“This bipartisan package contains many important provisions that are largely non-controversial and that will advance fisheries conservation and recreational fishing access for the benefit of the nation’s 60 million anglers,” said American Sportfishing President and CEO Mike Nussman. “Recreational fishing supports 828,000 jobs and contributes $115 billion to the economy annually. This monumental legislative package will greatly enhance recreational fishing’s social, economic and conservation benefits to the nation.” Read more

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