Outdoor commentary and legislative issues.
Gadwalls, or gray ducks as most call them, can be some of the South’s wariest ducks. Come late season, these birds will circle your spread many times, often gaining altitude with every pass. Level the playing field with Avian-X Topflight Gadwalls. Read more
GW: Lists are a good idea. Just add any specific personal gear not already on the lists found at the links below:
MISSOULA, Mont.—The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation unveiled an interactive, online gear checklist designed to assist hunters be fully prepared as they head afield.
“This is the quintessential checklist for the elk hunter,” said Steve Decker, RMEF vice president of Marketing. “It can be customized for the rifle hunter or bowhunter and be adjusted according to the length of a hunt.”
The Gear 101 checklist is located on the RMEF website. It allows a user to create an individualized checklist by clicking on one of three options: daytripper, multi-day or outfitted. From there, categories include clothes, food & water, meat care, overnight gear and hunting gear. Read more
MEMPHIS, TN—Radians, a leading manufacturer of high performancequality personal protective equipment, will be the exclusive source for DEWALT’s heated hunting jackets available in full line of Heated Jackets. The new line includes two hunting jackets with True Timber™ camo patterns. Read more
Covington, GA- Tink’s®, America’s #1 performing line of deer scents and lures introduces the new Power Scrape® All-Season Scrape Kit. The entire line is extensively tested, simple to use, and feature packed for every need. GET IN THE GAME when your season comes down to one opportunity, trust Tink’s!
Tink’s® has everything you are looking for this season to provide you every possible edge in the field and to be successful from early season all the way through the brutal cold of winter. The perfect lure and dispenser system in one convenient value pack that includes the trusted original Power Scrape® Starter, the all-new Power Scrape® Finisher, and a Tink’s Scrape Bomb Dripper. Read more
Efforts by a Michigan Department of Natural Resources crew to band ducks at the Portage Marsh in Delta County were showcased recently on an episode of “Discovering,” a weekly outdoors program produced by Brian Whitens and broadcast at on WLUC-TV6, Marquette.
The duck banding was part of the DNR’s goal to manage for sustainable populations of wildlife species. The DNR’s objective is to manage game populations to provide hunting and trapping opportunities while maintaining populations in balance with available habitat, land use practices and stakeholder values. Read more
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources reminds hunters that 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18, is the deadline to return unused deer and deer combination (“deer combo”) licenses for a refund. Read more
St. Paul, Minn. – Pheasants Forever has released its 2015 Pheasant Hunting Forecast and based on late summer surveys, improved pheasant hunting opportunities will be found in all major pheasant hunting states. Boosted by mild weather and improved nesting habitat conditions, pheasant range hunting prospects appear to be the best in at least three years. Future prospects are far murkier, however, as the potential for big upland habitat losses loom.
Pheasant populations are led by South Dakota where their already substantial bird count showed a 42 percent jump over 2014. Iowa (up 37 percent), Kansas (up 51 percent), Minnesota (up 33 percent), and Nebraska (up 55 percent) also reported significant increases based on summer roadside survey counts. Pheasant counts are expected to improve greatly in North Dakota as well, with official results expected by mid-September. View the entire state-by-state outlook. Read more
Young hunters, ages 16 and younger, once again will have the opportunity to get a free junior deer hunting license at all Meijer stores in Michigan Sept. 11 and 12.
Youths must be accompanied by an adult, and should print out and bring the free junior deer hunting license coupon to the store’s sporting goods department. Read more
The Department of Natural Resources reminds hunters to check their antlerless deer drawing results and availability of remaining licenses at www.michigan.gov/huntdrawings. Successful applicants may purchase their licenses online at E-License, at any authorized license agent or at a DNR Customer Service Center. Read more
It’s no secret that Michigan offers some of the best Canada goose hunting anywhere in the world. But many waterfowl hunters, whose perspective only covers the last 30 years or so, might have a hard 
time believing it wasn’t always that way. Michigan’s resident Canada goose population – which produces the lion’s share of the annual harvest – was virtually nonexistent a century ago and not especially noteworthy five decades later.
“Back in the ’50s, it was a rare thing to see a Canada goose in this state,” said Barbara Avers, the waterfowl specialist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. “It was rare for hunters to kill a goose. It was a pretty big deal. Read more