Outdoor commentary and legislative issues.
GW: And, at a reasonable price.
Overland Park, Kan – Bushnell, an industry leader in high performance sports optics for 65 years, has introduced the new Lynx 2.5x 40mm night vision binocular. The Gen I night vision unit features 2.5 times magnification, a viewing range of 750 feet combined with a wide field of view and an extended battery life. Read more
(Columbus, OH) – Charity Navigator, the nation’s largest and most-utilized evaluator of charities, has stripped their rating of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and other animal rights groups and replaced them with a “Donor Advisory” warning.
Charity Navigator rates organizations from one to four stars, with four being the highest rating possible. According to Charity Navigator, a “Donor Advisory” means that “serious concerns have been raised about this charity which prevents the issuance of a star rating.”
The move comes after Feld Entertainment, Inc., operator of the Ringling Brothers Circus, recovered $15.75 million in attorney fees from HSUS and their codefendants who include Born Free USA/Animal Protection Institute, Fund for Animals, Animal Welfare Institute, and the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) as reported by USSA in early June. Read more
Despite the ample rain we’ve seen through much of the country, there are parts of the whitetails’ range that are under a drought right now. Normally a manager shouldn’t bet 100% on a drought, but they should hedge their bet and follow these steps. It can mean the difference between having some food, or a complete withered failure. Read more
GW: This from www.Humanewatch.org
In response to criticism of his organization, Humane Society of the United States CEO Wayne “I don’t love animals” Pacelle has often pointed to his organization’s rating from Charity Navigator, a charity evaluator. HSUS had a four (out of four) star rating until earlier this year, when it dropped to three stars. Now, it’s a former rating.
As of last week Charity Navigator removed its rating of HSUS and replaced it with a “donor advisory.” The advisory notifies website visitors of the $15.75 million settlement of a racketeering and bribery lawsuit that HSUS was a part of last month. You can read more about that settlement here, but the lawsuit involved HSUS money allegedly paying a witness who lied to a federal court. Read more
GW: I’ve checked out Hawk’s treestands and ladders and they are built strong and are made to be quiet with proprietary fasteners, etc.
Frankenmuth, MI — HAWK®, introduced in early 2014, is an exciting new brand of hunting gear and equipment. Distributed by Innopower, Inc, HAWK started moving into the new headquarters building in Frankenmuth, Michigan earlier this year and recently completed the transition. Read more
(Columbus, OH) – Skull Bound TV, a popular hunting and fishing show on The Sportsman Channel, has been shut out of their Facebook page for 24-hours with no access to add new content after a standard post was said to not follow “Facebook Community Standards.”
The post in question showed a 7-foot black bear harvested on a do-it-yourself hunt by Jim Kinsey, director of the show, after “one of the most incredible hunts of our lives” according to Jana Waller, host of Skull Bound TV.
The post made by Waller showed Kinsey sitting proudly behind his legal harvest. Read more
New Haven, MO – ALPS OutdoorZ adds another hunter friendly pack design to their lineup of great products. The Quickdraw pack is new for the 2014 lineup, and is a single sling design that offers “swing-around” access to the main compartments.
The quiver holder, gear pocket, and main compartment can be accessed without having to remove the pack allowing hunters quick and easy access to their gear. It also has the ability to securely carry your bow with the drop-down pocket and lashing strap.
With 1,225 cubic inches of storage capacity, the Quickdraw has plenty of room for gear and comes with a 2-Liter hydration bladder. Other features include side webbing lashing straps, a D-ring clip to allow you to hang it while in your deer stand, and an internal organizational pocket. The Quickdraw pack is available in Realtree® Xtra® camouflage.
MSRP for the Quickdraw Pack: $79.99 Read more
By Glen Wunderlich
If you have that outdoor bug – a hankering for fresh air and sunshine – there’s one ready to have you, too: the mosquito. Here are a few options to keep them from biting and bugging you.
Years ago, the rage was bug zappers. They did a fine job killing flying insects at night, but the trouble was that only about 2 percent of them were mosquitoes. Turns out that mosquitoes are not attracted to light.
Then came the Mosquito Magnet® powered by a 20-pound propane cylinder that produces carbon dioxide and a secondary attractant and sucks the buggers into a trap. It’s effective and expensive costing from $400 to over $1,000 and is as portable as a boat anchor. Anyway, rumor has it that they’ll be outlawed soon by the government as a contributor to global warming, climate change or for causing mosquitoes to be doomed to endangered species status.
Popular choices are lotions and sprays containing DEET. Just how safe this stuff is on our skin remains questionable at best, however. Do you really trust a concoction of chemicals that will literally melt plastics and painted surfaces? Yuk!
A safer alternative for the skin is Natrapel, which contains no DEET, but frankly it doesn’t last as long as DEET and is not recommended for clothing.
Spending time on the patio or in the garage, where the wind can’t blow the bugs off course, I’ve relied on a totally effective, inexpensive appliance called ThermaCELL. It’s used as a mosquito repeller in your backyard or away from home and creates a 15 x 15-foot zone of protection.
Meprolight – a leading manufacturer of Laser Range Finder systems, electro-optical systems, thermal and night vision equipment for military, law enforcement and civil applications – introduces for the first time at Eurosatory 2014, the new MEPRO LRF 20-70 – a compact, very fast, Erbium Glass Technology-based Laser Range Finder with a range of 20,000 meters and a repetition rate of 1 pps and 3 pps in burst mode. Read more
June 13, 2014
Washington, D.C. – This week, Charles Jonga, Director of the Community Areas Management Program for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) in Zimbabwe came to Washington as a guest of the SCI Foundation. He discussed the necessity of community involvement in wildlife management before the Presidential Advisory Council on Wildlife Trafficking (Advisory Council) and shared how hunting is an integral source of funding for CAMPFIRE programs. Additionally, Director Jonga addressed over 150 U.S. Congressional staffers at the International Conservation Caucus Foundation to inform policy makers on CAMPFIRE’s anti-poaching efforts, and to demonstrate the negative impacts created by the recent U.S. ban of elephant imports.
“The CAMPFIRE program benefits over 750,000 households across Zimbabwe. I was very thankful for the opportunity to speak, so that I could articulate just how severe an impact would occur if U.S. government policies continue to undermine our funding base,” Jonga said. “Organizations such as CAMPFIRE rely on American hunters as a primary revenue source to fund anti-poaching programs. The current ban will severely cut CAMPFIRE’s budget and our ability to protect elephants.” Read more