Just in time for fall hunting and fishing – hunters, anglers and boaters have a new option to earn the required recreational safety certificate before hitting the woods or water.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources now offers hunter education and boater safety as interactive online courses, giving students an enhanced experience that exposes them to real-life hunting and boating scenarios.
“We’re excited to offer students this new learning opportunity,” said Lt. Tom Wanless, DNR recreational safety, education and enforcement supervisor. “Both the interactive hunting and boating programs are offered in other states and have received ‘five star’ reviews.”
The interactive learning options are offered in addition to the existing traditional classroom and online learning options for both hunter and boater safety; hunter safety continues to be available as a take-home study course, too. Read more
The September 12 launch of Unguided—a new short film presented by Franchi in association with Fiocchi and Banded—drives right to the heart of the waterfowl hunting. Delivered through the experience of friends and fellow Wyoming big game outfitters, Unguided perfectly underscores the true reasons dedicated waterfowlers return to the stubble fields, marshes, and flooded timber year after year.
For Dustin Decroo, owner/outfitter of Bighorn Outfitters and Tony Larsen, owner/outfitter of American Outfitters, a waterfowl adventure is a much-needed respite after four grueling months of guiding clients on their dream hunts.
“Being an outfitter, there’s a lot of stress involved,” says Decroo. “You care about that client who’s saved up a bunch of money over the years to go on this hunt. Sometimes the money is not as important as it is the preference points because it takes so many points to draw these tags that you don’t want to feel like he wasted the last six, seven, eight, ten years on this hunt. So, there’s a lot of pressure involved. And that’s why I love bird hunting…nobody asks me, ‘What does that duck score? What’s that goose score?’ The whole burden of all that’s lifted and it’s 100-percent about having a good time with your buddies.” Read more
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Sept. 13, 2023) — Moultrie Mobile, a leading pioneer in cellular trail cameras that also offers an all-in-one remote monitoring app for hunters and property owners, has launched an exciting lineup of accessory products, including two Universal Solar Battery Packs and several items for its Edge Series cameras.
“We want to round out our product offering and user experience by providing a collection of purpose-built accessories,” said Daniel Wilson, General Manager for Moultrie Mobile. “Each item was created as a solution to end-user feedback and requests, whether it’s power options, security, or proper mounting. We plan to offer a convenient, easy-to-use product to meet those needs.”
Moultrie Mobile has recently introduced a range of power accessories that can help customers avoid expensive AA batteries. These power accessories include two Universal Solar Power Packs: a 3.4-watt option priced at $99.99, and a 10-watt option priced at $129.99. These solar power packs are designed to provide a durable and reliable power option for trail cameras and game feeders. They deliver up to three times more power than other solar solutions currently available on the market. Read more
To promote the importance of hunter ethics and improved hunter behavior, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is partnering for a second year with several hunting and agriculture organizations to “protect the hunt.” While the campaign encourages hunters to always practice conscientious behavior, it focuses particularly on showing respect for private land and the access landowners provide.
The slogan is: It’s up to us. Respect access. Protect the hunt.
Landowners play an important role in sustaining healthy wildlife populations, contributing to our economy and communities by creating jobs, and providing valuable habitat and treasured open spaces. But the relationship between hunters and landowners can start to fray when just a few hunters abuse the privilege of hunting on private land. Read more
Range’s Double System offers a unique space-saving option for displaying two trophy mounts.
The Double System allows you to rotate a pair of shoulder mounts 180 degrees to achieve the perfect angle while saving valuable wall space in your trophy room. It features durable steel plates with two 8-inch arms that each pivot in two places as well as all the hardware necessary to securely install the system to a wall stud. The Double System, which can accommodate two mounts up to 35 pounds each, is perfect for displaying whitetails, mule deer, antelope, sheep and more.
To learn more about the Double System and browse the full lineup, visit fullrangesystems.com.
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Small game season begins September 15th and that means getting gear in order for a trip to Michigan’s North country. With a camping reservation at the Rifle River Recreation Area, it was time to sight in one of my favorite .22 caliber rimfire rifles: a scoped, 73 year-old, O.F. Mossberg model 152.
Mossberg Model 152 with Folding Forearm and Bushnell 4X Rimfire Scope
First on the agenda was cleaning of the vintage semi-auto carbine – an important step in readiness and often overlooked until feeding or extraction troubles force the issue.
Next, 5 cartridges were removed from a box of Lapua Center X .22 rimfire ammo and loaded into the magazine to begin the process of sighting in.
With a sandbag-rest I fired a total of 3 shots at a target 25 yards downrange and quit. The reason: The 3 shots were in a tight cloverleaf group slightly above center – perfect for the desired 50-yard zero with the super accurate, sub-sonic fodder.
A real tack driver
There was no good reason to burn up more expensive ammo, as one critical matter was crossed off the camping list.
Here are some tips to get the most out of your favorite rimfire.
Experiment with sub-sonic ammo, which may be referred to as standard velocity or target ammo. Most of this type of ammo may cost more than bulk ammo in a milk carton, because of supply and demand, but it is more than adequately effective on small game. It’s also relatively quiet compared to high-velocity options and that can be helpful in the woods.
Get the proper rimfire scope. Good glass can be expensive, but most folks will do well with more entry-level optics specifically designed for rimfires’ related distances. A big mistake is to mount a typical scope designed for high-power calibers. Although they make look good, they won’t produce the accuracy because of parallax, which isa difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight. It can fool a shooter into questioning causes of inaccuracy.
Too see parallax, put the scoped firearm on a bench with a solid rest. Then, without touching anything, peer through the lens and move your head in different positions, while viewing the target. If the crosshairs appear to move as you move, you have experienced parallax – an accuracy killer!
Several options exist and include not only rimfire scopes, but red dot optics and those with adjustable objective lenses, referred to as AO. Red dot scopes essentially eliminate parallax but typically have no magnification, although magnifiers can be added to high-end models.
Adjustable objective scopes eliminate parallax when the proper distance is dialed in; however, they are typically larger optics and somewhat cumbersome to operate during changing field conditions.
An inexpensive alternative is a fixed 4-power rimfire scope for a solid, all-around solution. Also, air gun scopes are well suited, because their parallax is set at the factory for the shorter ranges of rimfire rounds.
Understand that a reticle for hunting may utilize thicker crosshairs that are visible in low-light; conversely, a target scope will have very fine crosshairs conducive to controlled lighting in target shooting or clear daylight.
Finally, a good trigger is one that breaks cleanly without any stickiness and excess travel. If yours doesn’t, a qualified gunsmith may be able to help, although results are sometimes limited with old trigger mechanisms.
On the other hand, an example of modern technology is apparent in the highly successful and relatively affordable Ruger model 10/22 semi-auto. It is a reliable work of engineering that can be modified in any way imaginable to produce the utmost in accuracy.
Ruger 10/22 with silver Nikon Scope
So, there you have it – a few options to achieve more enjoyment from the little .22 – the most popular caliber in the world.
Ducks Unlimited has launched its new Waterfowl 360 web page that gives the hunter and outdoor enthusiast all their needs in one place. Waterfowl 360 is easy to navigate and offers helpful information to not only the new waterfowler but to the experienced one as well.
Look no further for the ultimate resource for waterfowl hunters. This is the one-stop shop for all your hunting and conservation needs, featuring:
Just like last year, all harvested deer are required to be reported. The easiest way to report a harvest is by downloading the Michigan DNR Hunt Fish app.
Once the app is downloaded and you’ve signed in or created an account, you can enter the harvest report information.
You can also report a harvest online. Visit Michigan.gov/DNRHarvestReport on a computer or mobile device to go directly to the reporting page. Enter your kill tag license number and date of birth to begin the report.
If you don’t have your hunting license/kill tag number, you can log in to eLicense (using your driver’s license and birthdate, or user ID and password), then click on the Harvest Report tab to see the tags available to report. If you don’t already have an account, you will have the chance to create one to enter your report.
Find more information on harvest reporting on the harvest reporting webpage. If you need assistance, you can call your local DNR customer service center or the main Wildlife Division line at 517-284-WILD (9453) during normal business hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Blocker Outdoors has been helping hunters get closer to game, stay comfortable, and experience more success for over 40 years. New for 2023, the Field Brush Pant is built for multi-species hunters who require the toughest apparel for the toughest conditions.
The field is full of hazards of the botanical variety. In the fall, what were earlier fruits and sometimes flowers morph into seeds, many of which feature hooks and barbs referred to as “burrs”. Nature built them as such to snag passerby’s and consequently spread seeds and expand the species. Commonly encountered in the field are sandburs, cocklebur, and burdock. And let’s not forget our thorny and scratchy friends like blackberry, raspberry, and buckthorn. It’s a painful jungle out there…
Fortunately, Blocker Outdoors new Field Brush Pant provides a remedy. The highly comfortable and versatile pants feature reinforced nylon overlay panels to defend against burrs and thorns, while increasing overall durability. The base fabric is a smooth, lightweight polyester double-weave fabric that’s also noted for its longevity. The water repellant 4-way stretch fabric provides comfort and easy, unrestricted movement in-the-field and protection from moisture.
In short, these pants were designed for multiple hunting applications, to include western big game, pheasants, grouse, doves, quail, as well as preseason whitetail situations like scouting, stand prep, and food plot maintenance. Read more
