Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

Clarification on firearm use during archery season

The Michigan Natural Resources Commission recently adopted several changes to the Deer Management Assistance Permit (DMAP) program, in order to provide additional assistance to landowners on an individual basis.

A DMAP is a permit that allows for the take of an antlerless deer and may only be utilized during an open season for deer. In order for a landowner to receive DMAPs, one of the following four criteria needs to be met:

  • Significant agricultural or horticultural damage.
  • Documented serious disease outbreak that threatens humans, livestock or deer health.
  • Significant safety hazard caused by deer.
  • Current antlerless deer regulations insufficient to achieve landowner deer-management objectives.

In the past, individuals possessing a DMAP were able to utilize only the legal equipment for that particular hunting season (e.g., only archery equipment could be utilized during archery season). However, in some cases archery equipment has proven to be ineffective, and damage incurred by deer has continued through the season as a result.

The new change to the DMAP program will allow a DMAP holder, on a case-by-case basis, to seek additional signed permission to harvest deer using a firearm during select time periods of the archery season. DMAP holders will be required to have hunted their property during the archery season for the last two years and be in good standing with the DMAP program, meaning they have reported all DMAPs requested, issued and utilized on an annual basis. Read more

Firearms, Hunting, Wildlife

Western Yellow-Billed Cuckoo Receives Federal Protection under the Endangered Species Act

Sacramento – The western population of the yellow-billed cuckoo will be protected as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced yesterday. The Service determined that listing a distinct population segment (DPS) of the bird in portions of 12 western states, Canada and Mexico is warranted. In the U.S., the DPS will cover parts of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Oregon and Washington. Read more

Wildlife

Massive CWD Outbreak on Iowa Deer Farm

DES MOINES – The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship announces that the test results from the depopulation of a quarantined captive deer herd in north-central Iowa showed that 284 of the 356 deer, or 79.8% of the herd, tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). The owners of the quarantined herd have entered into a fence maintenance agreement with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, which requires the owners to maintain the 8′ foot perimeter fence around the herd premises for five years after the depopulation was complete and the premises had been cleaned and disinfected. Read more

Wildlife

Do Your Scouting Now with the Award Winning Bushnell Wireless Trophy Cam HD

Overland Park, Kan. – Bushnell Outdoor Products, an industry-leader in high performance sports optics and outdoor accessories for 65 years, was recently named a winner in the Field &Stream annual Best of the Best awards for their new Wireless Trophy Cam HD trail camera.

With hunting seasons starting up all across the country, the Wireless Trophy Cam HD is the ultimate next generation scouting tool. With the transmission of thumbnail images via email or text, hunters can monitor activity and keep an eye on the woods in near real time, while an exclusive free smart phone app allows hunters to quickly modify camera settings. Hi-res images are saved to the web portal (www.wirelesstrophycam.com) where users can download images or change camera settings remotely. Now hunters no longer need to walk around their hunting areas, making noise and spreading scent around. You can literally have the camera scouting for you right up until it’s time to go hunting. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

RMEF: Silver Linings in Wyoming Wolf Management Ruling

GW:  More wasted taxpayers’ money because of the Equal Access to Justice Act.  Why?  Because Senator Reid will not let reform to come to a vote, despite the efforts of the House.  Why?  Because animal rights whackos are part of his base.

MISSOULA, Mont.-The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation maintains a ruling that restores federal protections to wolves in Wyoming is basically a technicality that can easily be fixed on Wyoming’s end. The State of Wyoming is in the process of adopting an emergency rule to do so.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled out of her Washington D.C. courtroom that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) was wrong to rely on Wyoming’s non-binding promises to maintain a buffer above the FWS minimum of 10 breeding pair and at least 100 wolves outside of Yellowstone Park and the Wind River Indian Reservation. Montana and Idaho initially had the 10 breeding pair and 100 wolf minimum, but a 50 percent “buffer” of 15 breeding pairs and 150 wolves was implemented for those two states.

The plaintiffs argued the following four points about the Wyoming wolf population, and they were denied a favorable ruling by Judge Jackson relative to the first three:

Wolves have not recovered.
Wolves are at risk because of a lack of genetic connectivity.
Wyoming allowing wolves to be treated as a predator in some areas does not meet the Endangered Species Act requirements of protections over a significant part of the species’ range.
Wyoming’s current regulatory mechanism to insure a population of more than 10 breeding pair and 100 wolves is inadequate and represents a non-binding promise.

“There are some silver linings within this ruling handed down from Judge Jackson as she ruled against three claims made by the plaintiffs including confirmation of the fact that Wyoming’s wolf population has recovered and is not endangered,” said David Allen, RMEF president and CEO. “We anticipate Wyoming will be able to fix the issue with how its wolf management plan is written to satisfy the court.” Read more

Animal Rights, Hunting, Wildlife

Michigan: NRA-PVF Candidate Ratings and Endorsements are Now Posted for the 2014 General Election

Tuesday, November 4 is Election Day in Michigan.  Your NRA Political Victory Fund has rated, and in some cases, endorsed, candidates in the upcoming federal and state election.  These candidate ratings can now be found at the NRA-PVF website.  Before casting your vote on November 4, please visit this site to learn who will best protect your Second Amendment rights and hunting heritage in Lansing.

Be sure to encourage your family, friends, fellow gun owners and sportsmen in Michigan to support and vote for candidates who support your Second Amendment rights on Tuesday, November 4.
Are you interested in doing more to ensure that NRA-PVF endorsed candidates are elected this election cycle?  Get involved on the grassroots level by becoming an NRA volunteer in your area!  The NRA needs dedicated, educated volunteers to assist with phone banks, literature drops, precinct walks, voter registration, Election Day activities and other volunteer campaign activities.  Go to www.NRAILAFrontlines.com TODAY and sign up to find out about all of the great volunteer opportunities and events in your area!

Ammunition, Firearms, Gun Control, Hunting, Self Defense, Wildlife

When a Hunter Becomes the Hunted

By Glen Wunderlich

Getting out during early small game season in September provides an opportunity to take some protein-packed table fare not found on grocery store shelves.  It’s a time to check deer stands and movements in preparation for Michigan’s archery opener October 1st, as well.  This week, however, I’ll share a startling scene from one of my recent excursions to the deciduous forest in search of more bushytails for the kettle.

The early morning dew’s moisture covered any noise from my hunting boots, as I entered the big woods in silence.  My plan was to hide and watch and was aided by a heavy fog permeating my surroundings; it’s always a welcome addition to an already spooky experience of strolling in the dark.  “That” feeling was coming over me again, as I experienced the wild world waking.  The realization that it’s good to be alive hit home.

At the edge of the woods, I heard something dropping through the leaves.  The sound repeated.  Since it was still too early for acorns to be dropping in any large measure, my hunch that a squirrel was involved had to be investigated.

I didn’t bother with my portable chair, because I needed to maneuver into position to locate the origin of the commotion.  A stately oak tree provided a welcome rest for my upper body, as I peered through the obstructed view toward the sky.

Patience would be the key, as the sporadic sound continued, and I became one with the tree.  My orange cap was in motion – the only giveaway that this apex predator was lurking.  I was alone in the moment, or so I thought; little did I know, I would become the hunted. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

USFWS Announces $900,000 in Wolf Livestock Demonstration Project Grants

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced $900,000 in grants under the Wolf Livestock Demonstration Project Grant Program. Grants will be distributed to the states of Arizona, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

The grants assist livestock producers in undertaking proactive, non-lethal activities to reduce the risk of livestock loss from predation by wolves, and compensate producers for livestock losses caused by wolves. The program provides funding to states and tribes, with federal cost-share not to exceed 50 percent. Read more

Wildlife
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