Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

Michigan Wolf Management Showdown?

By Glen Wunderlich 

Wolf Facts and What It Means To You

Glen Wunderlich

Lansing, Michigan – -(Ammoland.com)-  The impending showdown over Michigan’s wolf management looms large, as we head into the current election cycle.

On one end of the spectrum is the largest anti-hunting organization in the nation – the Washington-based Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), while opposition comes from Citizens for Professional Wildlife Management (CPWM).

Over 5 ½ years ago, then Deputy Secretary of the Interior, Lynn Scarlett, announced the removal of the western Great Lakes wolf population and portions of the northern Rocky Mountain population of gray wolves from protection under the Endangered Species Act.

“Wolves have recovered in the Great Lakes and the northern Rocky Mountains because of the hard work, cooperation and flexibility shown by states, tribes, conservation groups, federal agencies and citizens of both regions,” said Scarlett. “We can all be proud of our various roles in saving this icon of the American wilderness.”

Well, almost all of us.

HSUS has already sent its lobbyists to Lansing and has threatened even more lawsuits.

Animal Rights, Firearms, Hunting, Wildlife

Need Some Ankle Socks? Ask HSUS.

GW:  They’ve sent me some great gear over the years- for members only, no less.  The tote bags are good for carrying hunting gear, as long as you remember to turn them inside out.  And, those cute gardening gloves – good for one oil change and lube.

Here’s the latest from www.humanewatch.org…

HSUS socksGiven that the Humane Society of the United States spends about half of its budget on overhead—including tens of millions of dollars of fundraising costs that it misleadingly calls “program spending”—there’s no shortage of doodads and tchotchkes that wind up in people’s mailboxes. We’ve seen HSUS calendars, HSUS tote bags, and HSUS t-shirts. But now someone has sent us a pair of HSUS socks that he received in the mail.

Really? Socks?

Maybe HSUS should consider the symbolism of sending people something that is associated with bad stenches. After all, HSUS is an organization that only gives 1% of the money it raises to pet shelters, that recently stuffed $26 million into Caribbean accounts instead of giving that money to help needy animals, and that pays $400,000 a year to a CEO who has said “I don’t love animals or think they are cute.” Read more

Animal Rights, Hunting, Wildlife

NRC Youth Conservation Council welcomes nine new members, introduces outdoor-themed blog

 The Department of Natural Resources today announced that nine new members have been selected to serve on the Natural Resources Commission (NRC) Youth Conservation Council. The members – ages 14 to 17 – will join the original 18 members in their exploration of new ways to encourage more young people to get outdoors more often and to participate in fishing, hunting, trapping and other outdoor recreation activities.
Chosen from among nearly 40 applications from youth across the state, the new members will serve one- or two-year terms. Successful applicants were selected based on their interest in helping to promote youth participation in the outdoors; their current community involvement; and the variety of skills and strengths they bring to the council.
New members and their home cities (counties) include:

  • Preston Badgero, Onaway (Presque Isle)
  • Erik Bean, Whitehall (Muskegon)
  • Frank Boudon, Troy (Oakland)
  • Emily Butko, St. Charles (Saginaw)
  •  Wyatt Crick, East Jordan (Charlevoix)
  • Nicole Jarvis, Williamsburg (Grand Traverse)
  • Tim Lorenson, Ironwood (Gogebic)
  • Brett Masuga, Cedarville (Mackinac)
  • Jeremiah Moran, Fenton (Oakland)

“The Youth Conservation Council was conceived as a forum that would allow young people to share their perspectives about recreation in Michigan, brainstorm ideas about making outdoor experiences more accessible, and spawn new traditions for more of our youth,” said Tim Nichols, Michigan Natural Resources Commission member and chair of the newly established NRC Youth Conservation Council subcommittee.
“We’re excited to welcome these new members and look forward to the energy and creativity they’re sure to bring to the table, both with new ideas as well as support for existing council projects,” Nichols said.
Council creates blog for engagement, inspiration
In the council’s first full year of meetings and discussion, one of the most important takeaways was that in order to more successfully deliver the outdoor-recreation message, the outreach needed to be peer to peer.
“The council members recognized that to get youth back outdoors hunting, fishing, kayaking or any other outdoor activity, we – not just the DNR – needed to be the promoters,” Youth Conservation Council member Garrett Nolan said.
One way the council hopes to do this is through a blog that YCC members have launched as a means of building awareness about Michigan’s rich variety of outdoor recreation opportunities and as a platform for young people to share their tips and experiences with each other. It’s a virtual place for kids in all parts of the state to learn about what’s happening in other Michigan communities and which outdoor traditions and pursuits they themselves might want to explore.
“This blog is a way for youth to share their experiences and to encourage others in enjoying all the great things about Michigan’s outdoors,” said Nolan. “We want youth to talk to each other, share their experiences and encourage their friends and relatives to join us outside.”
Follow the blog at http://michiganycc.wordpress.com. Any youth interested in sharing thoughts on the council or about a recent outdoor recreation experience is encouraged to submit a post by email to youthconservationcouncil@gmail.com.
The NRC’s Nichols said the DNR tasked the Youth Conservation Council with helping to “enlist a new generation of youth who are committed to protecting, promoting and enhancing the outdoor heritage of this state.” Nichols believes the council is off to a very strong start.
“The best way to ensure Michigan’s outdoor recreation traditions are passed down to new generations is to make sure today’s young people understand those traditions, as well as their role in conserving the state’s natural resources that make such recreational pursuits possible,” he said. “There are many people of all ages who care a great deal about Michigan’s great outdoors. We’re excited to see how this council can tap into that enthusiasm, offer some new ideas, and pique the interest of even more young people.”
Learn more details – including the full roster of current members, frequency of meetings, and information on applying to be a council member – at the YCC website, which can be found at the DNR website www.michigan.gov/dnr under the Education & Outreach tab.

Wildlife

Nikon Promo Aims to Help Hunters as Seasons Close In

Deer hunting season is just around the corner, and to help hunters prepare Nikon is offering instant savings on a number of sport optics to help ensure this upcoming season is a successful one.

Now through September 21, 2014, hunters can enjoy instant savings on select PROSTAFF fieldscopes and riflescopes, as well as select MONARCH 3 binoculars and the recently released ACULON rangefinder. Read more

Firearms, Hunting, Wildlife

Stealth Cam Digital Night Vision Monocular

Grand Prairie, TX- Stealth Cam, introduced in the year 2000, quickly became the leader in scouting camera innovation. Today, Stealth Cam introduces their new Digital Night Vision Monocular (NVM) that takes technology beyond cameras and into optics that illuminates and provides night vision. The new NVM is an excellent compact tool for low light or after hours scouting, nighttime boat rides, camping, search and rescue, and many other night time activities. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

iON Cameras Introduces New Realtree Xtra® CamoCAM™

New York, NY, July 30, 2014 – iON America, the global consumer electronics company that brought Shoot/Share™ Wi-Fi connectivity to point-of-view (POV) iON Cameras, unveils the iON CamoCAM™, designed specifically for fishing and hunting enthusiasts, where camouflage gear is critical to success.

CamoCAM retails for $299.99 USD and is debuting in Walmart stores and Walmart.com this fall.

iON-CamoCAMwithMount-3

The versatility of the CamoCAM makes it the perfect addition to any outdoor activity. CamoCAM is skinned with official Realtree Xtra® camouflage and includes a Realtree Xtra camouflage mount at no extra cost. The mount’s easy lock technology makes it perfect to affix to the barrel of a firearm, fishing net and the stabilizer bar on a compound bow. In addition, the CamoCAM pairs perfectly with all of iON’s existing mounts including suction cups, helmet mounts and more, making the CamoCAM an essential part of all year-round activities and any hunting or fishing trip.

Outdoor sports enthusiasts can now shoot and share high quality video images, while benefitting from the compact size, light weight, fully-waterproof design (with no unsightly, expensive added case needed as with competitor products), Wi-Fi connectivity and ease-of-use benefits that have made iON Cameras so popular.

 

Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

2014-2015 Michigan’s Living Resources patch, featuring the threatened lake sturgeon, now available!

Lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) are a unique fish species found in Michigan. These fish primarily inhabit large river and lake systems in the Mississippi River, Hudson Bay and Great Lakes basins. An important biological component of the Great Lakes fish community, lake sturgeon are listed as a threatened species in Michigan and as either threatened or endangered by 19 of the 20 states within their original range in the U.S.

lake sturgeon patchLake sturgeon, the only sturgeon species common to the Great Lakes basin, are the largest freshwater fish native to that system. Lake sturgeon can be considered a near-shore, warm-water species preferring water temperatures in the range of mid-50 to low-70 degrees Fahrenheit and depths 15 to 30 feet (although sturgeon in the Great Lakes are often found at greater depths). Lake sturgeon are benthivores, which means they feed on small invertebrates such as insect larvae, crayfish, snails, clams and leeches they find along the bottom of lakes and rivers. Read more

Fishing, Wildlife

Threatened and endangered species feature: bald eagle

What’s brown and white and found all over Michigan? Bald eagles! The story of the bald eagle is a tragedy turned into a narrative of redemption and success.

 

bald eagleIn the earliest records of birds in Michigan, bald eagles were reported to be found nesting from Monroe County in the south all the way up to Gogebic County in the north. In fact, bald eagles were found from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from northern Canada all the way to Mexico, and their numbers were estimated to be as high as 100,000 nesting birds.

By 1950, however, the bald eagle’s numbers had been on a slow decline for a couple of centuries as people destroyed their habitat, ate their food and killed them to protect livestock and the small game animals that were part of their diet.

This decline accelerated dramatically in the 1950s due mostly to the increasing use of pesticides that contained DDT and increased industrial production that used PCBs. These chemicals became concentrated in the eagles’ prey and accumulated in the eagles’ bodies. They weakened the eagles’ eggs so that they were crushed when the adult birds tried to incubate them and also led to higher rates of death in adult eagles. Read more

Wildlife

Browning Camping Announces Improvements to Shadow Hunter Series Hunting Blinds

New Haven, MO – Browning Camping has updated the Shadow Series Pop-Up Ground Blinds with a new window curtain system for 2014. Designed for a wide range of window openings, it is sure to satisfy any hunter’s needs. The 4 models of blinds offered by Browning Camping (Powerhouse, Phantom X, Phantom, and Mirage) all now feature the Silent Track Window System.

“We wanted to keep the hunter’s viewpoint in mind and offer a user-friendly design that allows the ultimate window placement and customization,” said Zach Scheidegger, Browning Camping Product Manager. “We already offered some of the biggest windows on the market, allowing the hunter to have the best point of view without sacrificing the ability to stay hidden in the shadows. We have now combined those large windows with a curtain system that will be a huge benefit for all hunters in their different hunting situations.” Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

The Value of Hard Work

By Glen Wunderlich

Growing up in the ‘50s, my brother and I learned the value of hard work, courtesy of my father.  There was never any backtalk or debate when it came to household chores.  We took turns washing dishes, taking out the trash and mowing the lawn and were rewarded with a weekly allowance for our efforts.  Oh, how happy we were when we received our very first raise from 10 to 15 cents per week.

I also recall the old reel mower that certainly would have qualified for today’s green movement.  It produced zero emissions into the atmosphere, had no cord or batteries.  The only sound was that of the grass clippings falling back to earth.  We trimmed, edged, raked, and swept each week – all with no more than boy power.  Not so curious was my father’s purchase of his very first motorized lawn mower – one week after I had left the homestead for good.

Decades later – in fact only a week ago – those early life lessons would mean one more deer hunting stand.  The coveted hideout sits nestled along Osborn Drain (a tributary of the Looking Glass River) and overlooks some of the most productive hunting ground we have.  The soil is so rich that it needs no special fertilizer or lime to yield turnips the size of volleyballs.

However, there was one glaring problem:  our motorized machines could not navigate the rain-saturated ground enroute to our paradise.  The overgrown weeds were 3 to 4 feet tall, after having their way all season long and had to be cut down to begin the process of planting.  It was then that those boyhood lessons from over a half century gone by came to mind.

I pulled the mowing scythe ( an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or reaping crops) from the rafters of the garage to see if it was ready for the “green movement.”

Scythe

Scythe

To minimize effort, the long, curved blade was honed to a razor’s edge with a sharpening stone.  A loose handle was tightened and I ventured with it to the remote location with my friend, Joe, who had volunteered to spray the area with a backpack sprayer.

Joe thought it might be fun to give it a whirl, so I watched intently as he overworked himself into submission without having cleared much more than a patch large enough to stand on.  The laughter was getting the best of me,  so I put my experience and muscle together and promptly took over.

The tool works best without swinging; rather it is rhythmically drawn with the keen edge parallel to the ground.   Within an hour, the heat and humidity had won, but not before the mission was accomplished.

Oh, how much finer will be the taste of the venison that will be yielded from that ground and the wisdom of my father.

Hunting, Wildlife
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