Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

ShedRally – The World’s Largest Shed Hunt, Returns!

PIKE COUNTY, Ill. – Coming in March, a hashtag will unite outdoor enthusiasts across America during the second annual #ShedRally – The World’s Largest Shed Hunt.

Whitetail Properties and Realtree are inviting men, women and families who love the outdoors to get outside on March 7 and hunt for shed antlers upload creative photos and videos to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram along with the hashtag, #ShedRally.

“#ShedRally was started so America could shed hunt together,” said Michael Turbyfill, Whitetail Properties PR & Marketing Director. “The hashtag lets us show the world, in real time, how much we love the outdoors.”

The #ShedRally 2015 Official Trailer at Youtube.com/WhitetailPropTV explains more.

“At Realtree, we’re about family, friends and the outdoors are very important to us,” said Dodd Clifton, Realtree marketing coordinator. “Guy or girl, young or old, shed hunting is something anyone can do while enjoying time outside.” Read more

Wildlife

‘Hare cuts’ – DNR, volunteers work to improve wildlife habitat in northern Michigan

snowshoe hare habitat workday – group

‘Hare cuts’ – DNR, volunteers work to improve wildlife habitat in
northern Michigan

Volunteers with Michigan United Conservation Clubs and local Department of Natural Resources staff members recently spent a day together giving “hare cuts” on public land in the Grayling Forest Management Unit as part of an effort to improve wildlife habitat.

“Snowshoe hares are a type of rabbit here in the northern areas of Michigan, and a lot of folks have great memories hunting them,” said DNR wildlife biologist Brian Piccolo. “Unfortunately, snowshoe hare populations have steadily declined over the past few decades, and research suggests that this decline is due partially to shorter winters and less snow cover due to climate change.”

Snowshoe hares differ from the more common eastern cottontail rabbit in several ways – they have longer ears and bigger hind feet than the cottontail, and one other unique trait.

“Snowshoe hares have the ultimate adaptation for survival by being able to completely change the color of their fur to adapt to their surroundings,” said Piccolo.

Snowshoes are a brownish-cinnamon color in the summer and will molt, or grow new white fur, in the winter. While many animals molt, most do not change their color so drastically. The white fur gives snowshoe hares great camouflage when snow is on the ground. If there is little or no snow cover during the winter months, having white fur against a brown background can lead to increased detection by predators. Read more

Wildlife

WALKER’S® New Ultimate Digital Quad Connect

Bluetooth™ Sync With Mobile Devices

Walker’s® Game Ear®, the shooting and hunting industry pioneer in hearing protection, introduces the Ultimate Digital Quad Connect. This ear protection device offers state of the art digital technology including Bluetooth™ wireless, adjustable frequency tuning, up to nine times hearing enhancement, and sound activated compression. Through the use of sound dampening composite material, Walkers new Ultimate series muffs have reached an unmatched noise reduction rating of 27dB.

Walker’s Game Ear is leading the ear protection industry by applying everyday technology that individuals use on a daily basis into their products. The Ultimate Digital Quad Connect features Bluetooth™ sync capabilities allowing connection to mobile devices without sacrificing hearing protection while in the field. The integrated communication microphone provides clear voice transmission to mobile devices while the four Hi Gain Omni Directional Microphones pick up distant sounds of animal movements or range activity. The Ultimate Digital Quad Connect is low noise/frequency tuned for natural sound clarity with independent volume control and adjustable frequency tuning.

The Ultimate Digital Quad Connect has a compact folding design for easy transportation and storage. A soft padded headband provides all-day comfort and the structural integrity of the device is enhanced with a metal wire frame. This hearing protection/detection device has a sound dampening composite housing and low profile ear cups. The Sound Activated Compression (SAC) is rated at 0.02-second reaction time and operates on two ‘AAA’ batteries.

Ultimate Digital Quad Connect:

  • Bluetooth sync with mobile devices
  • Integrated communication mic
  • Four Hi Gain Omni Directional microphones
  • Low noise/frequency tuned for natural sound clarity
  • Independent volume control
  • Independent adjustable frequency tuning
  • NRR 27dB
  • Sound activated compression-0.02 sec reaction time
  • Recessed volume/AFT control knobs
  • External battery door
  • MSRP $299.99

For more information on the Ultimate Digital Quad Connect and other Walker’s products, visit info@gsmorg.com. Walker’s Game Ear is a division of GSM Outdoors. Learn more about their brands at www.gsmoutdoors.com

Firearms, Hunting, Wildlife

Illinois Governor Vetoes Bobcat Hunting Bill

Posted by firstforwildlife on January 16, 2015 · Leave a Comment

bobcat4

bobcat2On January 11, Illinois governor, Pat Quinn showed his true colors when it comes to conservation and vetoed the bobcat hunting bill. Safari Club International criticizes Governor Pat Quinn for vetoing House Bill 4226, a bill that would have allowed bobcat hunting in Illinois for the first time in 40 years. Governor Quinn’s veto ignores necessary science-based management of bobcats in Illinois. Removing professionals from wildlife management will allow bobcat populations to remain unchecked and as a result other wild game populations will decrease and livestock losses will continue to increase in the state.

HB 4226, which was supported by wildlife professionals at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), would have amended the wildlife code to allow hunters to kill one bobcat in a season that would run November 1st to February 15th. The bill passed overwhelmingly in the House by a vote of 91-20 while the vote was closer in the Senate, 30-19. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Senate Upholds Protections for Backcountry Lands

WASHINGTON, D.C. -The U. S. Senate voted today to reject an amendment to the Keystone XL Pipleline bill that would have removed protections from 15 million acres of backcountry lands in U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuges and Bureau of Land Management wilderness study areas. The Senate’s rejection of the amendment affirms the value that Americans-especially hunters and anglers-place on wild, backcountry lands.

“America’s wild, unroaded backcountry is perhaps our greatest natural asset, ” said Steve Kandell, director of Trout Unlimited’s Sportsmen’s Conservation Project. “These lands have been valued by sportsmen and women for generations as a lasting American frontier where fish and wildlife can thrive and hunters, anglers and other adventurous souls can experience the outdoors in a wild, natural state. ” Read more

Wildlife

MI Department of Natural Resources’ teachers academy returns for 8th year

Academy of Natural Resources participants getting a lesson on treesThe Michigan Department of Natural Resources is accepting registrations for its summer Academy of Natural Resources, a program for educators who help connect students to the outdoors through curriculum choices. This year the weeklong program begins July 19 at the Ralph A. MacMullan Conference Center, on the northern shores of Higgins Lake in Roscommon County.

“Our program is six months away but we already have 16 teachers who have applied for our scholarships,” said academy coordinator Kevin Frailey. “It’s exciting to have this early interest. We may be headed for a record year in attendance.” Read more

Wildlife

Trendsetters: Browning Trail Cameras Raises the Standard in HD Video

Birmingham, AL: After another year of extraordinary growth, Browning Trail Cameras went back to the drawing board in search of a way to build on the remarkable success of the Sub-Micro Series cameras they introduced in 2014. And the result is nothing less than astonishing. For 2015, Browning Trail Cameras has taken their proprietary BuckWatchHD™ technology and is introducing four cameras that will give users unprecedented experiences when it comes to capturing HD video with their trail cameras.

The first two cameras are part of the historically popular Recon Force and Spec Ops series and they have been completely updated for 2015 with state of the art BuckWatchHD™ technology. This technology not only continues to deliver the industry’s highest quality images, but now these cameras can capture 1920 x 1080 HD video with sound. This is legitimate 1080p content that you just can’t find anywhere else in the trail camera market. Simply play the videos back on a 60″ HD TV and see for yourself that you’ve shot TV quality content without sacrificing clarity and you didn’t even have to be there! Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

SHOT Show 2015 Attendance Second Highest Ever

LAS VEGAS — The Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show) rang up its second highest attendance ever at the Sands Expo Center Jan. 20-23, giving the industry a very good indicator that a strong sales year lies ahead.

Long a bellwether for the industry’s prospects, the SHOT Show brings together buyers and sellers from the United States and more than 100 countries. Total attendance for the 2015 SHOT Show was nearly 64,000, second only to last year’s record-setting event, where nearly 67,000 came through the turnstiles. Lower attendance reflected strengthened pre-screening of attendees to enhance the overall experience of both exhibitors and buyers. Read more

Ammunition, Archery, Firearms, Hunting, Optics, Self Defense, Wildlife

Michigan’s trapping tradition grows in popularity



Doug Reeves remembers his first time as though it were yesterday.

“The first thing I ever caught was an ermine, a white weasel,” said Reeves, assistant chief of the Department Natural Resources’ Wildlife Division and a lifelong trapper. “I sold it for 50 cents to a traveling fur buyer. To me that was big time.”

He was 9 years old. And he was hooked. The next year he got three traps and starting chasing muskrats. He progressed from there.

“Back then you had to be 12 years old to trap beaver,” he said. “The first one I got I brought home in the basket of my sister’s fat-tire bike.”

Now, 50 years later, Reeves is still trapping – muskrats, raccoons, coyotes, fox – just about everything.

“You have to learn a lot,” Reeves said. “The learning curve is very steep. The element of exploration and discovery is a lot of fun. It’s a blast. I just love it.”

Reeves isn’t alone. In Michigan, trapping is growing in popularity.

older and younger trappers holding muskratAccording to DNR records, just more than 10,000 people bought a fur harvester license in 1994. Two decades later, that number has tripled.

“It’s been increasing,” said Adam Bump, the DNR’s furbearer specialist. “Some of it may be because of pelt prices. When you have generally increasing pelt prices, you have an increase in trapping and the last three or four years the pelt prices for muskrats have been near or at record highs. But price for every species varies on its own, so just because ’rat prices are up, that doesn’t mean they all are.”

Indeed, it’s not all about fur prices, said Dale Hendershot, president of the 1,200-member Michigan Trappers and Predator Callers Association, one of three fur-taker associations in the state. A 64-year-old retired diesel mechanic from Gladwin who’s been trapping since he was 14, Hendershot said “the vast majority of trappers are not professionals.” Read more

Hunting, Wildlife
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