Outdoor commentary and legislative issues.
Goldfinch
(Columbus) – As Washington D.C. faces another government shutdown, hunters, anglers and trappers across the country are facing a shutdown of their own. From Alaska to Florida, sportsmen and women are finding that the budgetary standoff in Congress is having a direct impact on their hunting or fishing season. Read more
Despite its name, the Humane Society of the United States only gives 1% of its budget to pet shelters, and the organization doesn’t run a single pet shelter. Last year The Center for Consumer Freedom polled over 1,000 self-identified donors to the Humane Society of the United States to figure out just what they knew about the group. As it turned out, many donors—like the general public—had a false impression about how their money was being used. They still do.
A recent annual survey of the federally endangered Kirtland’s warbler – uniquely Michigan because 98 percent of the entire population breeds within the state – shows its population still remains near an all-time high.
Biologists, researchers and volunteers observed 2,004 singing males during the official 2013 survey period – 2,063 males were observed in 2012. In 1974 and 1987, when the lowest survey numbers were recorded, only 167 singing males were found.
“Although we do have a slight decrease of singing males this year,” said Dan Kennedy, DNR endangered species coordinator, “we are really excited to see these high numbers because many conservation groups have worked together for over 40 years to make this possible.” Read more
Flextone® Game Calls, the country’s premier call maker, introduces the Echo™ Series of preloaded game calls. The Echo Series, available in HD 100, HD 80 and HD 60 models, enhances your hunting experience by perfectly replicating the calls of numerous wild animals. Read more
Grand Prairie, TX- Stealth Cam, the leader in scouting camera innovation expands the launch of the DRONE Wireless System, the next generation in scouting camera technology, by now offering one year of free cellular service, valued at $250 with the purchase of a New Drone Camera. The complimentary wireless plan will give the user access to thousands of image downloads as well as DRONE’s proprietary secure Command Hub website. Read more
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By Glen Wunderlich
To be or not to be afield, that is the question: Whether it is better to hold off during archery’s early season and wait for the rut or to take part in opening day.
There are those trophy hunters that would never begin hunting the archery deer season until the third week in October so as not to run the risk of messing up a chance at a more careless buck later on. Their rationale may even make a fair amount of sense.
To me, however, opening day reminds me of Christmas morning when I was a boy. My parents would remind me not to get up too early so they could sleep in. I knew Santa Claus had dropped off the presents, just like he had done faithfully in prior years. Maybe just a little peek toward that decorated conifer that graced our living room by the picture window. That’s all it took. “Mom! Dad! Santa was here! Get up! Get up!” That sleeping-in thing never went past 7am.
Over five decades later, little has changed. The “presents” are still under the trees and, if nothing else, October 1 means time to peek into the whitetails’ world.
My hunting partner, Joe, decided on a half-mile walk Read more
By Glen Wunderlich
As a lifelong Michigan resident, getting prepared for the brutality of winter seems to be a never-ending exercise. It seems like the fruit trees just recently escaped a late frost and now we are protecting our tomatoes from an early one. And, if that’s not enough, hunting season brings its own set of priorities. Choices, choices. Read more
The 2013 Deer Hunting: Status and Prospects report – available for download below – provides information about resources and approaches for preparing for deer season each year, some background on deer in each region of the state and perceptions on hunting activity up to this point in the season.
For more information about deer hunting seasons, opportunities and resources, visit www.michigan.gov/deer.
For two years, the independent nonprofit watchdog CharityWatch (formerly the American Institute of Philanthropy) has given the Humane Society of the United States a “D” grade. This spring, for example, CharityWatch reported that HSUS spent as little as 50 percent of its budget on programs and spent up to 48 cents to raise every dollar.
That’s now changed—but not by much. HSUS now earns a “C-minus” grade. CharityWatch finds that HSUS spends as little as 55 percent of its budget on programs, and spends up to 42 cents to raise a dollar.
