Outdoor commentary and legislative issues.
Goldfinch
If experience is the best teacher, there’s probably nowhere in the world where it’d be better to take hunter safety training than Michigan.
Veteran hunter safety instructor Larry Martin shows his granddaughter Tracie how to sight a firearm.
|
Among Michigan’s coterie of volunteer hunter safety instructors, more than 130 of them have 30 years or more of experience. And that translates into many thousands of safe hunters. Read more
Madison, NC – Created through a collaboration between Remington Arms Company, LLC (“Remington”) and TrackingPointTM, an applied technology company in Austin, Texas, the Remington 2020 Digital Optic System revolutionizes long-range accuracy by combining hand-selected rifles, matched ammunition, digital optics and target-tracking technology into an integrated shooting system. Read more
While many people travel “up north” to find grouse and woodcock hunting opportunities in Michigan, hunters may not know that there are some great grouse and woodcock hunting areas right in southeast Michigan. The Department of Natural Resources’ local wildlife biologists have scouted their respective game areas for the latest information on where to find the grouse and woodcock. Read more
Overland Park, Kan. – Bushnell Outdoor Products, an industry-leader in high performance sports optics for more than 60 years, has introduced a new 3x 30mm digital night vision device. The Equinox series from Bushnell features night vision monoculars in four popular configurations. Read more
Montana officials have indicated an outbreak of epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) has taken a toll on the whitetail population and hunting may be somewhat curtailed as a result. More here…
By Glen Wunderlich
The whitetail archery hunt in which all variables come into alignment is something all hunters envision. The stand is chosen for its position relative to the wind and sun with liberal amounts of cover scent masking all traces of the human element. Maybe even a lone doe decoy is placed within the limits of capability. Read more
“Calling themselves ‘Mainers’ is nothing more than a transparent marketing ploy.”
After failing to get legislation passed in Maine this spring, anti-hunting forces have begun work on a ballot initiative that would ban bear hunting over bait, with dogs and bear trapping. If they collect enough signatures, the question will appear on the November 2014 ballot.
A disclaimer on their website’s homepage reads, “paid for with regulated funds by the committee of Mainers for Fair Bear Hunting, PO Box 15367, Portland ME.” An examination of the campaign finance report filed by the group tells a different, and much more accurate, story. Read more
(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