Michigan: Deer Movement in Studies Provide Insight into CWD Spread

A colorful map shows deer movements in the Upper Peninsula.By EMMA KUKUK
Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Since wildlife researchers first detected chronic wasting disease in Colorado in the 1960s, it has emerged as a growing concern for the nation’s wildlife agencies and hunters.

The disease is a fatal nervous system malady found in animals from the Cervidae family, which includes deer, moose and elk. It attacks the brain of infected animals, creating small lesions. There is no cure for CWD – it is 100% fatal in all animals that contract it.

Though the disorder affects several species, its impact on deer is of special concern. In states where CWD is established, it diminishes the health of deer and causes long-term population decline.

In Michigan, this disease challenges not only the foundation of wildlife conservation, but the state’s long-standing hunting traditions.

Wildlife agencies investigating CWD have found that deer movement is key to disease spread. Understanding deer movement is therefore vital to making the most of CWD management strategies. Read more

Wildlife

Primary Arms Closes Glocktober With Grey Ghost Precision Pistol Giveaway

Final Week of Glocktober Event

Features Grey Ghost Precision Combat Pistol Compact valued at $1,499.99

Built for Superior Precision with Match Fitment and Enhanced Ergonomics

Coincides with Primary Arms Halloween Sale

HOUSTON, TEXAS – Primary Arms has begun their final Glocktober giveaway event. Straight from the Grey Ghost Precision workshop, the Combat Pistol Compact embodies the spirit of a custom Glock with an innovative, original design. With exacting fitment, the Grey Ghost CPC ensures superior precision for both concealment and competition.

Enter now on the Primary Arms Blog, the Grey Ghost Giveaway features the new Grey Ghost Precision Combat Pistol Compact. This unique pistol is inspired by the ingenious design of the Glock 19 and has compatibility with gen 3 parts. Beyond that, this pistol adds its own suite of premium features that make for a compelling sidearm. A contoured, performance-cut frame enhances the user’s grip and control over the pistol while firing, and the slide comes ready to mount either a Leupold DeltaPoint Pro or Trijicon RMR. In addition, every GGP Combat Pistol comes with a custom soft case, which provides storage protection for the pistol as well as pouches for two additional magazines. Read more

Firearms

Michigan DNR Shooting Ranges Extend Hours for Hunters

Ranges open every day Oct. 30-Nov. 18

We’re offering extended shooting hours at the DNR ranges (except the Dansville range) on the weekends prior to Nov. 15 to help hunters prepare for the firearm deer season.

Oct. 26-27, Nov. 2-3 and Nov. 9-10:

  • Ortonville and Pontiac Lake will be open 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
  • Rose Lake and Sharonville will be open 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

The ranges will be open every day Oct. 30 through Nov. 18, including Veterans’ Day. The weekday shooting hours are 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. at Ortonville and Pontiac Lake, and 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. at Rose Lake and Sharonville.

DNR shooting ranges ?

Firearms

Michigan: DNR Reports CWD-Positive Deer

A 2-year-old, hunter-harvested doe from Hamilton Township, in Gratiot County, Michigan, recently tested positive for chronic wasting disease – the second confirmed CWD-positive wild deer from that county. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources said that tissue samples were sent to the Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory for confirmation.

Gratiot County’s first CWD-positive deer was discovered in late 2018. CWD is a fatal neurological disease that affects white-tailed deer, elk and moose. To date, the disease also has been confirmed in Clinton, Dickinson, Eaton, Ingham, Ionia, Jackson, Kent and Montcalm counties.

“When we find CWD a few townships over from a prior detection in the same county, it becomes increasingly important to discover if and where additional cases might be within that county,” said DNR deer and elk specialist Chad Stewart. “In light of this new detection, we ask hunters in southeastern Gratiot and southwestern Saginaw counties, especially, to have their deer tested this year.”

Nearby deer check stations and drop boxes are available at the DNR field office in St. Charles, McNabb Park in Ithaca and Bellingar Packing in Ashley.

“The DNR sets surveillance goals – basically, a number of deer tested in a particular area – to understand the scale of infection in the local deer herd,” Stewart said. “The closer we come to meeting these goals, the better we can learn about where chronic wasting disease exists in Michigan. That’s why we encourage hunters to get deer tested, especially in areas where we haven’t yet met surveillance goals.”

CWD is not common among deer in Michigan, and the Department of Natural Resources encourages hunters to assist in disease surveillance.

Stewart said some of easiest ways hunters can help address CWD are to keep hunting throughout the remaining deer seasons, dispose of leftover parts in the trash and, if possible, take additional does in the Lower Peninsula’s CWD areas.

Deer check stations and drop boxes will be open throughout the deer hunting seasons, while the DNR Wildlife Disease Laboratory and partner Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory will continue processing and testing deer as hunting seasons continue. For check station locations and hours, visit Michigan.gov/DeerCheck. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Federal’s Custom Shop for Ammunition Launches Online

ANOKA, Minnesota –  – Federal is proud to introduce its new online custom-loaded ammunition shop. Customers can choose from several different specialized shotshell and centerfire rifle offerings, with a wide selection of the best bullets from Federal, Nosler, Sierra, Berger, Barnes and more. In addition, custom TSS Shotshells for turkey, waterfowl and upland game can be ordered. Orders are shipped direct to consumer.

“The Federal Custom Shop is an all-new way to deliver your preference of the perfect centerfire rifle or shotgun load built by our ammunition experts,” said Federal Ammunition President Jason Vanderbrink.

For example, at the time of the launch, centerfire rifle shooters can choose numerous bullets and from more than 10 different cartridges including 6.5-284 Norma, 257 Weatherby, 243 Winchester, 257 Roberts +P, 6.5 Creedmoor and more. Shotshell customers can custom order a large variety of loads including 10-gauge and 28-gauge. Shotgun Loads with unique payload sizes or loaded in 2-3/4 hulls for a lower recoil benefit are also possible. A lot of ammunition options exist at Federal’s Custom Shop that will appeal to customer personal preferences. However, the long list of options will change as the shop grows.

“If it’s not in Federal’s vast catalog as factory-loaded ammo, we may have it listed on our website as a load we will custom hand-load for you. We now have a specific selection of rifle and TSS shotshell loads that we will build on-demand, per order.” Vanderbrink said. “For example, Barnes 120-grain Tipped TSX in 6.5-284 Norma and 28-gauge TSS turkey loads aren’t products we list in our catalog, but you can certainly order them through our Custom Shop.”

Each Custom Shop round is painstakingly handloaded to order by our team of expert engineers in our state-of-the-art reloading workshop. These veteran craftsmen combine the best components with extra quality checks at every stage for the most consistent velocity, accuracy and overall performance. Loads are then hand-checked for final inspection and cleaned before being custom-packed in durable packaging signed by the engineer that hand-loaded it. Read more

Ammunition

West Nile virus survey in Great Lakes region shows limited exposure in ruffed grouse

First-year results from a multistate West Nile virus study show that while the virus is present in some ruffed grouse in the Great Lakes region, most birds exposed to the virus can survive. More than 700 hunter-provided samples from Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin were analyzed – both for exposure and infection – in the West Nile Virus in ruffed grouse surveillance project coordinated by the natural resources departments in those three states. Read more

Wildlife

Reelin’ in Reel Big Fish with Catch a Florida Memory

This summer was a fantastic time to catch some reel big fishing memories. A few top-notch Catch a Florida Memory anglers took home exciting prizes in the process, including custom fish mounts courtesy of Mount This! Fish Company.

Christina Saridakis and Remington Colt Thompson both won custom fish mounts in August by qualifying for the Reel Big Fish that most exceeded its qualifying length from April to July. In the adult category, Christina’s whopping 46-inch Reel Big red drum was definitely a milestone to remember, while Remington dominated the youth category with an impressive 36-inch red drum. Read more

Fishing

New Zealand Trophy Hunting at its Best

World Record Trophies in Stunning Alpine Scenery

New Zealand Trophy Hunting offers the finest red stag hunting in New Zealand. It has produced several former world records, and there will be more!

The red stag typically rut from mid-March through mid-May, a period popularly known as the “roar”. If you are a bowhunter, this is your best opportunity for hunting this majestic animal while also experiencing the privilege of this exhilarating encounter.

When a stag roars, it is a guttural, hair-raising, lion-like roar that will be sure to get your heart racing. To hunt a roaring stag at close quarters is one of the world’s most unforgettable hunting experiences. Read more

Hunting

California Vintner Steps Forward to Protect Endangered Salmon

A vintner in Northern California is upgrading a concrete fish barrier to return native salmon and steelhead to valuable spawning habitat that has been blocked for nearly a century. A cooperative “Safe Harbor” agreement between the landowner Barbara Banke, Chairman and proprietor of Jackson Family Wines, and NOAA Fisheries and other state and local agencies has fostered the improvements. These agreements provide incentives to private landowners who help recover threatened and endangered species.

The story begins in the late 1800s, when two real estate speculators, F.E. Kellogg and W.A. Stuart, bought part of a Spanish land grant in Sonoma County and built a post office, general store, school, cottages, a hotel, and a diversion structure on a nearby stream to provide water for residents and visitors to the town.

Bypassed by the railroads, however, the little town of Kellogg eventually faded away, its remains razed by a wildfire in the 1960s that left only a handful of homes, agricultural buildings, and the water diversion structure and associated water system. Like many such remnant barriers, the concrete barrier reduced stream flow and blocked native fish, such as Central California Coast (CCC) steelhead and CCC coho salmon, a critically endangered species, from reaching their spawning habitat.

Fulfilling the recovery plan

NOAA Fisheries considers restoration of Yellow Jacket Creek an essential component in the Central California Coast Coho Recovery Plan. Read more

Fishing

Ruger Awarded at NASGW

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE: RGR) is proud to announce that it has been recognized by the National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers (NASGW) as Firearms Manufacturer of the Year for the thirteenth consecutive year. The Ruger Precision® Rimfire Magnum was also awarded the NASGW Caliber Award in the Best New Rifle category. Read more

Firearms
1 … 1,032 1,033 1,034 1,035 1,036 … 2,102