Former Detroit home of Julia and Ulysses S. Grant moving from state fairgrounds to Eastern Market

The Department of Natural Resources, the Michigan History Center and the Eastern Market Partnership have agreed to relocate the Detroit home of Julia and Lt. Ulysses S. Grant from the former state fairgrounds to the corner of Orleans and Wilkins streets. There, after renovation, it will become a new resource for residents, schoolchildren and visitors.

The new location, which is part of the Eastern Market garden project, will include gardens and a small orchard. The setting will complement the house, whose major attraction – according to a letter Ulysses sent to Julia – was “a garden filled with the best kind of fruit … a long arbour grown over with vines that will bear fine grapes in abundance for us and to give away … currents [sic] and plum & peach trees.” Read more

General

Minnesota Anglers Encouraged to Keep Small Panfish, Release Large Ones

Minnesota anglers harvest around 16 million sunfish each year, making them the state’s most harvested fish. To protect big sunfish and avoid stunted populations of sunfish, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is encouraging anglers to release large sunfish, and keep smaller fish for eating.

Sunfish spawn in large nesting colonies during the spring and early summer. Parental male sunfish build and defend nests. Females will select a male, lay eggs, and leave them for the male to protect and fan with his fins. These nest-building male sunfish play an important role in repopulation with the largest sunfish often getting the best spawning sites.

When anglers keep only the largest sunfish, which are usually males guarding nests, the remaining small males don’t need to compete with larger males to spawn. Instead of growing, they devote their energy to spawning at younger ages and smaller sizes. Read more

Fishing

SAF, ISRA Win As Illinois Appeals Court Dismisses Deerfield Appeal

BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation has posted yet another victory in Illinois, as the Second District Appellate Court has dismissed an attempt by the Village of Deerfield to challenge a permanent injunction against the community’s ban on so-called “assault weapons” and “large-capacity magazines.”

SAF was joined in the case by the Illinois State Rifle Association—it’s partner in the landmark 2010 U.S. Supreme Court victory in McDonald v. City of Chicago—on behalf of Deerfield resident Daniel Easterday. Deerfield’s appeal was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, the court ruled.

The plaintiffs were represented by Glen Ellyn attorney David Sigale.

“This effectively shuts down any further effort by the Deerfield administration to encumber law-abiding citizens in the community who own the kinds of legal firearms city officials want to ban,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “We were delighted to once again be working with our good friends at the Illinois State Rifle Association. Together with David Sigale, we make a pretty good team.

“But this was always about much more than teamwork,” he continued. “We’re talking about the right of honest citizens to live without fear of suddenly being turned into criminals by an overzealous government that arbitrarily decides to prohibit possession of a perfectly legal firearm, purchased in accordance with applicable state and federal laws, because of political correctness.” Read more

Self Defense

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Propose Downgrading or Eliminating Federal Protections for Some Species

GW:  Let the whining begin.  Critters can be listed for protection but never, never, never let them be considered as having recovered.  The radical lefties always use the same playbook:  If it means an animal could be hunted, then radical groups like Defenders of Wildlife will be against it.  Period.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) released its three-year plan to propose removing 25 threatened or endangered species currently listed under the Endangered Species Act, including the delisting of species that are not yet recovered like the gray wolf in the Lower 48 States, Key deer and Canada lynx. These changes also include downlisting or delisting the red cockaded woodpecker as threatened or recovered; and downlisting 24 endangered species to threatened status. Premature downlisting from endangered to threatened could also be particularly harmful given the Trump administration’s impending regulatory changes that will reduce basic protections for newly threatened animals.

The news of these proposed changes is sobering, particularly in the wake of the recently released international assessment on the potential loss of up to 1 million species threatened with extinction in the coming decades.

Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife, issued the following statement:

“These proposed changes could worsen our nation’s biodiversity crisis. The Key deer is a prime example: proposing to delist the deer is premature when this species continues to suffer from habitat loss, vehicle collisions and the effects of sea level rise due to climate change. At this critical time, we should be doing everything that we can to save imperiled species and their habitat, and fully funding and implementing the Endangered Species Act to defend against extinction.

“We call on the Fish and Wildlife Service to make delisting and downlisting decisions based on sound science. The Endangered Species Act is our strongest conservation law, and one of our nation’s most successful laws ever enacted. Species like the Foskett speckled dace, pulled back from the brink of extinction thanks to the Endangered Species Act, are a testament to the effectiveness of this visionary legislation.”

Wildlife

Pulsar Digisight Ultra N455

(MANSFIELD, TEXAS) – Pulsar continues to enhance night vision technology with the newest member of the Digisight family, the Digisight Ultra N455. Step up your hunting experience with the Digisight N455; take down predators, hogs and varmints day or night.

Pulsar fuses a high-resolution 1280×720 CMOS sensor with a 1024×768 AMOLED display for a detection range of up to 550 yards. Designed for day or nighttime use, the N455 boasts a picture-in-picture 4x digital zoom with continuous and 2x, 4x stepped options, wide field-of-view and removable LED 940 invisible IR illuminator.

Use the Digisight to record your hunts with the built-in video recorder and easily stream your adventure with the Stream Vision App through WiFi on your mobile or tablet device. Customize the way you use the Digisight N455 by selecting from over 10 electronic reticles and 9 color options, with each holding their own advantage. Read more

Optics

Gypsy moths numbers are rising in southern Michigan

Gypsy moths are an invasive species, a term for non-native pests that can cause harm to native species and ecosystems. In its caterpillar life stage, the insect caused widespread defoliation in Michigan from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. A large population in 2018 has led to more caterpillars hatching this spring.

Current defoliation is heaviest in Barry, Ionia and Washtenaw counties, but Department of Natural Resources forest health experts say it’s likely that gypsy moth caterpillars are causing similar problems on a local scale in other areas of the Lower Peninsula. Heavy defoliation likely will become visible within the next few weeks in localized outbreak areas and persist through mid-July.

“Gypsy moths rarely kill trees in Michigan,” said James Wieferich, DNR forest health specialist. “Only stressed trees suffering from problems like drought, old age or root damage are at high risk. In most cases, gypsy moth caterpillars are more of a nuisance in residential areas than in the woods.” Read more

Wildlife

Monster Brown Caught on White River, Arkansas

Paden Flippin caught and released a 36.7-pound brown trout last Wednesday, his 24th birthday, while fishing with friends on the White RIver below Bull Shoals Dam. Paden guides for Cotter Trout Dock but had his birthday off, and he took the opportunity to land this whopper, which he and his friends had been tracking for more than a year. And, as the fish was hauled in and held for this photos, all the guides on the White River around Cotter were ecstatic, we’re told.

Is there a trout like this in your future? It could be. Many trophy trout have caught and released in the past two weeks around Cotter Trout Dock, they say, plus some great rainbows, browns and cutthroats that “may not be considered trophy size, but that fight for the title nonetheless.” Water releases have remained steady at just under one unit of water issued from Bull Shoals Dam (approximately 2,400 cfs) for most of each day, with a rise in the late afternoon and early evening. While the water is low, they’re taking advantage of using shrimp and scented egg baits. Also this week they found success with jigs (brown/orange, ginger/orange and tri-olive), quarter-ounce Little Cleos, both gold and silver and minnows for the browns.

Fishing

Ruger 10/22 Air Rifle Now Shipping

FORT SMITH, AR – Umarex USA, innovator and marketer of a wide range of products for the outdoor sportsman, announced that its Ruger® 10/22® Air Rifle is now shipping and available for purchase through select retailers. The officially licensed air rifle is the latest addition to their ever-growing line of pellet rifles.

Recognized as one of the world’s foremost airgun manufacturers, UMAREX continues to provide responsible recreational shooters with the greatest variety of air-powered versions of the firearms they know and respect.

The Ruger 10/22 has been seen on shooting ranges around the United States for over five decades. This new air rifle version is true to form except that it is powered by two 12-gram CO2 cartridges. The Ruger 10/22 Air Rifle is designed to shoot .177 caliber pellets, the most readily available and most popular selling airgun caliber for recreational shooting.

Beyond its function, the 10/22 Air Rifle is slightly lighter than the firearm, but looks the part. The sights are authentic in style, including the folding rear sight, and the rifle has authentic looking sling attachments. The receiver is ready to accept after-market rails that fit the Ruger 10/22 so that you can customize your Ruger 10/22 Air Rifle with the optic of your choosing. Read more

Firearms

The New CZ BREN 2 Ms PISTOL

A Model for Every Shooter and Every Tactical Scenario

Kansas City, KS – CZ-USA is excited to introduce the next generation of the Bren, the Bren 2 Ms Pistol, offered in multiple barrel lengths and two chamberings. Whatever your tactical shooting needs, there’s a Bren 2 Ms Pistol model just right for you.

The original Bren 2 was developed as a select-fire rifle for the Czech military. However, the new Bren 2 Ms Pistol is a clean-sheet design, with a modular forend (hence the ‘M’) and is offered in semi-auto only (‘s’).

The other most noticeable change is the strict weight-loss regimen the Bren 2 Ms has undergone. With a trimmed-down aluminum receiver and a lower made from carbon fiber-reinforced polymer, the Bren 2 Ms Pistol is a robust but substantially lighter firearm than earlier versions. Easier to carry, quicker to get on target, and durable enough for the toughest duty: that’s the new Bren 2 Ms Pistol. Read more

Firearms

Boyds Stocks for Ruger American Rifles with AI Magazines

MITCHELL, S.D. – Boyds has recently released a bottom metal that allows the Boyds stocks to accept the Ruger American rifles with the AI-Style magazines.

In Early 2017 Ruger released the AI-Style magazines for Ruger Precision Rifle® and Gunsite models. The precision style AI magazine quickly made its way into a few of the popular American Rifles, including the Predator and Go Wild® models chambered in .308, 6.5 Creedmoor, and other popular short action calibers.

The bottom metal was developed with quality and performance in mind. It comes with a black anodized, CNC machined, aluminum bottom metal and trigger guard. The magazine catch is polished, CNC machined aluminum to allow for a tight grasp on the magazine.

The bottom metal is designed to fit the Boyds stocks without any fitting or alterations. The bottom metal kit also allows other Ruger American rifles to be converted to allow the use of the Ruger AI-Style magazines when they are assembled to a Boyds stock. Additional details at www.boydsgunstocks.com/Ruger-American-AI-Magazine-Kit

“Rifle manufactures keep pushing the boundaries of what is achievable with firearms,” said Dustin Knutson, general manager at Boyds. “We’re constantly working to offer high quality wood gunstocks, at reasonable prices, for firearms that come from a factory with limited choices for stocks.” Read more

Firearms
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