Michigan Approves Year-round Coyote Hunting

By Glen Wunderlich

With Michigan’s deer numbers on the decline and our coyote population on the rise, our Natural Resources Commission (NRC) has taken a bold step to combat this disappointing trend by lifting protections on coyotes. Effective immediately, coyote hunting season is open year-round in Michigan, thus bringing us in line with other states in the Midwest region. In addition, raccoons, opossums, foxes and coyotes now may be taken at night with number 3 and 4 buckshot.

Coyote Pup Taken with Lapua Sub-Sonic .22 Ammo

Coyote Pup Taken with Lapua Sub-Sonic .22 Ammo

Nighttime furbearers can be taken with a bow and arrow, crossbow, a rimfire firearm .22 caliber or smaller, or a shotgun with loads other than buckshot larger than number 3, slug or cut shell. Centerfire rifles still may not be used to take furbearers at night.

These refreshing changes to common-sense game management tools couldn’t come at a more appropriate time, insofar as Michigan’s new crop of fawns will begin to be born at any time. It is the first 10 days of a fawn’s life, when fawns are most vulnerable to predators and when coyotes do the most damage to our deer herd.

A newborn fawn’s only defense against attack is to remain motionless, while it instinctively calms its heartbeat from 175 beats per minute to about 60 beats. The slower and deeper breathing has the effect of reducing airborne scent in an effort to remain “invisible” to predators’ noses.

Often, humans will encounter newborn fawns bedded, because that’s what they do for some 95 percent of the first 10 days or so. It’s important to understand that the mother doe has not abandoned her offspring, but will return to nurse her fawns during the day. If ever we should adopt a hands-off policy for wildlife, it is at this precarious time in the life of a deer.

However, spring is also the time that mated pairs of coyotes are not only feeding themselves but 4 to 7 of their pups. Opportunistic coyotes are omnivorous and will eat about anything including small mammals, plants, and insects. Defenseless fawns, however, are always on the spring menu.

If you choose to hunt coyotes, here are the remaining rules to keep in mind.

*Dogs may not be used to hunt coyotes April 16 through July 7.

*Nighttime hunting season dates now match the daytime hunting season dates by species. No longer do we have conflicting dates just because we may choose to hunt at night.

*Portable artificial lights may be used throughout the open nighttime season of the target species.

*Nighttime hunters must use the aid of a game or predator call and/or dogs while hunting at night. Dogs may not be used from April 16 through July 7. While hunting with dogs at night, a firearm, crossbow or bow and arrow may be loaded at the point of kill only.

*To hunt coyotes, Michigan residents must have a valid base license, and nonresidents must have a valid base license and a valid fur harvester license. Residents hunting other furbearing species will need a base license and a fur harvester license.

* A license or written permit is not needed. Raccoons and coyotes may be taken all year on private property by a property owner or designee when the raccoons or coyotes are doing or about to do damage to private property.

I am left with one wish: to learn the difference between a coyote with good intentions and one determined to do damage. For now, I’ll have to be content with some head scratching.

Hunting

Weatherby Introduces Vanguard Camilla – Offers Special Offer with Leupold Optics


Paso Robles, CA – “Please don’t just shrink it and pink it and call it a girl’s gun.” is the comment most often heard when women hunters and shooters are asked what they are looking for in a rifle. In response, Weatherby assembled an elite team of outdoor women and used multiple social media channels to find out exactly what features are most important to them. The result is the first ever Weatherby Vanguard Camilla – a rifle designed by women, specifically for women.

The most unique aspect of the rifle is the stock, painstakingly developed to fit the widest variety of women. The butt features a negative angle, reduced heel-to-toe dimension, and the toe angled away from the body to better fit the female’s anatomy. The 13″ length of pull reduces overall length and weight, creating a compact, balanced and fast-handling rifle. The pistol grip has a trigger finger groove, right side palm swell, slim radius, and short grip-to-trigger reach for consistent trigger contact and increased control. The short, slim forearm also adds to the balanced feel. The high comb and Monte Carlo cheek piece provides optimal cheek weld and eye-to-scope alignment for fast target acquisition. A rifle specifically for women must have a beautiful, elegant look so Weatherby chose Turkish A-grade walnut with a satin finish, Fleur-de-lis checkering, and rosewood forend and grip caps. Read more

Firearms

Suppressor Export Act of 2016

In January of 2015, we submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to view the memos, but the State Department never responded.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Suppressor Association (ASA) is pleased to announce the introduction of the Suppressor Export Act of 2016 (SEA), H.R. 5135, by Rep. Chris Stewart (UT-02). This legislation would require the State Department to allow the exportation of American made suppressors to existing commercial markets in friendly nations abroad.

American suppressor manufacturers are known world-wide as producers of the highest-quality firearm suppressors available on the global market. For this reason, allied foreign militaries and government agencies regularly equip themselves with American-made suppressors. Many foreign countries around the world also have thriving, well-established commercial markets for suppressors. These markets cater primarily to target shooters and hunters, and represent a major growth opportunity for the burgeoning American suppressor industry. However, the U.S. State Department currently prohibits the exportation of U.S. manufactured firearm suppressors to commercial end users, hindering the potential growth of domestic manufacturers.

“With no legitimate justification, the State Department is unilaterally preventing American manufacturers from competing in countries like the UK, France, and Norway,” said Knox Williams, President and Executive Director of the ASA. “We know that the blanket prohibition is based on a single misguided internal memo within the State Department from 2002. In January of 2015, we submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to view the memos, but the State Department never responded. While they may be willing to sacrifice domestic manufacturing jobs, we are not. We applaud Representative Stewart and the 17 original cosponsors who have signed on to the Suppressor Export Act for their willingness to stand up to the State Department and let them know that American jobs are worth more than bad policy based on old misconceptions.”

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Firearms

HSUS: Animals Over Hungry People?

If there’s one thing the Humane Society of the United States seems opposed to, it’s common sense. But in light of events in Ann Arbor, Michigan, you might be able to add logic, scientific facts, and feeding the hungry.  But before we get there, here’s the backstory.

Struggling with an out of control deer population, the city of Ann Arbor approved a deer cull given that deer-vehicle collisions were up 75%, the deer were straining the ecosystem, and the near certain increase in ticks carrying Lyme disease. Despite these sensible grounds, activists were outraged that deer had been hunted in their city.

Unsurprisingly, HSUS led the charge on non-lethal population control last year, lobbying for Ann Arbor to use birth control on female deer. Interestingly, the birth control, PZP, is developed using pig ovaries, while HSUS is generally against medical research using animals.

HSUS’s political ideology puts it at odds with biological and ecological experts.  According to wildlife expert Jim Sterba, PZP “for free-ranging whitetails, does not work. And it is neither practicable nor affordable.” That’s because PZP efficacy has only been proven on isolated populations , such as animals on islands or those living in a fenced environment. University of Michigan professor Christopher Dick, a biologist, had a blunter word for what HSUS is advocating: “Pseudoscience.” Read more

Animal Rights

Lion Kill Fest: The Impact of the HSUS Ideology

When the “Cecil” the lion issue took place last summer, the Humane Society of the United States, the largest animal-rights organization in the country, fought to end the importation of lion trophies to the United States under the guise of protecting the remaining “endangered” population (an action the Sportsmen’s Alliance fought).

HSUS won that battle in part (but not in full, as explained below). Lion trophy importation from Zimbabwe (where the Cecil incident occurred) has effectively ended (although the door has not yet been conclusively slammed shut). But, as the Sportsmen’s Alliance said would happen, the consequence of shutting down trophy imports from Zimbabwe has had the opposite effect of what HSUS claimed – as now unsustainable populations of lions will likely face slaughter as new rules shut down the flow of money from U.S. trophy hunters.Lion-By Rumpleteaser (FlickrCC) sized for web

Currently, at least 200 lions are being considered for culling because of an unsustainable management paradigm – overpopulation and no revenue stream for continued support. And a revenue stream it is.

If just those 200 lions are killed, that’s a loss of $10 million dollars to just one area’s anti-poaching efforts, habitat conservation and acquisition, academic studies and all associated ancillary benefits to the local economy and people. The shortsighted and unsustainable rhetoric of the Humane Society of the United States and other animal-rights “warriors” is leading to more bloodshed in the form of economic and intrinsic loss of wildlife in Africa in mere months than has ever been spilled by hunters.

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Animal Rights, Hunting

Watch nesting barn owls through IN DNR webcam

A show of companionship and survival will play out live before the public in a DNR webcam that offers a peek into the lives of a barn owl pair raising chicks. The webcam is at wildlife.IN.gov/8183.htm.

Barn owls are a state-endangered species. The pair on this webcam has been living in a DNR-built nest box inside a metal pole barn in southern Indiana since 2009. These owls have nested every year since 2009. Read more

Wildlife

Remington Arms Company Announces Limited Lifetime Firearm Warranty


Madison, NC – Remington Arms Company, LLC, (“Remington”) is proud to announce today that it is offering a limited lifetime warranty on all Remington firearms purchased January 1, 2016 or after. This new limited lifetime warranty offer supports the celebration of Remington’s 200th anniversary in 2016.”We take pride in crafting dependable, quality firearms designed to last a lifetime in the field or on the range,” said Leland Nichols, SVP & GM Firearms & Accessories. “We’re proud of the Americans who manufacture our products and want to showcase their skill by offering a limited lifetime warranty on all of our firearms.”

Remington warrants to the original purchaser of a new firearm from Remington that such firearm shall be free from defects in material and workmanship for the duration of time that the purchaser originally owns that firearm. This warranty allows for repair or replacement of any part/s of the firearm, or replacement of the firearm if un-repairable, so long as all other requirements of the warranty are fulfilled. All products purchased January 1, 2016 or after are covered by the limited lifetime warranty offer. Read more

Firearms

Boone and Crockett Club Celebrates New Home of North American Conservation

GW:  I was given a sneak preview of the new Bass Pro Shops facility in Missouri and this will become a worthwhile destination for sportsmen and women for years to come. 


MISSOULA, Mont. – The Boone and Crockett Club commends Club member and Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris on his continuing conservation efforts and the upcoming opening of one of the largest, most immersive conservation attractions in the world – Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium. The 315,000 square-foot exhibit sits adjacent to Bass Pro Shops flagship store in Springfield, Missouri, and will soon serve as the new home to North American conservation when it opens later in 2016.In 2015, Boone and Crockett Club joined more than 25 of the country’s leading conservation organizations to contribute to the creation of the attraction. The nationwide collaboration brought together conservation leaders to discuss fun and engaging ways to motivate public appreciation for wildlife and conservation efforts. The attraction will highlight past successes and share important conservation messages to a national audience.

“The museum and aquarium continues the legacy of dedicated professionals and individuals who truly care about ensuring the future of wildlife through conservation practices,” said Morrison Stevens, Club president. “It will serve many generations to come with an immersive, educational experience that focuses on the benefits of long-term conservation and the positive effects on wildlife. The motto ‘Conservation had a beginning, but has no end,’ is fitting to describe the opportunity presented by this attraction.” Read more

Wildlife

DNR: U.P. survey results indicate no significant change in Michigan’s wolf population

Michigan Department of Natural Resources wildlife division officials said today the size of the state’s wolf population has not changed significantly since the last survey was conducted in 2014.

DNR wildlife researchers estimate there was a minimum of 618 wolves in the Upper Peninsula this winter. The 2014 minimum population estimate was 636 wolves.

A wolf walks through the Upper Peninsula woodlands. “The confidence intervals of the 2014 and 2016 estimates overlap, thus we can’t say with statistical confidence that the population decreased”, said Kevin Swanson, wildlife management specialist with the DNR’s Bear and Wolf Program in Marquette.

Confidence intervals are a range of values that describe the uncertainty surrounding an estimate.

Swanson said, based on the 2016 minimum population estimate, it is clear that wolf numbers in Michigan are viable, stable and have experienced no significant change since 2014.

“Currently, deer numbers in the U.P. are at lows not seen in decades and we wondered if there would be a decline in wolf numbers as a result of this reduction in their primary source of prey,” Swanson said. “We also did not observe a significant difference in the number and average size of wolf packs as compared to 2014.” Read more

Animal Rights, Hunting, Wildlife
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