Outdoor commentary and legislative issues.
As if superior optic performance and precise ranging ability weren’t enough, you can now receive a $300 performance award with your purchase of a new state-of-the-art Leica Geovid HD-B rangefinding binocular (model #40047 or 40049) between Aug.1 and Oct. 31, 2015. Read more
FAIRFAX, VA – The National Rifle Association (NRA) today announced that it has received a $1 million gift to the NRA Institute for Legislative Action from Smith & Wesson, a leader in firearm design and manufacturing and an iconic American company. Presented at the 2015 NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits, this is the latest in a series of gifts from Smith & Wesson to a variety of NRA entities.
Smith & Wesson CEO James Debney said, “At Smith & Wesson we are honored to be part of an American heritage that goes back 163 years and is rooted in the fabric and the freedoms of our country. Our customers have loyally supported our products, while the NRA has loyally defended the Second Amendment. We are proud to play our part by doing all we can to support the NRA-ILA and its efforts to preserve the rights of Americans to keep and bear arms.” Read more
Donald W. Wainwright, Sr., 49, of Live Oak, Florida, was sentenced August 3, 2015 in U.S. District Court to 21 months in prison and a $125,000 fine for 12 charges related to violating the Lacey Act, one count of conspiracy and one count of wire fraud. His son, Donald W. Wainwright, Jr., 29, of Live Oak, Fla., was sentenced to four months of house arrest and three years of probation for eight charges related to violating the Lacey Act.
Carter Stewart, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Gregory Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, United States Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement, Chief Scott Zody, Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Georgia Department of Natural Resources announced the sentences handed down by U.S. District Chief Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. Read more
When gun-control advocates call for more restrictions on the Second Amendment in the name of saving one life, here’s an example they won’t cite.
GW: Interesting how the Obama administration has been reluctant to investigate Planned Parenthood for selling baby parts, but we’ll pursue anyone selling wild game in any manner.
Three residents from Kent County and another from Chippewa County have been arrested on charges related to buying and selling wildlife, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources today announced. The arrests are the result of a multiyear investigation by the DNR’s Special Investigations Unit.
The complaint originated from information gathered from confidential informants who were concerned about the illegal trade in black bear parts.
“Individuals soliciting for the purchase of black bear parts creates a market for the illegal parts and provides a financial incentive for poachers to take the animals during closed seasons, in excess of established limits and by unlawful methods,” said DNR Detective Lt. Jason Haines, who heads the investigative unit. “There is a black market for black bear parts in Asia, where the parts are used for medicinal purposes.”
In all, 11 misdemeanors were charged among the three male, and one female, defendants.
Each of the charges carries a fine of up to $1,000 and 90 days in jail, plus $1,500 reimbursement for each animal illegally purchased. Read more
Watch the new video online where the GrowingDeer.tv team shares their early season strategy for hunting one of the larger bucks on the property. He’s just beginning to show a pattern so it’s time to hang new stands in his home range. See why and where they choose to hang their stands in this video at www.GrowingDeer.tv today! Read more
GW: Good luck with pushing the investigation with this administration…
BELLEVUE, WA – The weekend revelation that one of the two would-be terrorist gunmen killed at a Garland, Texas attack earlier this year had purchased a handgun “through a botched federal firearm sting” is ample reason for Congress to re-open its probe of the Operation Fast and Furious scandal, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.
The New York Daily News reported that slain would-be terrorist Nadir Soofi purchased a 9mm pistol in 2010 from the same gun shop that was heavily involved in the Fast and Furious gun trafficking case. At the time, the firearms retailer was cooperating with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in what was supposed to have been a gun trafficking “sting” effort.
“But Fast & Furious was a fiasco,” CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb recalled. “The gun shop operator even expressed concerns about the way the investigation was being handled. Although the Garland gunman was not connected with Fast and Furious, because he was allowed to buy a handgun after a reported delay was placed on the transaction, we think Congress has good reason to ask more questions about the operation.
“This new revelation shows that not only did the operation put guns into the hands of Mexican drug cartel gunmen,” he added, “it now appears that a future would-be terrorist was allowed to buy a handgun at the same time. Read more
Pachmayr is proud to introduce the newest additions to the Diamond Pro Series Revolver Grips: the Ruger LCR, SP101, and GP100. The Diamond Pro grip line is designed to fill the hand comfortably, with natural feel and point. The unique shape is covered with our “Diamond Plate” texture. This gives you rugged good looks and absolute control of your revolver, even under the heaviest recoil. These grips are made using our specially blended rubber compounds, formulated to give you the long lasting soft feel you expect and the incredible recoil reduction you deserve! Pachmayr Diamond Pro Grip models are also offered to fit the popular Taurus Revolvers, including the Judge, Raging Bull, Tracker and Public Defender (both standard and polymer frames), as well as the Smith & Wesson “J”, “K&L”, and “N” frame round butt models.
Ruger LCR (#02482) MSRP: $24.98
Ruger SP101 (#02483) MSRP: $24.98
Ruger GP100 (#02484) MSRP: $24.98 Read more
By Glen Wunderlich
What universal lesson can a bag of charcoal teach about precision shooting? Allow me to explain. Years ago early in life, I was instructed by a grilling “expert” to pile charcoal in a pyramid shape and then soak the briquettes in lighter fluid and let the concoction sit for a minute or two before lighting. Then we’d wait for the fluid to burn off and for the coals to get ready for cooking. Sound familiar? The trouble was that invariably the food would be spoiled by the taste of fuel. Decades later, I decided to follow the instructions on the bag, which stated in bold letters to apply charcoal lighter to the coals and light immediately. No more fuel marinade. Duh!
Without understanding the fundamentals, it was impossible to get good results on the barbeque. The same can be said of rifle scopes and the issue of parallax. Webster defines parallax as the apparent change in the position of an object resulting from the change in the direction or position from which it is viewed. Relative to viewing an object through a rifle scope, parallax should be checked at the magnification to be used. Parallax is present if the rifle is on a steady rest with the scope’s reticle (crosshairs) on a distant point, and the reticle appears to move about when you move your eye back and forth or up and down.
If you have a scope without an adjustable parallax setting – either at the objective (forward) lens or a side-mount version – there’s nothing that can be done about parallax other than to shoot targets at the distance of the scope’s preset parallax setting – typically between 100 to 200 yards. The good news is that scopes without parallax adjustment, which are below 7 power magnification, rarely have more than two inches of parallax at a distance of up to 400 yards. When used on big game with kill zones the size of soccer balls parallax is inconsequential at typical hunting distances. However, scopes with higher magnification and less depth of field require parallax adjustment to be accurate.
The crucial step in setting up a scope for a particular user begins with the diopter setting found at the ocular lens (the one near your eye). The trick is to view a clean background such as the sky or a white piece of paper but actually checking to see if the reticle appears sharp to your eye without staring into the scope; you want the reticle to be focused, as soon as you look at it. Otherwise, your eye will naturally adjust to a reticle that’s focused improperly, making you believe you are all set. You must perform this adjustment correctly to move on to the next step: parallax adjustment.
If you have a parallax adjustable scope with all the settings from 25 yards to infinity, forget about the graduations. When you adjust the scope’s diopter correctly for your vision, you will have changed the parallax relative to the numerical values; in other words, those numbers are only a guide and will typically not make your scope parallax free at a given magnification and prescribed setting.
The only way to get it right is to turn the parallax setting until your target is crisp and clear and you’ve actually looked for parallax by moving your eye around. Purchasing an expensive telescopic sight with high magnification and parallax adjustment has the potential to be counter-productive, if the setup is not performed properly.
It’s a bit more complicated than lighting charcoal, but without the fundamentals of scope adjustments, the results can be just as bad.
Check your trail camera images directly on your smart phone
Plymouth, WI -While good things sometimes come to those who wait…Who the heck wants to wait until getting home to see what bucks are on the trail camera? The answer is NO ONE!
Serious Whitetail’Rs’ want to see what bucks are in the inventory so they can be hunted immediately!
The PhoneREAD’R™ provides instant knowledge that allows hunters to react to deer movement fast without the need of an expensive separate card reader- just use your smart phone and its cutting edge technology. The days of having to run home to check a card on a computer, and then having to contaminate the woods to replace the card, are over. Less human interaction with trail cams means less chance of spooking game and greater chances of filling your tag. Read more