Outdoor commentary and legislative issues.
DRD Tactical announces the release of the M762 Pistol, a quick takedown, semi-automatic Pistol chambered in 7.62 NATO/.308 win, which can be assembled from its brief case size hard-case without any tools, in less than a minute.
The M762 is built on billet lower and upper receivers, uses Magpul 308 PMags or DPMS pattern metal magazine, comes with a MIL-STD 1913 Picatinny 13″ QD Rail with mounting holes on 3 sides for Magpul L-4 Rail Panels. Read more
Waterfowl hunters have an exciting new hunting opportunity to look forward to, as Sept. 1-7 will mark Michigan’s first early teal hunting season in nearly 50 years. These small ducks, especially blue-winged teal, are some of the earliest duck species to migrate each fall.
This statewide teal-only season is now possible because of growing teal populations. The Michigan Natural Resources Commission approved the Sept. 1-7 early teal season at the commission’s July 10 meeting. Hunters may take six teal per day and hunt from sunrise to sunset.
Accurate identification of ducks is essential during this special season, because only teal are legal to harvest. It is important for hunters to understand the season is experimental for three years, and the Department of Natural Resources is required to measure the attempts and harvest of non-target species to make sure hunters are harvesting teal and not other duck species like wood ducks and mallards. Read more
What’s brown and white and found all over Michigan? Bald eagles! The story of the bald eagle is a tragedy turned into a narrative of redemption and success.
In the earliest records of birds in Michigan, bald eagles were reported to be found nesting from Monroe County in the south all the way up to Gogebic County in the north. In fact, bald eagles were found from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from northern Canada all the way to Mexico, and their numbers were estimated to be as high as 100,000 nesting birds.
By 1950, however, the bald eagle’s numbers had been on a slow decline for a couple of centuries as people destroyed their habitat, ate their food and killed them to protect livestock and the small game animals that were part of their diet.
This decline accelerated dramatically in the 1950s due mostly to the increasing use of pesticides that contained DDT and increased industrial production that used PCBs. These chemicals became concentrated in the eagles’ prey and accumulated in the eagles’ bodies. They weakened the eagles’ eggs so that they were crushed when the adult birds tried to incubate them and also led to higher rates of death in adult eagles. Read more
FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. — While public land access remains a persistent and major challenge for many sportsmen, privately owned land provides the majority of opportunity for today’s hunters. When asked to describe the type of land they hunted most often in the past 12 months, roughly two-thirds of hunters used privately owned properties compared to one-third who utilized public lands the majority of the time. Read more
New Haven, MO – Browning Camping has updated the Shadow Series Pop-Up Ground Blinds with a new window curtain system for 2014. Designed for a wide range of window openings, it is sure to satisfy any hunter’s needs. The 4 models of blinds offered by Browning Camping (Powerhouse, Phantom X, Phantom, and Mirage) all now feature the Silent Track Window System.
“We wanted to keep the hunter’s viewpoint in mind and offer a user-friendly design that allows the ultimate window placement and customization,” said Zach Scheidegger, Browning Camping Product Manager. “We already offered some of the biggest windows on the market, allowing the hunter to have the best point of view without sacrificing the ability to stay hidden in the shadows. We have now combined those large windows with a curtain system that will be a huge benefit for all hunters in their different hunting situations.” Read more
By Glen Wunderlich
Growing up in the ‘50s, my brother and I learned the value of hard work, courtesy of my father. There was never any backtalk or debate when it came to household chores. We took turns washing dishes, taking out the trash and mowing the lawn and were rewarded with a weekly allowance for our efforts. Oh, how happy we were when we received our very first raise from 10 to 15 cents per week.
I also recall the old reel mower that certainly would have qualified for today’s green movement. It produced zero emissions into the atmosphere, had no cord or batteries. The only sound was that of the grass clippings falling back to earth. We trimmed, edged, raked, and swept each week – all with no more than boy power. Not so curious was my father’s purchase of his very first motorized lawn mower – one week after I had left the homestead for good.
Decades later – in fact only a week ago – those early life lessons would mean one more deer hunting stand. The coveted hideout sits nestled along Osborn Drain (a tributary of the Looking Glass River) and overlooks some of the most productive hunting ground we have. The soil is so rich that it needs no special fertilizer or lime to yield turnips the size of volleyballs.
However, there was one glaring problem: our motorized machines could not navigate the rain-saturated ground enroute to our paradise. The overgrown weeds were 3 to 4 feet tall, after having their way all season long and had to be cut down to begin the process of planting. It was then that those boyhood lessons from over a half century gone by came to mind.
I pulled the mowing scythe ( an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or reaping crops) from the rafters of the garage to see if it was ready for the “green movement.”
Scythe
To minimize effort, the long, curved blade was honed to a razor’s edge with a sharpening stone. A loose handle was tightened and I ventured with it to the remote location with my friend, Joe, who had volunteered to spray the area with a backpack sprayer.
Joe thought it might be fun to give it a whirl, so I watched intently as he overworked himself into submission without having cleared much more than a patch large enough to stand on. The laughter was getting the best of me, so I put my experience and muscle together and promptly took over.
The tool works best without swinging; rather it is rhythmically drawn with the keen edge parallel to the ground. Within an hour, the heat and humidity had won, but not before the mission was accomplished.
Oh, how much finer will be the taste of the venison that will be yielded from that ground and the wisdom of my father.
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE-RGR) is proud to announce the introduction of the all new Ruger® LC9s™ pistol. The LC9s™ is a striker-fired version of the award-winning LC9® pistol. Like the LC9®, the LC9s™ is a slim, lightweight, personal protection pistol that is chambered in 9mm Luger. The LC9s™ features a newly designed trigger mechanism with a short, light, crisp trigger pull that improves accuracy and performance.
“The Ruger® LC9® set a high standard for reliable, lightweight personal protection,” said Chris Killoy, Ruger President and Chief Operating Officer. “The LC9s™ follows the success of the LC9®, yet provides a new option for shooters who prefer the short, crisp trigger pull of a striker-fired pistol,” he added. Read more
PHOENIX — The endangered Mexican wolf recovery effort has reason to celebrate with the achievement of two major milestones in the work to reestablish the species to its historic range. Read more
The Humane Society of the United States – the biggest anti-hunting organization in the country – is up to its old tricks again, sending its lobbyists to Lansing and threatening frivilous lawsuits against the citizen-backed initiative to protect hunting rights by making fish and wildlife decisions with sound science.
You worked hard to get this initiative before the legislature, collecting almost 300,000 signatures from registered Michigan voters. Just last week, the Board of State Canvassers approved the petitions. Now it’s up to the Legislature to listen to voters like you and pass the Scientific Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act.
But they’re getting pressure and robo-calls from the Humane Society of the United States urging your representatives to ignore you, the 300,000 voters who signed the petition, and the 750,000 hunters and 1.2 million anglers in Michigan.
Your state representative needs to hear from you TODAY that you support the Scientific Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act and they need to vote for it this August!
Don’t let the Humane Society of the United States take away your hunting rights; Find your representative’s phone number by clicking here and call today!
The Department of Natural Resources will host the 19th annual Saginaw Bay Waterfowl Festival Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 2-3, at Bay City State Recreation Area. Festival activities focus on getting families outdoors to appreciate Michigan’s Waterfowl Legacy – wondrous waterfowl and the unique wetland habitat upon which they depend. The festival runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Read more