Helpful Tips for Planting in the Dry Season

Let’s face it, sometimes planting in the late summer through the early fall can be tough. Except for the extreme North, the ideal planting time for cool season food plots coincides with three of the driest months of the year, August-October. Much of the country starts seeing the summer thunderstorms dry up around the first of August. With many landowners, hunting clubs, and outfitters planting in August and September, the conditions can be really dry. With the absence of rain in the forecast and soil moisture being almost non-existent, a lot of folks will have fields that are not up and growing until late fall. Not having a nice, lush, tender field to hunt over on opening day of bow season seems like the worst thing to some guys, but don’t give up yet. Late planted plots can be plenty effective for attracting deer and also providing cold season nutrition. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Vintage Camper Show will roll through Port Crescent State Park July 24-27

Port Crescent State Park in Port Austin is proud to announce its Seventh Annual Vintage Camper Show, July 24-27. Each summer, the traveling club Tin Can Tourists brings more than 85 vintage trailers and motor homes to closeup view of a vintage Shasta camperthe campground and opens its doors to the public for trailer tours. This year, tours will take place Saturday, July 26, from noon to 4 p.m. for anyone interested in taking a walk down memory lane.

This event began when the owners of about seven or eight vintage trailers came from New York, Indiana, Ohio, Florida, Michigan and Ontario to camp one weekend at Port Crescent State Park. Through the years, many more members have joined the Tin Can Tourists for this annual campout. A number of the trailers have been meticulously renovated and the owners are always willing to share their stories and photos. Read more

General

Antlerless deer license applications on sale now through Aug. 15

The Department of Natural Resources reminds hunters that the application period for antlerless deer licenses is now open through Aug. 15. Hunters may apply for one license in any open Deer Management Unit (DMU) statewide; a nonrefundable $5 fee is charged at the time of application. Drawing results and leftover license availability may be viewed at www.michigan.gov/huntdrawings beginning Sept. 4. Read more

Hunting

The New Speed Sling from Hunter’s Specialties Helps Bow Hunters Shoulder the Load

Hunter’s Specialties® new Speed Sling is a great way to easily transport your bow to your hunting stand. The sling features sturdy nylon straps in Realtree® camo with quick-release buckles for fast accessibility. It has a cushioned non-slip black neoprene shoulder pad to evenly distribute the weight of a hunter’s bow across their shoulder.

The Hunter’s Specialties Speed Sling sells for a suggested retail price of $12.99.

For more information about other Hunter’s Specialties products, log onto the Hunter’s Specialties website at www.hunterspec.com, write to 6000 Huntington Court NE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52402, or call a Consumer Service Specialist at 319-395-0321.

Hunting

Michigan Improves Wildlife Management

By Glen Wunderlich

When Michigan’s new hunting and fishing license structure was introduced, along with increases in license fees, reactions were predictably mixed.  With jaundiced eyes, many of us took a wait-and-see attitude.

 

With the cost of food and fuel at all-time highs, who wants to pay more for anything?  Nobody.   Government, on the other hand, likes to employ code words and phrases, such as “investments in the future” to soothe our trepidation.   “Grants” is another word which meets with widespread approval from those on the receiving end but raises suspicion from those funding them – and, in this instance, it’s the outdoors enthusiasts that pay to hunt and fish.

 

Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has expanded its efforts to do what it said it would do with our money through the issuance of wildlife habitat grants, specifically designed to enhance food and cover for deer on private land.  Again, this is only one means cited in a dizzying array of grant programs available to applicants, but evidence of the new thinking has already materialized. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Mossberg Announces Expansion of Texas Manufacturing Facility

116,000 Square-Foot Addition to its Eagle Pass-Based Operation

North Haven, CT – O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc., America’s oldest family-owned and operated firearms manufacturer and the largest pump-action shotgun manufacturer in the world, proudly announces the completion of a major expansion at their Maverick Arms, Inc. facility in Eagle Pass, Texas. With the new 116,000 square-foot addition, Mossberg’s manufacturing and distribution capabilities have now increased significantly in Texas. Mossberg’s corporate headquarters and some manufacturing remain in North Haven, Connecticut, where the company has been located since 1919.

A recent statement from Texas Governor Rick Perry’s office recognized the efforts of the Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) and the state’s low taxes, smart regulations, fair courts and skilled workforce as keys to Mossberg’s decision to invest in Texas. “This TEF investment in Maverick Arms will help create jobs and opportunity in Eagle Pass, while reaffirming Texas’ longstanding support of the Second Amendment,” stated Governor Perry. Read more

Firearms

DNR advises caution to prevent spread of oak wilt disease

July 15 marks the end of the three-month window when oak wilt can be transmitted from diseased to healthy red oak trees. Although this time frame is coming to a close, the Department of Natural Resources reminds residents not to move wood from trees with oak wilt. Wood from oak wilt-killed trees can produce spores, which can infect healthy oaks if (the infected trees are) wounded between April 15 and July 15 the following year.

According to Dr. Robert Heyd, forest health management program manager for the DNR’s Forest Resources Division, oak wilt is a serious disease of oak trees. It mainly affects red oaks, including northern red oak, black oak and pin oak. Red oaks often die within a few weeks after becoming infected. Because white oaks are more resistant, the disease progresses more slowly.

“The normal time-tested advice is to prevent oak wilt by not pruning or otherwise ‘injuring’ oaks from April 15 to July 15,” Heyd said.Oak wilt symptoms

He added that the spread of oak wilt occurs during this time of year as beetles move spores from trees killed last year by oak wilt to wounds on healthy oaks.

Oak wilt has been detected in Alcona, Allegan, Alpena, Antrim, Barry, Benzie, Berrien, Calhoun, Cass, Cheboygan, Clinton, Crawford, Dickinson, Genesee, Gladwin, Grand Traverse, Iron, Kalamazoo, Kalkaska, Kent, Lake, Lenawee, Livingston, Macomb, Manistee, Menominee, Midland, Missaukee, Monroe, Montcalm, Montmorency, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oakland, Ogemaw, Oscoda, Ottawa, Roscommon, Saginaw, Shiawassee, St. Joseph, Van Buren, Washtenaw, Wayne and Wexford counties.

Although oak wilt hasn’t been detected in every Michigan county, Heyd said the need for vigilance is present statewide. Read more

General
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