Annual reports for seven Wetland Wonders available on DNR website

Annual reports for Michigan’s seven Wetland Wonders – detailing 2014-2015 hunting season results, habitat management activities and weekly waterfowl counts at each area, along with other information – are now available on the Department of Natural Resources website. To find the annual reports, visit www.michigan.gov/wetlandwonders and click on “The 7 Wonders” and then on “Updates & Counts.”

Michigan’s Wetland Wonders are the seven premier Managed Waterfowl Hunt Areas in the state: Fennville Farm Unit at the Allegan State Game Area (Allegan County), Fish Point State Wildlife Area (Tuscola County), St. Clair Flats State Wildlife Area on Harsens Island (St. Clair County), Muskegon County Wastewater Facility (Muskegon County), Nayanquing Point State Wildlife Area (Bay County), Pointe Mouillee State Game Area (Monroe and Wayne counties) and Shiawassee River State Game Area (Saginaw County).

These areas, scattered across the southern Lower Peninsula, were created in the 1960s to provide exceptional waterfowl hunting opportunities and are still managed today to provide waterfowl habitat for nesting and migration and for the benefit of other wetland-dependent wildlife. Since the beginning, these areas have been funded by hunting license fees and area use fees, but they are open for anyone to visit, use and enjoy most of the year. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Hunter’s Specialties Brings Back the Field Champion Box Call

Hunter’s Specialties® brings back some of their classic favorite turkey calls for 2015 with the Retro Series Calls.

The Retro Series Field Champion Box Call has a moisture-resistant green camo finish and a Silencer Plus™ feature that locks the lid of the call during transport to prevent unwanted sounds. The Field Champion Box Call easily reproduces both hen and gobbler sounds and is a perfect addition to any hunter’s arsenal of calls.

The Retro Series Field Champion Box Call sells for a suggested retail price of $34.99. Read more

Hunting

Michigan DNR completes latest moose population survey

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources today announced the results of its 2015 moose population survey in the western moose range of the Upper Peninsula, an important tool in managing the species.

The 2015 population estimate in the western U.P. is 323, compared to an estimate of 451 in 2013. From 1997 to 2007, surveys of prime moose habitat in Baraga, Iron and Marquette counties suggested the U.P.’s moose population was growing at a modest rate of about 10 percent per year. From 2009 to 2013, survey results showed an apparent change in that trend, with the growth rate slowing to about 2 percent per year.

“There is inherent uncertainty with any population survey, and due to the fact that the 2013 and 2015 estimates have some overlap in confidence intervals, the potential remains that the state’s moose population has remained steady rather than declining,” said Chad Stewart, deer, elk and moose management specialist for the DNR. “However, coupled with survey records that show a decrease in the number of moose calves seen with cows this year, it’s quite possible that we’re looking at a considerable drop in numbers.”

Future surveys will be needed to identify any long-term trend for Michigan’s moose population. Other states and provinces have reported declines in moose populations near the southern edge of North America’s moose range, yet other populations are holding steady or increasing. Researchers in Michigan have hypothesized several potential causes for a possible decline of moose numbers in Michigan. Among potential factors: Read more

Wildlife

Find Pricing on 15,000+ Firearms with New Gun Digest Price Guide

Iola, Wisconsin – Completely updated for 2015, the 10th edition of The Official Gun Digest® Book of Guns & Prices gives collectors and shooters all the information needed to identify and price thousands of nonmilitary cartridge firearms from around the world. Based on data collected from auctions, gun shows and retail gun shops, this 1,328-page volume is an affordable field guide to today’s hottest collectible rifles, pistols and shotguns. The book is available now at www.gundigeststore.com, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other major and specialty retailers.

Editor Jerry Lee has made The Official Gun Digest® Book of Guns & Prices the go-to, easy-to-use resource for Internet auctions, gun shows and retail shops with more than 15,000 firearms listings. This 10th edition includes hundreds of new models and updated values for anyone interested in firearms prices. Read more

Firearms

Muzzy Makes Bowfishing Easy to Start with the New Addict Bowfishing Kit

CARTERSVILLE, Ga. — Muzzy, the leader in bowfishing equipment, has announced the introduction of its new Addict Bowfishing Kit, which contains everything needed to begin the sport of bowfishing—everything except the fish.

The Muzzy Addict Bowfishing Kit features a new 58-inch-long recurve bow with a 40-pound draw weight at 28 inches. The bow is a three-piece takedown design that is drilled and tapped for normal accessories and comes ready to shoot. The bow’s riser is magnesium for strength and vibration reduction, and its limbs are constructed of laminated maple and fiberglass for great performance. Read more

Archery, Fishing

New Barnett Brotherhood Crossbow

The new Barnett Brotherhood crossbow packs the punch to handle any big-game hunting situation, and Barnett’s precise engineering has vaulted the Brotherhood to the top of crossbows in its price range.

With a draw weight of 160 pounds, the Barnett Brotherhood that can deliver 109 foot-pounds of energy and shoot an arrow at 350 feet per second. While providing that power, the Brotherhood is far from bulky. With a sleek and streamlined design Barnett is known for, the Brotherhood weighs just 7.0 pounds and is 35.75 inches long and 21 inches wide. The power stroke is a short 13.5 inches, less than most crossbows and easier to cock.

It’s no wonder you see Michael Waddell hunting with the Barnett Brotherhood on The Bone Collector television show. The Brotherhood features lightweight composite stocks and CNC Machined 7/8-inch Picatinny rails-the military standard for mounting scopes. They also have finger reminders for shooting safety and pass-through foregrips, plus the company’s proprietary CROSSFIRE String and Cable System. Read more

Archery

HiperFire Triggers Now Available at Mounting Solutions Plus

HiperFire HIPERTOUCH 24C Trigger

High Performance AR-15 Triggers

Miami, FL – Mounting Solutions Plus (MSP), a manufacturer and distributor of firearm products, announces that they are now a distributor of the full line of HiperFire Triggers.

HiperFire HIPERTOUCH AR-15 triggers are designed to meet the demands of long-range hunters, competition marksmen, 3 gunners, law enforcement/military, as well as those seeking an upgrade for their home defense rifles. All HiperFire Triggers are made in the USA by Americans! Read more

Firearms

Life Jacket Design Competition Deadline Nears

Can You Design a Life Jacket That Boaters Will Wear? ANNAPOLIS, MD, – It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know why boaters don’t like to wear life jackets. They can be hot and bulky. Some are too expensive. Or, at least that’s what some boaters say. So here’s your big chance: design a better life jacket that more folks will wear, and you could be $10,000 richer.

 

The deadline for design entries with the 2015 Innovations in Life Jacket Design Competition is April 15. The competition’s sponsors, the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water and the Personal Floatation Device Manufacturers Association, are encouraging boaters, armchair inventors, design, engineering or high school students to submit their design soon to BoatUS.org/design. Entries can be as simple as hand-drawn theoretical designs to working prototypes, and there are no rules regarding types of materials to be used or whether the design meets any current US standards. Read more

Fishing

Suspected Avian Cholera Outbreak Claims at Least 2,000 Migrating Snow Geese in Upper Snake Region


It is unknown at this time where the geese may have picked up the suspected bacteria.MUD LAKE – The Idaho Department of Fish & Game (IDFG) is reporting that during the past weekend staff and volunteers collected the carcasses of approximately 2,000 migrating snow geese that appeared to have succumbed to avian cholera and died while stopping at Mud Lake and Market Lake Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs), on their way back north to their nesting grounds in Northern Alaska. The carcasses were collected and will be incinerated so that other predatory and scavenger birds do not ingest the deadly bacteria. Results are not yet back from the IDFG Wildlife Laboratory to definitively confirm avian cholera, but apparent symptoms seem to indicate the disease. According to the United States Geographical Survey Health Laboratory, humans are not at a high risk of infection from the bacteria causing avian cholera.

The carcasses of a small number of snow geese were first reported at Camas National Wildlife Refuge near Dubois, Idaho. Closer inspection on Friday found higher numbers of dead birds at the Mud Lake WMA Area near Terreton, Idaho and a lesser amount at Market Lake WMA near Roberts, Idaho. The migratory birds were on the return leg of their migration from the southwestern United States and Mexico to their breeding grounds on the northern coast of Alaska. It is unknown at this time where the geese may have picked up the suspected bacteria. “Outbreaks of avian cholera have occurred sporadically in the region over the past few decades, ” said Upper Snake Regional Supervisor Steve Schmidt.

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Wildlife
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