Outdoor commentary and legislative issues.
Memphis, MI – Quest Bowhunting™, a division of G5 Outdoors, is pleased to introduce a new member to the Quest family of compound bows. The all-new Quest Storm will change what people expect out of bows specifically designed for female and youth hunters. Despite a precisely planned lighter draw weight, the Quest Storm boasts the speed and power fit for any situation in the field.
The deceptively named Humane Society of the United States only spends 1% of its budget on grants to help local organizations care for pets. But HSUS can afford to send $26 million—the equivalent of 20% of its budget—to offshore hedge funds. It’s a case of putting tax shelters ahead of pet shelters, and it comes on top of the $25.7 million HSUS put into the Caribbean in 2012. In 2013, HSUS reports that it sent $26 million to the Caribbean and Central America. Where exactly did that money go? A supplemental document tells us: Read more
Board calls for $24 million in recreational, land acquisition projects
LANSING, Mich. – Gov. Rick Snyder today applauded the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund board of trustees’ recommendation to the Legislature that 69 recreational development projects and land acquisitions totaling $24.7 million be funded in 2015.
The board considered a total of 156 applications seeking $44.7 million in funding. In a competitive process, all eligible applications were evaluated on scoring criteria developed by the Trust Fund board.
“Broader public access to plentiful, quality outdoor recreation opportunities plays a central role in Michigan’s economy and quality of life for residents and visitors,” said Gov. Rick Snyder. “The Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund continues to support active, healthy lifestyles for people of all abilities, and has done so for nearly 40 years, funding recreational opportunities in every county in Michigan.” Read more
BISMARCK, N.D. — Delta Waterfowl’s predator management work continues to show that managing predators on the prairie breeding grounds increases duck production.
Delta’s 2014 Predator Management Report, released today, documents the improvement in duck nest success achieved on trap sites in the North Dakota and Saskatchewan this spring and summer.
In Saskatchewan, Delta Waterfowl researchers measured the impact of trapping predators on over-water nesting ducks such as canvasbacks, as well as on upland-nesting ducks. Average nest success in upland trapped blocks was 32.5 percent, compared to just 6.5 percent in non-trapped control block areas. Read more
Grant provides more youth hunting opportunities with a focus on land conservation
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources today announced that it has been awarded a $1.2 million Voluntary Public Access-Hunting Incentive Program (VPA-HIP) federal grant to enhance the state’s Hunting Access Program with an emphasis on Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program land, habitat restoration and more opportunities for youth and apprentice hunting.
“This is great news for hunters who may not currently have access to hunting land,” said Mike Parker, coordinator of the DNR’s Hunting Access Program. “This grant will allow us to increase hunting opportunities in areas of Michigan where access is limited, restore wildlife habitat, and further our priorities of preserving our state’s rich hunting heritage.”
Michigan’s Hunting Access Program provides financial incentive to landowners in southern Michigan and a portion of the eastern Upper Peninsula who are willing to allow hunters to hunt on their lands. Hunting Access Program lands must be at least 40 acres in size, and payments to landowners increase with better habitat quality and the variety of hunting allowed. Read more
It is a widely accepted fact, with plenty of research to back it up, that high quality protein is essential during antler growth and fawn rearing season for your deer to express their genetic potential. However, one area that is often overlooked for year-round nutrition is during the late winter and early spring. Hunters have a tendency to hang-up the rifle when the season is over and not think about their deer again for months. The late winter/early spring time period can be stressful for your entire herd, not just the rut weary bucks. Having a dependable, quality food source during this critical time is a must if you wish to make sure worn out bucks, as well as does that are now pregnant, can enter the spring in great health and body condition. I don’t think it would be a surprise to anyone that a deer entering the spring antler growing period still playing catch up, is NOT going to grow his best rack or increase in body size. Providing late season food is not all about antlers either, but rather the overall health of the entire herd.
Cold Weather Plants
As the hunting season winds down and the cold weather sets in, whitetails are on their feet and in need of a high energy, high carbohydrate food source. Planting a late season annual such as brassicas can help carry your herd through the tough months. One of the most effective ways to keep deer on a property is to have a destination feeding field that is seldom if ever hunted. Brassica blends such as Maximum, Deer Radish or Winter Bulbs & Sugar Beets, containing plants with staggered maturity and palatability dates are ideal for this task. After your cereal grains and clovers have been browsed down and covered in snow, brassicas are very attractive and highly preferred by whitetails. Seeing deer dig through heavy snow to reach a plot filled with thick-leaved greens is a sight any food plot farmer loves to see.
Why Brassica?
Brassicas are a genus of plants containing many cultivars that whitetails love. These include rape, sugar beets, radishes and turnips to name a few. They have the potential to provide a lot of forage in a short growing season and can yield many tons of forage per acre. Brassicas offer great browse tolerance since they are not usually preferred by deer until cooler weather changes the chemistry of the plants to their most palatable stage. Many hunters say that after their first or second hard freeze, their brassica plots become the preferred food source, even over corn or beans. Planting brassicas at the right time of year is critical to get the most out of the plant from a tonnage standpoint, but not planting so early that the plants get too rank and mature making them less attractive and palatable, and possibly bolting to flower and seed.
Proof is in the Green
Throughout the year we get many communications with great stories from managers with a new found love for brassicas. The weekends and long days on tractors and ATV’s are greatly rewarded with a field full of lush green plants that their deer are ravaging. Many of the same people talk about increasing the amount of acreage they will plant in brassicas the following year. While cereal grains such as wheat and oats are highly attractive to deer, if they are the only plot available on your property there could be a gap in available food late in the season.
If your plots are eaten down to almost bare dirt by the end of the season, less deer or increased plot acreage is in order…maybe both. Read more
Dec. 5, 2014 – Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) biologists have received a fifth cohort of juvenile whooping cranes at White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area (WCA) in Gueydan. The 14 young cranes received Dec. 4 add to the state’s resident population established through an LDWF species restoration project.
“As we prepare to enter year five of this project, I encourage the public to continue to support our biologists in this effort by observing these birds from a distance and reporting any sightings of injured birds or anyone attempting to harm them in any way,” said LDWF Secretary Robert Barham. “We are fortunate to have a number of private landowners who have assisted us by working with our staff when the cranes roost on their property and I thank them for their participation.”
The White Lake WCA location in Vermilion Parish provides temporary shelter for the birds prior to their release into the wild. The cranes were raised at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Md., and the International Crane Foundation (ICF) in Baraboo, Wis., and flown to Louisiana by the Windway Capital Corporation. This month’s delivery increases the Louisiana whooping crane population to 40. Read more
BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation has launched a national media campaign and petition effort to head off a possible executive order by President Barack Obama to implement the United Nations small arms treaty.
The media campaign and petition threaten legal action if the president tries to circumvent the U.S. Senate and the will of the American people. SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb said considerable deliberation preceded his decision to mount the effort.
“We’re going to gather millions of petitions and deliver them to Washington,” Gottlieb vowed. “We’re going to tell the Obama administration to keep its hands off of our gun rights or be sued.
“Nobody threatens to sue the President of the United States on a whim,” he added. “But he has used a lawless executive order to grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants without Congressional authorization, and now many people are worried that he plans to bypass Congress again, before the end of this year, with the U.N. treaty, which takes effect on Dec. 24.
“If the president acts on the U.N. Arms Trade treaty,” Gottlieb said, “it would be the worst kind of Christmas present he could ever give to the American people. Read more
Perryton, TX- Many firearms companies claim that their products are 100% American made; with Republic Forge, this claim is authentic. Republic Forge, a true American firearms company, is setting new industry standards with their flagship 1911, the Republic.
The Republic features a match-grade 5″ barrel, 25 LPI checkering on the front strap, a wide array of custom cerakote options and color coordinated VZ or various Ivory grip options. Offered in .45 ACP, 10mm, .40 S&W, .38 Super, and 9mm calibers, the Republic has a retail price starting at $2,795. Read more
IDAHO FALLS – What started out as a deer spotlighting case eventually resulted in exposing a poaching spree that lasted for three months and was responsible for the illegal killing of at least 8 deer, one elk, and a moose. At sentencing that concluded on November 14, 2014, District Judge Dane Watkins Jr. sentenced Adam Harris of Archer, Idaho & Brandon Harris of Ririe, Idaho with lifetime license revocations, jail time, and combined fines over $100,000.
In October of 2011, Madison County Sheriff’s Deputies observed a vehicle spotlighting on the fields above Cress Creek Trail. The deputy attempted to stop the vehicle, after a short chase the vehicle became stuck in the snow, and the suspects fled on foot. Conservation Officers from Idaho Fish and Game, with assistance from Idaho Bureau of Probation and Parole, and Madison County Sheriff’s Office began investigating. This was an especially egregious case of poaching, because the animals were killed at a time of the year when they are very vulnerable and concentrated on the winter range. The investigation showed that several more animals were wounded and never recovered.
District Judge Dane Watkins Jr. sentenced Adam Harris to an underlying prison term of two to five years. His term is to run concurrently with a previous prison sentence that Adam Harris is already serving. Watkins also ordered Adam Harris to pay a $500 fine for each count, a reimbursable damage assessment of $14,680 and a lifetime revocation of hunting privileges. Adam R. Harris, 33, pleaded guilty to two felonies. Count I: Unlawfully killing or possessing a cow moose. Count II: Unlawfully killing or possessing a spike elk and at least five deer. Pursuant to a plea agreement, a third count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a prohibited person was dismissed by prosecutors.
Brandon C. Harris, 35, pleaded guilty to two felonies. Count I: Unlawful killing or possessing a cow moose. Count II: Unlawfully killing or possessing a spike elk and at least eight deer. District Judge Dane Watkins Jr. sentenced Brandon Harris to an underlying sentence of two to five years. Brandon Harris was credited for his time served and allowed to continue his release from prison on parole. Watkins also ordered Brandon Harris to pay $200 in fines for each count, a reimbursable damage assessment of $104,250 dollars, and a lifetime revocation of hunting privileges.
At the time of the incident, Adam Harris was on parole and fled the state. He was arrested in Michigan and extradited back to Idaho to face the charges nearly two years later.