DNR announces naming contest for new trail across Michigan

What’s in a name? For the winner of a Department of Natural Resources contest starting today, it’s the chance to be a part of history by suggesting the official name for a landmark bicycling/hiking trail stretching from Belle Isle Park in Detroit to Ironwood in the western Upper Peninsula.

 

“This contest is a fun, inclusive opportunity for people to share their creativity, draw on their passion for our state’s trails and be involved in celebrating a milestone accomplishment for Michigan’s outdoor recreation,” said Ron Olson, chief of the DNR Parks and Recreation Division.

Name suggestions will be accepted now through Oct. 13, 2014. People can submit their ideas online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/namethetrail, via Facebook at www.facebook.com/midnr, or by mailing in a paper entry form, which is available by visiting www.michigan.gov/dnrtrails and clicking “name the trail.” Read more

General

Leica Ultravid HD-PLUS Binos Boast Newly Engineered Glass Elements

Leica, manufacturer of legendary lenses since 1849, is excited to introduce the new benchmark for optical performance – the Ultravid HD-PLUS 42 mm binoculars. Using industry-leading glass technologies, Leica created the Ultravid HD-PLUS binoculars with new objective HD/HT glass elements to provide you with the brightest, most crystal clear images, making them perfect for game scouting and glassing before and during your hunt.

The new glass for lenses and prisms, along with new proprietary coatings, provides for a significantly increased transmission of light – up to 92 percent. This increased transmission, particularly in the blue-violet band, allows for optimum viewing during low-light conditions, which is critical for spotting prey during peak activity in the early dawn and twilight hours. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Silencerco Announces Photo Contest

WHAT:
Living in the Red means being ready for anything. SilencerCo’s new photo contest represents an opportunity for you to show off your gear, assembled to get you out of a tight spot when the going gets beyond tough. What do you carry in your rig?

WHEN:
Beginning today, photos can be submitted for one month, through October 19, 2014. After the submission period is over, SilencerCo will narrow the submissions and open the best photos for public voting.

WHO:
Anyone who wants to showcase their gear for the chance to win some awesome prizes.

HOW:
Find more info and submit your photo at http://www.silencerco.com/living-in-the-red

WHY:
Being prepared for the unexpected is reason enough, but submitting a photo to the contest gives you the chance to win some great stuff.

GRAND PRIZE:
Any three SilencerCo suppressors of your choice. Be strategic – the most expensive or largest-caliber suppressors alone may not be the best for you in a survival scenario. But if you win, it’s your call.
A Goal Zero solar station valued at over $800 – the perfect setup to allow you to power necessary devices without the need for fuel.

RUNNER-UP:
One SilencerCo suppressor of your choice.
Goal Zero Nomad 7 Solar Panel in Realtree Xtra Camo

About SilencerCo:
Founded in West Valley, Utah in 2008, SilencerCo began with a belief in the fundamental premise that firearms don’t have to be loud and has now become the market leader in sound suppressors, muzzle devices, and related products. By investing in innovation, customer service, organic manufacturing, advocacy, education, and talent, SilencerCo is now focused on making firearms hearing safe for all hunting and shooting applications, introducing products that have never been made before, and improving the buying experience.

Hunting, Self Defense, Wildlife

Yellowstone Plundered by Market Hunters

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (Sept. 19, 1876) – Soon on newsstands in all 38 states, an upcoming edition of “Forest and Stream” will feature a report by editor George Bird Grinnell on a poaching crisis still plaguing Yellowstone even in its fourth year as a U.S. national park.

Grinnell, back from an expedition in the area, witnessed the sad carnage and writes, “It is estimated that during the winter of 1874-1875, not less than 3,000 buffalo and mule deer suffer even more severely than the elk, and the antelope nearly as much.”

The concerned editor is urging Congress to help stop the rampant market hunting and exploitation of wildlife, timber, geysers and other natural resources of the park.

That’s how early sportsmen might have announced the launch of a long crusade that would change the course of conservation in America.

The plight of Yellowstone and the public outcry that followed Grinnell’s articles on what he called “the park grab,” proved to be a tipping point that rallied the 1887 formation of the Boone and Crockett Club. Founder Theodore Roosevelt was resolute in establishing the fledgling outfit’s first order of business: Protect the park.

Yellowstone elk poached by Fredrick and Philip Bottler near Mammoth Hot Spring during the spring of 1875.

Today, Boone and Crockett is commemorating the 120th anniversary of the Club’s first major success, the Yellowstone Protection Act of 1894.

“The campaign to preserve Yellowstone was the first time a natural resource issue secured the popular support of both sportsmen and non-sportsmen,” said current Boone and Crockett Club President Bill Demmer. “Yellowstone thrust Boone and Crockett into the national limelight as an organization of hunters leading America’s early conservation movement.” Read more

Hunting, Poachers, Wildlife

Michigan’s Small Game Hunting Bonanza

On the third day of small game season, I sat quietly in the squirrel woods.  Within two hours, I was heading home with an unusual mixed bag.  Details will follow in a few days, but here is a photo of the results.  All taken with single shots from the venerable Marlin 39A stoked with sub-sonic target ammo.  A camera sits atop the long gun to record the action.

Squirrels and Coyote Taken with .22 Rimfire
Squirrels and Coyote Taken with .22 Rimfire
Ammunition, Firearms, Hunting, Wildlife

Black, Poe Introduce the FIREARM Act

Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, Reps. Diane Black (R-TN-06) and Ted Poe (R-TX-02) introduced theFIREARM (Freedom From Intrusive Regulatory Enforcement of Arbitrary Registration Mandates) Act – legislation to prohibit the federal government from requiring race or ethnicity to be disclosed in connection with the purchase of a firearm. In 2012, the Obama Administration quietly began requiring the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to record firearms purchasers’ race and ethnicity. Read more

Firearms

Arraignment set for Oct. 6 for Sanilac County poaching suspects

GW:  Really?  Poaching a spotted fawn?  Hang ’em.  Hang ’em high!

Three individuals are set to be arraigned Monday, Oct. 6, in 73A District Court in Sanilac County on poaching charges related to an incident on Sept. 14 in Sanilac County.

Three men and a woman were arrested after a Department of Natural Resources conservation officer working on a homeland security patrol was alerted by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection air and marine helicopter that it observed people shining deer and shooting from a vehicle in Marion Township. The incident took place at about 9 p.m. Read more

Poachers, Wildlife

Surplus salmon available to the public again this fall

The public again this year is invited to purchase surplus salmon that has been harvested at Department of Natural Resources weirs around the state.

Seasonal salmon runs include large numbers of fish returning to their native streams to spawn and die. The DNR maintains multiple sites (weirs) where fisheries biologists and technicians collect eggs and milt (sperm) from Chinook and coho salmon for use in state fish hatcheries. Once egg-take needs are met, fish in prime physical condition are made available to the public by American-Canadian Fisheries, a private vendor that assists the DNR with the salmon harvest. Read more

Fishing
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