1.7 Million Acres Accepted for CRP, Acre Totals Now at 26-Year Low

Pheasants Forever has grave concerns regarding continued massive habitat losses through weakening CRP

Washington, D.C. – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will accept 1.7 million acres offered under the 45th Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general sign-up, lowering Conservation Reserve Program total acreage to 26.9 million acres. Now at a 26-year program low, Pheasants Forever calls this depletion a modern low point for conservation, one which will have serious ramifications not only for wildlife, but for the nation’s soil and water quality as well. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

By Glen Wunderlich

Once again, it’s time to establish wildlife food plots.  According to experts, the first week in August is the best time to plant and if the soil has not been prepared, it’s now or never.

Success is never guaranteed, because Mother Nature holds the trump cards which can spoil the most valiant efforts.  If seeding can be timed with rainfall – either before or after – the plot has a chance.  But, it takes more than one soaking to establish plants, so watch the weather to minimize failure risk.

A few years ago, I became concerned that seed had actually been killed from lack of rain, so I replanted.  When the rain finally arrived, the double dose of seed was too much and excessive plants meant under-developed plants and a waste of expensive seed.  Sometimes there is no winning in this guessing game. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Now That’s a Woodpecker!

by Doug Reeves, assistant chief, DNR Wildlife Division

A crow-sized bird lit on the specially made suet feeder, a flash of white on its otherwise dark wings. A good look revealed a long beak, bright red crest on the head and mostly white neck and throat. A pileated woodpecker! That would be a good sighting any day. At this location though, it is a regular occurrence because the suet bags are attached to a rough-sawn board that makes a great place for the big woodpeckers to grip so they can feed. They come every day to this spot.

 

pileated woodpeckerWhen you see your first pileated woodpecker, your thought might well be, “Now that is a serious woodpecker!” Michigan’s other woodpeckers are substantially smaller, starting with the downy and working up through the hairy, red-headed, black-backed and red-bellied woodpeckers and also including the migratory yellow-bellied sapsucker and northern flicker for good measure. Over the years several people have insisted to me that they have seen ivory-billed woodpeckers in Michigan. Ivory-billed woodpeckers never did nest in Michigan, and if they still exist at all, anywhere, they are extremely rare. There is no doubt that our birds are pileateds. Read more

Wildlife

Officials Caution on Balloon Releases, Wildlife Dangers

These discarded balloons show what DNR marine wardens typically retrieve in one day from Lake Michigan. Wardens also are finding them daily in Lake Superior.

DNR Marine Warden Amie Egstad of Bayfield County gets how balloons add fun to parties or ignite silent heart-felt reflection when set free to dance in the sky at a friend’s memorial.
She gets it — she really does.
The other thing she really gets — on a daily basis — is the balloon in another form. And that form is litter, posing problems for marine wildlife and boats in Lake Superior when these party favors and memorials plummet to the waves and shoreline. Read more

General

Champion Pivot Traverse Bipod Wins Best of the Best Award

ANOKA, Minn. – July 19, 2013 – Champion® Shooting Gear is proud to announce its innovative Pivot Traverse Bipod has won a coveted Field & Stream 2013 Best of the Best Award. The Pivot Traverse Bipod enables shooters to pivot back and forth on a horizontal plane to hold steady on moving game and quickly switch targets. It also offers a rapid-adjust lever lock to quickly cement the rifle into a rock-solid position. Read more

Hunting

After DOJ Puts “Hold” on Zimmerman Evidence Buckeye Firearms Association Takes Action

Buckeye Firearms Foundation will raise funds to buy Zimmerman a new firearm, holster, flashlight, and anything else he needs…

DELAWARE, OH – According the Daily Mail, “The U.S. Department of Justice, overseen by Attorney General Eric Holder, has ordered the Sanford, Florida police department to keep possession of all the evidence from George Zimmerman’s second-degree murder trial – including the exonerated neighborhood watch volunteer’s gun.”
“We find this action outrageous,” said Jim Irvine, President of Buckeye Firearms Foundation. “Whatever you think about the case, Mr. Zimmerman was tried in a court of law and found not guilty. And now all evidence should be returned to the rightful owners, including Mr. Zimmerman’s firearm. Read more

Ammunition, Firearms, Gun Control, Self Defense

NRA Responds to Attacks on “Stand Your Ground” Laws

GW:  We hear the rumblings from the uninformed and leaders like Eric Holder and Al Sharpton about the “stand-your-ground laws” and how dangerous they are.  But, in Michigan, for example, we had a “duty-to-retreat” law in place before stand your ground was enacted.  This meant that in your own home, if confronted by a bad guy, a homeowner was legally responsible to run and hide, rather than defend himself.  If you want to talk about “senseless” and “dangerous conflict”, we should have started the conversation about this concept.  And, we, and other states, did so already.

A few days after a jury acquitted George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was busy exploiting the trial outcome by attacking “stand?your?ground” self-defense laws.  As reported by Fox News, during a speech at the NAACP’s annual convention, Holder said, “Separate and apart from the case that has drawn the nation’s attention, it’s time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self-defense and sow dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods.”

In response to Holder’s remarks, NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox had this to say:  “The attorney general fails to understand that self-defense is not a concept, it’s a fundamental human right.  To send a message that legitimate self-defense is to blame is unconscionable, and demonstrates once again that this administration will exploit tragedies to push their political agenda.” Read more

Firearms, Gun Control, Self Defense

Safari Club International Encourages Senate Action on the Sportsmen’s Act of 2013

Washington, DC – Safari Club International (SCI) today commended Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) for introducing the Sportsmen’s Act of 2013, the first comprehensive bill to benefit America’s sportsmen and women in the 113th Congress.

SCI encourages Members of the Senate to sign on as co-sponsors of the bill, and urges support of its important provisions.  The package combines several individual bills protecting the interests of sportsmen and women nationwide. Read more

Ammunition, Animal Rights, Firearms, Hunting, Wildlife
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