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North Haven, CT – Mossberg International introduces the Tactical .22–an alternative firearm for those shooters and enthusiasts who want the look and feel of an AR-style .22 rimfire with an affordable price. With the rising costs of centerfire ammunition, the new Tactical .22 rimfires are a great choice for recreational shooters, as well as those searching for a cost-effective training platform.

The lightweight and fast-handling Tactical .22 parallels the look and feel of today’s AR-style rifle while being built around Mossberg International’s reliable .22autoloader. Taking cues from their proven 702 autoloader, the Tactical .22 matches an 18″ barrel to a quad rail forend allowing the operator to fit the rifle with lights, lasers or other tactical accessories. Two stock configurations will be offered in this series: a six-position adjustable and fixed stock. The six-position polymer stock adjusts the length of pull from 10-3/4″ – 14.5″ accommodating youth and smaller framed shooters up to adults. The fixed position stock has a standard 13″ LOP. The Tactical .22 is integrated with an A2-style carry handle and an adjustable rear sight aligned with a front post sight. The Picatinny handle mount is included, allowing versatility in scopes and other optics while providing the clearance necessary to utilize the AR-style sights. Other features included with the Tactical .22 are sling mounts and a ten round magazine.

MSRP: $276

ANOKA, Minnesota – September 20, 2010 – Federal Premium® adds the Swift® A-Frame® to its Vital-Shok™ handgun hunting ammunition line. The proven A-Frame gives hunters another bullet option sure to hold up in a variety of big game hunting situations. New offerings are now available.

Handgun hunters know the Swift A-Frame for its toughness. Its bonding process ensures the jacket and core will hold together to get great penetration and ideal weight retention. This translates to great stopping power on big game.

“The A-Frame is a great addition to our handgun hunting lineup,” said Brand Director Rick Stoeckel. “It has a reputation, and a proven track record, as a first-class bullet. It will give hunters another great option for their favorite handgun.”

The A-Frame gets controlled expansion on impact. And this bonded-lead hollow point will be available in popular handgun hunting calibers from .357 Mag to .500 S&W.

Available Now

Part No. Description

P357SA .357 Magnum 180-grain Swift A-Frame 1130 fps

P41SA .41 Rem. Magnum 210-grain Swift A-Frame 1270 fps

P44SA .44 Rem. Magnum 280-grain Swift A-Frame 1170 fps

P454SA .454 Casull 300-grain Swift A-Frame 1520 fps

P460SA .460 S&W 300-grain Swift A-Frame 1750 fps

P500SA .500 S&W 325-grain Swift A-Frame 1800 fps

For more information on the new Vital-Shok A-Frame offerings, and the entire Federal Premium line, visit www.federalpremium.com.

By Glen Wunderlich
Outdoor Columnist
Member Professional Outdoor Media Association

This weekend is a big one for any Michigan youth deer hunter, because they have their own special season. And, the little town of Perry celebrates the occasion in a big way hosting the 7th annual Perry Youth Hunt Extravaganza. You’ll find all the necessary details below.

While many traditional American values are going the way of the streetcar, not so in this case. In fact, hunting ages have been lowered in recent years, and for the first year, youths as low as 10 years of age can even hunt with crossbows (firearms cannot be used until they reach 12 years of age, and then, only on private land.) Our youth hunters and those across the nation have proved that they are actually safer than the adults, too.

We members of the Perry Sons of Amvets have worked hard since last year’s Youth Hunt saving 10 percent of our dinner and breakfast event proceeds and put them to work for the kids. It’s commitment and dedication to carry on the great Michigan hunting heritage that speaks volumes and it’s unrivaled anywhere else in Michigan. There are no entry fees, no qualifications to bag a deer – only enthusiastic youngsters that want to hunt.

The 7th Annual Perry Youth Hunt Extravaganza is an event whereby young hunters are provided with an opportunity to display deer taken in the two-day Youth Firearm Deer Season, September 25 and 26 and the chance to win valuable prizes. The Youth Firearms Deer Season is open on all lands in Michigan.

A youth 10 to 16 years of age with a firearm or combination license may take an antlered or antlerless deer during this special two-day season. Archery and junior archery licenses are not valid for this hunt. The bag limit for the season is one deer.

Youths 10 and 11 are restricted to archery-only hunting. Youths 12 and 13 can use firearms but are restricted to firearm hunting on private land only. All youth hunters must wear Hunter Orange and must be accompanied by an adult at least 18 years of age or older. An adult accompanying a youth firearm deer hunter cannot possess or carry a firearm or bow and arrow and does not need a deer hunting license. It is unlawful to use bait during this season.

Deer may be brought to the Perry VFW at 601 S. Main St, Perry, MI 48872 beginning at 10 am each day to register for the prize drawing on Sunday. It is not necessary to harvest a deer to be eligible for the prize drawing; only a valid deer hunting license is required to register, but unsuccessful hunters will only be registered between 7 pm and 8 pm Sunday.

Prizes are provided equally to successful and unsuccessful participants on Sunday beginning at approximately 8:30 pm. Local businesses and individuals are encouraged to support this worthwhile event through charitable contributions. The Perry Youth Hunt Extravaganza is a function of the Perry Sons of AMVETS Post 4064 and all gifts and donations are tax deductible. Discounts for goods and/or services being offered by businesses are not considered as prizes.

Donations are to be sent to or dropped off at the Perry VFW c/o Glen Wunderlich. Make sure to mark them Perry Youth Hunt. Checks are to be made payable to Perry Sons of Amvets.

If you have any questions, contact Chairman Glen Wunderlich during daytime hours only at (517) 404-7737 or via email at glenway@acd.net. Come join the fun and excitement and support the future of a great Michigan heritage.

BELLEVUE, WA – The appointment of anti-gun rights former Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels as an alternate representative to the United Nations has removed any doubt about the Obama administration’s intentions regarding global gun control initiatives, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.

Nickels, a founding member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns and the author of Seattle’s failed attempt to override Washington’s state firearms preemption statute, was sworn in Wednesday to “help represent the United States in the UN assembly,” according to the Seattle Times.

“Putting an extremist gun banner in any position to represent this country at the United Nations amounts to renting a billboard for advertising against the Second Amendment,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “While he was Seattle’s mayor, Greg Nickels supported every anti-gun scheme put forth by Washington CeaseFire, the Northwest’s most active gun prohibition lobby.

“Nickels is a gun ban proponent,” he continued, “so his appointment as an alternate to the UN is a clear signal of Barack Obama’s intention to rubber stamp the UN’s global gun ban agenda. We had to sue Nickels while he was still Seattle’s mayor to overturn his illegal city parks gun ban. Now he gets to push his anti-gun philosophy on a world scale. It hardly seems a coincidence that Nickels has been appointed by the Obama administration at a time when the UN is considering treaties and initiatives that pose a serious threat to the Second Amendment.”

Nickels was turned out of office in 2009, which was something of a feat in a liberal enclave like Seattle, Gottlieb recalled. His defeat in the primary demonstrated the degree of alienation voters felt from a politician who once epitomized the Seattle liberal establishment.

“By naming Greg Nickels as an alternate representative at the UN,” Gottlieb stated, “President Obama has essentially told America’s 85 million gun owners that their firearm civil rights are in jeopardy. Nickels cannot be counted on to defend the Second Amendment because he would like to see it erased from the Constitution.”

“Serious Grouse Hunting: Book 1” is about one thing: Improving your ruffed grouse hunting. New tips on finding habitat and parsing the habitat you do find, walking-up grouse (with and without a dog), getting grouse to flush, the best ways to get a shot, gun and shell choices, modern gear pros and cons, and much more. Serious Grouse Hunting takes a 70-year old conversation about grouse hunting and brings it into the 21st Century.

All bird hunters will enjoy this book, and those who aren’t yet Serious about grouse hunting will be after reading it!

Readers will:

* Improve grouse hunting abilities
* Understand countless new hunting strategies and age-old secrets with easy-to-understand illustrations and entertaining, down-to-earth explanations
* Learn how to harness the power of technologies like Google Earth to advance hunting skills
* Discover which time-honored grouse hunting tactics are now debunked

“We wrote this book for several reasons,” explained author Jay Kumar. “One is we love to grouse-hunt. Two is that we wish we’d read a book like this, and since no one had written one, we did. Three, the how-to info in the sport seriously needed updating. And a fourth reason is that we’re eternal students of the sport, and really want this book to start some new conversations about grouse hunting and upland hunting generally. We’ll keep those conversations going at our website, SeriousBirdHunting.com. We just can’t get enough bird hunting info, and we know we’re not alone!”

Co-author Brendan Haines added, “As Serious Bird Hunters, we love hammering ditch chickens just like everyone else. But to us, ruffed grouse hunting is the pinnacle of serious bird hunting. If you hunt grouse, you may not agree with everything in the book but should learn at least one thing that will help you bag more birds. If you haven’t hunted grouse yet, reading this book will make you want to.”

“Serious Grouse Hunting: Book 1″ has 200+ pages with photos and illustrations. Available now for purchase atwww.SeriousBirdHunting.com, the cover price is $29.95 – much cheaper than hiring a guide for the day and hunters will learn much more from the book. In fact, grouse books were selling for more than $20 two decades ago!

PRATT – For those who love butterflies, September is the month to watch for masses of migrating monarchs in Kansas. The weather has cooled, and many people are seeing this regal butterfly in backyards, parks, and in the field. A familiar and popular insect species, monarch migratory behavior is much like that of birds. Navigating on instinct, every monarch east of the Rocky Mountains flies toward a specific area of central Mexico to spend the winter.

Several generations separate the southward-migrating monarchs from those that flew south the previous year, so they do not have elders to guide them on this 1,000- to 3,000-mile journey. The monarchs that live north of Kansas begin moving south in late August. The trigger for their trek south is thought to be the declining angle of the sun as the days get shorter, and this “sun compass” also guides them as they travel.

As the migrating monarchs progress south, local monarchs join them, making the group larger. The observed peak for the Topeka-Kansas City area typically falls about the second or third week in September. The peak for the Wichita area may be a week or so later. On the right day in the right location, careful observers may see hundreds or even thousands of monarchs moving in a south-southwesterly direction on their journey to Mexico. During resting periods, tree branches may be so loaded with monarchs that branches bend and appear almost completely orange. Those lucky enough to have seen this display have witnessed one of nature’s marvels.

However, don’t expect to see such gatherings in the same place every year. Monarch movement is strongly affected by prevailing weather patterns, so their migration routes vary annually. A good way to attract monarchs and help them refuel on their fall migration is to plant September-blooming plants around home. Asters, sunflowers, goldenrod, and sedum provide blossoms with nectar monarchs need.

The right habitat nearby may even attract overnight roosts of monarchs. They cease flying in the evening and look for sheltered sites in trees to cluster together for the night. These sites often have an easterly exposure, so the monarchs can warm up quickly in the morning sun and resume migration. Such overnight roosts are, in miniature, just like what may be seen at their over-wintering site in Mexico, where acres of trees are so blanketed with butterflies that the branches of trees bend low with their weight.

Monarchs head back north again in March, but they are seldom the same ones that went south the previous September. It is the first generation of their descendants, and they begin arriving around the second week of April. Nor are those that begin the migration the same butterflies that complete the spring migration. Spring migrating monarchs may only fly a few hundred miles, then lay eggs and die. These eggs hatch into caterpillars, pupate, complete metamorphosis into butterflies, and continue the migration. Thus, the spring migration is often a leapfrog of generations moving as far north as Canada. Some may end their northward migration in Kansas, as well, laying eggs and producing more monarchs throughout the summer that stay in the Sunflower State.

Because the spring flight north is a dispersal with the purpose of laying eggs on newly emerging milkweed rather than the mass retreat from winter that occurs in the fall, large numbers of monarchs are not seen in spring.

For more information on monarch butterflies, including where to look for monarchs and their amazing migration, contact the Monarch Watch program at the University of Kansas online at www.monarchwatch.org.

BELLEVUE, WA – For the third straight year, violent crime has declined in all categories while gun sales climbed, gun ownership expanded and more citizens are carrying firearms for personal protection; proof positive that gun prohibitionists have been consistently and undeniably wrong, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.

The FBI released its 2009 report on Crime in the United States, showing that murder declined 7.3 percent, robberies fell 8 percent, aggravated assault dropped by 4.2 percent and forcible rape has declined 2.6 percent. Meanwhile, the National Shooting Sports Foundation notes that gun sales in 2009 were up dramatically.

“What the data tells us is exactly the opposite of what the gun ban lobby has predicted for several years,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “Their dire predictions that America’s streets would run red have been shown up as a fraudulent sales pitch for public disarmament.

“No matter how gun prohibitionists try to spin this,” he continued, “the bottom line is that they have been consistently and demonstrably wrong, and they know it. On the other hand, gun rights organizations have been consistently right when we argued that increased gun ownership would not lead to higher crime rates, and might even have a deterrent effect, because even property crimes are down, according to this year’s report.

Gottlieb is co-author of America Fights Back: Armed Self-Defense in a Violent Age and Assault on Weapons: The Campaign to Eliminate Your Guns.

“America has turned a corner on crime,” he observed, “and it is time to turn our backs on the failed liberal gun control agenda. Their gun ban policies were wrong and the courts have said so. Their gun prohibitionist philosophy has clearly proven itself bankrupt, and for the third consecutive year, the FBI data says so.”

With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is one of the nation’s premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States. The Citizens Committee can be reached by phone at (425) 454-4911, on the Internet at www.ccrkba.org or by email to InformationRequest@ccrkba.org.

By Glen Wunderlich
Outdoor Columnist
Member Professional Outdoor Media Association

Small game season opens Wednesday, September 15th and that means it’s time to play hide and seek in the forest again. I’ll don as much camo as the law allows in an effort to discover as much as I can about deer movement, while toting a tack-driving .22 rimfire rifle for bushytails. I realize there’s a segment of outdoors enthusiasts who head north for wingshooting the likes of grouse and woodcock with the utmost of romantic flair. That’s way cool! As for me, I’ll hide and stalk.

One thing I’ve learned: To have squirrel on the Super Bowl menu, squirrels are required. And since I can’t seem to find any at the local markets, I am forced afield for them. And, if it were a matter of whacking and stacking them, I’d opt for a .12 gauge and stout shot. But chomping down on pellets is not unlike picking fish bones from one’s mouth: It’s no fun!

If ever a perfect tool was invented for squirrel hunting, it would have to be the .22 rimfire. It’s plenty potent, yet typically lightweight, has no recoil to speak of, and is relatively quiet – especially when compared to any size shotgun. Beyond that, it’s inexpensive to shoot, it can be highly accurate, and it’s just plain old fun. And instead of the run and gun shotgun style tactics some employ, it’s a sneaky way to plan a whitetail ambush for the coming season only weeks away.

Almost any .22 rimfire rifle will do, as long as it wears acceptable optics. Iron sights aren’t for me any more and at best offer limited opportunities for humane kills for just about anyone. Either a low-power variable or fixed power scope designed specifically for .22s is a must. (I’m not talking about scopes the diameter of a drinking straw, either.) Forget the notion that off-the-shelf ,1-inch tube scopes are the way to go; they’re not! Their parallax setting (focus plane) is adjusted for 100 yards or more and will cause an optical illusion called parallax: The apparent change in the position of an object (target) resulting from the change in the position from which it is viewed.

To demonstrate this phenomenon, take this test. Get your favorite deer gun with mounted scope, or your .22 rifle with deer gun scope and place it on a steady rest that will allow you to look through the scope without touching it. Look at an object at approximately 30 yards or so through the scope. Then, without moving the rifle/scope, move your head from side to side or up and down and watch as the crosshairs appear to have a mind of their own. You’ve now witnessed parallax.

Rimfire scopes, and even airgun scopes, which make fine .22 scopes, have parallax set at 50 to 60 yards – ideal for the range of most small game encounters. Note: A good one for the money is Nikon’s Pro Staff rimfire model. It has great clarity rivaling more costly models at twice the price.

As for ammo, I prefer solid bullets that travel below the speed of sound. These sub-sonic rounds possess some inherent advantages over run-of-the-mill high-velocity stuff that comes in milk cartons. They are quieter and are typically highly accurate and provide enough punch to get the job done without overkill. Even though they exit the muzzle at slower velocities than their high-stepping siblings, they retain velocity downrange far better. When a bullet is traveling at supersonic velocities (breaking the sound barrier), it’s pushing a thick wall of highly compressed air in front of it (drag). When it’s traveling at sub-sonic velocities, it’s not.

My Ruger 10-22 fires a 40-grain, sub-sonic Lapua Master L .22 round from the muzzle at a mere 998 feet-per-second. When sighted in at 50 yards, the small projectile rises only .54 inches above the line of sight at 40 yards and is .86 inches low at 60 yards. Quiet and extremely accurate all the way.

If you have a youngster, there’s no better way to become acquainted better with him or her and Mother Nature herself. In the multi-purpose mode, you might even acquire a better strategy for the coming Youth Deer Hunt, which I will cover next week.

Oral Arguments Heard in Maine Trapping Case Appeal
9/9/10

The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation (USSAF) completed oral arguments during a legal hearing in the U.S. Court of Appeals on behalf of Maine trappers. The long-standing case prompting the hearing will have a far reaching impact by establishing whether anti-hunting groups seeking to manipulate the Endangered Species Act (ESA) will be able to block hunting and trapping seasons across the nation.

“This is the latest in a long line of steps taken by the USSAF and our partners to protect not only trappers in Maine, but sportsmen nationwide,” said Rob Sexton, USSAF vice president for government affairs while referring to the oral arguments made on September 8. “If the anti-hunters win, they will use this example in court room after court room across the nation to deny trapping and hunting everywhere.”

In November of 2009, Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr. of Maine’s Federal District Court denied the injunction sought by Animal Welfare Institute and the Wildlife Alliance of Maine to stop the state’s trapping season. The groups had originally filed suit against the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in 2008, arguing that that Maine’s trapping regulations provided insufficient protection for the Canada lynx, a species listed as threatened under the ESA, and thus required the season to be stopped.

The USSAF, along with the Maine Trappers’ Association, Fur Takers of America, National Trappers’ Association, and several individual sportsmen, argued that the antis must show that Maine’s trapping practices were a threat to the Canada lynx population.

The opinion of Judge Woodcock closely followed the arguments made by the USSAF and others by requiring that plaintiffs looking for an injunction to shut down a trapping (or hunting or fishing) season prove not only the incidental take of ESA-protected species, but also “irreparable harm” to the lynx population. Judge Woodcock concluded that the take of individual members of a reasonably numerous protected species does not necessarily meet the requirement of irreparable harm. He also indicated that the take of lynx occurring in Maine foothold traps, typically catch-and-release incidents, did not constitute irreparable harm in this case. Consequently, Judge Woodcock declined the injunction and the trapping season was able to take place.

This decision would make it difficult for antis to shut down hunting and trapping in other states based upon the incidental take of a single animal that falls under ESA protection. The precedent is so important that the antis filed an appeal in December, 2009 seeking to reverse the decision. This prompted the USSAF and others to file a new set of legal briefs in order to defend the hard fought victory.

According to Sexton, “We continue to feel confident in our case and will keep pressing ahead to be sure the ESA is not hijacked by those that want to shut down practically all sportsmen activities.”

GW: Good advice for anyone storing anything with today’s gasoline.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.- Boaters and anglers will soon be putting away their boats for the season. But before they do, Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) has some tips learned from fuel industry insiders on how to store a boat with E-10 gasoline (containing 10% ethanol) over the winter.

The Octane issue:

Over long winter storage periods, E-10 gasoline loses octane at about the same rate as non-ethanol gasoline. So leaving the gas tank mostly empty – and then refilling in the spring in the hopes of “refreshing” the fuel to regain any octane loss – is not necessary. However, a nearly empty gas tank introduces another problem: the strong possibility of phase separation.

Ethanol (an alcohol) attracts water. It also absorbs water – about 10 times more than regular gasoline. When ethanol can no longer absorb the water, it will “phase separate” from the gasoline. Should phase separation occur, the (water soaked) ethanol will settle to the bottom of the tank, which is where the engine’s fuel system pick-up is located.

The problem with leaving a tank mostly empty is that it increases the tank’s “lung capacity” to breath in moist air (water) through the vent. If the tank is mostly empty over the winter, there will also be less E-10 gas in the tank to absorb the moisture. This combination of more water and less absorption greatly increases the chances of phase separation. Adding fresh gasoline in the spring would not remedy the problem – the phase-separated ethanol would remain separated at the bottom of the tank.

The Water Separator issue:

Any moisture in a tank will be readily absorbed by the ethanol. E-10 can hold up to 1/2 percent of water by volume and up to that concentration the water molecules will dissolve in the gasoline forming a soluble mixture that will pass through a water separator and burn harmlessly in your engine.

The only time water will collect in a tank and not be absorbed is if phase separation has occurred, and by then it will be too late. A water separator is not a solution to the phase separation problem.

The Fuel Additive issue:

Fuel additives are good for many reasons and should be used when laying up a boat for winter, but no additive will stand up to a good-sized slug of water. And once too much water has entered the tank and the gas has begun to phase separate, no additive will return the fuel to its original state. The only solution to phase-separated gas is to have a professional drain the tank and start anew.

The best advice for storing E-10 in your boat’s gas tank over winter:

Keep the tank nearly full. This greatly reduces the volume of moist air that can enter the tank via the fuel tank vent when temperatures fluctuate in the fall and spring. With any fuel, an antioxidant will help keep it fresh during lay-up. Finally, never plug up a fuel tank vent – it creates pressure that could cause dangerous leaks in the fuel system.

For more information including free downloadable winterizing checklists, go towww.BoatUS.com/winter. To watch a short video on ethanol and winterization, go to: http://www.youtube.com/user/BoatUSvideos#p/u/44/QWgLHTkDhYU.

About BoatUS:

BoatUS – Boat Owners Association of The United States – is the nation’s leading advocate for recreational boaters providing over half a million members with government representation, programs and money saving services. For membership information visit www.BoatUS.com or call 800-395-2628.
Contact:
D. Scott Croft, 703-461-2864, SCroft@BoatUS.com