ThinkingAfield.org

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources will take a lead role in implementing a short-term step to address the advance of Asian carp up the Wabash River system and their potential movement into the Maumee River, a tributary to Lake Erie.

The focal point is Eagle Marsh, a 705-acre restored wetland near Fort Wayne that DNR staff identified as a possible pathway for Asian carp passage under certain flood conditions. The marsh is just north of Fox Island County Park near the intersection of Interstate 69 and U.S. 24.

A permanent solution to prevent Asian carp from being able to pass through this area during flooding conditions will take more time to develop, design and construct.

Therefore, as an immediate preventive measure, the DNR will install mesh fencing across a section of the marsh, creating a barrier against passage of Asian carp between the Wabash and Maumee drainage basins.

The DNR convened a recent meeting in Fort Wayne to address the potential carp movement and explore solutions, and the consensus was the mesh barrier is the best short-term option to pursue. The Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Allen County Soil and Water Conservation District, and the Little River Wetlands Project that manages Eagle Marsh, were represented at the meeting.

The fencing will be substantial enough to withstand floodwaters but will be designed so it does not increase flood elevations and cause property damage. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will provide design guidance on the fencing. The goal is to have the fencing installed this summer. Additional monitoring will be conducted and more aggressive action taken if the threat warrants.

Although Chicago waterways remain the likeliest entry point for Asian carp into the Great Lakes, the Corps of Engineers is tasked with finding other potential pathways throughout the Great Lakes basin. Corps officials have identified several sites they are investigating to determine the risk of Asian carp advancement, including the Eagle Marsh area.

Although the Wabash and Maumee basins drain in opposite directions and have no direct connection under normal conditions, their waters do comingle under certain flood conditions.

Eagle Marsh straddles a natural geographic divide created by glacial movement during the ice age. The broad wetland marsh extends across the divide into two key drainage ditches – McCulloch Ditch and Junk Ditch. McCulloch drains west into the Little River and eventually the Wabash River near Huntington, while Junk Ditch drains northeast into the St. Marys River and then the Maumee River.

If Asian carp cross the divide at Eagle Marsh and reach the Maumee, they would be in the Lake Erie drainage basin and additional more costly and invasive steps would be required to protect the Great Lakes from the threat.

The DNR and the Corps of Engineers are working with U.S. Geological Survey to analyze historic flood data and determine the depth and duration of flooding in the Eagle Marsh area.

Asian carp, a generic term for four species of non-native carp, were first detected in Indiana in 1996 at Hovey Lake Fish & Wildlife Area in the southwest corner of the state. Subsequent DNR surveys located bighead carp and silver carp in low abundance in the Wabash River or its tributaries, but the location of those findings show the fish moving upstream. A 2008 survey collected a total of 25 silver carp and two bighead carp over a 105-mile stretch of the Wabash River.

Adult bighead carp have been found below the dam at Roush Lake near Huntington, and silver carp have advanced to the Mississinewa River near Peru. In late May, a DNR biologist found evidence of silver carp spawning near Lafayette, 105 river miles downstream from the mouth of the Little River.

NOTE: For a map of the Eagle Marsh area, go to www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/files/fw-AsianCarpMap.pdf
For facts about Asian carp in Indiana, go to www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/files/fw-AsianCarpAdvisory.pdf
Contact:
Phil Bloom, DNR Communications, 317/232-4003, or pbloom@dnr.in.gov

(Grand Island, Neb.) – Team Hornady members, Joe Thielen and Randy Stephens took top honors at the 2010 Missouri State 1000 yard bench rest championships in Yukon, MO on June 26, 2010. Competing in a field of over 30 competitors, Joe, also an Engineer at Hornady Manufacturing, took 1st place in Light Gun group and another 1st in Light Gun overall. Randy took 1st place in the Heavy Gun score category as well as Heavy Gun overall.

The course of fire that entailed two, five shot targets with the light guns (17 lbs or less) and two, ten shot groups with the heavy guns (unlimited class). Each target was measured for group size and counted for score. Weather conditions were less than ideal, with 90-95 degree temperatures, high humidity, and an unpredictable fishtailing wind that made shooting very difficult.

Randy Stephens

Randy was shooting Hornady® 30 caliber 208 gr A-MAX® bullets in his heavy gun, which is chambered in 300 WSM. Both of his Heavy Gun targets were impressive with regard to both group and score. His first target was a 5.050″ / 99-4X and he followed that up with a 7.382″ / 95-3X, giving him a group average of 6.216 inches. Considering the 10 ring is only 7″ in diameter, dropping only 6 points is very impressive.

Joe Thielen

Joe was shooting Hornady® 7mm 162 gr. A-MAX® bullets in a 280 Remington Improved cartridge. The Light Gun targets measured an impressive 4.005″ / 47 followed by a 3.779″ / 45. The group average was an amazing 3.892″. The fact that these groups are shot at well over half of a mile makes it almost unbelievable.

Joe had this to say after the match, “Shooting 1000 yard bench rest is my passion. Being able to use the bullets that I help design and build to shoot groups like these at 1000 yards leaves no doubt in my mind that we are on the cutting edge of match bullet technology, and we’re not done yet.”

Founded in 1949, Hornady Manufacturing Company is a family owned business headquartered in Grand Island, Nebraska. Proudly manufacturing products that are “Made in the USA” by over 300 employees, Hornady Manufacturing is a world leader in bullet, ammunition, reloading tool and accessory design and manufacture.

For further information regarding Hornady products visit our web site at www.hornady.com. Media members interested in Hornady products for editorial review should contact Steve Johnson at sjohnson@hornady.com.
Contact:
Steve Johnson, Marketing Communications Manager, Hornady Manufacturing sjohnson@hornady.com

Applications for antlerless deer licenses in areas with restricted quotas go on sale Thursday, July 15, at all license vendors or online,but the accompanying digest will not be available at license vendors the Department of Natural Resources and environment announced.

“Due to some late changes in license quotas, we were unable to have the digest printed and shipped to license vendors by July 15,” explained DNRE Deer and Elk Program Leader Brent Rudolph. “But hunters can find the quotas and all other information about antlerless licenses on our website at www.michigan.gov/dnrhunting.”

In all, 776,500 antlerless deer licenses will be available in 2010, an increase from 728,100 last year. The number of both public- land and private-land licenses has been increased.

Hunters will find fewer antlerless licenses available in the Upper Peninsula. In 2009, 12 U.P. Deer Management Units (DMU) did not have antlerless deer licenses. This year 17 DMUs will not offer them.

In the northern Lower Peninsula, antlerless permits have increased somewhat, largely due to more licenses available on private land on the east side of the region. Five DMUs will not offer antlerless licenses, compared to four in 2009. All private-land licenses for DMU 487 – which includes Alpena, Alcona, Iosco, Montmorency, Oscoda, and Presque Isle counties – may be used throughout the DMU. There will not be any
private-land licenses for the sub-unit DMUs within DMU 487. As another option for taking antlerless deer only within DMU 487, hunters in the unit may use an antlerless or combination license for antlerless deer within the Nov. 15-30 firearm season or the Dec. 10-19 muzzleloader season.

In southern Michigan, where deer populations remain significantly above goal, the number of available antlerless licenses has been increased. As with the change made for DMU 487, all private-land licenses for DMU 486 – the multi-county unit which includes all but six DMUs in southern Michigan – will be good throughout the DMU. There will not be any private-land licenses for the sub-unit DMUs within DMU 486.

Applications, which remain on sale through Aug. 15, are $4. Hunters may apply for just one antlerless license.

North Haven, CT – O.F. Mossberg & Sons earns Outdoor Life’s 2010 Great Buy Award for their 500 Turkey/Deer Combo shotgun in the 2010 Gun Test. Mossberg’s Lightning Pump Action (LPA) adjustable trigger was honored in the Outdoor Life Innovations category as well. Mossberg’s LPA trigger is the first adjustable trigger of its kind for a pump-action shotgun.

The Outdoor Life 2010 Gun Test is an annual hands-on test of new sporting firearms. The testing of each gun includes shooting multiple factory loads using a variety of ammunition styles and weights. The theory is that if a gun can shoot a variety of ammo, that versatility wins extra points. The testers then check to see how the gun will perform in the field at the tasks for which it was designed.

During the testing of firearms, the evaluators take detailed notes on each gun’s balance and handling. They go over the geometry of the stock and the ergonomics of the trigger, safety, and any other mechanical features with a critical eye. After getting a good feel for the quality of the gun, it is then graded for price/value.

The Mossberg 500 Pump-Action Turkey/Deer Combo with LPA Adjustable Trigger received the “2010 Great Buy” award from Outdoor Life testers. The testers felt that the Mossberg 500 is a “Monster value in a hard-working utilitarian package”, a “Strong two-season gun” and “Loved seeing the blade-style trigger make its way onto a shotgun”, according to the comments by testers on outdoorlife.com. The 500 Turkey/Deer Combo features the LPA Adjustable trigger, Realtree® Hardwoods HD Green® finish, and a 24″ ported turkey and 24″ fluted/fully-rifled slugster barrels. The overall rating of the Mossberg 500 was three and a half stars out of four with an A in performance and an A+ in price/value.

The Outdoor Life Innovations honors are given for smart design elements on the year’s new rifles and shotguns. The innovations for 2010 are all worthy elements that enhance the firearms and offer clear benefits to the shooter. The Mossberg LPA trigger was honored this year in the Outdoor Life Innovations category. The LPA is a user-adjustable trigger that pulls from less than three pounds to seven pounds. This trigger has a creep-free trigger pull; the skeletonized lightning bolt trigger blade prevents the hammer from rotating and hitting the firing pin unless the blade is completely depressed. The testers at Outdoor Life state “The triggers on most shotguns are bad enough to make you weep. Mossberg’s user-adjustable LPA trigger, which broke at three pounds on our model, elevates mass production shotgun triggers from the Dark Ages.”

Tom Taylor, Vice President of Marketing and Sales comments, “We are honored to have the 500 Turkey/Deer Combo and LPA trigger systems selected by Outdoor Life’s gun testers. Outdoor Life is a well-known and highly respected publication that delivers only the best products on the market today and we value the opinions of their writers.”

Founded in 1919, O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc. is the oldest family-owned firearms manufacturer in America, and is the largest pump-action shotgun manufacturer in the world. Leading the way with over 100 design and utility patents to its credit, and standing as the first ISO 9001 Certified long-gun manufacturer, Mossberg is considered to be one of the most innovative firearms manufacturers in U.S. History.

For more information on commercial, special purpose, law enforcement and military shotguns, rifles and accessories, please visit their website at www.mossberg.com.

Contact: Kim Cahalan 309.944.5341 or kim@mediadirectcreative.com

WATERBURY, VT – On June 17, 2010, Jeffrey Vinton, 53, of Braintree, Vermont was charged with shooting eight songbirds that he claimed were raiding his strawberry patch.

Game wardens received a complaint that gun shots had been fired on several occasions from Mr. Vinton’s residence in Braintree. The complaints indicated the shots were occurring sporadically during daylight hours.

State Game Warden Keith Gallant responded to the residence after the next occurrence. There was no answer at the door, but spent shotgun shells were observed outside the residence. Five dead cedar waxwings were observed in the garden as well as one dead chipping sparrow. Two more cedar waxwings were located under a tree in front of the residence. These songbirds are protected by both state and federal law.

Special Agent Pat Bosco of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service assisted Warden Gallant with interviewing Mr. Vinton. Mr. Vinton said he had shot the birds because they were eating the strawberries he had planted in his garden.

Killing a federally protected songbird is illegal, and each violation carries a fine of $256.00 and restitution of $50.00 for each bird killed. Mr. Vinton has until August 11, 2010 to answer the charge of Taking Songbirds in Violation of Regulation in Orange District Court.

July 13, 2010

Michigan Deer Harvest Decreases Nine Percent in 2009

Michigan hunters harvested about 9 percent fewer deer in 2009 than
they did in the previous season, according to Department of Natural
Resources and Environment wildlife biologists.

Hunters killed an estimated 444,047 deer last year, down from 489,922
in 2008, according to the DNRE’s annual mail survey.

Hunters killed 5 percent fewer antlerless deer and 14 percent fewer
antlered bucks in 2009 than in the previous season.

Overall, hunters purchased about the same number of deer hunting
licenses last year as they did in 2008. An estimated 686,392 hunters
went afield in 2009, a one percent decrease from the previous season.

Forty-three percent of hunters reported killing at least one deer last
year, a 4 percent decline from 2008.

Hunter success was down most significantly, about six percent, during
the traditional Nov. 15-30 firearms season. Success was about one
percent higher during the state’s archery seasons, something wildlife
officials think might be attributed to liberalized rules for using
crossbows.

The complete harvest survey is posted online at
www.michigan.gov/dnrhunting.

By Glen Wunderlich
Outdoor Columnist
Member Professional Outdoor Media Association

Wildlife food plots are a great way to provide essential nutrients to deer and other animals throughout the year. The concept is a simple one: we feed the animals and they feed us. Our sites have a mix of perennial legume plants (clover and alfalfa) and annual plants, for which we are now preparing.

Already, the clover plots have been fertilized in the spring and have been mowed several times. It’s a beautiful, springtime sight to find the green plants emerging after a long and snowy winter. Deer no longer have the brassica roots to feed on, as they did all winter. Those that remain have rotted, and although their remnants will provide essential elements to the next season’s plants, they no longer have value as a food source. Ah, but the legumes are there for the taking.

However, since deer are browsers and not grazers, varied plant species are the best way to hold them on your site, while giving them a balanced diet. That’s why we have planted brassica mixes over the years alongside the perennial plots. Brassicas include members of the mustard family: radish, turnips, canola, kale, rape, rutabaga, etc. and when planted the first of August, can carry the deer through a harsh winter. The brassica plot also affords a hunter some hot late-season action, when cash crops have been harvested.

This season, I thought it would be worthwhile to mix in some soybeans into the brassica planting in a few weeks, so I picked up a 50-pound bag of RoundUp ready soybeans. Soybeans contain about 45 percent protein and can be broadcast with a hand spreader and pushed into the ground with a cultipacker, which is all the equipment we have. The idea is to have green, young, succulent forage leaves for browse instead of actual beans – all this, when spring-planted beans are turning brown.

When I began reading the label on the soybean bag, the precautions jumped out like utility pole to a drunk driver: this seed has been treated with seed protectants…Treated seeds exposed on soil surface may be hazardous to birds, fish, and other wildlife. Cover or collect spilled seeds. Forage may not be grazed for 30 days.

I don’t season my food with poison and I’m sure the wildlife wouldn’t eat it, if they knew better. I really didn’t want or require RoundUp ready beans, because I had no intention of spraying for weeds after germination. But, since the local elevator didn’t have any untreated soybean seed, I settled for the chemically altered variety – that is, until I became aware of the precautions. I returned the bag of soybeans and exchanged them for buckwheat.

Buckwheat is a good choice for weak soils; it will grow just about anywhere. It germinates fast and is a natural herbicide, which suppresses other plant growth and builds up poor soil by bringing up minerals from deep below the surface. And, deer love the stuff. One note of caution, however: it disappears when the first frost hits it. Therefore, it is only good for a very short period of time, if used as an attractant at a bow site. Typically, it is disked under and then replanted with other desirable food plot mixes which take advantage of the minerals brought up by the buckwheat plants. But, it sure is fun while it lasts.

We should be ready to plant the first of August, as long as neighbor, Bucky, is able to fashion some new maple wood bearings for the antique cultipacker we picked up last fall.

Food plots may require some cash and plenty of labor. But, they’re a labor of love that reaps their own rewards.

Department of Natural Resources and Environment wildlife biologist John
Niewoonder has been named Wildlife Biologist of the Year by the Midwest
Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

A habitat biologist who works out of the Flat River State Game Area in
Ionia, Niewoonder recently spent 18 months leading a work group and
conducting public meetings that lead to Michigan’s first comprehensive
statewide deer management plan, which he wrote. Niewoonder accomplished
the task while performing his daily duties as a habitat biologist in
three counties.

“John is well deserving of this award as he has clearly gone above
and beyond the call of duty to complete this assignment,” said DNRE
Wildlife Division Chief Russ Mason. “To create a new management plan
for our premier game species while fulfilling the responsibilities of a
full-time position illustrates his outstanding work ethic.”

“John is the kind of biologist that everyone in our profession
aspires to be,” Mason added.

Niewoonder, who joined the DNRE as a habitat biologist at Pte. Mouillee
in 1998, said he was “very surprised” by the award. “It’s nice
to be recognized,” he said.

Niewoonder lives in Greenville with his wife and three children.

After reviewing the record of Elena Kagan, including public statements, written documents and her testimony this week before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) – the trade association for the firearms industry – is opposing her confirmation to the United States Supreme Court.

Though Ms. Kagan’s record on Second Amendment-related issues is sparse, what’s available is troubling. While serving in the Clinton Administration, Ms. Kagan played a key role in developing anti-gun policies and strategies. Specifically, we know Ms. Kagan helped draft a presidential directive that suspended imports of semiautomatic firearms. Records also indicate that during this period Ms. Kagan met with plaintiffs’ attorneys involved in municipal lawsuits against members of the firearms industry.

As a clerk for Justice Thurgood Marshall, Ms. Kagan made clear that she did not support a challenge to the D.C. gun ban. Demonstrating that this belief had not changed, Ms. Kagan, as solicitor general of the United States, refused to file an amicus brief in the landmark McDonald v. Chicago case – a case that reaffirmed that our Second Amendment rights do not stop at state and city borders.

In her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, then Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor said that she considered the Second Amendment to be “settled law.” It wasn’t until after she was confirmed that Justice Sotomayor let her true views be known as she ruled against the Supreme Court’s earlier decision (Heller) by supporting Chicago’s unconstitutional handgun ban (McDonald), thereby disregarding “settled law.” Similarly, Ms. Kagan, during her testimony this week, parroted Justice Sotomayor’s response, skirting the issue, when she said that the Second Amendment was “settled law.”

Earlier this week NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane, commenting on the McDonald decision, noted, “Today’s decision marks the beginning of a new era of civil rights litigation as laws and regulations that infringe upon and violate the individual right of law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms, protected by the Second Amendment, are challenged.”

Understanding this, it is clear that the Heller and McDonald Supreme Court decisions were not the finish line, but the starting point of America’s fight to preserve and protect the Second Amendment. With a 5-4 ruling in both cases and a litany of challenges to restrictive firearms laws and regulations sure to be seen over the next few years, it is imperative that a Supreme Court justice not merely recognize the Second Amendment as “settled law,” but actually rule accordingly. Based upon Ms. Kagan’s record, we have no reason to believe she will.

For these reasons, NSSF is encouraging senators not to confirm Elena Kagan to the United States Supreme Court.
Contact:
Bill Brassard, Jr (203) 426-1320 or bbrassard@nssf.org

Bismarck, N.D.–The 56th edition of the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey, released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Canadian Wildlife Service, revealed wetland conditions and duck populations well above their long-term averages.

The headline numbers: The total-duck population across the traditional survey dropped slightly to 40.9 million from last year’s 42 million, mallard numbers were steady at 8.4 million, scaup numbers rose slightly to 4.2 million and the northern pintail population bumped up 9 percent to 3.5 million.

More good news: Most of the breeding grounds are today even wetter–in some cases much wetter–than when the surveys were flown in May, which will promote re-nesting and increase brood survival.

As was the case in 2009, the real news is buried in the fine print, which showed a continuing shift in breeding-duck numbers from Canada to the U.S.

Part of the reason was an all-time record 2.9 million wetlands on the U.S. side of the region, with 2.3 million of those in the eastern Dakotas. Wetlands are what attract nesting ducks. and the U.S. has never been wetter.

Prairie Canada was wetter than normal, led by a 21 percent year-over-year increase in the pond count in southern Saskatchewan. Yet despite being 34 percent wetter than its long-term average, 72 percent fewer pintails and 18 percent fewer mallards settled in Saskatchewan than its historical average.

Once again, the U.S. picked up the slack. More total ducks settled on the U.S. side of the breeding grounds–13.9 million in the Dakotas and eastern Montana as compared to 10.6 million in the prairie portions of Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba. “That’s pretty remarkable when you consider that two-thirds of the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) exists on the Canadian side of the border,” says Delta Scientific Director Dr. Frank Rohwer of Louisiana State University. “Delta has been saying for years that Canada is broken, and the latest survey numbers once again bear that out.”

The U.S. side of the region attracted 1.4 million pintails compared to just 592,000 in prairie Canada. Last year was the first time ever that more pintails settled in the U.S. than in prairie Canada.

Other stunners included 4.2 million blue-winged teal in the U.S. to 1.9 million in prairie Canada and 3 million mallards in the U.S. to 2.6 million in the prairie provinces.

Under normal conditions, those results would be cause for celebration, but the good news from the U.S. was offset by concerns about ongoing losses of the habitat that attracted those ducks in the first place.

“We heard from a lot of duck hunters who told us the recent season didn’t live up to their expectations after the great wetland conditions last spring,” says Delta Senior Vice President John Devney. “The best explanation is the ducks that settled in the Dakotas and Montana a year ago weren’t as productive as they were in the 1990s because there was a lot less nesting cover than there was in the ’90s.

“The Dakotas have lost close to 2 million acres of grass since 1999–that’s more than 3,100 square miles–and another 2 million acres of CRP are scheduled to expire by 2012.

“Research conducted by the Service showed that upland-nesting ducks need large blocks of grass to produce at population-expanding levels, but we’re losing Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and native prairie acres at an alarming rate. Not only are we losing grass, but also the high-quality wetlands embedded in those acres.

“The take-home message is that the U.S. side of the region carried Canada during the wet cycle of the 1990s, but if the U.S. keeps losing habitat, who’s going to pick up the slack?”

Rohwer, who is currently involved in research projects in northeastern North Dakota, says nest success in low-grass areas this spring has been extremely poor–less than 5 percent, which is well below what’s necessary for the population to expand. “If we keep losing grass, that doesn’t bode well for duck numbers,” he says.

Waterfowl hunters across the continent have expressed concern about what impact the BP oil spill will have on the estimated 5 million ducks that will begin arriving in the Gulf of Mexico less than two months from now.

“The oil spill is an environmental disaster that could affect ducks and duck hunters for years to come,” says Rohwer. “We have no experience with this kind of disaster, so it’s impossible to predict what will happen.

“It would appear that diving ducks like scaup, canvasbacks and redheads will be most at risk because they sit in the coastal bays where there has been a lot of oil in recent weeks.”

Rohwer says it’s possible large numbers of dabblers could also be affected by oil, but calls that a worst-case scenario and only should occur if a tropical storm pushes oil into the freshwater portions of the marsh where dabbling ducks are typically found. “There’s no way to know if ducks will move around to avoid the oil,” Rohwer says. “Ducks have no experience with oil, so they may have little predisposition to avoid it.

“The bottom line is while we need to find ways to mitigate the damage caused by the Deepwater spill and ensure the long-term viability of coastal wetlands, we can’t ignore the challenges ducks face on the breeding grounds.

“Loss of CRP and native grass in the Dakotas, and the loss of wetlands and low productivity in Canada, are suppressing our fall flights. We need to keep the focus on the breeding grounds.”

Contact:
Delta Waterfowl Senior Vice President John Devney at 888-987-3695