Sportsmen’s Alliance Sues CDC on Dog-Import Rule

New CDC Rule Will Dismantle Sporting Dog Breeders Throughout Canada and Europe

The Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to rescind a new rule restricting the importation of dogs into the United States. Although the agency’s stated reason for the action is to prevent the spread of rabies, the new rule applies to dogs coming from any country – including Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and many others which the CDC itself classifies as “low risk” or “free” of dog rabies.

“We aren’t going to stand by while CDC cancels sporting dog breeders and hunting or trialing across the border without a fight,” said Dr. Todd Adkins, Vice President of Government Affairs at the Sportsmen’s Alliance. “CDC has one speed, and that’s to over-regulate to the point of ruin, so let’s see what a federal judge has to say about this agency running roughshod over the American people once again.”

The CDC rule includes new paperwork requirements and microchips for those who want to enter the United States with a dog and goes on to prohibit any dog under the age of six months from entering the U.S. at all. Health certificates or vaccination records for puppies are irrelevant – puppies are totally banned under the rule.

The new requirements and puppy ban include U.S. citizens who are attempting to re-enter the country after visiting Canada with their dog for hunting, trialing or for any other purpose. There are no exceptions for personally owned dogs. The puppy prohibition also has no exceptions, and this ban will completely crater a thriving community of long-established Canadian sporting dog breeders who send puppies to customers throughout the United States. Similar breeding programs for sporting breeds like Drahthaar (Germany) and Bracco Italiano (Italy) also stand to be decimated.

“CDC either doesn’t know or doesn’t care how destructive this rule is for our members who hunt or trial across the border or get puppies from Canadian or European breeders,” said Michael Jean, Litigation Counsel at the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation. “Regardless of whether this was done out of ignorance or maliciousness, we are going to protect our community.” Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Hunting License Sales Remain Steady in 2022-2023

The Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports (Council) in collaboration with Southwick Associates, has released its annual report on hunting license sales, revealing a relatively steady trend for the 2022-2023 license year. According to the report, over 80% of participating states experienced a change of 5% or less in hunting license sales from the previous year.

In early 2021, the Council conducted a comprehensive survey of state wildlife agencies, which showed an overall increase in hunting license sales by 4.9% from 2019 to 2020. This rise was attributed to the surge in outdoor recreation during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as the pandemic extended into its second year, 2021 saw a dip of 1.9% in overall sales, despite the continued high demand for outdoor activities, particularly among nonresident hunters.

The Council revisited the study in early 2023 to track trends in hunting license sales for the 2022-2023 license year. The findings indicated a 3.1% decline in sales compared to 2020-2021 license year. However, the latest report for 2022-2023 showed a much smaller decrease of just 0.3% across the 47 states that participated in the Council’s study, suggesting a stabilization in participation rates.

“The 2022-2023 hunting license sales indicate that participation is likely relatively stable at the national level,” said Swanny Evans, Director of Research and Partnerships for the Council. “This is a positive sign for the hunting and conservation community.”

Key findings from the 2022-2023 report include: Read more

Hunting

Tour Black River Sturgeon Hatchery for Free Aug. 17

Anyone wanting a close-up look at lake sturgeon or to learn more about what goes into rearing this unique fish species is encouraged to take advantage of free hatchery tours at the Black River facility Saturday, Aug. 17. Tours will run from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the facility, located northwest of Onaway.

“Visitors will see 3-month-old lake sturgeon currently in the hatchery and learn about early life history, as well as how we can all play a role to keep this species healthy in our waters,” said Tim Cwalinski, Northern Lake Huron Unit supervisor with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Researchers from the DNR and Michigan State University will be on hand to talk about lake sturgeon biology, development and current research. Sturgeon for Tomorrow representatives will discuss restoration work to improve sturgeon spawning habitat, sturgeon conservation and outreach programming.

The hatchery is located in Cheboygan County on the Upper Black River adjacent to the Kleber Dam. From M-68 2 miles west of Onaway, take Black River Road (F-05) north to Twin School Road, then west a little over 3 miles to the hatchery, which is on the north side of the road just before the dam. Read more

Fishing

Arizona Man Finds Two-Carat Diamond at Arkansas’ Crater of Diamonds State Park

‘Minor Find’ second-largest at park in 2024

There is nothing better than memories made while spending quality time with family. For Will and Marshall Barnett, of Buckeye, AZ, a recent father-and-son trip to Arkansas’ famous Crater of Diamonds State Park resulted in the story of a lifetime and the second-largest diamond registered so far this year.

The Barnetts set out on a “boys’ week” road trip from their home in late July, their main goal to visit family and have fun along the way. After learning about the Crater of Diamonds State Park from his uncle, who worked as a park interpreter at another Arkansas State Park, Will decided to stop by Arkansas’ diamond site to try their luck at finding a genuine diamond.

Will and Marshall arrived at the park on the morning of July 27, buckets and shovels in-hand. After renting screens at the park’s Diamond Discovery Center, the two entered the park’s 37.5-acre diamond search area, a plowed field atop the eroded surface of an ancient, diamond-bearing volcano, to start digging. After filling a few buckets with diamond-bearing soil, they headed to the park’s south wash pavilion to wet sift their dirt.

“Wet sifting is one of the most effective methods to search for diamonds,” said Park Interpreter Ashlyn Keys. “The search area has two wash pavilions, with water troughs and tables, for visitors to wet sift. Using screens to separate dirt from the gravel allows you to go through more material in less time, giving a better chance of finding a diamond.”

While sifting, Will spotted a promising, glimmering gem at the bottom of his screen. He quickly called over his son, saying, “Hey Marshall, you should take a look at this!” Marshall excitedly picked out the large stone before asking an experienced miner nearby if they had just found a diamond. Read more

Wildlife

AGM Global Vision Launches Newest LRF-Equipped Thermal Scope

AGM continues to be the most active manufacturer in the thermal market by releasing their long-awaited VarmintV2 LRF Riflescopes, which is no less than its third new product family released in the last month. The VarmintV2 LRF’s bring many of the improvements that users desired in their first ever LRF thermal riflescope series, the Varmint LRF’s. The most prominent of those upgrades include, but are not limited to: on-board ballistic calculator, upgrade to a new sub-20mk 12 micron thermal sensor, recoil-activated video with audio and a completely new user interface.

Physically, the VarmintV2 LRF’s are very similar in appearance to the original Varmint LRF’s. This will help the unit maintain its compact and lightweight housing, as well as its reliance on a single removable and rechargeable 18650 battery. Coming in under 9in and 585g, the VarmintV2 LRF’s leave plenty of rail space on user’s rifles, while keeping weight down in the event that a suppressor or external battery pack is being utilized.

The VarmintV2 LRF family will consist of (4) different lens/sensor configurations: Read more

Optics

Time to Look for Invasive Asian Longhorned Beetle

Wondering what to do between now and the anticipated September release of the “Beetlejuice” movie sequel? Consider spending some time outdoors looking for a real destructive pest – the invasive Asian longhorned beetle.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service declares every August as Tree Check Month, the most likely time to see the beetle and the damage it causes to trees.

Reaching up to 1.5 inches in length, the Asian longhorned beetle, or ALB for short, is distinctive. With a shiny, black body flecked with irregular, white blotches and long antennae with alternating black and white bands, it would be a perfect companion to Michael Keaton’s ghoulish troublemaker. But in the case of ALB, the destruction is real and long-lasting. Read more

Wildlife

Nebraska Commissioners to Consider Bighorn Sheep Season

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will consider recommendations for a 2025 bighorn sheep hunting season at its Aug. 16 meeting at Fort Robinson State Park.

The meeting begins at 8 a.m. Mountain Time at the park’s Buffalo Soldiers Barracks, 3200 U.S. 20, Crawford.

Staff will recommend authorizing one lottery and one auction permit for the bighorn season, which, if approved, would be Dec. 2-22, 2025.

The commissioners also will consider changing park regulations that would: Read more

Hunting

Grizzly Bear Relocated in Northwest Wyoming

After consultation with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department captured and relocated a subadult male grizzly bear on July 31, 2024.

The bear was captured and relocated preemptively because it frequented developed areas on private lands in the Wilson, Wyoming area. In cooperation with the USFWS and the Shoshone National Forest, the grizzly bear was relocated to the Camp Creek drainage approximately 30 miles northwest of Cody.

Grizzly bears are relocated in accordance with state and federal law and regulation, and Game and Fish is required to update the public whenever a grizzly bear is relocated.

WHY RELOCATION? Read more

Wildlife

Federal Ammunition’s All-New Fusion Tipped Now Available

GW: In my limited testing of bullet integrity, Federal Fusion loads are at the top of the heap relative to weight retention.

Federal Ammunition launches an all-new product line: Fusion Tipped. The design offers the same excellent terminal performance as the original bonded soft points but with a polymer tip that increases ballistic coefficient, flattens trajectories, and boosts energy for better accuracy and extended effective range. The all-new product line is offered in eight cartridge options and is now available at select dealers.

Fusion Tipped Rifle

“Following its initial release, Fusion ammunition quickly gained a reputation for its exceptional performance and reliability. Over the past 19 years, we have expanded Fusion into a large list of calibers and bullet weights, now totaling more than 50 product offerings across three different product families,” said Eric Miller, Federal’s Centerfire Product Line Manager. “This has allowed hunters and shooters to experience the benefits of bonded-core technology across a broad spectrum of firearms and game species. New Fusion Tipped is better than ever, and it will be this year’s new deer-camp champ.”

The all-new Fusion Tipped design offers the same excellent terminal performance as the original but with a polymer tip that reduces wind drift and drop and delivers more energy downrange. Paired with a skived nose cavity, the polymer tip also helps initiate consistent, lethal expansion. All this increases the ballistic coefficient, flattens trajectories, and boosts energy for better accuracy and extended effective range. Read more

Ammunition

GOA Sues State of Florida over Open Carry Ban

Gun Owners of America (GOA) and the Gun Owners Foundation filed a federal lawsuit in South Florida, challenging the state’s ban on open carry of firearms. As of today, Florida remains in the very small and anti-gun company of New York, Illinois, and California where open carry is still wholly banned.

Governor Ron DeSantis has previously expressed support for open carry, but unfortunately, the Republican leadership in the legislature in Tallahassee has made quite clear they have no intention of repealing this ban.

Erich Pratt GOA’s Senior Vice President, issued the following statement:

“Florida lawmakers claim to be pro-gun, but year after year, they’ve refused to repeal the 1987 ban on open carry, leaving Floridians in the very anti-gun company of New York, Illinois, and California where this is also prohibited. Read more

Firearms, Gun Control
1 … 304 305 306 307 308 … 2,102