RAPID CITY, SD – Empowering bowhunters with knowledge and tools for success, the National Bowhunter Education Foundation (NBEF) offers its Advanced Black Bear Anatomy and Shot Placement Guide and Mini 3-D Durable Foam Bear Model. These informative items help increase hunting success and safety for all hunters. Bear hunters will reduce game recovery time with a well-placed shot.
The Advanced Black Bear Anatomy and Shot Placement Guide is an informative shot placement training aid with full color 8.5″ x 11″ transparent overlays. The bear muscular system, skeletal system, circulatory system, and vital organs are illustrated on separate acrylic overlays. The booklet includes shot placement information and illustrations for both firearm hunters and bowhunters. Hunting guides, hunter education instructors and informed hunters will appreciate this useful information in a convenient format. Responsible hunting includes knowledge of accurate shot placement for a quick kill and game recovery. This is part of the International Bowhunter Education Program Hunter Responsibility Series which includes anatomy and shot placement guides for white-tailed deer, turkey and elk. All guides are 3-hole punched making it easy to collect all four booklets. Suggested retail $12.50 each. Read more
Horsham, PA –– Mission First Tactical (MFT) is proud to announce they are official supporters of the 2024 Best Ranger Competition, hosted by the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade. The event is held Friday, April 12th through Sunday, April 14th, 2024 at Fort Moore (formerly Fort Benning), GA.
This year marks the 40th annual celebration of this grueling competition. The Best Ranger is an annual event comprised of two-man teams. This competition is not just to see who is the toughest or the most physically fit; it is to see who is mentally the strongest and the most determined to finish. This 62-hour battle involves tests of physical fitness, including runs and marches, and marksmanship. The exact composition of events changes yearly. Read more
The National Archery in the Schools Program and Easton Technical Products celebrate the highest number of Academic Archer nominations ever recorded with 40,163 Academic Archers being nominated by their coaches for the 2023/2024 school year. According to the results of the 2017 NASP® student survey, 40.15% of students indicated that participation in NASP® motivated them to want to work harder in the classroom. Knowing this, NASP® and Easton continue to promote the mission of NASP® educators everywhere! NASP® and Easton care about the academic success of NASP® students.
NASP® coaches again utilized local criteria to nominate their deserving students. Registration for the Academic Archer program began back on September 1, 2023, and concluded on April 1, 2024. NASP® educators and coaches from 48 US states, and 4 Canadian Provinces enrolled students in the NASP® Academic Archer Program this school year. Students who earn this honor through their hard work in the classroom are recognized at national events and through recognition programs at many local schools.
Based on feedback from NASP® state coordinators, NASP® added multiple pathways for NASP® educators and coaches to nominate students. Students can be designated by their local Basic Archery Instructor (BAI) via any of the following: Read more
G9 Defense a premium defensive ammunition manufacturer, is pleased to announce their participation in the Guns & Gear Home Defense Giveaway Promotion from now through midnight Central time on April 30, 2024. All you need to do to enter is “click here”.
The Home Defense Prize package includes 100 rounds of G9 Defense 5.56 54gr Barrier Blind Hollow Point Ammunition ($200.00 value), a perfect match for the VKTR Industries VK-1 5.56 NATO 16? FDE ($2,199.99) that is also included in the prize package.
G9 Defense 5.56 54gr Barrier Blind Hollow Points are solid copper and provide exceptional barrier penetration, great expansion and 18? of penetration with nearly 100% weight retention. Due to CNC manufacturing, the reliability is exceptional. The powder selection ensures that there is enough muzzle velocity, especially in short barreled rifles even down to 10.3?, to have dynamic terminal performance.
Other great gear included in this giveaway: Read more
Charter Member Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA)
Years ago, after attending an educational seminar on food plots for wildlife with speaker and farmer, Ed Spinazzola, I was excited to convert some neglected land into a deer magnet. However, there was an area of approximately one acre of weak, sandy soil with a low pH (or high acidic value) that would need improvement to become productive. After several years of battling noxious weeds amid the low-quality soil, I conceded the effort and expense to build up the parcel was futile and gave up on the notion. Fortunately for the Monarch butterflies, I had inadvertently stumbled onto a means to help save the interesting species by allowing one particular indigenous plant to flourish: milkweed.
This perennial plant is toxic to some wildlife, but is life-sustaining to monarch butterflies. In early spring, the monarch’s eggs are laid exclusively on these plants and hatch into caterpillars which feed on the plant. Two weeks later, caterpillars attach themselves to leaves or stems of milkweed plants and so begins the transformation to the unique butterfly. Our farmers don’t want to see the plant among their alfalfa fields, because of its poisonous nature; however, I can’t help but smile as I witness Mother Nature’s hand each year in what has become a fragrant haven to the butterflies and other pollinators.
Oddly enough, Michigan House Bill 4857 was signed into law last month, aiming to protect milkweed (explicitly excluded in the bill), while targeting many other noxious weeds for eradication in the state. Here’s the language of the enrolled bill: An act to amend 1941 PA 359, entitled “An act for controlling and eradicating certain noxious weeds within the state; to permit townships, villages, and cities to have a lien for expenses incurred in controlling and eradicating such weeds; to permit officials of counties and municipalities to appoint commissioners of noxious weeds; to define the powers, duties, and compensation of commissioners; to provide for sanctions; and to repeal certain acts and parts of acts,” by amending section 2 (MCL 247.62), as amended by 2010 PA 358.
I don’t know that growing government to the point of creating commissioners of noxious weeds will have any measurable effect on the butterfly population but I am committed to allowing nature to take its course in the matter. Although the migrating monarch is dependent on milkweed for survival, I find the milkweed valuable for another important reason: When the aromatic flowers fade, seed pods form and contain silk or floss, which can be used as natural wind indicators for wise hunters.
I merely wrap tape around the pods and wait for them to dry out and carry them afield when deer hunting. The seeds are easily stripped from the floss, if one is concerned about establishing milkweed elsewhere. The feathery floss can be viewed for a hundred yards or more and provides a visible indication of wind direction and currents well beyond one’s hunting stand.
Best of all, Mother Nature provides this hunting aid free of charge, and it is better than any store-bought gimmicks that only give arms-length feedback. With this valuable information, a hunter can determine where scent will intersect with a deer’s nose before it actually happens.
For entrepreneurs of any age (hint for kids), the seeds can be marketed on sites such as Ebay for substantial amounts with virtually no overhead expenses. Who knows if aspiring youngsters may not become commissioners of weeds someday?
GW: No discussion about the NRC’s maneuver to protect coyotes!
The draft agenda for the April 11 meeting of the Michigan Natural Resources Commission has been posted to the NRC website at Michigan.gov/NRC. The meeting will take place at 9 a.m. at Lansing Community College, 600 North Grand Ave., in downtown Lansing.
Meeting topics include a presentation to recent Pure Michigan Hunt winners, a discussion of falconry regulations, a look at Saginaw Bay walleye and yellow perch populations, an update on chronic wasting disease monitoring and surveillance, several land transactions and more. Read more
Leading German optics brand Leica is proud to announce the launch of its latest innovation in the world of precision rangefinding, with the Rangemaster CRF Pro. Leica’s new third generation monocular combines cutting-edge laser rangefinding performance with integrated, top-tier ballistics calculation capabilities.
Designed to cater to the needs of discerning shooters and hunters who demand maximum precision, the CRF Pro boasts unparalleled optical performance, advanced Applied Ballistics calculation, and enhanced connectivity solutions, with tracking functionality and on-board environmental sensors for ultimate precision.
The key features of the Leica Rangemaster CRF Pro include: Read more
Man Disassembled and Wrapped Firearms in Aluminum Foil Before Hiding Them Inside a Shipping Container at the Port of Oakland
Fares Abdo Al Eyani, 41, of Oakland, California, was sentenced to 12 months and a day in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiring to export defense articles and attempting to export defense articles.
“Mr. Al Eyani admitted to conspiring to smuggle restricted arms, ammunition, and other defense material to a foreign country and has now been held to account,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “The unlawful trafficking of U.S. weapons overseas represents a threat to public safety and national security and will be met with the full force of the Justice Department.” Read more
Newly designed defense cartridge joins X-DEF line-up
Lewiston, Idaho Freedom Munitions is beefing up the X-DEF defense line with the addition of a powerful .44 Magnum cartridge.
Designed for defense, this .44 Mag cartridge utilizes a brass case with X-Treme Bullets’ copper plated, 240 grain X-DEF hollow point expanding bullet and is loaded with premium, low-flash powder. Thoroughly tested in Freedom Munitions’ own underground ballistics lab, the 240 grain projectile travels at a velocity of 1350 fps with a 6” barrel and penetrates 15”-18” in clear ballistic gelatin. In a grizzly situation, this component recipe and kinetic energy of 971 ft lbs. provides an effective choice for protection. Read more
MARYVILLE, TN. – Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ Global Select: SWBI), a leader in firearm manufacturing and design, announced today the release of four TN Special Makeup pistols from the M&P9 M2.0 and Shield Plus series.
This new offering includes two 3.1-inch barrel M&P9 Shield Plus micro-compacts with and without a thumb safety, a 4-inch barrel M&P9 M2.0 compact with a thumb safety, and a 4.25-inch barrel M&P9 M2.0 full-size, also with a thumb safety. In recognition of the company’s historic move to Tennessee, these new handguns display a laser engraved Tri-Star emblem on the barrel, paying homage to the state flag and its representation of the three Grand Divisions: West, Middle, and East Tennessee. Read more
