Boone and Crockett Club Opposes H.R. 8167, The RETURN Our Constitutional Rights Act

MISSOULA, Mont. (July 21, 2022) – The Boone and Crockett Club opposes the ill-named Return Our Constitutional Rights Act (H.R. 8167). The “RETURN Act” would eliminate the sportsmen-supported excise tax on firearms, ammunition, and archery equipment that provides the vast majority of funding for wildlife conservation.

“For 85 years, the Pittman-Robertson Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act has served as the foundation for our American system of conservation funding, which provides dedicated revenue for state wildlife agencies to successfully restore wildlife populations and grow opportunities for hunting and recreational shooting,” commented Tony A. Schoonen, chief executive officer for the Boone and Crockett Club. “Our Club members played a key role in getting the Pittman-Robertson Act signed into law in 1937 and have continued to advocate for dedicated funding for wildlife conservation efforts ever since. Repealing this law would significantly undermine our nation’s successful wildlife conservation legacy.”

Since it was enacted, the Pittman-Robertson Act has generated over $15 billion to conserve wildlife, improve recreational shooting and hunting access, and fund hunter education programs. In 2021 more than $1.5 billion was raised and distributed to state fish and wildlife agencies to build target shooting ranges, purchase wildlife management areas to increase public hunting opportunities, conserve game species, and recruit America’s next generation of hunter-conservationists.

“We are working with our partners in the conservation community to educate our members of Congress about how conservation is funded in this country and how sportsmen and women have willingly provided the bulk of wildlife funding through this user pay, public benefit system,” Schoonen concluded. “The RETURN Act is misguided. We hope members of Congress who sponsored this legislation will withdraw their support.” Read more

Firearms, Gun Control

Hobie Releases the all-new Mirage® Passport® R Series

Rotomolded pedal kayaks R Models upgrade popular fishing and recreational pedal kayaks

OCEANSIDE, Calif. – Hobie, the leading manufacturer of premium kayaks and watersport products, launched the newest additions to their 2022 product line today with the unveiling of the Mirage Passport 12.0 R and the Mirage Passport 10.5 R. The first look of these new rotomolded kayaks were made at the on the water demo day at ICAST, the world’s largest sportfishing trade show.

Powered by MirageDrive® with Glide Technology and Kick-Up Fins, the new R Series models will be able to avoid obstacles with ease and navigate rocky or shallow waters thanks to the automatic retraction of Kick-Up Fins on impact and subsequent re-deployment once clear of the obstacle. With the rotomolded hull construction, available in Seagrass Green and Slate Blue, the new R models fuse a new sleek aesthetic with excellent performance and stability without sacrificing speed.

“Since 1950, Hobie has always strived to create fun, accessible experiences on the water,”

said Kelley Woolsey, Hobie Vice President of Global Sales, Service, and Marketing. “Today’s launch of the new Mirage Passport R Series kayaks echo Hobie’s values and mission of always striving to improve and update our product offering to deliver the best experience available. Hobie will always ensure that the highest quality products are available for kayakers of all experience to enjoy.”

The 2022 Mirage Passport 10.5 R and the Mirage Passport12.0 R will be available at authorized Hobie dealers starting later this month at an introductory MSRP of $1,649 and $1,869 respectively. To find a Hobie dealer, please visit: hobie.com/dealers. Read more

Firearms

NSSF Announces Over 24 Million MSRs in Circulati

Commonly Owned: NSSF Announces Over 24 Million MSRs in Circulation

NEWTOWN, Conn. — NSSF®, the firearm industry trade association, updated the industry estimate of Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs) in circulation in the United States to 24,446,000 since 1990. That is an increase of over 4.5 million rifles since the last estimate was released in 2020.

The estimate is derived from NSSF research, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Annual Firearms Manufacturing and Exportation Report (AFMER) and U.S. International Trade Commission (U.S. ITC) data, in cooperation with manufacturers, importers and exporters of MSRs, or AR-15 and AK-style rifles. This most recent estimate includes production figures current through 2020, when the industry estimates over 2,798,000 of these rifles were produced or imported. This estimate does not include MSRs that were produced and exported or imported and later exported.

The MSR remains the most-popular selling centerfire semiautomatic rifle in the United States today. There are more MSRs in circulation today than there are Ford F-Series trucks on the road.

“This is a truly significant figure that demonstrates – again – the popularity of this commonly-owned style of rifle,” said NSSF President and CEO Joe Bartozzi. “The firearm industry responds to market demand and this shows that during the elevated period of firearm sales that began in 2020, this particular style of rifle is the top choice for law-abiding citizens for hunting, recreational shooting and self-defense.”

The MSR’s popularity for lawful ownership is attributable to several factors, including accuracy, reliability, modularity and low recoil.

Read more

Firearms

Henry Repeating Arms Donates $50,000 to VFW

HENRY REPEATING ARMS
107 W Coleman Street, Rice Lake, WI 54868

Henry Repeating Arms Continues Silver Anniversary Pledge With $50,000 Donation to VFW

Kansas City, Mo. –– As part of a $1,000,000 charitable pledge in honor of Henry Repeating Arms’ 25th anniversary, company president Andy Wickstrom presented a $50,000 check to Veterans of Foreign Wars Commander-In-Chief Matthew M. “Fritz” Mihelcic during Wednesday’s proceedings at the 123rd VFW National Convention in Kansas City.

“Henry Repeating Arms has been a longtime supporter of organizations that take care of our veterans, and no one does that better than the VFW,” says Wickstrom while addressing the crowd. In late 2016 Henry Repeating Arms partnered with the VFW to establish a fundraising program that would raise money on a national level and offer individual posts the opportunity to enhance their fundraising efforts. Other direct monetary contributions to the organization now total more than $150,000. Wickstrom continues, “We believe in the VFW’s mission and vision and respect its extraordinary accomplishments.”

Henry Repeating Arms CEO and Founder Anthony Imperato’s landmark Silver Anniversary pledge distributes under the company’s Guns For Great Causes banner, a philanthropic arm benefitting a wide variety of charities and non-profits, including children’s hospitals, organizations supporting military veterans, first responders, law enforcement, wildlife conservation, hunting and shooting sports education, and Second Amendment advocacy groups. A limited-edition Golden Boy Silver Anniversary edition rifle will be available online in the coming weeks, with 100% of the proceeds benefitting the charities supported by the Guns For Great Causes campaign. To be notified when this limited-edition rifle becomes available, visit Henry Repeating Arms online and sign up for the email newsletter. Read more

Firearms

Change Lures and Flies in No Time Using Al’s Kwik Klips

ELIOT, Maine (July 21, 2022) -When you’re on the water, time spent doing anything that does not involve working baits and lures in the strike zone takes away from your ability to maximize your catch rate. So when you can employ a small, simple, fail-safe product that will make changing lures and flies an easy, lightning-fast proposition, why wouldn’t you? That’s what Al’s Kwik Klips from Al’s Goldfish Lure Company will do for you.

Originally designed for use when fly fishing – they’ll float with your dry flies – innovative anglers like Al’s Goldfish Lure Company’s Wisconsin Fishing Ambassador TJ Gramberg use them for all their fishing. “I love using Al’s Kwik Klips because they offer the ability to switch baits quicker, allowing me to cover more water in a short amount of time,” Gramberg said. “They also provide me with confidence that I have a secure connection to any bait I use. The different sizes of Kwik Klips allow me to vary my bait sizes, and I like to put different-sized Kwik Klips on different rods, which lets me quickly change from using a 1/2 oz. Al’s Goldfish lure on one rod, to using a 3/16 oz. Goldfish on a different rod. Best of all, Kwik Klips have the strength to pull in fish of all sizes without fail. I never head out without them.”

Gramberg uses the smallest sizes (small/medium) when vertical jigging while ice fishing, and the medium/large/extra-large sizes when casting and trolling in open water, depending on the size of the lure she’s using. She’s used them to successfully land everything from small panfish to medium-sized bass and walleye to large northern pike. Read more

Fishing

Michigan: fish survey nets to be placed along St. Marys River in August

Member agencies of the St. Marys River Fisheries Task Group will be conducting a fish community survey of the entire St. Marys River during the month of August.

The St. Marys River is a connecting channel between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. The survey work will cover many locations along the 70-mile-long river, from the upper river near Brimley, Michigan, to where the river empties into Lake Huron at DeTour.

Fisheries biologists and technicians will set survey nets at predetermined sites in the river and capture a variety of species to collect information on abundance, growth, mortality and size structure of fish populations.

The information will be compared to the 2017 survey report and data collected in earlier surveys, available on the Great Lakes Fishery Commission’s Lake Huron Committee webpage.

“This survey series provides the opportunity to look at the status of the St. Marys River fish community and look at any trends over time,” said Neal Godby, Michigan Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologist. “In addition to the ongoing St. Marys creel survey — where staff along the river talk with people about their fishing experiences and help us estimate harvest — the collective data will allow us to better understand the overall health of the river’s fish population and fisheries.” Read more

Fishing

Get with the Program, Ms. Stabenow!

GW:  Click on the link below and you can send an email directly to Ms. Stabenow

The Chronic Wasting Disease Research and Management Act has been languishing in the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry chaired by Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow. MUCC has sent an action alert urging Senator Stabenow to hold a hearing on the bill as soon as possible. That action alert can be found here.

Wildlife

Democrats Look to Circumvent the Constitution on Gun Rights Again

By Jim Shepherd

Another big day in Washington.

The House is holding hearings to lay the groundwork what are essentially“work-arounds” for anti-gun legislators. They’re looking for ways to punish gun owners, manufacturers, dealers and distributors since the Supreme Court seems insistent on upholding the position that enumerated rights – especially the right to “keep and bear arms” mean exactly what they say.

The House Judiciary Committee is “marking up” H.R. 1801, their latest Assault Weapons Ban. H.R. 2814 the “Equal Access to Victims of Gun Violence Act” is also up as well.

H.R.1801 is exactly what it sounds like: another proposed ban on those evil, black rifles that apparently possess the souls of a minuscule percentage of their users, forcing them on murderous rampages. Unlike the “Clinton ban” this version has no expiration date.

H.R. 2814, however is not exactly what’s implied. It’s not a crusade to protect innocent victims, it’s an attempt to repeal The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. The PLCAA prevents the manufacturers of firearms from being sued for the actions of others (you could use the word criminals) employing their products for nefarious purposes.

Recently, we told you that the CEOs of three gun companies, Smith & Wesson, Daniel Defense, and Ruger had been “invited” by House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Mahoney to testify before the panel – today.

They won’t be there. No, it’s not an act of defiance, it’s scheduling issues. But they won’t be there to either be lectured or grilled by the committee, so scratch one anti-gun photo op.

If you doubt this description of the less-than-cordial greeting she had planned, Rep. Mahoney’s “invitation” told the invitees: “the sale and marketing of assault weapons and the broad civil immunity that has been unfairly granted to manufacturers” would be part of the discussion.

She also wrote that the CEO’s products (these particular CEOs) “have been used for decades to carry out homicides and even mass murders.”

That would certainly have me rearranging my schedule to try and be there for Rep. Mahoney if I were Messrs. Daniel, Killoy or Mark Smith of Daniel Defense, Ruger and Smith & Wesson, respectively. Read more

Gun Control

WSF: Utah’s First Desert Bighorn Nursery Herd Doing Well

www.wildsheepfoundation.org

 

Bozeman, Montana. July 20, 2022. Thanks to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) efforts, the Nevada Department of Wildlife, the Utah Chapter of the Wild Sheep Foundation, and the D. Gary and Mary Young Family, Utah has its first nursery herd for desert bighorn sheep.

Thirty-one desert bighorn sheep were captured in late June in Nevada’s Muddy Mountain Wilderness and safely relocated to the 1,800-acre Skyrider Wilderness Ranch near Tabiona in Duchesne County, Utah. The ranch is owned and managed by the Young Family of Young Living Essential Oils.

“A nursey herd approach is a vital tool in the restoration and expansion of wild sheep populations,” said Gray N. Thornton, President and CEO of the Wild Sheep Foundation. “A cross-state translocation like this to a secure, private ranch holding-area takes a lot of cooperation and coordination. We applaud everyone who had a hand in making this a successful conservation action.”

Trapping and transplanting is the most successful and fastest way to expand wild sheep populations back to their historical ranges. A nursery herd has been used successfully for bighorn sheep on Utah’s Antelope Island, Montana’s Wild Horse Island, and Texas and New Mexico for desert bighorns in the USA. Nursery herds have also been a key component of desert sheep restoration in Mexico, exemplified by WSF’s Mexico Initiative.

Travis Jensen, President of the Utah Chapter of the Wild Sheep Foundation, explained, “The goal is to establish a protected, disease-free desert bighorn herd that will grow to the point of being able to supply animals for future transplant efforts in new suitable free-range habitats and to supplement existing herds throughout Utah and potentially other States if needed. This project was first outlined in 2018 and included in the Utah Bighorn Sheep Management Plan. It is a very exciting project for Utah’s wild sheep and should help ensure the future of Utah’s desert bighorn sheep for many years to come”

By 1960, research indicates that Utah had only a remnant population of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, and desert bighorn sheep were gone entirely. Current estimates of the state’s desert bighorn sheep are approaching 5,000 animals.

“Wild sheep restoration is a business where the rewards outweigh the risks,” Thornton added. “We all know the risks that separation from domestic sheep to avoid disease transmission and predation from mountain lions can be factors in establishing new bighorn sheep herds, but these are not insurmountable obstacles. You do miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take. Utah and other states would not be as successful have they have been by not taking shots.”

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The Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF), based in Bozeman, Mont., was founded in 1977 by wild sheep conservationists and enthusiasts. With a membership of more than 10,500 worldwide, WSF is the premier advocate for wild sheep and other mountain wildlife and their habitats. WSF has raised and expended more than $140 million on wild sheep habitat and population enhancements, education, and conservation advocacy programs in North America, Europe, and Asia to “Put and Keep Wild Sheep On the Mountain”®. These and other efforts have increased bighorn sheep populations in North America from historic lows in the 1950-60s of 25,000 to more than 85,000 today. www.wildsheepfoundation.org.

Media Contacts: Keith R. Balfourd 406-404-8754 or keith@wildsheepfoundation.org

Wildlife

Michigan: $45.6 Million in Development and Acquisition Grants Approved

Michigan’s governor signed legislation creating more opportunities for quality outdoor recreation by authorizing $45.6 million in Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grants.

“Outdoor recreation in Pure Michigan is essential to the high quality of life Michiganders and visitors enjoy in our beautiful state,” said Gov. Whitmer. “These Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grants support so many of the world-class outdoor opportunities we have in Michigan, including fishing, hiking, kayaking or simply enjoying an accessible playground. In communities across the state, the grant program makes much of this possible with critical investments so people of all abilities can get outdoors. Let’s keep working together to invest in our parks, recreation and public lands so future generations can enjoy everything that Pure Michigan has to offer.”

Senate Bill 1028 approves funding for 117 recreation development projects and land purchases recommended by the board. It is now Public Act 151 of 2022. Read more

Fishing, Hunting, Wildlife
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