Coast Guard Rescues Kayak Angler 6 Miles off Hawaii

HONOLULU — Coast Guard and Hawaii County Fire Department crews rescued a kayaker beset by weather 6 miles off South Point, Monday.

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Kimball (WMSL 756) recovered the kayaker with his craft and transported him to Keauhou Bay.

“Even the most experienced mariner can find themselves in trouble when out on the ocean and that is especially true following a large storm,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Lackey, a Sector Honolulu watchstander. “The Islands are still feeling the after effects of Hurricane Douglas and we urge people to exercise caution due to the high surf and strong rip currents caused by the storm.”

No injuries or medical concerns were reported.

At 7:55 a.m., Sector Honolulu watchstanders received a report from the Hawaii County Dispatch reporting they had received a call from a kayaker in distress. The kayaker stated he had become beset by weather while fishing Sunday night and had drifted off shore. He stated he was capsizing and fatigued.

The Hawaii County Fire Department launched an Air 1 helicopter air crew in response while Sector Honolulu watchstanders issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast notice to mariners, and diverted multiple coast guard assets including the Kimball to assist.

The HCF Air 1 helicopter crew arrived on scene, located the kayaker, and remained overhead until the Kimball arrived.

“The kayak blended in with the whitecaps created by the strong winds,” said Seaman Michael Bassman, a lookout aboard the Kimball. “This made the mission incredibly difficult but also all the more fulfilling with its successful conclusion.”

Because of these difficulties the Coast Guard recommends waterway users wear bright clothing while out on the water to assist search and rescue crews during emergencies.

The weather on scene was winds of 28 mph and seas up to 8 feet.

Fishing

Remington Outdoor Company, Subsidiaries File for Chapter 11 Reorganization

  • Company seeks “going concern” sale to complete restructuring
  • Operations to remain ongoing during restructuring process

Huntsville, AL – Remington Outdoor Company (“Remington” or the “Company”), a leading manufacturer of firearms and ammunition, announced today that Remington and its subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Alabama (the “Court”). The Company intends to conduct a competitive bidding process for the sale of some or all of its assets pursuant to Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code.

The court’s protections during the Chapter 11 process will enable the Company to manage the sale process on an expedited basis while protecting the interests of its customers, employees and other stakeholders. Remington is in active discussions with a number of parties and will continue to engage with parties interested in a going-concern sale. The Company expects to solicit bids prior to an auction to be held in September 2020.

The Company has filed with the Court a motion to approve the use of cash collateral securing its existing Priority Term Loan. Subject to court approval, this cash collateral, combined with cash from operations, is expected to provide sufficient liquidity to, among other things, support the company’s continuing business operations and to minimize any disruption during the sale process. The Company has also filed with the Court a series of customary motions seeking to continue operating its business and facilities. These “first day” motions include requests to continue to pay wages and provide benefits to employees as usual. Read more

Firearms

Michigan Wolf Survey Shows Stable Populations

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources said today that the state’s wolf population has remained relatively stable over the past nine years, with the most recent survey completed this past winter. DNR Wildlife Division staff who participated in this latest survey estimate there was a minimum of 695 wolves found among 143 packs across the Upper Peninsula. Pack size has remained stable and averages just under five wolves.

Dan Kennedy, acting chief of the Wildlife Division, said the DNR has surveyed wolves since 1989 when they began naturally recolonizing the U.P.

“The survey is important because it helps us monitor wolf distribution and abundance, answer research questions and evaluate progress toward state and federal recovery goals,” Kennedy said. “Our survey results continue to demonstrate that Michigan’s wolf population has recovered.”

The survey was conducted from December through March, before wolves had produced pups, when the population is at its lowest point in the annual cycle.

Read more

Wildlife

Introducing Axe Crossbows

Performance. Optimized.

Superior, WI – Forged for the fury of the field, Axe Crossbows have been engineered from the ground up to deliver an unparalleled shooting experience. Balance, accuracy, safety, speed, durability and stealth – like nothing the hunting world has experienced before. Compact by design, but colossal with its features, the new Axe AX405 crossbow is best characterized as; Performance. Optimized.

Thousands of hours in research and development have culminated into a configuration that widely departs from average in look, feel and efficiency. Historically, balance, weight and sound have all been the bane of crossbow designs and use. Axe cuts through those barriers with an optimized system that leverages the sum of all parts to deliver unprecedented performance and accuracy. With industry changing specs, the AX405 boasts 69% less felt recoil and 92% less sound resonance than comparable models.

At a compact and maneuverable 27.75-inches long and less than 10-inches axle-to-axle (cocked) the weight of the crossbow is centered over the shooter’s hand by way of a balanced shoot-through stock and riser design combined with a reverse limb system. This configuration empowers the most efficient part of the AX405’s split limbs to deliver bolt speeds in excess of 405 feet-per-second, from just 13-inches of power stroke. A proprietary cam system is linked by cables that run parallel to each other, rather than from the top of one cam, to the bottom of the other. This unique configuration eliminates cam-lean, limb torque and is further enhanced by an exclusive cable brace that engages the riser to aid in the limitation of flex away from the center of the crossbow. When combined, these features allow the string to move along the same plane throughout the entire power stroke. Unlike the one-piece aluminum rail concepts of conventional crossbow designs that rob speed, efficiency and bolt life, the stock of the AX405 eliminates the rail and utilizes dual carbon guide rods along the entire length of the stock. When combined with the shoot through riser and a tunable roller rest on the bow’s front end these features create a free-floating arrow system that mitigates contact, friction and torque along the arrow’s entire path further enhancing efficiency, accuracy and speed output. Amplifying the bow’s performance is a proprietary and industry-first small diameter (.166 I.D.) bolt system constructed to deliver extreme accuracy, durability, penetration and safety at a head-turning 17-inches long. The interaction between the bolt’s premium aluminum capture nock system and the bow’s string create an audible sound to note full connection and preparation to interface with the trigger system. Read more

Archery

CCRKBA: Gun Ban Lobby Sides With Portland Rioters

BELLEVUE, WA – A Seattle-based gun prohibition lobbying group has reached a new low, siding with rioters, looters and urban terrorists in Portland, Oregon in an attempt to smear law-abiding gun owners, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.

“We’ve seen some outrageous claims by the gun control crowd over the years,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “but Friday’s fund raising appeal that tried to blame federal agents dispatched to Portland to protect federal property for continued riots is simply unconscionable.”

The Alliance for Gun Responsibility, a billionaire-backed anti-gun rights group, claims “federal agents have descended on the city turning the largely peaceful protests against racism and police brutality into violent clashes.”

“Like their usual anti-gun rhetoric,” Gottlieb observed, “the false image of Portland’s protests the Alliance is trying to create is a myth and they know it. Street thugs, using legitimate demonstrations as cover, have rampaged in downtown Portland for about two months before the Trump administration sent federal agents to protect Government property.

“Maybe the Alliance doesn’t care about the attempts by some rioters to blind officers by shining lasers in their eyes,” he added. “What’s next, blaming match companies for the arson at the Portland Police Association offices? Read more

Gun Control

New RCBS Rebel Single Stage Press

OVERLAND PARK, Kansas –– RCBS, the leading manufacturer of ammunition reloading equipment for rifles and pistols, announced today that the new Rebel Single Stage Press is now available and shipping to retail partners. Constructed from a solid cast iron frame and capable of delivering consistent loads with ease, the new press represents the next evolution in single stage press technology.

The new RCBS Rebel Single Stage Press has been meticulously machined to exacting tolerances and features several enhancements over competitive models. Among the new features include the tallest opening of any RCBS single stage press on the market, allowing it to make light work of today’s longer cartridges.

Other new features include an ambidextrous handle, machined referenced surfaces, and a spent primer system that allows the primers to go directly into a trash can ensuring that no primers are spilled on the work area. Additional features include a Zerk fitting for those times when lubrication is required along with an extra wide base for enhanced stability. Read more

Ammunition

Great American Spending Agreement

By Glen Wunderlich

Charter Member Professional Outdoor Media Association

It has been termed a win for public lands, as the U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Great American Outdoors Act with a 310-107 vote.  The Senate passed the bill in a 73-25 vote on June 17, with a broadly bipartisan group on the yeas and an entirely Republican group on the nays.  With gleeful exuberance Republicans and Democrats have finally agreed on something:  more spending.  Yippee!  President Trump is poised to seal the deal when he signs a bill to amend title 54 of the U.S. Code.

The bill is to establish, fund, and provide for the use of amounts in a National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund to address the maintenance backlog of the National Park Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, and the Bureau of Indian Education, and to provide permanent, dedicated funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and for other purposes.

The Act will provide $9.5 billion over five years to address the crumbling infrastructure on America’s public lands and waters, with $6.5 billion in funding going to the National Park Service and an additional $3 billion in funding to repair and maintain infrastructure on public lands overseen by the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and U.S. Forest Service. These funds will be used to repair roads, build trails, and improve access for hunting and fishing on public lands and waters across the country.

The Act will also provide full and permanent funding – $900 million annually – for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The LWCF was established by Congress in 1964 to support conservation efforts across the country by purchasing land, implementing easements, and leveraging funding through various federal, local, and state partners. The LWCF has funded almost 50,000 projects to date, spanning nearly every county in America, from vast National Forests to small, local parks. Ensuring full and permanent funding for future land acquisition efforts will continue to make immediate impacts on wildlife conservation efforts and increase access for hunting and fishing across the country.

Said Representative Michael Simpson (R – Idaho),  “Not only does this bill support hundreds of thousands of jobs, but it protects and maintains our public lands for generations that aren’t even born yet.”

It all sounds so promising but it also portends something else for “generations that aren’t even born yet”:  more debt.  Yet, nobody ever wants to address this most precarious  sword of Damocles.

Consider the following reality in terms of what we owe.  In year 2020 the interest on our national debt is projected to be $376,000,000,000. And, that’s 7.8 percent of the national budget.  By year 2026, which does not take into account any COVID 19 costs, the interest on the debt will be $543,000,000,000 and whopping 9.6 percent of the budget.

And, that’s just the interest!  And, that just plain incomprehensible, when one stops to consider that one billion is one thousand million.

And, here we all are enjoying the fruits, much like the Emerald Ash Borer has enjoyed our once-prolific hardwood trees’ succulent juices beneath the bark.  Of course, the operative words are “once-prolific.”

So, let us rub our collective hands together.  Just don’t look up.

Fishing, General, Hunting

What to Do If You Find a Bat in Your House

SALT LAKE CITY — Though most Utahns probably don’t correlate bats with summer, here’s why you shouldn’t be surprised if you find one in your home this time of year. Utahns may see more bats this time of year because the baby bats (also called pups) are learning to fly and leaving their roost for the first time. Here’s what you should know about bats in Utah and what to do if you encounter them.

There are currently 18 confirmed bat species in Utah, but there may be more. They are the only mammals capable of true flight. Bats are found throughout the state and can be abundant wherever they can find food, shelter and water. The greatest species diversity is in the southern part of Utah.

Utah’s bats feed almost exclusively on insects. When insects aren’t available, like during the winter months, the bats typically either migrate or hibernate (although some species do a combination of both and others stay active year-round). Sometimes they hibernate in caves and mines, and recent research in western states has shown that many small bat species also hibernate in crevices in cliffs. Bats in Utah do not usually hibernate in large groups like they do in many eastern states in the U.S. They typically hibernate either in small groups or by themselves.

Five Utah species primarily migrate, flying south from late August through October and then returning in April and May.

“Encounters with bats seem to spike in September as the migratory species, especially the Mexican-free tailed bat, move around the state,” DWR Mammal Conservation Coordinator Kimberly Hersey said. “

If you discover bats roosting in your home, what should you do? Read more

Wildlife

The Founders’ Second Amendment Updated

New Foreword for Treatise on the Origins of Our Right to Bear Arms

Oakland, CA—The Independent Institute has reissued the 2010 pathbreaking book The Founders’ Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms by Senior Fellow Stephen P. Halbrook. The new edition is updated with a foreword by Nelson Lund (Patrick Henry Professor of Constitutional Law at George Mason University).

The Founders of the American republic sought to guarantee “the right of the people to keep and bear arms” as a fundamental liberty. What experiences led the Founders to adopt it, and what did it mean to them? Halbrook has written the definitive account of the origins of the Second Amendment, based on the Founders’ own statements as found in newspapers, correspondence, debates, and resolutions.

Investigating the period from 1768 to 1826, The Founders’ Second Amendment offers the most comprehensive analysis of the arguments behind the drafting and adoption of the Second Amendment, and the intentions of the men who created it. Readers can fully comprehend the Founders’ understanding of what is necessary to guarantee, as the Amendment itself states, “the security of a free State.” Read more

Self Defense

CCRKBA Identifies “Anti-Gun Rights” Businesses

BELLEVUE, WA – The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms has launched a public campaign alerting gun owners about businesses and their CEOs who push for increased gun control and prohibition, identifying the culprits.

The “Don’t Feed the Gun Prohibitionists” project has developed a dynamic list of businesses and CEOs who have been pushing for new legislation designed to impair the rights of law-abiding firearms owners. The list may be found at www.ccrkba.org/antigunbusinesses.

“Many brand name businesses and corporate leadership have a nefarious agenda to limit gun rights,” said CCRBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “Their current and potential patrons should have the knowledge of what their hard earned dollars are actually funding. Read more

Gun Control
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