Timber harvests underway at four state game areas in Michigan’s Thumb

Commercial timber harvests designed to improve wildlife habitat are currently underway at Vassar, Tuscola and Deford state game areas in Tuscola County and the Verona State Game Area in Huron County.

Though things may look very different at these areas for a while, the timber harvests will provide or improve habitat for ruffed grouse, American woodcock, white-tailed deer and a host of nongame species, particularly migratory songbirds. Each of these species finds the young forests that quickly develop post-harvest attractive sites for breeding, nesting, raising their young, feeding and avoiding predators.

Visitors to these state game areas will notice the presence of commercial logging equipment entering game area lands along Wilder Road at Vassar; at the east end of Bliss Road at Tuscola; along Froede Road at Deford and east of Scott Road at Verona. Read more

Wildlife

SIG SAUER Electro-Optics Introduces the KILO5K Rangefinder

NEWINGTON, N.H. – SIG SAUER Electro-Optics is pleased to announce the next generation of the award-winning KILO laser rangefinders, with the KILO K-Series, and the introduction of the KILO5K rangefinder. This all-new groundbreaking family of rangefinders feature SIG SAUER’s proprietary LightWave™ DSP Gen II rangefinder engine with extended range XR technology, integration with the BaseMap™ app, on-board Applied Ballistics capabilities, and complete configurability with all SIG SAUER Electro-Optics BDX devices.

“The new KILO5K can range reflective targets up to 5,000 yards, trees up to 2,500 yards, and deer up to 2,000 yards,” said Andy York, President, SIG SAUER Electro-Optics. “In an industry first, these rangefinders allow users to range a tree, rock or deer and instantly drop waypoints into the BaseMap app to help navigation to that target, integrated BDX technology provides ballistic solutions out to 800 yards with Applied Ballistics Ultralite or will sync with external devices featuring Applied Ballistics Elite, and the K-Series now include a complete suite of onboard environmental sensors for real time ballistic solutions.”

The KILO5K 7 x 25 mm laser rangefinder monocular features the LightWave DSP Gen II engine with multiple target modes: Extended Range (XR) for distant targets, Fog mode to cut through fog, rain and snowy conditions, as well as First, Best and Last target modes. The rangefinder incorporates a vivid red segmented OLED display which provides range to target, elevation holdover and wind holds. All KILO K-Series rangefinders leverage Low Energy / Long Range Bluetooth 5.x for multipoint Bluetooth connections and improved connectivity to BDX enabled riflescopes and sights. The KILO5K ships with a black / grey carry pouch and lanyard. Read more

Hunting, Optics

Bushnell Unveils New Elite Tactical DMR3 and XRS3 Riflescopes

New Riflescopes Deliver Class-Leading Performance with a Propriety Reticle

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. –– Bushnell®, an industry leader in performance optics, has announced the introduction of two new Elite Tactical riflescopes – the DMR3 3.5-21×50 FFP and the XRS3 6-36×56 FFP. Tailored to meet the demands of law enforcement and military professionals as well as long-range and precision rimfire competitions, the new Elite Tactical DMR3 delivers precision to 1,000 yards and beyond in a lightweight, compact package. For those seeking extreme long-range capabilities, including military shooters and ELR competitors, the XRS3 offers the highest magnification in the Elite Tactical family along with superior tracking and reliability.

Featuring the most advanced Elite Tactical optical system ever, both the DMR3 and XRS3 come with a high magnification ED Prime objective, as well as fully multi-coated elements, EXO Barrier™ protection and a new reticle element coating. The new coating pushes the limits of the ultrawideband coating system by increasing light transmission by nearly 2% over previous designs. The culmination of these improvements deliver state-of-the-art optical performance in an already proven, durable and repeatable package.

In addition, these scopes feature a new “G” series reticle designed in conjunction with G.A. Precision. Based on the G3 reticle, the new G4P design features a floating dot center POA, floating holdover dots, refined line widths, quick acquisition bars for low magnification settings, and a more open reticle space above the horizontal stadia.

“The new Elite Tactical DMR3 is utterly reliable, tracks perfectly has a huge eye box and the field of view is everything you need,” said George Gardner, Founder of G.A. Precision and Team Captain for Elite Tactical. “With the etched glass and updated G4P reticle, it’s about as perfect as it can get. I have never had one fail me in a match.”

Each scope boasts a multi-position ThrowHammer™ magnification lever, allowing a shooter to accommodate their particular rifle without concern of manipulation interference. Additional features include Rev-limiter™ Zero Stop elevation turret, locking windage target turret, and a removable sunshade. The DMR3 riflescope shortens the minimum parallax setting over the DMRII Pro from 50 to 25 yards while the all-new XRS3 has a minimum parallax setting of 50 yards and a D-Lok locking diopter.

“The XRS3 has a lot more with 36 power and a 56mm objective, but it still delivers a sharp crisp image at every magnification from the bottom to the top,” said Bryan Sikes, Elite Tactical pro. “What you are really getting is every benefit of the DRM3 in a more magnified package.”

The XRS3 features 29 MIL elevation travel and 15 MIL windage travel, as well as an (18ft @ 100yd) field of view on 6X power and a (3ft @ 100yd) field of view on 36X power. The scope is 14.9 inches long and weighs in at 39 ounces. Read more

Optics

Michigan: grant funding can aid communities’ green-up efforts

On the way to school, the park or a city walking trail, take a look around. Could your local trees benefit from increased maintenance, planning or management technology? Or maybe outreach and education could help share the importance of trees with the next generation. If you’re interested in helping to green your community, connect with your local municipal office, campus administration or other planning authority to share the Community Forestry grant opportunity, administered by the DNR.

Through this grant program, Michigan communities can obtain resources for improved management and grow connections to public trees and forests through inventory projects, Arbor Day celebrations, tree care outreach, urban forestry technology and more.

“These grants support communities and partners around the state in providing better management, maintenance and education related to community trees and forests,” said Kevin Sayers, coordinator of the DNR’s Urban and Community Forestry program. Read more

Wildlife

Escort BTS Bullpup Shotgun

Bentonville, AZ -The Escort BTS bullpup offers all the perks of the VTS series shotguns in a more compact, portable package. This next-generation shotgun is available in either 12 ga or .410 cal and is offered in either black or FDE Cerakote. The inline gas piston design is mounted around the barrel, minimizing bulk and allowing the use of a proper bullpup layout. The tough polymer lower receiver also doubles as the forend grip, with soft rubber inlays for improved handling. Its magazine well is lined with durable alloy for smooth, long-lasting performance. The synthetic barrel cover features Hatsan’s patented ThermoDefend technology that absorbs and dissipates heat while containing the gas piston operating system.

Recoil control is distributed between a soft rubber buttpad and a long recoil spring located behind the gas piston. The reversible charging handle offers versatility to suit varying shooter preferences. The soft rubber pistol grip is removable and can be exchanged for one of many currently available aftermarket options to suit the individual user. The one-piece carry handle sight can be replaced with included flip-up sights for a lower profile or when using mounted optics. Picatinny rails are also located on either side of the forend to accommodate a variety of accessories.

The 12-gauge models feature an 18” barrel with removable chokes, including an extended cylinder bore choke brake that helps tame recoil with heavy shot or slugs. Also included are Full and Improved Cylinder flush-mount chokes, with additional options available from HatsanUSA. Each gun ships with two 5-round magazines, but an optional 2-round magazine is also available. The gun is chambered to accept both 2 ¾” and 3” shells and will cycle them interchangeably with no external adjustments required by the shooter.

The .410 models feature a 20” barrel with integrated choke suitable for both shot and slugs. Offering the same recoil-absorbing characteristics as the larger caliber models, this shotgun is one smooth operator. Also, it is shipped with two 5-round magazines, the optional low-capacity mag holds 3 shells. The gas piston operates in the same manner, cycling both standard and magnum loads smoothly and reliably. Read more

Firearms

Six Olympic Medals for USA Shooting, Best Performance Since 1964

Asaka Shooting Range, Tokyo, Japan– USA Shooting earned a grand total of six medals at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, making this their best performance at the Games since the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.  

USA Shooting athletes won three gold medals in Men’s Air Rifle (William Shaner), Women’s Skeet (Amber English), and Men’s Skeet (Vincent Hancock), two silvers in Mixed Team Air Rifle (Mary Tucker, Lucas Kozeniesky) and Women’s Trap (Kayle Browning), and one bronze in Mixed Team Trap (Maddy Bernau, Brian Burrows).

“I’m proud of the contributions made by every member of this team. In a period when training and competitions have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, our shooters came prepared to compete and win,” said Matt Suggs, CEO of USA Shooting.  Read more

Firearms

Firearm Industry Surpasses $14 Billion in Pittman-Robertson Excise Tax Contributions for Conservation

NEWTOWN, Conn. — NSSF® the firearm industry trade association, marked a milestone achievement when firearm and ammunition manufacturers topped $14.1 billion in contributions to the Wildlife Restoration Trust Fund since its inception in 1937.

“This is truly a remarkable win for wildlife conservation,” said Joe Bartozzi, NSSF’s President and CEO. “This fund has been responsible for the restoration and recovery of America’s iconic game species, including the Rocky Mountain elk, whitetail deer, pronghorn antelope, wild turkeys and a variety of waterfowl. It is also responsible for funding the recovery and conservation of nongame species, including the American bald eagle, reptiles, fauna and conservation lands that allow them to thrive. The firearm industry is proud to perform such an important and vital function to ensure America’s wildlife remains abundant for future generations.”

The Wildlife Restoration Trust Fund, commonly known as the Pittman-Robertson fund or Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax, is a tax paid by firearm and ammunition manufacturers on the products they produce. The excise tax is set at 11 percent of the wholesale price for long guns and ammunition and 10 percent of the wholesale price for handguns. The excise tax, paid by manufacturers and importers, applies basically to all firearms produced or imported for commercial sales, whether their purpose is for recreational shooting, hunting or personal defense. The tax is currently administered by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) in the Department of the Treasury, which turns the funds over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

USFWS then deposits the Pittman-Robertson revenue into a special account called the Wildlife Restoration Trust Fund, which is administered by the USFWS. These funds are made available to states and territories the year following their collection. Read more

Firearms, Fishing, Hunting, Wildlife

Working Together to Save Salmon from Heat

Mike Clark and a team of fisheries professionals watched the weather forecast for late June and knew it meant serious problems for the more than 7 million salmon being reared in the Columbia River Gorge National Fish Hatcheries.

Each day the weather forecast for the Pacific Northwest brought increasingly dire predictions. What started as 104 degrees soon became a forecast of 108 degrees. Then 111 … 115 …. 117 degrees.

The numbers were unfathomable for the normally temperate Pacific Northwest. If they came true, they would exceed previous all-time record highs for many areas by almost 10%. Clark, manager of the Columbia River Gorge National Fish Hatchery Complex, and the staff knew it would have a pronounced impact on the water temperature and the juvenile salmon at hatcheries in the complex.

That meant there was a lot of work with little margin for error as the heat dome settled in from June 25–29.

Fortunately, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Fish and Aquatic Conservation staff and partners at the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs and Yakama Nation were ready for the challenge.

“This was a huge effort in some demanding weather conditions,” Clark said. “It took a lot of people pulling together in extreme weather to protect an important and very delicate resource. This year was particularly significant because of some juvenile wild spring Chinook salmon we had at Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery, which are incredibly important to our tribal partners.”

When the week was all done, the numbers were staggering: Little White Salmon National Fish Hatchery (NFH) in the Columbia Gorge recorded an air temperature of 122 degrees with a reading of 160 skin-blistering degrees on the pavement on June 28.

Despite the hazardous heat, staff and partners worked together to safely transfer 348,000 spring Chinook salmon safely from Warm Springs NFH, and release another 7.15 million juvenile upriver bright fall Chinook salmon eight days ahead of schedule so they could make their way out to the Pacific Ocean before river temperature hit the danger range. Read more

Fishing

SCI Opposes Passage of Section 436 of Interior Appropriations Bill

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a large package of appropriations bills before recessing for the remainder of Summer. Safari Club International (SCI) strongly opposes the inclusion of Section 436 in the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 2022. If signed into law, Section 436 would ban the importation of sport hunted elephants or lions from Tanzania, Zimbabwe, or Zambia.

The language in Section 436 fails to differentiate illegal poaching in African range countries from legal, regulated hunting by Americans abroad. These countries have strict regulations in place to protect these iconic species, as they are home to some of the world’s largest populations of lions and elephants.

There is no question that this ban will have detrimental impacts on species conservation and the livelihoods of rural African communities. Regulated hunting provides irreplaceable funding for conservation, biodiversity, and habitat protection in southern Africa and, without it, these wildlife species, and the communities of Africans who live with them, are put at tremendous risk. The travel and tourism industry will also suffer from the harmful and senseless elements of Section 436, even as African nations struggle to recover from the financial shock caused by COVID-19. Read more

Hunting

Dorsey Shares How the Uber-Rich Weather a Social Storm in Style

Excerpt from Chris Dorsey’s latest column in Forbes

Tracking the financial moves of high-net worth people is as American as aspiring to be rich. When Warren Buffett (the Oracle of Omaha himself) speaks, for instance, legions of people hang on his every word. While many moves of the wealthy are relatively easy to follow—stock purchases, business investments and fads that go with the lifestyles of the rich and famous—there is one growing trend among the super wealthy that has largely been missed by coastal media gatekeepers.

The rich are gobbling up land far from population centers. The current trend isn’t so much the usual ranch swapping between billionaires looking for a trout dividend, but rather the motivations are rooted in the notion that America is undergoing profound and fundamental change.

To read the rest of the column click here

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