Outdoor commentary and legislative issues.
Last week, the Trump administration and China reached a partial deal – known as the Phase One Trade Agreement – to deescalate the ongoing trade war. While some details of the agreement have yet to be released – including the timeline for implementation – NMMA welcomed the news and urged both parties to keep negotiating until all tariffs are removed. Read more
Plenty of good snow, plenty of trail hazards
 The effects from a pair of severe late-November snowstorms are still being felt across much of northern Michigan as work crews continue efforts to clear and groom snowmobile and ski trails.
“The number of downed trees and limbs is astonishing,” said Rob Katona, central Upper Peninsula trails specialist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Parks and Recreation Division. “We haven’t seen conditions like this in recent history.” Many trails remain open, but riders are urged to use extra caution, watching out for hazards obscured by snow, like logs, rocks or stumps, or trails left impassable. The storms brought more than 2 feet of snow to some areas, blocking trails and weighing down tree limbs. In many places, young birches, oaks and other small-diameter trees have been bent over, arched across trails to the ground, where treetops are held in place, buried with snow. Read more |
RICHMOND, Va. — German Precision Optics (GPO) USA announces the introduction of the new compact, lightweight, one-handed RANGETRACKER 1800 Rangefinder. Designed to meet and exceed the rangefinding needs of the hunter, the new 6x RANGETRACKER™ 1800 allows the hunter to accurately range its target out to 1800 yards with one of the fastest laser rangefinding systems on the market.
The GPO RANGETRACKER™ 1800 handheld rangefinder incorporates state-of-the-art optical and electronic technology, wrapped into a small durable multi-use rangefinding tool. It will work perfectly for both long-range rifle hunting (up to 1800 yards) and close archery usage (6 yards.) Read more
(SMITHVILLE, GA) – From extensive crop damage, to native game and habitat destruction, wild hogs can cost landowners anywhere from several hundred to tens of thousands of dollars. Hogs plow through dirt, like man made farm implements, tearing up anything in their path. They will eat everything, including other animals, especially the young ones. Fawns won’t run, when they are only a few days old, and are quickly gobbled up. Clutches of quail or turkey eggs are a tasty treat. Wild hogs are not only competing for the food the native species needs to survive, but actually preying ON the native species themselves!
Hal Shouse, a navy veteran, and founder of HogSWAT, has created a solution to help control the overpopulation and damage caused by these wild hogs.
HogSWAT is a Tactical hog control company located in southwest Georgia that offers fully guided nighttime hog hunts, year-round using the best thermal optics and AR-15’s available. HogSWAT offers their service to local farmers, who are being terrorized by wild hogs…FOR FREE! Read more
Lawrenceville, Georgia – Bergara Rifles is pleased to announce that their Bergara B-14R .22 LR Rifle is now shipping.
Whether it’s for use in the surging popularity of .22 competitions or as a .22 rifle trainer, the new B-14R, with Bergara’s legendary reputation for accuracy, is going to be a game changer in the rimfire world.
This new rifle is built on a full scale REM700 footprint, including a 90 lift and longer bolt throw. These features allow shooters to have the same size and feel to their centerfire rifle and accommodates the use of other REM700 compatible stocks, bases, and triggers.
Because the B-14R is based on a full-size receiver design, it also provides a perfect platform to allow any shooter the ability to customize their rifle with all kinds of compatible accessories already in the market. The B-14R features a 10-round magazine modified single stack .22LR design that is built to similar dimensions as a standard short action AICS mag. Read more
Mogadore, OH. Wicked Ridge Crossbows, known for producing top value, precision performance crossbows, introduced its new Invader 400 model at the 2020 ATA Trade Show in Indianapolis, IN. The next generation of the best-selling Wicked Ridge Invader models is an incredible 40 feet-per-second faster than its predecessor. Proudly built in America, it features an ultra-lite stock with built-in cocking device that allows you to effortlessly and accurately cock your crossbow and is designed for the ultimate in handling, durability, and maneuverability.
“The Invader has been our best-selling Wicked Ridge model for over 10 years,” said TenPoint® CEO, Rick Bednar. “The new Invader 400’s performance, cocking devices, and scope take this model to a new level of value.”
Built to perform in the tightest of shooting situations, the narrow 185-pound bow assembly consists of a lightweight riser and machined aluminum limb pockets fitted with new 11” WRX™ double-laminated limbs. Powered by NEW speed designed, 5S Cams™ and DynaFLIGHT 97 string and cables, the bow assembly measures a narrow 15-inches wide and drives an arrow down-range up to a blazing 400 feet-per-second. Read more
Efforts continue to protect eastern entrance road to Michigan’s largest state park
Work begun in August to protect the main east access road to Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park is continuing in the face of violent late fall storms off Lake Superior.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Ontonagon County Road Commission have teamed up to protect County Road 107 to ensure continued east access to the 60,000-acre park and its signature attractions.
The DNR is not typically involved in county road projects but is in this case because of the road’s importance to the park. About 80 percent of the 1.6-mile stretch of affected county road has less than 20 feet of shoreline between the lake’s edge and the road.
“Without this main accessway, should a road washout or undermining occur, visitors to the park’s east end may be required to take an 80-mile detour, via west end entry, or be prevented altogether from reaching numerous points of interest,” said Eric Cadeau, a DNR Parks and Recreation Division regional planner.
Some of those points of interest include the Lake of the Clouds overlook, Union Bay Campground and the park’s ski area. Read more
Cornell Lab zooms in on a Royal Albatross nest in New Zealand
Otago, New Zealand & Ithaca, New York—Millions of people from around the world can now witness a rare sight in real time: a Northern Royal Albatross pair nesting and raising their chick. The live views originate from a coastal albatross colony in Otago, on South Island, New Zealand, and are made possible by a new partnership between the country’s Department of Conservation (DOC) and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
The Cornell Lab’s Bird Cams website now carries the popular Royal Cam which will continue to be hosted by DOC on a windy hilltop near the ocean. Viewers will see a 21 year old male bird (identified as OGK, with orange, green, and black leg bands) and a 25 year old female (YRK, with yellow, red, and black bands). YRK laid her egg on November 14. Look for hatching to begin on the live cam in late January and early February. Chicks usually fledge in September and will remain at sea for several years before returning to the breeding grounds. Read more
NEWINGTON, N.H. – SIG SAUER, Inc. is pleased to present the WILDCraft Video Series featuring the SIG SAUER Electro-Optic Ballistic Data Xchange (BDX) Rangefinder and Riflescope system, OSCAR8 Riflescope, and SIG SAUER Elite Copper Hunting Ammunition. Season One of the WILDCraft series is now streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
WILDCraft is a four-part video series, hosted by Richard Mann, chronicling the journey of a group of gun writers and editors on a hunt led by professional hunter Geoffrey Wayland through the Fort Richmond Safaris in the mountains of South Africa’s Northern Cape.
Throughout the WILDCraft series hunters train, and utilize, the SIG SAUER Electro-Optics BDX System which combines traditional hunting equipment with technology. BDX is a fully integrated rangefinder and riflescope system that utilizes Applied Ballistics Ultralight and Bluetooth™. The free SIG BDX app for Android and iOS systems allows for ballistic profiles to be established, and then communicated via Bluetooth™ to any SIG SAUER KILO BDX rangefinder. When targets are ranged, the ballistics are combined with distance to target, slope, temperature, and pressure to precisely calculate the shooting solution. This solution is displayed in the rangefinder and is also shared instantly with any SIERRA3BDX riflescope, instantly illuminating the exact holdover dot on the reticle in the riflescope. BDX™ is simple, fast, and intuitive – just connect the dot. Read more
Lawrenceville, GA – Bergara is excited to announce two new exciting calibers in the popular B-14 HMR and Ridge models are now shipping. Bergara feels that these new high-performance calibers provide their customers with what they have been asking for. The B-14 Rifle was designed with the purpose of offering customers a feature-rich hunting / match rifles ideal for longer range big game hunting, varmint hunting, and also a versatile target shooting rifle. The Bergara B-14’s are built in Bergara, Spain, at the same factory where all of our Bergara barrel blanks are manufactured.
Like all Bergara B-14 Series rifles, they are affordably priced and packed with features. rifle a unique cosmetic appeal. All B-14 rifles are guaranteed capable of producing sub-1.0 MOA groups or less at 100 yards using factory match grade ammunition.