Beretta USA and Shoot Like A Girl Present Annual Hunt Like A Girl Turkey Hunt Contest

Accokeek, MD (March 24, 2022) – Beretta is pleased to announce the kick-off of the first hunt in the Hunt Like A Girl™ Contest this year in partnership with Shoot Like A Girl®, during which one lucky winner will be given the opportunity to participate in a guided turkey hunt at Midwest Whitetail Adventures in Clay Center, Kansas on April 21-25th. This contest will provide one entrant, who is new to hunting or has never hunted before, the chance to experience an exciting hunt with an all-female team from Shoot Like A Girl® and Beretta as well as a comprehensive turkey hunting gear package and transportation, meals, lodging and guide fees, and tips that will be provided.

Team Beretta athlete and six-time Olympic medalist, Kim Rhode, will be joining the event on behalf of the Beretta brand. Rhode is not only one of the most decorated Olympic champions in the discipline of shooting sports but also an avid sportswoman who frequently hunts both small and big game animals.

“We’re excited to continue our partnership with Beretta to share a hunting experience with a fantastic group of women,” Karen Butler, Founder and President of Shoot Like A Girl, said. “As we continue to offer experiences for new hunters, we work to enhance our mission of empowering women and building confidence in their abilities by bridging Beretta’s lineage with our shared goal of encouraging women to embrace shooting sports and nurture a love of the outdoors.” Read more

Hunting

Hillsdale College Action Shooting Team Earns First National Championship

GENESEO, ILL. – The Hillsdale College Action Shooting Team, with sponsorship support from Springfield Armory®, earned its first national championship at the Scholastic Action Shooting Program’s College Nationals in Talladega, Alabama. The competition, which took place March 12-13, was the team’s first national competition as a varsity team. This 10-person group includes students ranging from sophomore to senior, and three of the team members are veterans.

“The team and I were determined to represent Hillsdale College and Springfield Armory well at this year’s College Nationals,” said Adam Burlew, head coach of the team. “We trained dutifully to maximize our chances of success. These students are dedicated to being the best, and I’m proud of what they have accomplished over the last six months.”

Beating out competition from teams including Texas A&M, West Point and Virginia Tech, the Hillsdale team competed in two divisions: 1911 Model and Centerfire Pistol. They earned first place in the nation in the 1911 Division shooting Springfield Armory 1911 pistols. They earned second place in the Centerfire Division using Springfield Armory XD-M Elite 5.25” 9mm pistols. Additionally, the B Squad of the team placed third in the nation in the 1911 Division.

Individual shooters earned high honors, as well. Senior Greg Clement placed first in the 1911 division and third in the centerfire division among male pistol shooters. Senior Sarah Wagoner placed second in the 1911 division among female pistol shooters. Read more

Firearms

Go slow, look out below; Manatees need your help

As water temperatures warm, manatees naturally disperse from their winter habitats, traveling to other areas of the state and beyond. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is asking Florida residents and visitors to help keep manatees safe, especially while out on the water.

Manatees are leaving their winter refuges and are more likely to be in rivers, canals and nearshore waters. Florida boaters are also enjoying the season, so it is crucial to stay alert and avoid manatees while traveling through Florida’s waterways.

From April 1 through Nov. 15, seasonal manatee zones require boaters to slow down in certain areas to prevent manatees from being injured or killed by motorboats or personal watercrafts. Boat strikes are a major threat to Florida manatees. FWC law enforcement officers are on patrol in state waters to remind boaters of the seasonal manatee speed zones and take enforcement actions. Read more

Fishing

McLaughlin Poll Shows Strong Support for 2A After Ukraine Invasion

BELLEVUE, WA – A new survey by the nationally-recognized polling firm of McLaughlin & Associates shows strong public support for the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Second Amendment Foundation commissioned survey said 66.1 percent of the respondents agreed with the statement posed by the McLaughlin poll stating, “When you see what is going on with Vladimir Putin and Russia’s military invasion of the Ukraine, it is more important than ever for Americans to defend their 2nd Amendment Constitutional freedoms for law-abiding citizens to continue to have the right to own guns for their personal protection.” Only 25.7 percent disagree, and only 8.2 percent had no opinion. The survey may be read here.

“This should send a message to the Biden administration that Americans by a large majority fully understand the Second Amendment is about defending liberty and not about duck or deer hunting,” said Alan Gottlieb, SAF founder and executive vice president. “The new McLaughlin data shows how out-of-touch Biden and his fellow Democrats are about the right to keep and bear arms.” Read more

Self Defense

Maryland: Washington County Angler Catches Record Muskellunge

Photo courtesy Kyle Mullenix, submitted to Maryland DNR

At 33 Pounds, Muskie Beats 2017 Record

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) confirmed a Washington County man has set a new nontidal state record for muskellunge. Kyle Mullenix of Hagerstown caught the 33-pound, 49-inch long record muskie on March 2 along the banks of the upper Potomac River.

Regarded as the “fish of ten thousand casts,” muskies are the largest freshwater fish in Maryland and among the most difficult to catch.

Mullenix is credited with the first Maryland state fishing record of 2022. The 32-year-old lifelong angler said he has spent decades trying to catch a muskie. Using a 7-foot spinning rod and live bait, his luck finally changed.

“He put up a good fight, but we didn’t think it was that big until it was on the bank,” Mullenix said. “Things don’t always go as planned, but now life has gotten a lot better.” Read more

Fishing

Kill Some Bass, Improve Your Fishing

— Frank Sargeant

While the headline of this story is likely to raise bass angler hackles pretty much everywhere, biologists across the southeast are finally starting to suggest that the idea is not as nuts as it sounds.

While anglers have had it drummed into them for the past 50 years that catch-and-release fishing makes for great fish populations, it’s becoming pretty clear that many waters, particularly in the fast-growth South, are overpopulated with small largemouth and spotted bass, and that some harvest might result in more large fish.

Jason Olive, Assistant Chief of Fisheries for the Arkansas DNR, is one of the more outspoken advocates of tossing a bunch of two pounders into hot grease instead of back over the side.

“A lake has a certain carrying capacity in pounds per acre, and that means you can have a whole lot of little fish or a few big ones, or a mix. Right now, a lot of Arkansas lakes have a whole lot of little ones and not as many big ones as anglers would like to see,” says Olive. “One way to change that is for anglers to take home bass under two pounds for the table.”

Olive’s theory, in agreement with the majority of fish managers today, is that many lakes are much like a limited acreage of forest, where researchers long ago established the fact that a certain amount of habitat can support only a limited number of whitetail deer, among other species. Too many deer eat themselves out of groceries pretty quickly and body condition, reproduction and antler growth suffer. Read more

Fishing

SCI Sends Letter to Interior Over Gray Wolf Battle

Today, Safari Club International (SCI) joined 23 other hunting and conservation organizations, representing millions of sportsmen and women across the country, in a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. These organizations “respectfully request that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) appeal the February 10, 2022, decision from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California vacating the 2020 rule removing the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act (ESA) lists of endangered and threatened species.”

In early 2020, the Service removed gray wolves in the lower 48 U.S. States from the ESA lists. Of course, anti-hunting groups immediately sued to put wolves back under the ESA. Although these groups acknowledged that some populations of gray wolves have recovered, they sought to force the Service to restore wolves everywhere—from Maine to Washington State. SCI, along with the National Rifle Association (NRA), intervened in these suits to defend the Service’s science-based delisting rule. Unfortunately, a federal court in the Northern District of California largely ruled in the plaintiffs’ favor. It is now up to the Service to appeal this decision.

Gray Wolf populations have been increasing the last 20 years and demonstrate an Endangered Species Act success story. Now that the gray wolf is in no way endangered, it is time for the Service to allocate funding to other much more vulnerable species.

The best available science supports the delisting of the gray wolf, and the decision in California prevents species from being delisted even when they have fully recovered. Additionally, removal from the Endangered Species List simply means that federal resources are not used for conservation, and that management is returned to state agencies – which they are fully capable of in the case of the gray wolf.

The Department of the Interior and Secretary Haaland have a responsibility to stand on the side of science, management, and proven conservation strategies. They should not listen to misguided animal rights groups, which aim to have the gray wolf “endangered” in perpetuity. We look forward to Secretary Haaland’s response and will continue to stand on the side of science, conservation, and hunters.

Animal Rights, Wildlife

X-Vision Optics Announces New Thermal Monocular

Red Wing, MN. X-Vision Optics’ all-new Thermal Monocular (TM1) has a 400 x 300 thermal detector and a 1.7 to 6.8x digital magnification which can detect big game almost 2000 yards away! Weighing in at 1lb with an overall length of 7.5,” the TM1 is compact and lightweight. The TM1 also has Wi-Fi capabilities, picture and record function, internal memory storage, hot spot tracking, and free phone app compatibility. This device is dust and water-resistant to an international protection rating of IP66. X-Vision Optics’ TM1 is the best all-around thermal monocular for hunting, scouting, and surveilling. Read more

Optics

EAA Corp Presents Girsan MC312 Gobbler 12GA Shotgun

EAA Corp Presents Girsan MC312 Gobbler 12GA 3.5”, 3” & 2 ¾” Shotgun

(Cocoa, Florida) Florida based, European American Amory Corporation, an industry leader for innovative firearms from around the world, is excited to offer their MC312 Gobbler Shotgun in collaboration with Girsan Firearms.

EAA has you covered as the Gobbler is the perfect companion for this spring. Built on the super tough and highly popular Girsan MC312 shotgun platform, the Gobbler is ready to take to the woods with a combo camo and Cerakote® finish. It comes packaged with five choke tubes and a mini reflex-style red-dot sight. At an extremely attractive $641 MSRP, the shotgun is equipped with a 24-inch mid bead barrel that’s highlighted by an integral Picatinny rail mount set into the receiver.

This inventive and advanced design that is usually reserved for expensive, competitive shotguns does away with the need for drilled holes on the receiver to which a Picatinny rail could be mounted. The integral rail offers greater strength and puts an end to loose or wobbly optics, or what is commonly referred to as “giraffe neck,” a result of having to lift your head off the gun to find the sight. The Gobbler’s field-tested fiber optic front sight is located right where your eye aligns, keeping your eye on the target, your head on the gun for immediate target acquisition which is always paramount in spring turkey hunting. It also features common mag tube threads and common choke tube threads for plenty of aftermarket options and your choice of straight or pistol grip stock. Gobbler models also have an enhanced loading port and controls for easier field use with gloves, and are 3.5”, 3” and 2 ¾” compatible. Read more

Firearms
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