Michigan: Leave firewood at home

Hot tip for travelers: Leave firewood at home

Wherever your travels may take you this summer, you can make more room for your favorite recreational gear, your pet or even an extra friend by choosing to leave firewood at home.

Moving firewood when you camp, hunt or head out for a weekend getaway means you risk carrying tree-killing insects and diseases inside the firewood. Bugs can crawl out, infesting trees and carrying diseases that can forever change the landscape of the places you love.

“Much like the emerald ash borer – which spread across the state in the early 2000s, killing many of Michigan’s 700 million ash trees – invasive oak wilt, beech bark disease and hemlock woolly adelgid are threatening tree species that are critical components of our forests and landscapes,” said Robin Rosenbaum, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Plant Health Section manager.

According to MDARD, there are 140 pests and diseases that can be moved with firewood. Some are already present in Michigan, while others, including Asian longhorned beetle, beech leaf disease and spotted lanternfly, are infesting nearby states.

“On their own, these insects and diseases can’t travel very far, but they can travel hundreds of miles on firewood,” said Sue Tangora, Michigan Department of Natural Resources Forest Health and Cooperative Programs Section supervisor. “Trees cut for firewood often died due to insects or disease. Why risk carrying oak wilt to your cabin or beech bark disease to your favorite camping spot?”

Keep the fire burning

You can still have a roaring campfire, or a cozy night in front of the fireplace, if you just know how to burn safe. Read more

Wildlife

SCIF Launches Grizzly Bear Conflict Mitigation Work With Bear Spray Giveaway Event

Safari Club International Foundation (SCIF) over the weekend participated in its first bear spray giveaway event with the Wyoming Game & Fish Department (WGFD), publicly launching the organization’s new work on grizzly bear conflict mitigation.

Thanks to a recent grant award from the Wyoming Wildlife Foundation’s Memorial Bear Fund, SCIF donated 100 cans of bear spray to the WGFD for distribution out of Dubois, WY for the local area’s shed hunting season opener on May 15 at the Thunderhead Campground up the East Fork of the Wind River in the Absaroka Mountains.

This year, as a pilot project WGFD permitted 25 shed hunters with 3 guests each onto the Spence & Moriarity Wildlife Management Unit to better manage the influx of humans into grizzly country and any potential impacts to wildlife. The area has been at high risk of conflict, especially as both bears and humans become more active on the landscape during the spring. While luckily there were no incidents this year, a man was mauled last year on this same unit on the opening day of shed season.

“This event is a continued effort by the WGFD to reduce human-bear conflicts in occupied grizzly bear habitat,” said WGFD Bear Wise Coordinator Dusty Lasseter. “It’s important that anyone recreating in bear country is prepared for a bear encounter and can protect themselves in the rare case of an aggressive encounter.” Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Viridian Announces Laser Sights for Taurus GX4

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – May 20, 2021 – Viridian Weapon Technologies is proud to announce new green and red E-Series™ laser sights for the new Taurus GX4™. Taurus’s new micro 9mm is purpose-built for every day carry, and the new E-Series lasers add to the GX4’s utilitarian design by cutting down time-to-target.

“Viridian has had a long relationship with Taurus, and we’re thrilled to add these new E-Series lasers to our line-up,” said Viridian President and CEO Brian Hedeen. “The E-Series lasers, both red and green, are ideal for those who carry every day. The new GX4 is a solid concealed carry option and provides substantial capacity. With the added aiming assistance of the E-Series laser, the package becomes even more effective. Taurus understands self-defense, and Viridian’s E-Series lasers help take that personal protection to the next level.”

Viridian is one of the world’s largest independent providers of weapon-mounted technology. The company specializes in gun-specific lasers that add versatility. The E-Series green and red laser sights for the Taurus GX4 are the newest additions to Viridian’s line of dedicated Taurus lasers. The red E-Series laser excels in low-light scenarios. The green E-Series laser can be seen at up-to 100 yards in daylight and at over two miles in darkness. Read more

Optics

NSSF Sponsors POMA Conference

Johnstown, PA – The National Shooting Sports Foundation® (NSSF®), the trade association for the firearms industry, will proudly sponsor the 2021 POMA Business Conference on June 15th – June 17th in Franklin, Tennessee, just seventeen miles away from Nashville. As a long-time sponsor, the NSSF graciously continues its relationship with POMA and the outdoor media industry at the 15th annual POMA conference. This year the NSSF is sponsoring the lunch on June 17th, from 11:15 AM to 12:15 PM, at the Cool Springs Marriott Conference Center. Following lunch, attendees will get the opportunity to participate in POMA’s Shooting Day event at Strategic Edge Gun Range in Chapel Hill, Tennessee. Media members will be shuttled to Strategic Edge Gun Range as provided by Visit Franklin from the Cool Springs Marriott Hotel.

The NSSF, at its core, passionately promotes gun safety, most notably with their Project ChildSafe program, which focuses on the promotion of safe firearms handling and storage education. The NSSF also conducts state-of-the-art research, including customized market reports, industry intelligence reports, consumer studies, and other research topics, and works with all branches of the government to assess, address, and resolve issues within the industry lobbying, advocacy, and public affairs. Bill Brassard and Justin Morrissey, the Senior Director of Communications and Social Media Manager, respectively, will be representing the NSSF at the POMA Business Conference. Justin Morrissey said that “NSSF is proud to continually support POMA and its hundreds of media members who contribute greatly to the representation of the firearm and ammunition industry. This invaluable network of creative storytellers and subject matter experts provides a reliable source of information for our industry and its consumers – which is critical following a record-setting year in which more than 8 million U.S. citizens became new gun owners and outdoor recreation participation soared.” Read more

Fishing, Hunting

The All-New Taurus GX4

(Bainbridge, GA) – Taurus, manufacturer of premium handguns for defense, hunting, and sport shooting, is excited to announce the all-new Taurus GX4, designed to deliver maximum concealment without sacrificing ergonomics, performance, or capacity. In short, the Taurus GX4 offers everything you would expect from a full-frame defensive handgun (and more!) but at a fraction of the size and weight. The new Taurus GX4 redefines the micro pistol segment to deliver the concealability of a .380 but with the power, capacity, and function of a full-size 9mm handgun.

The Taurus GX4 is built on a stainless frame with a polymer grip that earns high marks in shooter comfort and strength. This thin, one-inch-wide frame provides negligible printing when worn inside the waistband and features a grip dimension sized to fit any hand. To ensure structural rigidity and reliable cycling in such a scaled-down foundation, the polymer receiver bolsters an integral stainless-steel framework that eliminates flex or deformation when firing. Read more

Firearms

Firminator: Best Cultipacker Makes Food Plots Healthier

It starts with the soil. Ensuring your soil has the proper chemical composition is critical to food plot success, but it doesn’t stop there. The physical condition of the soil is just as important. This is why components like the Firminator’s built-in cultipacker are so essential in allowing you to get the job done right, and more efficiently.

Before you can plan your food plot, you need to prepare the site by turning the soil. Shortening the top link on the Firminator’s main pitch adjustment leans the implement more heavily onto its disk assembly for a deeper cut into sod and stubborn soil. Switching to a mid-range setting gives varying degrees of disk depth, while simultaneously allowing the built-in cultipacker to maintain good ground contact. This helps break apart clods while leveling and firming the soil.

One of the most important, yet often overlooked steps in maximizing the productivity of your food plots is compacting, or “firming,” the soil. This improves seed-to-soil contact, which dramatically improves germination rates and plant growth. This also saves you time, money and effort that would otherwise be wasted on poorer growing crops. Proper firmination means better germination. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

National Safe Boating Week is May 22–28

The nation’s largest recreational boating safety event of the year, National Safe Boating Week, is May 22–28, serves as a reminder to boaters to keep safety front and center all season long. The BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water offers three tips for boaters to be safety heroes on the water.

  1. The best life jacket is the one you will wear, meaning one that’s comfortable. There are many lightweight inflatable life jackets that fit the bill. Check the jacket’s label to ensure it’s approved for your type of boating. If the kids are visiting, don’t be tempted to put a child in an ill-fitting adult life jacket.
  2. Boating safety reports indicate that operator inattention, improper lookout, operator inexperience, excessive speed, and alcohol rank as the top five primary contributing factors in accidents. Focus on eliminating these factors by putting down the cellphone, practicing using S.C.A.N. procedures to avoid distracted boating, taking a free boating safety course, slowing down, and driving more defensively, especially in congested boating areas. Alcohol use is the leading known contributing factor in fatal boating accidents, so save the celebration for after the boat is safely tied up for the night. Boat operators also need to recognize they are responsible for the safety of their guests, including inebriated ones.
  3. Remember to wear an engine cutoff switch if your boat is less than 26-feet, traveling on plane or above displacement speed. Engine cutoff switches can prevent boat strike injuries after an operator has been ejected from the vessel or displaced from the helm.

Sidebar: What Is SCAN? Read more

Fishing

NSSF Welcomes FFL Protection Act Introduction in U.S. House of Representatives

NEWTOWN, Conn. — The National Shooting Sports Foundation® (NSSF®), the firearm industry trade association, welcomes and fully-supports U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb’s (D-Pa.) introduction of H.R. 3252, the Federal Firearms Licensee Protection Act. The bipartisan bill would strengthen and enhance criminal penalties for thefts of firearms from federally licensed firearm retailers. It sends a strong message to those violent criminals engaging in these illicit activities and helps provide for safer communities, assists law enforcement and protects the livelihoods of firearm retailers.

“The bill sends the clear message that Congress will not tolerate criminals who victimize firearm retailers in order to further prey upon and threaten communities,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “The firearm industry is grateful to Congressman Lamb and the bipartisan cosponsors for reaching across the aisle to provide those firearm retailers who follow the law the protection they deserve. We are further grateful that this legislation properly assigns the blame where it is warranted and tells criminals that Congress and the firearm industry will hold those committing crime responsible for their reprehensible actions.”

The Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) Protection Act builds on the efforts NSSF has taken to address robbery and burglary of firearms through the partnership with Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on Operation Secure Store®. As part of Operation Secure Store, NSSF matches ATF reward offers for information regarding these crimes that leads to the arrest and conviction of the criminals responsible and recovery of the stolen firearms. Additionally, NSSF helps educate firearm retailers on steps they can take to reduce the chance guns will be stolen from them during a burglary or robbery, and in cooperation with ATF, conducts retailer store security seminars, assists retailers with store security audits of their premises and endorses and promotes the use of security products like smash resistant display cases. Read more

Firearms

Pope & Young Ultimate Dream Raffle

May 17, 2021- Pope and Young, America’s leading bowhunting organization announces the Ultimate Dream Raffle. The Ultimate Dream Raffle allows one lucky winner to select from one of four, once in a lifetime, hunting experiences:

If your ticket is drawn you will then be able to choose your hunt from the following truly remarkable opportunities:

This amazing opportunity represents the largest raffle Pope & Young has ever put on, and you won’t want to miss your opportunity to win! Tickets can be purchased in the following packages: (1) for $100, (4) for $300, or (15) for $1,000. Read more

Hunting

Springfield Armory Releases 15-Round Hellcat Magazine

GENESEO, ILL. – Springfield Armory® has taken its Hellcat® pistol — the smallest, highest capacity micro-compact 9mm handgun in the world — and increased its already impressive capacity with the new 15-round Hellcat magazine. The result is a micro-sized 9mm pistol with an astounding 15+1 capacity comparable to compact and duty-sized pistols, yet in a package that is smaller than similarly configured, lower-capacity competitors.

The new magazine, which is only slightly longer than the 13-round extended version, is currently available directly from Springfield Armory with an MSRP of $39.95 and will soon be available from Springfield retailers as well. It is offered in both black and Desert FDE.

The Hellcat is available in both standard and OSP™ (Optical Sight Pistol) versions, with the latter featuring slides cut to accept the smallest micro red dot sights on the market. The micro 9mm ships with a patented 11-round magazine as well as an extended 13-round magazine, and this newest magazine will allow users to have a full 15+1 rounds of 9mm ammo ready to go. Read more

Firearms
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