You Might be an Avid Hunter

By Glen Wunderlich

It’s time to get ready for deer hunting.  Yet, for keenly eager hunters the fact of the matter is that the time to prepare is perpetual.   Here are a few symptoms that cause deer hunters to earn the moniker of avid hunter. 

You might be an avid hunter, if you search for antler sheds after the final season has ended.  The practice of shed hunting can be so intense, some states now have seasons.  For example, in Montana Wildlife Management Areas it is illegal to enter a state WMA prior to its formal opening day.  From Feb. 1 to April 15, in Utah you must have an antler-gathering certificate on your person while collecting shed antlers or horns.  Other states have restrictions, as well, but in Michigan, anyone is still able to hunt sheds at any time without any formal requirements.  The art of finding them has benefits such as learning where some of the big bucks were, and more importantly, which bruisers made it through the hunting season.

Michigan Shed Antlers

You might be an avid hunter, if you scout for deer.  Cruising the back roads and two-tracks in twilight hours with good binoculars is an enjoyable pastime even for non-hunters.  Who doesn’t like to see whitetails when they haven’t been spooked and are going about their daily routines of survival? 

Michigan Springtime Buck

Early Morning Whitetails

Antlered bucks are another spectacle altogether and the avid hunter searches them out from afar.  A window mount and quality spotting scope allows one to peer into cover, and tests one’s ability to spot not only movement, but horizontal backbone lines and colors otherwise unseen.

You might be an avid hunter, if you take advantage of game cameras as part of your scouting efforts.  It wasn’t long ago, that film cameras were inside of trailcams; they’re now as popular as VHS tapes.  The sky’s the limit and high-end game cams now use wireless technology to transmit photos and videos to smart phones and computers.  It may seem like a lazy person’s tactic to use cameras for scouting, but they certainly minimize, if not eliminate the potential to stink up the woods with one’s presence.  For some the biggest challenge is to leave the cameras alone for any extended times.

You might be an avid hunter, if you’ve ever pulled weeds from you food plots. 

Brassica Plot a Month after Planting

Guilty as charged!   In some states, hunting in conjunction with food plots or even farm crops is illegal.  But, in Michigan, where an over-abundance of deer remain, growing food for wildlife is big business.  Oh how excited I was to see the little brassica plants and sugar beets emerge, after planting before the month-long dry spell of July! 

You might be an avid hunter, if your deer blind is warmer than your bedroom.  Deer blinds are as varied as guns and gear, but nothing has spurred their growth as Michigan’s relaxed rules allowing elevated-platform hunting with firearms.  Although some folks may frown on them, because of the decided advantage they give hunters, their popularity has many virtues.  Being elevated is self-explanatory but hunting in the bitter cold of December, when most hunters have given up on the idea, has produced some magnificent bucks for those seizing the opportunity.  If a hunter cannot be comfortable and is squirming around in a futile effort to keep warm, he’ll either stay home or go home empty handed after spooking the game.  And, there’s no better way to introduce youngsters to the deer hunting tradition than to take them along for an adventure.

Getting ready?  For the avid hunter, it never ends.

Hunting, Wildlife

Causes of Death in America Statistics

By Michael D. Faw

While no one wants to die, no one also likes to be lied to.

According to most mass liberal media and some misguided school students, you would think all Americans will soon die from a firearms inflicted homicide or an accident involving a firearm.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

In fact, those widely noted and quoted champions of research, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), like to, and are paid to, find the facts. Their National Center for Health Statistics lists the leading cause of death in American as heart disease. This verifies those who argue spoons have killed more Americans than firearms. More CDC numbers reveal cancer, respiratory diseases, accidents (mainly ladders), strokes, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, influenza and pneumonia, and nephrosis are numbers one through nine in the causes of death listing. This group of illnesses and death inflictors amassed more than 1.9M (million) deaths in 2015 (best year stats are available) as reported in the Health United States, 2016 Table 19. Rounding out the top 10 in the leading cause of death for Americans was suicide. This accounted for 44, 000-plus deaths in 2015 in the United States of America. Not all of those self-inflicted deaths were accomplished with a firearm.

Firearm related deaths in America are actually low in the overall counts and totals.

It’s important, however, to also note that in causes of death, suicide ranked as number 7 among males and was not in the Top Ten causes of death listed for females.

Overall, in the white population, suicide dropped to cause No. 9 and was not in the Top Ten among causes of death for Black or African Americans in the survey numbers. Read more

General

Michigan: Take a free ride during Free ORV Weekend

Don’t forget that Michigan residents and out-of-state visitors can explore DNR-designated routes and trails without purchasing an ORV license or trail permit Aug. 18-19. All other ORV rules and laws still apply, and the Recreation Passport is required where applicable.

Explore the thrill of the ride yourself or take time to introduce friends and family to Michigan’s 3,700 miles of off-road trails and/or the state’s five scramble areas (St. Helen’s Motorsport Area, Black Lake Scramble Area, Silver Lake State Park, Bull Gap and The Mounds).

General

Mackinac Bridge to close to vehicle traffic Labor Day morning

If your Labor Day travel plans include crossing the Mackinac Bridge Monday, Sept. 3, please remember that the Mackinac Bridge Authority will close the bridge to vehicle traffic from 6:30 a.m. to noon.

The brief closure is for the safety and security of 2018 Annual Bridge Walk participants. The walk will begin at 7 a.m. in both St. Ignace and Mackinac City, but no busing will be available to transport walkers across the bridge. Read more

General

PepperBall LifeLite Launcher

PepperBall launchers provide highly effective personal protection at home, during recreation, at school and in the workplace. PepperBall LifeLite accurately propels small, non-lethal plastic projectiles filled with potent pepper powder, quickly disabling assailants.

LAKE FOREST, IL  — United Tactical Systems, developer of the world’s leading non-lethal professional and personal defense products, announced that its innovative and easy-to-use personal protection device, PepperBall LifeLite, is now available to the public. PepperBall has been in use for over two decades by more than 5,000 law enforcement and military agencies, but has not been available to the public until now. PepperBall offers an effective solution when lethal force is not warranted or permissible and is ideal as a non-lethal option at home, places of worship, while traveling, in schools and the workplace.

 

 

PepperBall LifeLite personal protection devices can be openly carried and are user-friendly. These launching devices use CO2 cartridges to accurately propel small, non-lethal plastic projectiles 60 feet at a velocity of 270 feet per second. On impact, these projectiles burst open to create a cloud of potent, debilitating pepper powder. The powder is designed to painfully disrupt normal function of the eyes, nose, lungs, and central nervous system, halting the immediate assault but without causing permanent bodily damage. PepperBall need not hit the body to be effective; the projectile can strike proximately and still overwhelm the assailant. The technology can also impact assailants even when they are not in the direct line of sight. Unlike pepper sprays and “stun gun”-like devices, PepperBall LifeLite gives users the advantages of time, distance, and accuracy. These in turn give users the confidence to carry and use the device when necessary. Read more

Self Defense

Firminator ATV Unit

The original Firminator was a brilliant solution for land managers looking to maximize their time, energy and financial resources by incorporating all the necessary food plot implements into one unit. But as the popularity of food plots grew, so did the demand, from a broader and more diverse group.

There were those who realize the best hunting plots are designed less for agricultural efficiency and more to maximize “huntability” by taking advantage of natural cover, terrain, wind direction and deer movements. As a result, these plots are often irregularly shaped and sometimes well off the beaten path, down the narrow trails, in the bottoms or up on the smaller ridges – places not easily accessible by heavy equipment and implements. There were more than a few land owners/managers who simply did not have tractors or larger implements, even for larger or more accessible areas.

With the technology already in place, Firminator needed only to downsize. The Firminator G-3 ATV Model puts all the same features of their full size G3 implement into a unit sized just right for an ATV (four-wheeler or side x side). Though light enough to be easily pulled by a 500cc or greater ATV, its 800 pounds proves ample weight for the 16-inch ground turning discs to break up and dig into hard ground that other ATV harrows would simply bounce across the surface of. Its 3-inch square tubing steel frame can withstand anything you’d expose your ATV to, and more. The seed box, constructed of the same steel as three point models, feeds the Firminator’s precision ACCU-Seed delivery system. When you’re done seeding you can finish with the true agricultural grade cast iron cultipacker.

The ATV Model comes with a tow bar sized for a 1-7/8-inch ball, but also retains the 3 point hitch for use on a small tractor.

ATV MODEL SPECS:

    • Frame material: 3-inch square tubing
    • Weight: 860 lbs.
    • Discing width: 32″
    • Cultipacker width: 34″
    • Seed hopper: 34: x 14.5″ x 12 W
    • Seed capacity: 2 bushels
    • Disc size: 16″ (6 discs at 6″ spacing)
    • Tow method: 1-7/8″ ball or three-point hitch

Read more

Wildlife

Jones Beach Legal Settlement Provides Safety for Endangered Birds

Based on a judicial order and settlement entered on August 6, the Piping Plovers that nest annually at Jones Beach State Park in New York will no longer face the risk of predation from feral cat colonies inside the Park’s boundaries. The plover, a small shorebird, is federally protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as a Threatened species in the Atlantic Coast region, and is listed as Endangered under New York law.

A lawsuit filed by American Bird Conservancy (ABC) in March 2016 alleged a violation of the ESA based on a concern that New York State Parks was not doing enough to ensure that feral cats do not harm the protected Piping Plovers and their chicks. Subsequent discussions between ABC and New York State Parks led to a settlement that provides protection to the plovers from cat predation.

Under the order and settlement, the cats currently living in colonies at Jones Beach will be humanely trapped and removed from the park by the end of the year to a sanctuary where they will be cared for. If the cats cannot be humanely relocated immediately, a limited number of cats will temporarily remain in a fenced area at the park. State Parks has also agreed that any new cats found in the park will be trapped and removed so new cat colonies do not exist at the park in the future. The agreement means that the plovers and their chicks will no longer face the possibility of predation from cats. Read more

Wildlife

Speer Releases Handloading Manual No. 15

LEWISTON, Idaho – – Speer Ammunition is pleased to announce its newest volume of handloading expertise. Decades of reloading knowledge and the latest recipes and techniques have been distilled into a single source: The Speer Handloading Manual No. 15. Shipments of this new book are being delivered to dealers now.

This new edition is Speer’s largest volume yet, featuring updated recipes with the latest propellants for more than 120 legacy cartridges, as well as data for 13 new cartridges, including 204 Ruger, 6.5 Creedmoor and 300 Blackout. The all-encompassing manual also provides recipes for loading new Gold Dot rifle component bullets, and articles by professional shooters Julie Golob and Jim Gilliland.

Features & Benefits

  • Data for 13 new cartridges, including 204 Ruger, 6.5 Creedmoor and 300 Blackout
  • Updates to load recipes for more than 120 cartridges using the latest propellants
  • Reloading recipes for new Gold Dot rifle bullets
  • Guest articles by professional shooters Julie Golob and Jim Gilliland
  • A complete guide to reloading techniques and concepts

Part No. / Description / MSRP

SRM15 / Speer Handloading Manual No. 15 / $34.95 Read more

Ammunition

Remington Custom Shop Collaborates with SIXSITE Gear

Sturgis, SD – The 700 SIXSITE Edition is an exciting collaboration between Remington and SIXSITE Gear.

The 700 SIXSITE is built to the exact specs with a blueprinted stainless 700 action complemented with a premium stainless barrel in the caliber of your choice.  The barrel is button rifled and hand lapped to provide a mirror finish for increased accuracy.  The barreled action is mated with a high-quality carbon fiber stock made by A.G. Composites which features a custom hand painted SIXSITE (RANA®) finish by Scalpel Arms.  The pattern was developed by blending organic textures and digital elements, this results in an extremely versatile and innovative camouflage pattern.  The rifle is fully bedded using Marine Tex which supplies a high strength bed with minimal shrinkage or expansion.  This model comes with a threaded muzzle and thread protector, Badger Ordnance 20 MOA Scope Rail, Remington custom 40X trigger and BiPod Adapter.  Check out the 700 SIXSITE here. Read more

Firearms

Flying Arrow’s PHARMAKON 3: Normal Doesn’t Cut It

Belgrade, MT- The PHARMAKON 3 broadhead, with its patented coring technology, is like no other broadhead in the industry. When it comes to pure devastation and bone crushing performance, look no further. One glance at the PHARMAKON 3 and you’ll see that it speaks for itself. The PHARMAKON 3 broadhead is the latest members to join the Flying Arrow Archery family. Like its big brother, the original TOXIC, the PHAMAKON 3 has all the great features of the TOXIC and more. The PHARMAKON 3 is much shorter than the TOXIC and very aerodynamic, making this head very easy to tune. The PHARMAKON 3 has a solid 1 piece, stainless steel ferrule and tip. The new and improved 2018 “Quick Change, Solid Lock” blades provide a 7/8” cutting diameter and are heavier than the TOXIC’s for even more durability. MSRP $39.99. You can find their full product list at http://flyingarrowarcheryusa.com/pharmakon-3-blade-100-grain/

Archery
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