Hear the call? It’s elk season in northern Michigan

The first hunt period of the 2018 elk season starts Aug. 28, and 100 Michigan hunters will have 12 days to fill 30 any-elk and 70 antlerless-only licenses issued in the northern third of the Lower Peninsula.

“In general, elk hunters have a remarkable success rate during this first hunt period,” said Brian Mastenbrook, DNR wildlife field operations manager working out of the Gaylord office. “With only 100 hunters, we can really work closely with hunters and landowners to find elk.”

The first hunt – also known as Michigan’s early elk hunt – allows hunters to harvest an elk in any location in the elk management unitexcept within the core elk range; this approach helps to target animals that have moved outside the core elk range. Regulated hunting is a management tool used to influence how many elk are present and where they are located. The goal is to keep the majority of elk within the core elk range.

Michigan’s elk population has been hunted annually since 1984 and at this time has an estimated population of more than 1,200 animals – above the state’s current population goal of 500-900 elk. That goal was set by the Elk Management Advisory Team and outlined in the 2012 Elk Management Plan. Read more

Hunting

New Inflatable Sea Eagle FishSUP FS126

Fishing from a SUP will never be the same. The new Sea Eagle®super stable, inflatable FishSUP™ FS126 is for serious SUP anglers. Heavy duty .90 drop stitch material covers top, bottom and sides for superior protection against punctures. The 90”x18” thick camo EVA pad not only adds extra protection against sharp fins and hooks, it provides a non-slip, comfortable footbed. The SUP is a full 12’6” long and 40” wide making standing and casting stable and secure. There’s multiple d-rings and an elastic cord to keep gear in place and easily accessible. With the Sea Eagle Swivel Seat Fish Rig attached you get a high view of the water. There’s a large d-ring at the back for a leash and two small ones to tie down a battery box for your optional electric motor or other gear. Oh yes, this SUP includes a motormount that can take up to a 34-lb thrust electric motor but can be removed quickly if you want to use good, ol’ fashioned man power and paddle with either a SUP paddle or double ended kayak paddle. Getting to that secluded fishing spot will be easier than ever. The hunter green bottom & sides will blend into the surroundings and the grey top will stay cool even on the hottest days. Read more

Fishing

Scent Crusher Responds to District Court Ruling

From Scent Crusher…

Wichita, KS – Earlier today, we received a ruling from the District Court Judge granting Ozonics’ request for a preliminary injunction. While we are disappointed in this decision and intend to continue to vigorously defend our right to sell a competing product in a market Ozonics deliberately abandoned, we must follow the court’s ruling and temporarily suspend sales of 2 newly released products, the Scent Crusher Field Pro and Field Lite products. We believe this is a temporary condition as we did not begin production of our Field Pro and Field Lite products without seeking outside legal counsel. We produced and marketed the units consistent with this guidance; however, the legal process can be difficult to predict, and the court has initially ruled against our position. We continue to believe our legal rights are sound, and that we will be able to return the Field Pro and Field Lite to market soon.

We maintain strong partnerships with our retailers and as we work through the legal and logistical issues resulting from the court’s ruling we will continue to support our retailers as we always have.

Hunting

Texas Authorizes Big Bore Airgun Hunting

(Fort Worth, TX) – The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has passed new rules at their August 23rd meeting that will become effective in late September for the 2018 hunting season big bore, pre-charged pneumatic air guns will be a legal means of harvesting big game, turkey, alligator, and furbearers with the following stipulations:

For Big Game, Turkey, and Alligator – .30 caliber minimum shooting either a minimum of 150 grain bullet at 800 fps at the muzzle or any combination of projectile weight and speed that produces at least 215 foot/pounds of energy at the muzzle.

For Furbearers – A Minimum of .30 caliber is required. Read more

Firearms

Michigan: Walleye Stocking Program Continues to Succeed

Walleye are one of the most popular sportfish in Michigan, but most people already knew that. What most people don’t know is the process the Department of Natural Resources uses to rear walleye and stock them in public waterbodies throughout the state. It’s vastly different then our traditional fish rearing methods.

After the DNR’s Pacific salmon program kicked into high gear in the late 60s and early 70s, the focus shifted toward intensive culture of trout and salmon rather than coolwater species – like walleye. Michigan’s state fish hatchery facilities didn’t really have the means to rear those types of species, but some fisheries managers were interested in what could be done to jump start walleye populations, particularly in Saginaw Bay.

“We had some key staff, Leo Mrozinski and Bill Deephouse, who worked together to develop this idea of using ponds to rear walleye that we could stock,” said Ed Eisch, the DNR’s fish production manager. “They started by using old borrow pits located along the highways that had filled with water.”

As if by magic it was discovered this extensive rearing process – one where not much labor or financial resources was needed – was effective and could be replicated throughout the state.

“It’s kind of a cool concept,” Eisch explained. “You basically take these walleye fry, put them in the ponds, and let them do their thing, which is foraging on plankton. All you really have to do is keep track of the plankton and harvest the fish before the system crashes.” Read more

Fishing

Velocity Outdoor Releases the New Benjamin Fortitude

Bloomfield, NY – – Velocity Outdoor (formerly known as Crosman Corporation) is now shipping the much-anticipated Benjamin® Fortitude™, the latest generation pre-charged pneumatic (PCP) air rifles for hunters and shooters, in .177 and .22 calibers.

The Fortitude is packed with the most highly desired features and technologies that demanding air gun consumers will appreciate, including a regulator that delivers up to 90 shots per fill at a stunning 950 fps in .177Caliber/800 fps in .22 caliber, with consistent velocities from the first trigger pull to the last. Read more

Firearms

The Archery Advantage: Crossbows

By Glen Wunderlich

Michigan’s archery season is a little over a month away, and for many hunters, that means practice.  With typical vertical bows – not the newer vertical crossbows – it also means developing muscles seldom used in other physical activity.  Plus, that most valuable commodity we all seem to have so little of is the devotion of time – all the more reason to strongly consider the advantages of modern crossbows.  If you’re prone to traditionalism, more power to you, but my conversion took place a decade ago and I’ve never looked back.

I never appreciated the arduous tasks involved with preparations relative to conventional stick and string hunting; it was merely a means to an end.  I’ve owned the same crossbow, since they became legal years ago and getting ready is only a matter of confirming it’s on target when the trigger is pulled.  It affords me extreme accuracy with less effort.

Horton Vision Crossbow Shooting from Rest

Without getting into other comparisons between vertical equipment and crossbows, I appreciate two decided advantages:  They’re always ready and they can be shot from a rest.  Both of these features fit hand-in-hand with the DNR’s push for hunters to take more deer, as a means to minimize the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).

Vertical bows must be drawn when a deer is within range.  That means the quarry is also within range to spot the movement required or to detect any sound emitted in the process.  Putting whitetails on high alert is problematic and can mean misses or the despised wounding.  Shooting from a rest, similar to that available with firearms, minimizes the possibility of human error.

One more crossbow advantage is worth mentioning:  Youngsters can get involved in big-game hunting effectively without abusive recoil or noise.  To fight CWD or simply to carry on the time-honored hunting tradition to manage our deer herd, we’ll need young adults to enter the hunting fraternity, as seasoned citizens inevitably retire.

Becoming familiar with the equipment on level ground at 20 yards is a good way to start.  However, heading afield to actual stands to be used during season is better.  Some stands may be elevated and some shots will be presented at ranges either less or more than 20 yards.  Although crossbows have scopes mounted on them and many have yardage increments as part of their reticles, they are not necessarily calibrated for the weight and speed of the bolt (arrow) being used.  Even though rangefinders are in common use today and are highly recommended, they can only confirm distance.  Practice afield will confirm known distance in conjunction with the reticle’s aiming points; there is no sure-fire means to assume otherwise.

Worth repeating season-to-season is one final rule to let anyone realize that he or she is qualified to take an animal’s life, apart from any emotional considerations.  It is a measure of skill that determines if one is good enough – a barometer of competence, if you will, that applies to any “tool” used for taking game, be it archery equipment or any firearm:  the 9 out of 10 rule.  Simply stated, if 9 out of 10 shots can be placed into a conservative 6-inch circle at any given range with adequate energy at that range, a person is ready to hunt.  If not, that person must get closer to the target until the rule is satisfied and that becomes the ethical limit in range for that hunter.  No excuses.

Archery

BLM Issues Decision on Sonoran Desert National Monument Target Shooting

GW:  From what I’ve seen there, too many slob shooters threaten the rights of others.  They seem fit to haul myriad trash out there to shoot but unable to haul it out.  Smart sportsmen and women should make it a point to leave these areas cleaner than they found it.  The old Boy Scouts’ policy still makes sense.

On August 17, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued a Record of Decision announcing that recreational target shooting will remain open to the public within the Sonoran Desert National Monument (SDNM) in Arizona.

The decision follows years of uncertainty surrounding the availability of target shooting access within SDNM. In 2011, BLM announced that the entirety of the monument’s nearly 500,000 acres – a vast landscape historically used by target shooters concentrated in the Phoenix metropolitan area – would be entirely closed to recreational shooting through a BLM-initiated planning process. Following the proposed closure, the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council (WHHCC), an appointed federal advisory committee tasked with providing Department of the Interior agencies with recommendations on issues of interests to America’s sportsmen and women, advised BLM to reconsider the decision.

Based on the WHHCC’s recommendation, BLM went back to the drawing board and issued a revised plan that maintained target shooting access throughout much of the SDNM. In 2015, a U.S. District Court in Arizona found BLM’s revised plan had violated the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by failing to properly evaluate the impacts of recreational shooting on the monument. As a result, BLM was ordered to temporarily close 10,600 acres to recreational target shooting in order to study these impacts.

Access challenges on the SDNM highlighted larger issues surrounding the management of recreational shooting on BLM lands throughout the West. In 2011, the WHHCC, including Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) President Jeff Crane and Vice President Gary Kania, provided constructive feedback related to a proposed nationwide BLM recreational shooting policy that would have set the stage for large scale closures of lands that provide shooting opportunity across the region. As a result, then Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar issued a memo directing BLM to halt further development of the draft policy.

Following the ruling in the 2015 lawsuit, BLM further evaluated the impacts of shooting on the monument and solicited comments from a variety of stakeholders and agencies, ultimately concluding that an additional 2,600 acres are suitable for recreational target shooting on the SDNM. As part of this process, CSF joined several other sportsmen’s groups in encouraging BLM to modify its draft proposal to include provisions for public access to several popular target shooting locations originally proposed for closure. Following the public comment period and a similar recommendation from the Arizona Game and Fish Department, recommended changes were incorporated into the plan outlined in the Record of Decision.

The August 17 notice of the Record of Decision for the Resource Management Plan will ensure 435,700 of the 486,400 acres of the Sonoran Desert National Monument in Arizona will remain open to recreational target shooting. According to the BLM, approximately 95 percent of the 12.2 million acres of BLM lands in Arizona are open to recreational target shooting.

“BLM lands have long provided important access for recreational shooters and hunters looking to sight in their rifles near Phoenix,” said CSF’s Senior Director of Federal Land Policy, Andy Treharne. “BLM’s willingness to listen to the concerns raised by these public land users and identify solutions to meet their needs is greatly appreciated.”

Firearms

Michigan: 2018-19 Waterfowl Season Update

It’s almost time to polish up the shotgun, warm up the retriever with some practice throws and don that camouflage as we near the season for hunting ducks and geese in Michigan! Area wildlife managers have been working hard all summer to make sure that migrating waterfowl have great habitat conditions on Michigan’s state game and wildlife areas this fall.

Read more

Hunting

USCCA Statement: NYT Report on Arming Teachers

Available for Comment on Today’s Report in New York Times

West Bend, WI – The United States Concealed Carry Association (USCCA), which is the country’s largest and fastest growing association whose sole focus is the responsibly armed American, said today that with childen across the country returning to school all options should be on the table to allow teachers to defend themselves and others.

The New York Times reports today that a proposal under consideration would allow Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos, to approve any state or district plans to use grant funding for firearms and firearm training.  A subsequent report by CNN said Trump Administration officials pushed back on the report stating that the department received a letter from the Texas state Department of Education asking if the funds from a federal grant program could be used to purchase firearms. While no action was taken by the Department, DeVos thinks that Congress should take action to clarify whether using the grant funding to buy guns is permissible

Tim Schmidt, the President and Founder of the USCCA, who has been a vocal supporter for allowing trained teachers to protect themselves, made the following statement:

“Too many lives have been lost because murderous maniacs know that schools are soft targets where the teachers and students inside don’t have the ability to protect themselves.   Our government should be doing everything possible to protect our children and that includes allowing, and supporting, trained, licensed teachers and administrators to arm themselves.  In countless situations across this country, concealed-carry permit holders have been the front lines of defense against evildoers because they have the necessary knowledge, training and experience to protect those around them.  In an emergency situation, seconds matter and a well-trained, responsible gun owner can save lives in an active-shooter situation. 

“A number of school districts across the country in states like South Dakota, Texas and elsewhere are already allowing trained school officials with concealed carry permits to protect themselves and others while at work.  The federal government should be supporting those efforts and ensuring every possible option is being considered to keep our children safe.” Read more

Self Defense
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