For Sportsmen, Clear Water Restoration Act Goes Too Far

Peyton Knight of the National Center for Public Policy Research is warning sportsmen that the proposed Clean Water Restoration Act sponsored by Representative James Oberstar (D-MN), “would do more to threaten the cherished pastimes of hunters, fishermen and other outdoor enthusiasts than it would to ensure the cleanliness of our nation’s water.”

I’ve written a couple times over the past few months about the CWRA (here and here) but Knight brings to the attention of American sportsmen what could await us should this act be approved. Read more

South Dakota Hunters Have A New Voice In Politics

Below is information and a press release about a newly formed organization in South Dakota, South Dakota Hunting Rights Advocacy, aimed at fighting to protect the hunting heritage of South Dakotans. As I looked over the site, I found this. Read more

Wisconsin Considering A Wolf Hunting Season

The Wisconsin Conservation Congress seems to be testing the waters a bit by seeking input from residents on the prospects of offering a wolf hunt, partly in efforts to slow down the growth of the animal and keep human encounters and livestock damages to a minimum. Nothing being proposed is binding.

Last year the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the wolf fully recovered in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan and removed the wolf there from the list of endangered animals. None of the states currently offer wolf hunts and they still protect them through state mandates. Read more

Michigan DNR’s Miracle Christmas! They Found $20 Million

Art Summer at Simply Outdoors sent me an email yesterday asking me if I had been following the story in Michigan about budget shortfalls with the Department of Natural Resources. I admitted I had been remiss in not more closely following up on previous stories I had written about their woes. As a matter of fact, back in July I was contacted by the Cadillac News and asked if I would be interested in presenting what I would consider negative effects of sharply raising license fees. Read more

Continuing Misinformation About Declining Hunter Numbers

By Tom Remington

Back in June, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released preliminary data from their 2006 survey of hunting and fishing. Topping the headline was a statement that the number of hunting and fishing licenses bought in 2006 had dropped significantly. While that statement could be true it’s not accurate nor is it a reasonable conclusion to make based on the data collected, yet media outlets continue to tell the story that the number of hunters is shrinking. Read more

Spring Turkey Hunts

by
A. Sayward Lamb

The spring turkey hunts for my son Jim, and myself, ended with us both getting our turkeys, but the circumstances were quite different. When my wife and I arrived home from Florida, soon after the middle of April, we found two feet of snow on our camp road. We both knew it would be a few days before the snow melted, and the road dried up enough to enable us to drive our vehicle into our cottage, located eight tenths of a mile from the paved highway. Read more

Guided Missouri Duck Hunting

Because of lenient regulations, liberal bag limits, inexpensive license fees, location along the Mississippi flyway, and large quantities of many duck species, Missouri duck hunting is popular among waterfowl hunters. According to Jim Low of the Missouri Department of Conservation (mo.gov, 08/19/07), surveys have determined that the estimated number of ducks has increased 14% since last year and is the 5th highest since 1955. Read more