From a Southwick Associates Press Release:
In an October 2009 survey, Southwick Associates asked anglers and hunters which type of organization they trust the most for accurate information regarding fish and wildlife conservation. The results of the monthly AnglerSurvey.com and HunterSurvey.com poll show that state fish and wildlife agencies are considered the most trustworthy source of conservation information among hunters and anglers.

Of the 2,771 anglers surveyed, 54.4 percent reported state fish and wildlife agencies were their most trusted source. Of the 3,378 hunters surveyed, 50.7 percent agreed.  The second most trusted source, with 25.1 percent of anglers and 29.5 percent of hunters, was sport-fishing and hunting non-profit conservation groups.

Other options included federal agencies, outdoor television, and outdoor print media. Who do you trust most? [ Read Full Post ]

Trail cameras are, for hunters, becoming so ubiquitous that we often don't think about their potential for other uses. I certainly never did until my son said he wanted one for Christmas, not for hunting, but to record all the various wildlife that travels through our rural back yard.
 
I thought it was a great idea, and in the broader context I thought it had real potential to get kids interested in the outdoors. But as I was perusing the excellent Southern Rockies Nature Blog recently I discovered a link to a teacher who had already figured that out. [ Read Full Post ]

From AOL News:
A 2-year-old girl whose temporary abduction sparked an Amber Alert in Maine on Monday is now safe at home again -- thanks to a passing hunter. . . .

On Tuesday afternoon, said WMUR/News 9, a hunter named Michael Grant was tramping through a wooded area not far from Milton, N.H., when he saw a familiar truck. Grant recognized both the make and license plate from television news reports. . . .

"I walked up to [the truck] and told [the driver] that I knew he was the gentleman [authorities] were looking for," Grant told WMUR. "[I] pretty much told him he had one of two choices. He could turn himself in or I could turn him in."

After a long, emotional conversation, Grant said, he persuaded [the man] to surrender to police. [ Read Full Post ]

One of the very nicest features of AyA guns (which I wrote about a month ago, here), were the safety buttons. I liked them so much I took a picture of one. As you can see, they stick up high where you can’t miss them and they practically grab your thumb like Velcro thanks to the sharp hand checkering on top. They snick off easily with a mere flick and are easily among the most positive safeties to operate that I have ever tried.

That brings me to the subject of safeties good and bad: a good safety comes off easily so you don’t even have to ... [ Read Full Post ]

My oldest brother got into the field trial game while he was still in college. At the time, he drove an old Buick Skylark sedan my father had graciously passed down to him. On the weekends when I was lucky enough to tag along, I remember waking before sunrise, shoving the crate in the Skylark’s back seat (and wedging a 4x4 underneath it so it sat even), loading the yellow Lab inside, and taking off for the trial. Once there, I didn’t notice ours was the only car in a sea of trucks and trailers—no doubt my brother did.

These days my dog rides in her crate in the back of my Jeep. But occasionally my wife allows Pritch in the front seat and, honestly, she behaves like the world’s most chill co-pilot—looking, sniffing, and enjoying the ride. And my good friend and fellow F&S contributor, T. Edward Nickens, says his Lab, Biscuit, always rides shotgun…even when Nickens is pulling carpool duty. Dog in the front seat…three girls in the back. Nickens and I both know it's not the safest mode of canine transport, but the up-sides of smiling dogs and red-light face licks are sometimes... [ Read Full Post ]

On Tuesday, October 27, two coyotes mauled 19-year-old Taylor Mitchell on a hiking trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park in Nova Scotia, Canada.  Although Mitchell was hiking alone when the daylight attack occurred, two nearby hikers heard the commotion and called 911. Officers responded in time to shoot one of the coyotes.  Airlifted to a Halifax hospital, Mitchell died of her injuries the next day.

Mitchell, a 2009 Canadian Folk Music Award nominee, leaves behind grieving family and fans, a shocked wildlife community, and a public wondering whether coyotes are animals to fear.

The consensus among wildlife professionals is that a fatal coyote attack on a human is a freak occurrence. “If I had to guess what animal would be responsible for a fatal attack in eastern Canada I would have guessed black bear, never coyote,” says Mike O’Brien, the Nova Scotia DNR’s Manager of Wildlife Resources. O’Brien says coyotes first appeared in Nova Scotia in the 1970s, and there have been very few attacks on humans since that time. Incidentally, eastern Canada’s coyotes are significantly larger than their western relatives, often weighing well over 40 pounds, perhaps due to interbreeding with wolves.

“It’s very abnormal,” says Ron Andrews, Iowa DNR Fur Resource... [ Read Full Post ]

Sometimes you read something that - to be perfectly honest - leaves you feeling hopeless and doomed. Something so depressing it makes you want to throw up your hands, shout "to hell with it all!" and head straight to the nearest bar. Something like this, from the LA Times.
 
The latest figures from Nielsen have children's TV usage at an eight-year high. Children's health advocates warn of adverse effects.
 
More than an entire day -- that's how long children sit in front of the television in an average week, according to new findings released Monday by Nielsen.

The amount of television usage by children reached an eight-year high, with kids ages 2 to 5 watching the screen for more than 32 hours a week on average and those ages 6 to 11 watching more than 28 hours. The analysis, based on the fourth quarter of 2008, measured children's consumption of live and recorded TV, as well as VCR and game console usage.

"They're using all the technology available in their households," said Patricia McDonough, Nielsen's senior vice president of insights, analysis and policy. "They're using the DVD, they're on the Internet. They're not giving up any media --... [ Read Full Post ]

From the Dawson News & Advertiser:

An 11-year-old Dawsonville boy who was shot in the head when his gun accidentally discharged in the Dawson Forest Wildlife Management Area on Friday has died.



John Wayne Corcoran was transported by air to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite following the incident, which occurred just before 6 p.m. He died at the hospital later that night.



[ Read Full Post ]

A couple of months back, the Savages took me on a prairie dog hunt and the evening before the shooting started I was handed a new version of the Model 12 Series Varmint in .223 to sight in. I did so, and what I saw 100 yards away in the fading light caught my interest—all five shots went in one ragged hole. Could this, I wondered, be the long-sought factory rifle that would break the ½-moa mark?

So when the hunt was over, I asked Savage for a loaner so I could beat on it at length with a variety of ammo and, after a suitable delay they gave me one with 600 rounds through it, also in .223. Now, before I tell you how I did, I should describe the rifle.

The Model 12 SLRPVDP is a lineal descendent of the Model 12, which won our Best of the Best award in 2006. It’s a single-shot with an oversized bolt knob, an H-S Precision Varmint stock with an aluminum bedding block (and three bedding screws), a special Accu-Trigger that can be set from 6 ounces* to 2.5 pounds, a 26-inch, deeply-fluted, extra-heavy 26-inch stainless barrel** and a ball-breaking weight of 12 pounds.... [ Read Full Post ]

. . . and celebrates by giving you a chance to win a free 870 shotgun. Here are the details, from a company press release:

Remington Arms Company, Inc. is acknowledging a milestone of an American classic, the Model 870 pump-action, in the September 24, 2009, edition of USA Today® with a full-page ad thanking America and the millions of Model 870 owners for making it possible to reach the 10,000,000th production mark. In honor of this historic achievement, Remington is also sponsoring the "10 Millionth Model 870 Shotgun" Sweepstakes. . . .

To enter and view entry guidelines, log on at www.remington.com/10milu. Entries will be accepted online from 9/24/09 - 12/31/09 with ten eligible adult winners selected to receive a commemorative Model 870 pump-action shotgun, recognizing this milestone. [ Read Full Post ]

In 2006, then Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton awarded Shell subsidiary Royal Dutch Shell PLC three oil-shale leases on federal land in Colorado reportedly worth hundred of billions of dollars. Months later, Norton stepped down as Secretary and took a lucrative job with—who else?—Shell.

Under her watch, the department was knee-deep in scandals involving illicit sex, drugs, and obstruction of justice. Norton was never implicated in any of that, but now is the target of a Justice Department corruption probe.

Meanwhile current secretary Ken Salazar announced on Wednesday that he will terminate a controversial Norton-era oil-and gas-royalty program that has reportedly robbed taxpayers of millions.

Here are the latest headlines:
Former Interior Secretary Gale Norton is focus of corruption probe
Norton’s Job In Oil a Slip-Up
Trust and The Interior Department [ Read Full Post ]

We don’t usually address conservation in this space but the way I look at it, shotguns aren’t good for much if you don’t have birds to hunt with them.

Back in the early 80s, when fencerow to fencerow farming was devastating pheasant populations, I can remember going hunting with my cousin one day. It was right at the beginning of the whitetail population boom, and all we saw that were a couple of hen pheasants and dozens of deer. [ Read Full Post ]