Snark + Sarcasm = what you’re about to read. A hit piece on why the Academy Awards are pointless comes about once every 33 seconds, like a YouTube comment about how Donald Trump supposedly &…
Source: Snarcasm: Let’s Talk About How the Oscars Don’t Matter (Again)
I’m heading up to Banff National Park tomorrow and the recent warm weather has me thinking about bears. It’s far too early for them to wake up so I don’t expect to see any. It d…
Source: Waiting for the Grizzlies
Forty-eight hours after I walked the frozen stream a heavy rain began. It rained hard all that night and by morning the water had risen and reopened, pushing sheets of ice onto the banks and into t…
Source: You Can Hardly Remember a Time
In 1934, at the age of 28, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a letter to a friend about an upcoming conference that would involve members of churches from several countries and denominations. In this lette…
Getting the right introduction to the shooting sports ensures a quality first-time experience and the start to a lifetime of enjoyment.
Begin with the basics. The National Rifle Association (NRA) provides firearm training courses that will teach you safety principles and help you develop the knowledge, skills and attitude that are needed to pursue your shooting interests.
The NRA provides an online state-by-state locator to help you find a local firearm safety course.
A professional shooting facility is another resource for you to contact about introductory courses and quality instruction. Wheretoshoot.org will help you find a range near you. Make contact and arrange a time to visit. Let the range know you are a newcomer to shooting. They will provide the information and instruction you need to get started in the different shooting disciplines; shotgun, rifle and/or handgun shooting.
If you can’t find a range, locate a shooting sports retailer near you. A good shooting sports retailer can help get you pointed in the right direction to find firearm safety courses and shooting instruction.
Also take a look at FirstShots.org where newcomers can find instructional opportunities to give handgun shooting a try.
You can find out more about the basic shooting games for shotgun, rifle and handgun at wheretoshoot.org. As you get more involved in target shooting, you may discover different variations of these basic games – and more opportunities to have fun.
As of 2012, hunters and target shooters have paid more than $7.2 billion in excise taxes through the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act since its passage in 1937.
Sportsmen and women contribute nearly $8 million a day to support wildlife and wildlife agencies.
An average hunter spends $2,484 every year on the sport.
Teenage girls are the fastest growing market in sport shooting.
According to research, 72 percent more women are hunting with firearms today than just five years ago. And 50 percent more women are now target shooting.
Americans hunt a combined 282 million days per year. Thats an average of 21 days per hunter.
More than 38 million Americans hunt and fish.
Hunters and anglers support more than 680,000 US jobs.
Through license sales and excise taxes on equipment, hunters and anglers pay for most fish and wildlife conservation programs.
More Americans hunt and shoot than play baseball.
Firearms are involved in less than 1% of all accidental fatalities. More Americans are killed in accidents involving vending machines than guns.
Hunting gear sales are growing faster than all other sporting goods categories, with 38.3 billion spent in 2011.
Americans annually buy more than 1 billion shotshells.
Non-resident hunting license, tag, stamp and permit sales have risen 41.2 percent since 1993.
Top selling sporting goods: 1.) exercise equipment, 2.) golf gear, 3.) hunting gear.
Hunting overall brought in more revenue ($38.3 billion) than Google ($37.9 billion) or Goldman Sachs Group ($36.8 billion).
Sources: US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS); 2001 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation; Southwick Associates. Hunting in America: An Economic Force for Conservation. Produced for the National Shooting Sports Foundation in partnership with the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. 2012
< Back to Deer Hunting Overview
When Europeans came to the New World, the white-tailed deer played an important role in providing food. The army of Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto found venison and whitetail hides being used by many Indian tribes in Arkansas.
By the early 1900s, white-tailed deer numbers were declining throughout the state. Unrestricted hunting, accelerated land clearing and the influx of people settling in the state took their toll on the deer population.
Deer management in Arkansas began in 1916, when a legislative act established a hunting season for deer, turkey and bear that lasted Nov. 11- Jan. 10. The newly established deer season was accompanied by a bag limit of two buck deer. At that time the statewide deer population was about 2,000.
By the 1920s deer had been eliminated from many Arkansas counties, leaving an estimated 500 deer statewide.
The development of state and federal game refuges in the late 1920s was vital for re-establishing Arkansas’s deer population. Stocking efforts were initiated and continued for about 20 years on these refuges. The deer population expanded from the refuges throughout the state.
Another important turning point for Arkansas’s deer was the 1944 passage of Amendment 35, which placed management and regulation of all wildlife resources under the authority of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. In subsequent decades, the goal of deer management was to increase deer numbers by restocking, setting “buck-only” deer seasons and providing strict enforcement of all hunting regulations.
By 1985 the deer population was estimated at 500,000 animals, and management emphasis shifted from herd growth to stabilization. As either-sex deer hunting opportunity continued to increase in the 1990s, the public grew more accepting of doe harvest. The three-point rule was implemented in 1998 as an attempt to reduce yearling buck harvest and improve buck age structure. During the late 1990s the AGFC implemented additional deer hunting restrictions, increased research efforts, developed a new deer management plan and initiated the Deer Management Assistance Program to help landowners provide better habitat and management on private land.
Today’s deer herd is estimated to be near 1 million animals. The comeback of the white-tailed deer is one of the most successful conservation initiatives in history.
Seriously Wounded Pit Bull Was Heading Towards A Busy Highway. Check Out How This Story EndedSometimes a bit of luck can save someone’s life. The story of a grateful dog Tyrion is the best proof of that.
Seriously wounded pit bull was heading towards a busy highway. Fortunately he was quickly noticed by professionals of the zoological service.
They managed to restrain the animal before the tragedy happened. But this is not the end of Tyrion problems. The dog suffered serious injuries earlier, probably as a result of the fight with another animal. His condition required an immediate visit to the animal hospital.
See how this story ended.
90-Year-Old Woman Found A Diary From The World War II. See What She Discovered!Laura Mea Davis, a 90-year-old woman, recently went to the World War II Museum in New Orleans to see the presentation in honour of her school love – Captain Thomas Jones.
She was prepared for the emotional experience … but what she discovered was beyond her wildest expectations.
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