Springfield, Missouri —Its TV programming slogan is, “Your Passion, Your Lifestyle, Your Channel.” Now, through its new sponsorship of National Hunting and Fishing Day, The Sportsman Channel is reminding Americans that sporting passions and lifestyles also channel vital funding into conservation.

The Sportsman Channel’s sponsorship supports Wonders of Wildlife museum, the official home and national organizer of National Hunting and Fishing Day.

Congress formalized the annual holiday, set for Sept. 27, 2008, to recognize hunters and anglers for their vital contribution to conservation. Through fees and excise taxes, over 34 million hunters and anglers generate $100,000 every 30 minutes for fish, wildlife and habitat programs.

Bogart, Georgia – The Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) has recently updated one of its most popular educational posters with new data. The poster features a map showing the county-by-county distribution of Boone & Crockett and Pope & Young record-book bucks killed during the 10-year period from 1996 to 2005. The previous version of the map included data on record-book bucks taken from 1991 to 2000.

The distribution map combines all of the bucks that were officially entered and qualified for the Boone & Crockett Club’s Awards program or higher and the Pope & Young Club’s Bowhunting Big-Game Records of North America. The poster includes names of counties with one or more bucks in either records program.

Also included are smaller maps showing the separate distribution of Boone & Crockett and Pope & Young bucks. Plus, tables display record-book entry numbers by state for each club, as well as the top counties in the nation in each club’s records, with statistics on typical and non-typical records.

MADISON, N.C. - Remington Arms Company Inc., America's oldest gunmaker now in their 192nd year of United States manufacturing, has just announced a multi-year marketing relationship with NFL quarterback Bret Favre. The 2007 season marked Favre's astounding 17th year as a pro quarterback, and Brett was recently named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year. Favre's appeal to America is as much about his profound personal perseverance as it is his ability to put footballs in the hands of receivers, still, Favre makes no secret of the fact that hunting is one of his favorite ways to decompress.

When asked about his idea of the perfect day, Favre said, "If I could squeeze in throwing touchdown passes at a morning practice, lunch with my family and pulling the trigger on a trophy buck at sunset, that would be about as perfect as life can get. And it seems the older I get, the more I treasure the days spent in solitude in the woods. I've already hunted about 20 days this season, so this recent agreement with Remington is pretty special to me."

Reno, Nevada – Safari Club International is pleased to announce the 2008 winners of its prestigious annual awards for selected Members of Congress. Rep Adam Putnam (R-Fla.) is the winner of the Federal Legislator of the Year. Rep Mike Thompson, (D-Calif) is the winner of the Hunting Heritage Award.

The winner of the Federal Legislator of the Year award, Rep. Adam Putnam, is a young firebrand and a fifth generation Floridian. Now in his fourth term, he is Chairman of the Republican Conference, which means he is the #3 ranking republican in the House – a tremendous feat for a lawmaker who has yet to turn 40. Rep. Putnam quickly ascended into the ranks of leadership, and now carries the conservation agenda to his colleagues when issues are pending. He is known as a hard-charging workhorse, and can usually be found behind the scenes counting votes and hammering out details. Putnam is also a former co-chair of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation.

Bismarck, North Dakota – Ducks Unlimited says the amount of carbon that will be released in the Prairie Pothole Region the next four years from plowing up Conservation Reserve Program grassland will equal 15 million new cars on the road.

Nearly 820,000 acres of CRP grassland disappeared in the Dakotas and Montana in 2007. But DU says this is a drop in the bucket compared to what will be lost over the next four years. New US Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency data shows that nearly 5.6 million acres, or two-thirds of the current CRP in these states, will expire by October 2012.

“This magnitude of CRP loss hurts more than waterfowl populations, it will have a large impact on efforts to fight global warming,” said Scott McLeod, Farm Bill specialist with DU’s Great Plains Regional Office. “This is an absolutely staggering amount of grassland to be losing in such a short period of time and impacts on wildlife will be disastrous.”

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania—Seminars by top hunting and fishing experts is a hallmark of the Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show (Feb. 2-10) presented by Chevrolet and this year’s lineup of seminar speakers is no exception.

Chuck Adams

There is no bigger name in the bowhunting world than Chuck Adams. For each day of The Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show two lucky contest winners will have one-on-one bowhunting clinics with Chuck Adams.

Entering the contest is easy. Go to easternsportshow.com , click on the Chuck Adams contest box and fill out the entry form.

Even if you don’t win the contest you can still learn from the master. All Show attendees are invited to watch, listen and learn from the legend himself at these twice-daily clinics.

MISSOULA, Mont.—With an unwavering mission to “ensure the future of elk, other wildlife and their habitat,” the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation depends on ample funding. And ample funding, officials reveal, depends on ample firearms.
 
The conservation organization expects to spend over $4 million this year on guns for fundraiser auctions, raffles and games that vary by state.
 
“Nationwide, there are 500-plus Elk Foundation banquets scheduled for 2008. Volunteers stock these events with a combination of guns from our national headquarters and local donations or purchases. Either way, the chance to win or buy a quality gun is a proven attraction for banquet attendees—and a major revenue source for our mission,” said Steve Decker, director of field programs for the Elk Foundation.
 
Elk Foundation banquet-merchandise buyers are headed to SHOT Show, the firearm industry’s annual trade show slated Feb. 2-5 in Las Vegas, with a $2 million checkbook for firearms purchases alone.

Reno, Nevada – Safari Club International is pleased to announce that Taz Ridley is the 2008 winner of the prestigious Hall of Fame Award.

Induction into the Safari Club International Hall of Fame may be the most prestigious honor bestowed upon an SCI member. Potential inductees are nominated by SCI members. The Hall of Fame selection committee ranks each nominee based upon the following criteria: history of service to the world hunting community, dedication to Safari Club International’s goals of conservation, protecting the freedom to hunt, and education of the people. Hall of Fame criteria do not include the candidates’ hunting accomplishments. The award is sponsored by Carl Zeiss Optical, Inc.

Taz Ridley has been a dedicated member of SCI serving in a number of capacities. Some of the highlights of his SCI career are as follows. In 1988 the Kansas City chapter awarded Taz with the member of the year and in 1991 he was honored with Outstanding Sportsman, Conservationist and Hunter of the year. SCI awarded him with the Outstanding Member of the Year Award in 1996 followed by the Sables Man of the Year Award in 1999. Taz’s true love is education, and he has served on the SCI Education Committee since 1990. He has been very active in supporting educational programs like the Apprentice Hunter Program.

Reno, Nevada – Safari Club International is pleased to announce the 2008 winners of the prestigious Young Hunter Award. The award was conferred upon Keagen Christenson, Justin D. Fox, and Austin McMahon.

The SCI Young Hunter Award, sponsored by Cabela’s, is based on five criteria. Applicants must submit a 500 word essay on “How to be a Role Model for Hunting,” and are judged on Community and Conservation Activities, Hunting, Fishing & Outdoor Experiences, and recommendation from an SCI Chapter. The selection committee gives points based on on the hunter’s ability to demonstrate they are a positive role model for the hunting community. Bonus points are awarded to the applicants if they have attended either the Apprentice Hunter Camp or the Student Week at the American Wilderness Leadership School (AWLS). 

Today has been amazing.  We made it over to the convention about 10am after a great breakfast at the El Dorado.  I dropped off my two ton bag at the press room and proceeded to begin to pick up where we left off viewing the exhibits.  We saw some amazing stuff at the show.  Berretta, Holland & Holland, Swanepool and Scoundral, Profihunt, you name it this show is a veritable who's who of the hunting world.  Today I had the pleasure of conversing with Jim Zumbo, Vicki & Ralph Giancarlo(they promised me an interview for the site) and some young hunters we will talk about in a second.  Mom and I both got to walk past Tom Selleck and mom was swooning.  Chuck Yeager introduced The Oakridge Boys for tonights entertainment and i feel like I am surrounded by people I look up to in the world.

This afternoon we hit the Thursday Auction and sat through a couple of hours of the day auction and watched a lot of great hunts and art get sold all in the name of conservation.  Tomorrow we are hitting the Sables Auction and lunch and catching up with a couple of old friends and then off to the dinner on Friday night.

Tonight we had the pleasure of getting to attend the dinner, awards ceremony, and auctions.  The entertainment for tonight was the Oakridge Boys and the highlight of the evening for me was getting to see the Young Hunters Awards.  SCI recognized 3 young gentlemen for their accomplishments in Hunting, Conservation, & Education(both their own and the education of other youth hunters).  These three young men all looked to be amazing young examples of what is possible in the world of hunting and conservation and I rushed out to get our information in front of them so we can get some interviews for the site to share their stories.  I am looking forward to the opportunity to bring these interviews to you all in the next couple of weeks.

I shot a ton of pictures today and we will be shooting many more tomorrow in the Sables event and at tomorrows dinner.  We hope you like the coverage of the event and we are working on talking to as many people as possible to get some great interviews and products to review for the site.

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