UplandFeathers

It has been a few weeks since bird hunting season ended and the withdrawals are here. How many times can you count empty shotgun shells and cross-reference them by gauge and manufacturer? There just isn’t enough shot, wad, primer and powder to fill up the time until turkey season. As a distraction, the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, CT has an exhibition worthy of a gunner’s viewing. Samuel Colt: Arms, Art, and Invention runs thru March 4, 2007, with arms designed by Sam in the early years of Colt. Sam was quite the inventor as well as charlatan, traitor, and genius. It all depended on whom you spoke to back in the mid 1800s. What is intriguing is that Sam understood marketing and his brand even before there was anything called marketing and branding. Sam knew what his name (brand) meant to those interested in purchasing firearms—simplicity of design, durability, and reliability. He traveled to Europe extensively hawking his guns from sultans in Turkey to czars in Russia. He even fended off copyright infringements. Fake Colts back then were as numerous as fake Rolexs in NYC’s Chinatown. There are also some oils by George Catlin, who made a name for himself by painting native Americans in the 19th-century. Catlin also painted some canvases depicting Colt’s firearms. Talk about product placement. These guys were well ahead of marketing the curve.

Posted by ras400 at 05:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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What are the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, the Ruffed Grouse Society, the Wildlife Management Institute and the Cowls Land and Lumber Company of North Amherst up to? Woodcock habitat. These four have joined forces for the American Woodcock Initiative. The goal is to create better habitat for the American timberdoodle (who thought up that nickname anyway?). Woodcock, as well as New England cottontails, chestnut sided warblers and wood turtles need young forest habitat—no more than 30 years old—of dense stands of seedling and sapling trees. Clear cutting, once thought of a no-no in land management is the answer. A natural clear cut occurs after heavy winds, ice storms, fires, or flooding. Those events can hardly be counted on. Selective clear cutting, however, is a proven land management technique. Massachusetts has very little young forest habitat, less than 5% in fact. With advice and assistance from the Woodcock Initiative Partners, clear cuts will take place in carefully selected forested areas on Cowls property. Want to show your support? The Wildlife Management Institute tweaked with Cowls Lumber’s “got wood?” tag line and came up “got woodcock?” You can get a “got woodcock?” bumper sticker by sending a self addressed stamped envelope to the Wildlife Management Institute, 69 Clinton Avenue, St. Johnsbury, VT 05819.

Posted by ras400 at 03:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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The sound you hear is hunting land being sucked up by developers. Remember those grouse coveys that were plowed under for a new housing development? Or those rolling hills your club used to lease for its pheasant program that were gutted for the sand and gravel underneath? If you think it’s your God given right to hunt where are you going to do it with a yet another strip mall or shopping center suffocating the land? Not only do you have to think about your gun rights and join groups that make it their business to keep your right you also have to think about joining groups that fight to keep you using that over and under for its intended purpose—bird hunting. This past year, Pheasants Forever (PF) and Quail Forever (QF) spent more than $33.8 million on habitat projects and conservation education. That ain’t no birdseed. Because hunters and non-hunters alike donated time and money these two non-profit organizations worked on some 23,552 habitat projects across the US in 2006. That translates into about 460,000 acres of land. Is that skepticism I hear? PF and QF are monitored by Charity Navigator, which says that PF and QF outperform most non-profit organizations. PF and QF spent nearly 91 cents of every dollar raised on the organization's mission in 2006. The remaining 9 cents goes to administration and fundraising functions. It makes sense to join.

Posted by ras400 at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Are you a landowner in Virginia? If yes, then the federal government has an offer you might not want to pass up. The fed is offering about $65 per acre for 10 years to owners who have land suitable for establishing quail habitat. The idea is for landowners to maintain habitat buffers along the edge of fields. The state has allocated funds for some 3,600 acres of habitat improvement. For more information contact the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. The buffers also benefit wild turkeys and other wildlife.

Posted by ras400 at 02:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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