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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2025

- BIRDING -
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is hosting two viewing events in November to educate those just getting into bird-watching and to also provide opportunities to see birds during the fall migration. These viewing events will also help individuals who are attempting to complete the beginner slam included in the recently launched Utah Birding Slam.
- COLLEGIATE FISHING -
Tune in to EP. 241 of the Rapala #WeAreCollegiateBass Podcast to hear Tripp Berlinsky & Bryce DiMauro from 3rd ranked University of North Alabama talk about the major tournament victory, UNA’s goals for this season, and more!
- COMPETITION -
The League announces a nearly 40% increase in team participation this year as athletes and teams representing 25 colleges and universities from across the nation are getting ready to participate at the 2025 USA College Clay Target League National Championship this weekend.
- EVENTS -
Mission First Tactical (MFT) announces they are attending and displaying at the 2025 SWAT Round-Up International event presented by the Florida SWAT Association, taking place Sunday, November 2 through Friday, November 7, 2025 at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office Range in Orlando, Florida.
- FISHERIES -
The Gulf Council will meet as planned at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, from November 3–6, 2025. Despite the ongoing federal government shutdown, the Council has confirmed participation from essential federal partners necessary to conduct the meeting.

- FORESTRY -
Registration is open for the Happy Little (Virtual) 5K, which the Indiana DNR and the Indiana Natural Resources Foundation (INRF) will welcome back for the fourth year in 2026. In 2025, the virtual run raised more than $41,000 for tree plantings and healthy forest initiatives in Indiana State Parks, with more than 2,300 participants.
- HUNTING -
The 2025 Montana big game general hunting season opened Saturday, Oct. 25. Harvest totals were on track with last year’s opener for elk and just above for deer in the west-central part of the state, according to data collected at Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks wildlife check stations near Anaconda, Bonner, Darby and Fish Creek.
Arizona hunters who were unsuccessful in the recent 2026 spring draw still have an opportunity to receive a hunt permit-tag for javelina. The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) has posted a list of leftover hunt permit-tags, as well as a printable paper application, on its website.
The ruffed grouse and American woodcock seasons are well underway in Michigan, and we want to hear how your season is going so far. Share information on your hunt and submit flush counts through the new Ruffed Grouse and Woodcock Dashboard.

- INDUSTRY -
NSSF® celebrates the 20-year anniversary of the enactment of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). The PLCAA is the bipartisan law passed by Congress and signed into law on October 26, 2005, by former President George W. Bush that protects the firearm industry from frivolous lawsuits attempting to hold highly-regulated and lawful firearm businesses liable for the criminal misuse of lawfully sold firearms by remote third parties.
- PODCASTS -
The Hunting Matters podcast, presented by Houston Safari Club Foundation (HSCF) and hosted by HSCF Executive Director Joe Betar, welcomes Micah Haarhoff, President of Revolution Powersports, to this week’s episode.
- PRODUCT NEWS -
Springfield Armory® announce new longer-barrel Springfield Armory® Model 2020 Heatseeker variants with 20” and 22” barrels. The Model 2020 Heatseeker is a chassis-based rifle crafted for shooters who demand bolt-action precision and AR-style modularity in one uncompromising, suppressor-ready platform.
K-Var Corp announces the availability of the SAM7R-62, one of the most respected and sought-after rifles in the AK platform category, now offered at $1,499.99.

SK Guns® announced the release of two exclusive, non-retail custom Colt 1911 pistols dedicated to the city of St. Augustine, Florida. The firearms commemorate the upcoming inaugural SK Gives Back Sporting Clays Open, scheduled for November 3, 2025, at the Saltwater Shooting Club.
Kinetic Development Group (KDG) announces the exclusive launch of its all-new FN SCAR Brace and FN SCAR Stock systems. Engineered in collaboration with Haga Defense and A3 Industries, these new products bring an unprecedented level of modularity, durability, and precision to one of the FN SCAR.
Galco’s original VHS (Vertical Holster System), field-proven across the globe from Afghanistan to America, is now available for the five-inch (Government-format) 1911, with or without optics.
- PUBLISHING -
In 2008, the U.S. listed the polar bear as an internationally threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, and importation of the bears by hunters was then halted by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The move was made despite the science-based management programs of the Canadian Wildlife Service.

- RANGES -
Looking to build your firearms knowledge in a safe and supportive environment? GRITR Range, located in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, is offering a variety of pistol and rifle classes this November.
- RETAIL -
Los Cazadores, Texas’ trusted hunting and ranching outfitter and home of the World’s Largest Deer Contest, announces the opening of its newest location in Granbury, Texas in 2026.
- SPONSORSHIPS -
TrueTimber announces a new partnership with Darby’s Warrior Support. In collaboration with Banded, TrueTimber will serve as an official sponsor of the organization, supporting its mission by showcasing industry-leading camouflage patterns across Banded’s performance gear and apparel.
Block Targets is continuing as a Whitetails Unlimited national sponsor, announced WTU President Jeff Schinkten.

- STATE AGENCIES -
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, along with the Phillips County Commissioners, are co-hosting a public meeting on Thurs., Nov. 6, starting at 6 p.m. at the Zortman Community Center. The open house will focus on the future installation of bear-deterrent fences around dump transfer stations near Zortman and Landusky.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is seeking public comment on proposals and environmental assessments (EA). For more information, including how to submit comments, click on the link provided or visit?fwp.mt.gov/public-notices.
As calving season begins for many of Florida’s cattle ranchers, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) reminds ranchers to promptly call the Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922) about suspected panther depredations.
- STATE PARKS -
First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park is hosting a family friendly event in November focused on wolves in Montana. The event will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday Nov. 8 and is led by FWP Region 4 wolf-carnivore management specialist Sarah Zielke.

- WILDLIFE -
With deer becoming increasingly active, and daylight-saving time soon to put more vehicles on the road during the hours when deer move most, the Pennsylvania Game Commission is advising motorists to slow down and stay alert.

 

Sometimes good ideas with great “upside potential” don’t happen. A combination of things from being ahead of (or behind) technology (when’s the last time you saw a fax machine) to simply being too-big an idea for investors to grasp keep lots of good ideas from happening.

Twenty-five years ago, Alex Miceli and I were responsible for one of the first live-via-the-internet television “broadcasts”. For three days, we “broadcast” live from the PGA’s Merchandise Show in Orlando, Florida. It was part of golf.com and the logical step up from our Golf Radio Network (also on the internet).

It was unprecedented and golf celebrities, inventors and corporate execs lined up to be interviewed. Callaway Golf owner Ely Callaway flew from his offices in Arizona to Orlando simply to be interviewed. He didn’t even visit his own show booth. He breezed in, sat for an unprecedented 30 minutes of conversation, then flew home.

Today, being live on the internet takes a cellphone and not much else, including talent or a real message.

Then there’s our Outdoor Wire Starlight 3-Gun shooting competitions. We decided our experience at producing everything from professional boxing to network news would enable us to create and stage truly “next level” shooting competitions.

We secured sponsors, booked venues and promised -and delivered- a truly unique shooting event. Staged in the dark, it featured food, fireworks, live music and pro-level facilities. It also offered the largest cash prizes in shooting sports.

Nothing says “bad idea” more than having a party that doesn’t draw a crowd. OWDN photo.

Two years and (way) more than a quarter million dollars later, we pulled the plug. Despite a few spectators traveling hundreds of miles to see what they called “an unbelievably fun shooting event” it still wasn’t enough to draw a crowd. Even when the event offered spectators chances to play games and win prizes.

We spent hours dissecting what went wrong. Short answer: it wasn’t the event, the promotions, or even the execution. It was the locations.

Ranges capable of hosting 3-gun competitions aren’t conveniently located, feature awful spectator capabilities, lousy parking and even worse sanitary facilities.

Bringing professional entertainment and world-class shooters wasn’t enough to encourage people to attend. Parking was still awful and no one wanted to stand for hours watching other people having fun at the range, even with significant cash on the line.

The B.A.S.S. organization brings a fishing tournament to angling enthusiasts via their Expo and high-energy daily weigh-ins.

Yet, thousands of people regularly fill arenas for every Bassmaster Classic, just not to watch fishing. They attend the Expos and weigh-in festivities. Classics are essentially people being entertained while watching people weigh bags of fish. Attend a “blast off” where the fishing actually starts and you’ll see considerably smaller crowds. Think dozens, not thousands.

That’s shooting sports.

But there’s a major reason shooting sports will never reach the levels of spectator interest of virtually any other competition.

What shooting lacks is why shooting competitions still appeal to me.

With the exception of the Olympics (and some side games in shotgunning), there’s no gambling.

Major League Fishing and B.A.S.S. both have gambling, either via their fantasy leagues or more directly with MLF’s partnership with BallyBet.

Compared to every other sport, shooting has tiny audiences, minimal payouts and a complex scoring system

Any one of those shortfalls turn off gaming organizations. I know it’s true because we looked at establishing “gaming” for shooting sports. One (short) meeting with a senior officer at Draft Kings was enough to convince both parties gambling was not viable for shooting sports. Today, I’m relieved that we didn’t push harder to include shooting competitions with monster trucks and motocross. Technology to make shooting competitions work - safely - inside sports venues exists today- but shooting sports are “disfavored” in most stadiums and arenas.

Absent exuberant crowds, shooting sports will never rival any other sport or lure in non-endemic sponsors.

With the FBI’s current investigation into gambling in the NBA (shocking) and the alleged involvement of New York crime bosses (gasp!), I have to wonder if all sports groups aren’t reconsidering their gaming enterprises. Especially those dependent on individual performances.

During my time in Miami an acquaintance was the Florida official charged with making sure Jai Alai frontons were on the up-and-up.

His was an tough job, created after a “Miami Syndicate” was caught fixing matches in 1977. He used a computer-based program to track every player in every Florida fronton. Too-many match losses were flagged, then cross referenced with the match outcome, payouts and-most importantly- the betting payouts from those matches. Jai alai was very popular with certain high rollers, and every player in any sport occasionally, and inexplicably, misses routine shots or has a minor injury that can take them out of the lineup.

Jai Alai faced the same examination the NBA faces today and passed, although it exists as a dying sport in Florida because casino-type gambling (slots) can only exist in pari-mutual venues (dog and horse racing are also pari-mutuals) venues. It’s a money loser that keeps the slots running.

But Jai Alai didn’t have the same level of threat that every sport today is facing: there was no proposition betting. Today you can place a “prop” on anything within a game that doesn’t directly affect the final score. You can bet on individual player stats, team turnover, or other “unique game occurrences.”

Unfortunately, that opens the door for insider influences. Did an individual’s minutes played, dropped pass, interception thrown influence -not the outcome of the game overall- but the “prop” betting?

It’s an existential problem that lies at the intersection of sports and gambling, whatever the sport. When a player suddenly grabs a hamstring and heads to the bench, is it an injury -or a favor to “prop” bettors? Was the ref who called -or ignored- pass interference, holding or any other foul influencing the game for profit?

When money gets big, temptation gets bigger.

Having worked both “razzle booths” and “flat stores” in carnivals, I know any “skill” game, no matter how small it appears, can be rigged. I prefer competitions where the variables far outweigh the potential payoff.

Shooting competitions exist because shooters want them, not bettors.

We’ll keep you posted.

— Jim Shepherd

 
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