Michigan Bald Eagle Comeback is Win for Hunters

By Larry Keane

Spring migration 1-2 weeks ahead of historical dates
Michigan Bald Eagle Comeback is Win for Hunters

U.S.A. -(AmmoLand.com)- A 30-year Michigan study is confirming news that hunters and recreational target shooters are enabling wildlife to thrive. The American bald eagle, a national symbol, has made a remarkable recovery in Michigan, and today’s recreational target shooters and hunters have played a substantial role in the recovery.

The study was completed by researchers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and others and reported in the Detroit Free Press. It examined the leading causes of death among bald eagles over 30 years. The study also showed that bald eagle populations in Michigan have soared. Michigan’s eagle breeding pairs in 1961 numbered only 52. The last year for which data was examined in 2017, showed there are 835 nesting pairs. That’s a more than 1,500 percent increase.

Sky-High Success

Michigan outdoorsmen and women can be especially proud of the bald eagle’s comeback. The state has among the highest percentage of hunting licenses sold per capita. That’s significant to Michigan’s wildlife because hunters and recreational shooters are literally investing in wildlife recovery. Funds from purchasing hunting licenses and excise taxes paid by firearms and ammunition manufacturers are directly responsible for conservation success. It’s called the Wildlife Restoration Trust Fund but is also known as Pittman-Robertson funds for the originators, U.S. Sen. Key Pittman (D-Nev.) and U.S. Rep. Absalom Willis Robertson (D-Va.) who sponsored the federal legislation that collected excise taxes on every firearm, cartridge and shotshell produced to fund conservation. Those funds are allocated to states and help with wildlife management and conservation projects. More than $13 billion has been contributed since 1937.

Hunting Getting A New Look

Hunting is getting a boost during the pandemic. License sales are climbing as people are searching for socially-distanced recreation and providing clean food for the table. Michigan isn’t alone in the renewed popularity of America’s outdoor pastime. States including Kansas, North Carolina, Idaho, North Dakota, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and more have all seen notable upticks in hunting and fishing license sales. The spring saw record turkey harvests. Hunters, though, are putting more into the woods, fields, and marshes than they’re taking. Just half a million whitetail deer ranged the plains in 1900, but today, there’s 32 million. Waterfowl were devastated and today, 44 million migrate across the country. Rocky Mountain Elk number over a million, up from 41,000 in the early 1900s and wild turkeys grow from just 100,000 to over 7 million now.

That’s just game species. Wildlife conservation funded through Pittman-Robertson funds for nongame species like eagles is working too. Today there are more than 17,000 nesting pairs in the lower 48 states.

Surging Firearm Sales

Along with the uptick in hunting activities across the country, Americans are purchasing record numbers of firearms. This includes more than 2.5 million first-time buyers. An NSSF retailer survey conducted during the purchasing surge showed shotguns, modern sporting rifles, and traditional rifles among buyer’s choices.

NSSF knows it can be tough getting started in hunting and that’s why it started the +One Movement, a pledge by recreational shooters and hunters to introduce at least one person to the shooting sports this year. For hunters, that means being a mentor, teaching ethical hunting, processing, and care for game from the field, and sparking a desire in one more hunter to perpetuate hunting and wildlife conservation for all to enjoy.

National Shooting Sports Month

Now is the perfect time to make the commitment too. August is National Shooting Sports Month, created by NSSF to celebrate the recreational shooting sports and introduce someone new to the range. It’s the perfect time to get ready, practice marksmanship, and make plans for when the leaves turn, days grow colder and it’s time to once again take to the field on a hunt.

These cherished outdoor activities lead to increased hunting licenses, firearms, and ammunition sales that support state conservation and wildlife population management. Keeping needed hunting materials economically obtainable, and public lands accessible, mean Americans will keep hunting and bald eagle populations soaring.


National Shooting Sports FoundationAbout The National Shooting Sports Foundation

NSSF is the trade association for the firearm industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of thousands of manufacturers, distributors, firearm retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations, and publishers nationwide. For more information, visit nssf.org

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Arny

Anyone given any thought to why they were almost extinct ? Have you really see that many stuffed birds in your lifetime ? My guess would be they had a negative impact on wildlife & stock. Just a theory though. I seen videos of what a eagle is capable of. Have seen them pick up small children, goats, sheep, etc. So we’ll have to wait & see. They are a marvelous bird though.

Grigori

Amazing that these eagles are thriving after being hunted and used for target practice as they are.

I keed! I keed!
😀

BigJim

The money comes from hunting, fishing & camping. But not from others using the Parks? Why is that?

OlTrailDog

It is not really a “Parks” issue. Licenses such as described in this article are typically issued by the individual states for state programs. That is not counting the tax on firearms and ammunition which also doesn’t involve “Parks”.