Contact: Jeff Bergmann

763.232.5452

jeff@providencemarketinggroup.net

SANITIZE SCENT FREE

New Scent Free Hand Sanitizer from DDW perfect for use after harvesting game

and during peak rut/Flu Season.

            Pleasant Valley, MO – Dead Down Wind^®, an industry leader in scent prevention, introduces Instant Odorless Hand Sanitizer.  This 4 oz bottle of hand sanitizer kills 99.9% of common germs and is odorless in less than 5 seconds.  It even removes any hand odors in the process like cigarette or gas odors not just bacteria based odors.   

 “Unfortunately, the peak hunting seasons seem to correspond with the peak of the flu season” stated Dead Down Wind GM, Gary Reed.  “Our new Odorless Hand Sanitizer not only eliminates virtually any contact odors, it helps you maintain good hygiene, limits the spread of germ and fits easily into a pocket or fanny pack.”

 The Odorless Hand Sanitizer removes all odors including gas, carbons, hydrocarbons, pungent odors, even knocking out contact odors like gun cleaning chemicals, smoke odors and food odors.  The FDA certified sanitizer cleans, disinfects, and is totally odorless in seconds.  It is ideal for clean up after field dressing animals, and helps limit the exposure to diseases that can be transferred to humans from animals like hogs. 

 The 4oz bottle when used as directed will provide 58-60 applications.  Use the scent free hand sanitizer:

• After field dressing an animal
• After cleaning a firearm or contact with gas
• To remove all contact odors before leaving for the field including cigarette odors
• After using the bathroom
• Before eating or drinking anything
• Before and after handling raw foods, fish, poultry, or eggs
• After using a public phone
• After riding public transportation
• In schools and day care centers
• After changing diapers
• When one is sick
• After shaking hands
• After sneezing or coughing

 It just makes sense to use the new DDW Odorless Sanitizer to knock out odor and 99.9% of the common germs we come in contact with everyday.  The Odorless Hand Sanitizer has an MSRP of $4.99

About Dead Down Wind®:

 Dead Down Wind is a premium supplier of quality scent prevention products designed to help outdoor enthusiasts become more successful in the field.  Dead Down Wind revolutionized the scent elimination industry through the development of a bio-engineered process known as ESP^TM (Enzyme Scent Protection).  Through this process a strand of enzymes is created that targets a broad spectrum range of odors, not just human bacteria based odors.

     The Up North Journal Team has launched their new website and they invite you to stop by and check out the new digs! You can find it at the same ‘ol place: www.upnorthjournal.com you will find a new interactive video panel that will play their most current video and will eventually have the most current episode of their upcoming new video show. You will also be able to click the link to take you to the archive page of all their videos. Not only does it have the video player but it also offers an audio panel that has the most current episode of their podcast with a scrolling banner with an outline of the current show. The link below the player also takes you to an archive page of past episodes for download or playing right from the site.

     The site is not 100% completed but the important items are there, so keep looking for further updates to the site and bios on the prostaff pages. When your finished taking the tour, be sure to drop them an email and let them know what you think about the new digs!

Q: Why should someone use a food plot?

A: Number one reason is to attract deer to their property, secondly is to grow bigger and healthier deer.

Q: It sounds to me like food plots are not just something we think about for the fall hunting season, it sounds more like a year round process?

A: If someone ultimate goal is to attract more deer to their property then they would want to plant in late summer.  If they want to produce a high yeild and provide protein during the antler growing process then they want to plant right now in the spring.  Then there are annuals that last six months to one year, then there are perennials that last several years without having to re-seed the planting.

Q: What are the advantages of a food plot over a baiting site?

A: The benefits of baiting over food plots would be simplicity, food plots take a little bit more effort.  But the benefits of food plots over baiting are numerous.  Number one your providing something a little more natural and more spread out, so there is less chance of passing or spreading disease from one deer to the next.  Next, the food plot is there for most of the year if not all year as opposed to a bait pile that is there for just the hunting season.  Also food plots benefit all wildlife.

Q: We’ve now made the decision to put in a food plot, how do we go about choosing a site for the food plot, what are we looking for?

A: Your going to need a spot that is going to recieve a minimum of three to four hours of sunlight a day, ideally I would like to see people keep their plots a 1/4 acre or bigger.  Generally that is a good rule of thumb, but if you have a small clearing in the woods you can go in and in a couple of hours with hand tools you can create a food plot.

Q:  Now that we are going to do this, what do we need to do to put a food plot in?

A: No matter what we talked about before or what we talk about after, this is going to be the most important thing I’m going to say during this conversation.  The first thing they need to do is they need to do a soil test!  It is simple to do and takes a little time, but it gives invaluable information.  They need to take the soil sample and send it off to a reputable lab that will analyze the soil and give them a report that will tell the food plotter exactly what they need to do from a standpoint of how much lime they need if any and how much of each type of fertilizer they need.  It is basically a map to success.  There are numerous places that they can get soil tests done, at any of the agricultural universities, any of the soil conservation services, and we do them here at the Whitetail Institute.

Q: You just don’t go out and scrape the top of the ground and fill a bag of dirt, can you explain the process for proper soil testing?

A: When they send in a soil test, they are going to send in about a pound of dirt.  That one pound of dirt is going to be representing millions of pounds of dirt in an acre.  They need to get a clean five gallon bucket with a garden spade type shovel, go to different parts of the field.  Go to the sides or maybe crisscross the middle and in an acre field they may want to take eight or ten samples from different parts of the field and put it in the clean bucket and stir that dirt up.  Then take about a pound of that dirt and put it in the container to send off, then they have soil from various parts of the field so that it is representative of the entire field and not just one spot where they happen to dig.

Q: Now that we have got our report back, what do we need to do to get ready to plant?

A: The soil type is going to dictate what product they are planting in their plot.  Then they will go in and brake up that soil whether it be plowing, discing or tilling.  Then they are going to apply what ever lime is recommended from the soil test if they need it.  Then apply the fertilizer and cut that in with a disc or rough it in two, three or four inches deep.  At that point in time they are going to want to smooth the seed bed out with a cultipacker or a heavy roller that smooths and firms the seed bed up.  Then they broadcast the seeds right there on top, roll back over them with the cultipacker type device, their done!

Q: Talking about annuals and perennials, how do we make that decision and which one should we plant?

A: That is one of those beauty is in the eye of the beholder type thing.  But a good general rule would be somewhere between a 60% – 40% split, with 60 being in perennials.

Q: Typically we think of food plots helping antler growth, but herd health and antler growth go hand in hand.  How do these two go together?

A: On antler development research has shown that a buck is going to need 16% to 18% protein in his diet every day during the antler growing process roughly March through August.  So they need 16% to 18% protein every day to maximize their antler development.  Typically mother nature is only going to provide 6% to 10% of protein, so without doing something like supplemental feeding or food plots they are going to have a hard time getting that protein level up.  Imperial Whitetail Clover provides up to 30% to 35% protein year round.  So as a deer is growing his antlers he is browsing around on bushes, shrubs, and grasses but he will also be browsing on this food plot.  As he fills his stomach hopefully that 8% protein in that browse he is eating and the 30% protein in the Imperial Clover he is eating averages out to 16% to 18% that he is consuming that gives him the chance to express his full genetic potential.

As the does goes, we can’t improve the quality of the milk that they are going to be providing their fawns, but with a high protein diet we can improve the amount of milk that she has available for her fawns.  Your right people typically think about big bucks, but in reality it is those fawns that hit the ground in the spring and summer that are going to be the trophies we are going to be hunting in three or four years.  So the better shape they are born in, the better shape they will be at maturity.

Q:  Seeing that this is the time of year to get going on food plots, if someone puts one in, when is he going to see results meaning the number of deer on his property, how long is it going to be before he sees something substantial?

A: Let’s say this, if you’re going to put a food plot in are you going to see Boone & Crockett’s running all over the property this fall?  No probably not, but hopefully you might have one or two you might attract in.  But what you will see the first year is you will see more deer on your property and you will see increased buck activity.  You will notice more scrapes and rubs in the vicinity and around those food plots.  What happens is those food plots become the congregation area for those does and family groups and you know what happens when the rut starts, when the does gather in the food plots the boys will be there soon!  Also those fawns that hit the ground this spring will have a better food source available for their entire life!  From the day they are born they are going to have the best food source available and it will manifest itself with better quality antlers when they reach maturity.

     So if your ready to get started with a new food plot and want to know a little more about them, be sure to listen to the entire interview I did with Steve Scott of Whitetail Institute on Episode 108 of the “Up North Journal Podcast in segment 2.  If you have additional questions that need answering you can contact Whitetail Institute at 800-688-3030 or go to their website www.whitetailinstitute.com for more information.

Here is the local news report from KTVK in Arizona:

     Michigan Trophy Hunts owner Janet Turner, 74, and her son who operates the facilities Scott Turner, 45, were arraigned in District Court this last Wednesday.  They are accused of a total of 54 charges ranging from cruelty to animals to illegally importing elk.

     This is especially disturbing with last the CWD case on the western side of Michigan last August in a private cervid facility that has basically changed the way we hunt deer in Michigan and the way we look at these facilities.  Since the case in Michigan’s Kent County last August all the private cervid farms were quarantined until they recieved approval from the Michigan DNR to resume operation.  This farm was under investigation before the August 2008 CWD case made the news.  Michigan made importation of elk into the state illegal in April of 2002 to stop the spread of CWD to the deer and elk herds of the state. 

Below is the press release from the Michigan DNR on the case:

Privately-Owned Cervid Facility Owner and Operator Arraigned on 54 Counts Including Animal Cruelty, Illegal Importation

The owner and operator of a privately-owned cervid facility in Saginaw County have been arraigned in Saginaw County 70th District Court on a 54-count warrant resulting from a year-long investigation into their game hunting facility located in Bannister.

Janet Turner, 74, the owner of Michigan Trophy Hunts, and her son Scott, 45, who operated the facility, were arraigned Wednesday before Judge Kyle Higgs Tarrant.  The Turners were released on a $97,000 personal recognizance bond.

The Turners are charged with 54 counts, including two felony counts of animal cruelty to animals/livestock and conspiracy to commit animal cruelty; and multiple misdemeanor counts of illegal importation of elk into Michigan, failure to maintain animal health records, enclosure violations, animal at large and health code violations.

In March 2008, the Departments of Natural Resources and Agriculture launched a joint investigation into the facility after receiving complaints about illegal importation of elk and animal cruelty at the Turner facility.  The Law Enforcement Division of the DNR and MDA officials gathered evidence which resulted in a search warrant of the Turner facility to inventory their elk, deer and business records.

The investigation confirmed animals were allegedly smuggled into the state while Michigan’s borders were closed to any out-of-state importation of elk and deer.  The importation ban was placed on Michigan by the MDA in April 2002 as a result of western states contracting Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).  Records showed that the Turners had allegedly illegally imported elk from Iowa, Colorado, Minnesota and Canada.

If found guilty, the Turners could each possibly face four years in prison for each felony count of animal cruelty and conspiracy to commit such felonies; $15,000 in fines; up to 500 hours of community service or any combination of penalties.  The judge may also order psychiatric evaluations, and may order the cost of care, housing or veterinary care.  The judge also may order that the Turners not own or possess an animal.  The misdemeanor charges range from 30 to 90 days in jail and fines from $300 to $2,500

      The sad part of this mess is that this facility is that it is less than 20 miles from the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge, which hosts some of the biggest deer and most sought after hunting tags in the state of Michigan.  I would hate to think what CWD would do to this wildlife treasure in our state.  As I stated in the previous article about Game Trails Lodge breaking game laws, it is all about greed and antler envy of the elitist in the hunting world.  It is this group of hunters that is beginning to give our outdoor heritage a black eye!

     The first measure is Senate Bill 994 which would ban trapping in the state of Connecticut.  The bill if passed will eliminate the use of body gripping and foothold traps, the mainstay of trappers.  One can only guess who is behind this legislation!  That’s right the HSUS or better known Humane Society of the United States!  The biggest anti hunting and trapping organization around!  With the current administration frimly in place now, this group has all the bleeding heart lberal’s ears to whisper into. 

     The second piece of legislation that needs to be stopped in Connecticut is Senate Bill 353.  This wonderful piece of Microstamping legislation was sponsored by Senator Martin Looney (D-11).  This bill has now been moved from committee to being heard on the Senate floor!  If passed it would make firearm manufactures produce firearms that imprint the make, model, and serial number on the case of the ammunition.  This will increase the cost of firearms and do nothing to stop crime.  This technology can be over come with a simple household file to eliminate the markings on the firing pin.  So much for safety! 

     These two bills must be stopped in their tracks!  Sportsmen and shooters of this country need to flood the Connecticut Legislators’ email boxes to let them know that they are being watched by not only the people of their state, but the whole country as well.  Also let Governor Jodi Rell know that the sportsmen of this country are not going to standby and watch our fellow sportsmen get their hunting priviledges and shooting rights taken away!

News Media
Mar 2, 2009

The decision was made in consultations between the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Phoenix Zoo.

The jaguar was brought to the Phoenix Zoo earlier today after a team from the department recaptured it. Zoo veterinarians conducted lab work and physical exams to evaluate the animal and discover the source of the cat’s deteriorating condition.

While early data indicated that the animal was doing well in the days following the capture and collaring, careful monitoring of recent data revealed a decreased level of activity over the weekend that warranted further investigation.

“This is an unfortunate and disappointing situation,” said Gary Hovatter, deputy director of the Arizona Gama and Fish Department. “We were looking forward to using the data acquired from Macho B to learn more about the species use of the borderland habitats in order to further conserve the species as a whole.”

Macho B was believed to be the oldest known jaguar in the wild. His age was estimated at two to three years old in photographs taken in 1996, making him 15-16 years old now. Previously the oldest known jaguar in the wild was 13 years old.

Kidney failure is a common ailment in older cats.

“It is a sad, but appropriate course of action to euthanize this animal given the hopelessly terminal nature of his condition,” said Steve Spangle, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Arizona field supervisor.

A necropsy will be performed to learn more about the jaguar’s condition and to possibly provide clues into how long the animal had been sick.

The jaguar’s initial capture was guided by protocols developed in case a jaguar was inadvertently captured in the course of other wildlife management activities. The plan, which was created in consultation with leading jaguar experts, includes a protocol for capture, sedation and handling.
A collared jaguar from southern Arizona that was recaptured today for medical intervention has been euthanized after veterinarians determined the cat was in severe and unrecoverable kidney failure.

March 10, 2009
The Department of Natural Resources will continue limited production of walleye fry for the 2009 season as a precaution against spreading viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) into inland waters, fisheries officials announced today.

For more detailed information on this subject, the public should visit the Fisheries Division section of the DNR Web site at www.michigan.gov/dnrfishing.

“We still don’t have all the information we’d like on VHS,” said Gary Whelan, DNR fish production manager. “We’d rather be cautious than risk being a vector for spreading this disease.”

VHS has been found in various parts of the Great Lakes and connecting waterways, which is where the best walleye broodstock sources are located.

Fisheries staffers will take eggs and milt from walleyes in the Muskegon River and Little Bay de Noc. The Saginaw Bay/Tittabawassee strain will not be used again this year. Only the Thompson State Fish Hatchery will be used to incubate eggs as it maintains a separate facility that will prevent the spread of potential VHS into steelhead-rearing facilities should infection occur. In addition, fisheries staffers will evaluate the feasibility of rearing additional walleye at private and tribal facilities.

Walleye egg-take will be spaced out over several weeks to maximize production, which will still be limited to six million fry if the outside facilities are not used. Fry spend only three to five days at the hatchery before being transferred to off-site rearing ponds which require a large amount of DNR effort. Many external walleye rearing ponds exist throughout the state, but only those that are non-drainable will be used for rearing in 2009.

Currently, there is no proven method for disinfecting walleye eggs. All adult brood stock will be tested for VHS, as will samples of walleye fry and fingerlings before they are stocked. Fingerlings will be stocked only in inland lakes in 2009 that have no inlets or outlets or into lakes with direct connections to the Great Lakes. No fingerlings will be stocked in the Lake Superior watershed. Thus, the program will be the same as was used in 2008, but is much expanded from 2007 when DNR did not raise any walleye statewide.

“If we can develop an effective method of disinfecting walleye eggs, we can increase production in the future,” Whelan said. “In the meantime, we’d prefer to err on the side of caution rather than risk spreading VHS to new waters.”

March 9, 2009
The incidence of bovine tuberculosis (TB) in the deer herd in the core area of infection in northeastern Lower Michigan – Deer Management Unit 452 – increased slightly in 2008, the Department of Natural Resources announced last week at the Natural Resources Commission meeting.DMU 452, which is located in Montmorency, Alpena, Oscoda and Alcona counties, saw the incidence in deer testing positive for TB increase to 1.8 percent from 1.4 percent in 2007. Although the incidence is still declining over the long term, the trend for rate of infection during the last six years is only changing slightly on an annual basis.

“We have brought the prevalence of TB down from 1995, but it appears to be stabilizing at this level during recent years,” explained DNR Wildlife Veterinarian Steve Schmitt. “We may have lowered it as far as we can with our current strategy.”

The DNR’s strategy has been to ban feeding and baiting in the northeastern Lower Peninsula and to reduce the deer herd, by liberalizing the availability of antlerless deer licenses. The bait and feed ban has been extended to include the entire Lower Peninsula following the discovery of a deer with chronic wasting disease in a privately owned deer herd in Kent County last August.

Overall, the DNR tested 16,260 deer for TB in 2008. Of those, 36 were positive. Among TB-positive deer, 34 came from the four-county area, one from Presque Isle County and one from Iosco County.

Intensive testing in Shiawassee County, where a TB-positive deer was found in 2007, and six surrounding counties did not turn up any TB-positive deer, Schmitt said.

It is really good to see that no new cases have popped up in the Shiawassee County area after a positve case last year.  There haven’t been any new cases of CWD found since the case on the private deer farm last August.