Hunting and Fishing News Blog Articles

Virginia Tech Hokie Snugible Blanket Hoodie and Pillow

My husband loves me so much. He randomly gives me things out of the clear blue, which I know is his way of showing that he thinks of me throughout the day. Sometimes it is a bouquet of fresh flowers or a Krispy Kreme donut. But more often it is a very random thing. 

Take, for instance, the Virginia Tech Hokie Snugible by Plushible. I came home from work one day to find a super soft maroon pillow that looks like the Hokie Bird’s head (the Hokie Bird is the mascot for Virginia Tech, my alma mater). When I inspected it closer, I saw a zipper which I proceeded to unzip. This allowed for the transformation from pillow to hoodie/blanket. I slipped it over my head, pulled up the Hokie Bird hood, shoved my hands into the front kangaroo pocket, and delighted in its coziness. That’s the Snugible by Plushible.

With a bold VT on the front to show my college pride, it would be the perfect gear for a cool Saturday football game. Would I wear this to a game? No. Would someone wear this to a game? Absolutely. I work at a middle school and students there would wear this as general attire on a daily basis. No shame whatsoever. That said, I would cuddle up with this on the couch and watch a Hokie football game. Or any sport. Or a rom-com. It’s just warm and cuddly.

Plushible offers a variety of adult Snugibles, kid Snugibles, Snugible bundles, and plushies. They’ve teamed up with sports teams and popular shows. Their collections include NASCAR, NASA, Peppa Pig, Sesame Street, and sports teams with characters such as Penn State’s Nittany Lion and University of Miami’s Sebastian. Plushible has even collaborated with HASBRO to offer the Twister Snugible and the Dungeons & Dragons Snugible. If you are a foodie, grab an avocado Snugible or a sushi Snugible. 

Snugibles are a one-size-fits-just-about-everybody type of hoodie. If you are smaller, they are just that much cozier. If you are a XXXL, maybe it fits more like a traditional hoodie. Either way, you will be warm while expressing your personality for all to see.

Washington D.C. (February 24, 2025) – The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (Association) applauds House introduction of the Sporting Goods Excise Tax Modernization Act (H.R. 1494), which would close a significant gap in the collection of taxes for the Wildlife Restoration and Sport Fish Restoration Trust Funds. The bipartisan legislation was introduced by Representatives Panetta (D-CA) and Moore (R-UT) to make online marketplaces accountable for collection of the excise tax on archery and angling equipment sold directly to consumers from outside of the U.S. by online vendors.

“We thank Representatives Moore and Panetta for their leadership to restore the integrity of our nation’s conservation investments,” said Riley Peck, Director of the Division of Wildlife Resources for the Utah Department of Natural Resources. “In Utah, we are fortunate to have almost 200 Wildlife Management Areas across more than 500,000 acres that our agency is entrusted to manage. Keeping those habitats healthy, accessible, and full of abundant fish and wildlife requires us to make every dollar count.”

Archery and sportfishing manufacturers proudly contribute tens of millions of dollars annually to the American System of Conservation Funding through the collection of excise taxes under the Wildlife Restoration and Sport Fish Restoration Programs, providing dedicated funding to state agencies for fish and wildlife conservation. But online sales from foreign companies avoid the traditional method of excise tax collection, placing an unrealistic administrative burden on the individual consumer.

“Continuing our legacy of conservation simply would not be possible without these excise taxes funding the work of state fish and wildlife agencies,” said Judith Camuso, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and President of the Association. “We owe it to our natural resources, our hunters and anglers, and industry partners to protect American businesses from being undercut by foreign manufacturers that do not pay the excise tax on sporting goods.”

The bill would follow through on the recent recommendations from the Government Accountability Office by making online marketplace facilitators accountable for the collection of excise taxes on these products. The Association urges unanimous passage of this legislation and also thanks original cosponsors for their support.

MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is now accepting artwork entries for the Wild Turkey, Pheasant and Waterfowl Stamp Design Contests. The winning designs will appear on the 2026 collection of stamps.

Each year, local artists from around Wisconsin compete for an opportunity to showcase their talents, commemorate their work and promote wildlife conservation across the state.

Hunters are required to purchase a species-specific stamp to legally harvest any of these game birds in Wisconsin. The sales of these three stamps generate hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for species management throughout the state, including habitat management, restoration, education and research projects.

Stamp design entries must be received or postmarked by Aug. 1, 2025. Judging will take place on Aug. 23, 2025, at the Waterfowl Hunters Expo in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

The winners of the 2025 contests were:

The Becoming an Outdoors-Woman Program is hosting a Ladies Learn to Hunt Safely weekend March 28-30 at Platte River State Park.

This hunter education focused weekend is designed to give women the chance to learn the basics of hunter safety and gain firsthand firearm and archery experience in a fun, safe environment.

Basic hunter education course material will be taught through simulated hunting situations, live fire exercises, education and responsibility activities. Workshops will be led by women who are experienced hunters and certified volunteer hunter education instructors. All equipment will be provided.

See the calendar event entry at Calendar.OutdoorNebraska.gov for more information and to sign up.

EAST ALTON, IL (February 21, 2025) — Winchester® and White Flyer® shooters took the field, ready to compete at the 2025 Jack Link’s Cup. With several runner-up and third-place finishes, Team Winchester and Team White Flyer demonstrated the hard work they have put in over the off-season in preparation for dominating the 2025 Sporting Clays season. 

Hosted at Quail Creek Plantation in Okeechobee, Florida, the Jack Link’s Cup hosted some of the most talented sporting clays athletes from all over the world. Team Winchester and Team White Flyer all shot the AA® Super Handicap, 1 1/8 oz, 1,250 fps target load, one of the most popular rounds among competitive shooters, throughout the competition. 

Team Winchester placements included:

Congratulations to Team Winchester, Team White Flyer, and all competitors of the 2025 Jack Link’s Cup.

About Winchester Ammunition

Winchester is the leading small caliber ammunition brand for hunting, recreational shooting, and law enforcement, and the largest supplier to the U.S. military. The legendary Winchester® brand, with its 159-year history, is founded on principles of integrity, hard work, and a strong commitment to its loyal customers. As a segment of Olin Corporation, Winchester shares Olin’s purpose to deliver materials and solutions that enhance and protect lives. Learn more about Winchester and the responsible use of its products by visiting Winchester.com or connecting with us on Facebook at Facebook.com/WinchesterOfficial.

Winchester: Committed to Safe, Legal and Responsible Firearm Use

As a global leader in the shooting sports and hunting industry, and a brand of 159 years, Winchester is committed to safe, legal and responsible firearm use. Winchester works with key groups like the National Shooting Sports Foundation on a variety of topics important to our industry, including training and education, and on specific programs such as Gun Owners Care® and Project ChildSafe®. Winchester will continue to support programs, organizations and individuals who promote hunting and shooting sports activities in a positive and responsible environment. Any use of firearms by youth participants should be done under the direct supervision of a parent, guardian or other responsible adult. 

About White Flyer Targets

White Flyer Targets serves more shooting sports participants and gun clubs than any other target manufacturer in the world. Utilizing state of the art production methods, White Flyer Targets continues to make technical advances that allow it to maintain its position as the best target on the market. The 132-year-old White Flyer® brand is built on the commitment to produce the best clay target possible and deliver a consistent quality product that exceeds customer needs. Learn more about White Flyer Targets by visiting whiteflyer.com or connecting with us on Facebook.

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA – February 20th, 2025 – Thanks to a partnership between the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) and the Outdoors Tomorrow Foundation (OTF), Louisiana schools will soon have the opportunity to offer an outdoor education curriculum called Outdoor Adventures (OA). This comprehensive outdoor education curriculum is usually taught as a PE class.

The Outdoor Adventures K-12 curriculum developed by OTF is currently taught in more than 1,500 public and private schools across all 50 states and Canada. With 40 units to choose from, there is something for everyone, and the curriculum is completely adaptable for all students in any location. The program differs from many outdoor education programs in that it is a comprehensive fully-accredited curriculum that may be offered as a one semester or one academic year class.

“The future of our rich outdoor heritage is in the hands of the next generation, so it is vital that we reach the next generation of hunters, anglers, outdoor enthusiasts, and conservationists where they are at and begin that love for the outdoors at a young age. This program will enable us to do just that, and we could not be more excited to bring it to schools in our community to help show why we are the Sportsman’s Paradise.” 
Madison Sheahan
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary

Outdoor Adventures includes wildlife conservation, angling, archery, camping, wilderness survival skills, outdoor cooking, hunter education, first aid, and paddle sports, among many options. These units correlate to many of LDWF’s programs and this partnership will highlight ways teachers may utilize LDWF resources to enhance their Outdoor Adventures classes. This also teaches students about all the wonderful natural resources available to them.  

“It is exciting to announce our partnership with the Outdoors Tomorrow Foundation. Together, we will maximize our abilities to support teachers and to educate our youth about Louisiana’s abundant natural resources and diverse outside recreational opportunities,” said LDWF Non-Consumptive Program Manager Chuck Jones. “OTF’s accredited curriculum will allow educators the ability to teach topics; such as birding, Dutch-oven cooking, survival skills, paddle sports, camping, fishing, hunting safety, wildlife conservation, and other outdoor topics in the classroom. Through this partnership, we can establish another avenue to reach and teach the importance of our hunting and fishing heritage to the next generation.”

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA – February 20th, 2025 – Thanks to a partnership between the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) and the Outdoors Tomorrow Foundation (OTF), Louisiana schools will soon have the opportunity to offer an outdoor education curriculum called Outdoor Adventures (OA). This comprehensive outdoor education curriculum is usually taught as a PE class.

The Outdoor Adventures K-12 curriculum developed by OTF is currently taught in more than 1,500 public and private schools across all 50 states and Canada. With 40 units to choose from, there is something for everyone, and the curriculum is completely adaptable for all students in any location. The program differs from many outdoor education programs in that it is a comprehensive fully-accredited curriculum that may be offered as a one semester or one academic year class.

“The future of our rich outdoor heritage is in the hands of the next generation, so it is vital that we reach the next generation of hunters, anglers, outdoor enthusiasts, and conservationists where they are at and begin that love for the outdoors at a young age. This program will enable us to do just that, and we could not be more excited to bring it to schools in our community to help show why we are the Sportsman’s Paradise.” 
Madison Sheahan
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary

Outdoor Adventures includes wildlife conservation, angling, archery, camping, wilderness survival skills, outdoor cooking, hunter education, first aid, and paddle sports, among many options. These units correlate to many of LDWF’s programs and this partnership will highlight ways teachers may utilize LDWF resources to enhance their Outdoor Adventures classes. This also teaches students about all the wonderful natural resources available to them.  

“It is exciting to announce our partnership with the Outdoors Tomorrow Foundation. Together, we will maximize our abilities to support teachers and to educate our youth about Louisiana’s abundant natural resources and diverse outside recreational opportunities,” said LDWF Non-Consumptive Program Manager Chuck Jones. “OTF’s accredited curriculum will allow educators the ability to teach topics; such as birding, Dutch-oven cooking, survival skills, paddle sports, camping, fishing, hunting safety, wildlife conservation, and other outdoor topics in the classroom. Through this partnership, we can establish another avenue to reach and teach the importance of our hunting and fishing heritage to the next generation.”

ANOKA, Minnesota – February 19, 2025 – Federal Ammunition congratulates sponsored shooter Derrick Mein, a two-time Olympian, for his excellent performances at the 2025 Jack Link’s Cup. The Cup was held at Quail Creek Sporting Ranch in Okeechobee, Florida from February 10-16. It attracted more than 1,400 participants from across the world.

Team Federal’s Derrick Mein was the High Over All winner at three of the major events. These were the FITASC, the Thursday Prelim, and the North Prelim. He also earned the honor of Master Second in the Overall Jack Link’s Cup Main Event.

“The Jack Link’s Cup was a great experience, providing its own unique challenges as a shooter,” said Mein. “Changes in weather, along with challenging presentations, were at the top of that list. The confidence I have in the Federal Premium High Over All (HOA) shotshells I use for competition helped me overcome those challenges to beat some of the best competitors in the world.”

The Federal Premium High Over All product line now consists of 26 total options. Products come in a variety of payload weights, velocities, dram options, and shot sizes. Federal’s unique Podium wad design’s cylinder-shaped compression zone supports the payload and provides unmatched protection from deformation at ignition for the best patterns and fewer flyers. The soft-shooting wad’s unique profile allows it to be loaded in all tapered hulls. This is featured in all HOA’s 12- and 20-gauge options. Learn more at: https://www.federalpremium.com/shotshell/high-over-all.

Federal Ammunition products are available at dealers nationwide and online. For more information on all Federal products, visit www.federalpremium.com.

Europe’s largest hunting show leaves people highly satisfied – and looking forward to 2026

After six varied and exciting days, JAGD & HUND drew to a close on Sunday evening (2 February). This year’s JAGD & HUND audience was treated over 700 exhibitors from 36 different countries. There was also an extensive supporting programme, exciting competitions, culinary highlights and plenty of hands-on opportunities to join in and try things out. What’s more, the large number of international associations represented at the trade fair once again made it an important platform for dialogue on hunting policy. The result was over 90% satisfaction among exhibitors and visitors, all of whom already have firm plans to attend JAGD & HUND 2026.

Dortmund, 4 February 2025 – In addition to all this good news, there was also an increase in visitor numbers. Sabine Loos, Managing Director of Westfalenhallen Unternehmensgruppe which owns and operates the Messe Dortmund venue, can’t help but look back on the show with satisfaction: “We’ve shown once again this year that Dortmund in January is THE meeting place for the international hunting and outdoor community.  This is proven not only by the many visitors from all federal states – above all from Lower Saxony, Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate. But also by the fact that again around 10% of this year’s guests were from abroad. Once again, we’ve been able to offer visitors not just a unique variety of products, but also a great deal of added value – from exclusive exhibition offers and shopping zones to exciting show events, competitions and culinary highlights, not to mention an incredible variety of expert knowledge which was available to all at the show in the form of everything from dog breed demonstrations and interesting on-stage presentations to reports on the work being done by associations and our brand new masterclasses. Ultimately, it’s this mix that’s made JAGD & HUND a real recipe for success, and yet we’re continuing to work on it in order to honour the loyalty the community has shown us again this year. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again in 2026.”

Grand opening
The opening event on Day 1 of the show was attended by high-ranking personalities in the industry and in the world of political decision-making, whose presence served to emphasise the importance of JAGD & HUND. The keynote address was given by Dr Martin Berges, Permanent Secretary at the North Rhine Westphalia State Ministry of Agriculture & Consumer Protection. “Hunters make important contributions to efforts aimed at creating healthy, diverse game populations and the protection of our forests,” he emphasised on the main stage in Hall 4. “It is therefore important that hunters, anglers and nature lovers continue to feel at home here in North Rhine Westphalia, and that we give them a good overall framework within which to operate. We want to support the hunting community and our forest owners with a view to finding solutions together. Good communication is key to this, because dialogue is the only way to keep on working on current issues and create good prospects.”

Nicole Heitzig, President of the State Hunting Association of North Rhine Westphalia, gave the opening speech as usual, with words of welcome also coming from Karl Walch, President of the Working Gundog Association, and Norbert Schilff, Mayor of Dortmund. International association representatives Dr Steffen Koch, Head of the German delegation of the CIC – International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation – and Laurens Hoedemaker, President of FACE – Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation of the EU –  also spoke.