INDUSTRY

Director position at SSSF

The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation is seeking a foundation director.

Fort Worth sales and marketing job

XS Sights is looking for a director of sales and marketing to work in its Fort Worth location.

Palmer named VP

Rock Ridge Outdoors named Janette Palmer as its new vice president of sales.

Sales director job at Fiocchi

Fiocchi of America, Inc. is seeking a director of sales at its Ozark, Missouri headquarters.

Caza hires Anderson

Chuck Anderson was named the director of merchandising for Caza Outdoors.

Wille joins Orchid

Orchid hired Eric Wille, formerly of Gearfire and AcuSport, as its vice president of sales and marketing.

Outtech acquired

Outtech Inc., along with subsidiaries QuickFire and Peak Strategic Insights, has been acquired by investment holding company Legacy1846 Outdoor Group.

Hunting program position at WSF

The Wild Sheep Foundation is seeking an Award and Hunting Program manager at its Bozeman, Montana World Headquarters.

Simtek hires PR firm

Repputation Marketing was retained by Simtek, Inc. for its public relations and sales support needs.

Agency for lithium battery company

NORSK Lithium hired Traditions Media as its public relations agency.

Faxon Firearms hires reps

Tim Bailey & Associates was named the manufacturer representatives for Faxon Firearms.

DOWN

2) Ammo brand

3) Weatherford’s county

4) One of the setters

5) Johnson City’s county

6) The collared peccary

8) Fishing line brand

12) African game species

14) Rifle brand

15) Texas mountain range

18) East Texas border lake

19) Sinker type

23) A shorebird

25) Plastic worm brand

26) A creature bait

28) East or West bays

River where George Strait learned to swim 35) One of Leopold’s five tools

29) Hog-hunting dog

31) Duck-hunting state

32) Type of spinner bait

34) A Texas port

38) Jones County’s seat

39) A border lake

Puzzle by Craig Nyhus, Lone Star Outdoor News

Potato crusted baked cobia

2 cobia fillets, skin removed

1 cup freshly grated raw potatoes

2 tbsps. shallots, minced

2 tbsps. unsalted butter

1/4 cup smoked sun-dried tomatoes, diced

1 tsp. prepared horseradish

1/2 tsp. capers, chopped

1 tbsp. olive oil, plus 1 tsp.

Salt and pepper to taste

Smoked paprika

Soak sun-dried tomatoes in 1 tbsp. olive oil, horseradish and capers for 15 minutes. While tomatoes soak, prepare potatoes. Squeeze out any excess moisture from potatoes with paper towels. In medium-high skillet, add butter, potatoes and shallots. Saute until potatoes soften.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Season fillets with salt and pepper, set aside.

Place 1 teaspoon olive oil in a baking dish. Add fillets. Stir together potato and tomato mixtures. Place on top of fish. sprinkle with a pinch of smoked paprika. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes.

—South Carolina Aquarium

2 lbs. ground venison/pork mix (50/50 mix)

1 large red onion

1 tbsp. minced garlic

2 tsp. oregano

2 tsp. thyme

2 tsp. marjoram

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. rosemary (crushed)

Tzatziki sauce

Tomato slices

Feta cheese

Mince garlic/onions. Mix all ingredients and puree in food processor until sticky. Press firmly into bread loaf pan, no more than 3 inches deep. Refrigerated for 1 hour. Fill an 11x13 cake pan half full of water and press a small cotton towel/dish cloth to the bottom. Place cake pan in oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place bread loaf pan inside the cake pan and bake for 45 minutes or until inside reaches 165. Remove bread pan, drain, then flip loaf onto a sheet of foil. Wrap in foil and compress for 1 hour with cast iron skillet. Slice meat in 1/8-inch thick slices. Fry on high in a little bit of olive oil until outside gets slightly charred. Layer meat on pita and top with Tzatziki sauce, tomatoes, greens and feta cheese.

—ND Game and Fish

Arkansas

Invasive carp as food

David Thomas, a commercial fisherman from Johnson County, sells his catch of catfish and buffalo at market, but catches invasive carp unintentionally.

About a year ago, Thomas began thinking about ways to commercialize the copi, a name applied to grass carp, silver carp, black carp and bighead carp. The result was a process that requires first cutting out the copi ribs as he would buffalo ribs, then taking the skinned leftover flesh and chilling it nearly to freezing before grinding it. He repeats that process and comes up with meat that looks like ground turkey, only lighter.

Thomas’ wife, Tasha, came up with recipes for the meat, such as nachos, copi salad for a sandwich, and copi burgers. Samples were provided to six Arkansas Game and Fish Commission taste testers.

The group performed taste tests on a copi cheeseburger and the fried copi ribs as well as other ground copi dishes. The consensus was that the copi presented no fishy taste, and was similar to ground turkey.

—AGFC

Missouri

Turkey harvest up

Turkey hunters checked 41,970 birds during the 2023 regular spring turkey season, April 17 through May 7, according to Missouri Department of Conservation data.

Young turkey hunters also harvested 2,566 turkeys over the youth weekend, April 1-2, bringing the spring turkey harvest to 44,536 –the highest harvest total since 2016.

Stable hatches for the past three years and good hunting weather were given as reasons for the increased harvest. The numbers were 23-percent higher than in 2022 and it was 19-percent higher than the average over the previous five years.

—MDC

OKLAHOMA

Redear sunfish record caught

Cord Smith, a 16-year-old from Cheyenne, is the new record holder after reeling a 2-pound, 5.6-ounce redear sunfish from a 1-acre pond in Roger Mills County. Smith was casting plastic lures after school with classmate Jacob Suarez when the sunfish struck.

Both anglers realized they might have netted a state record sunfish, so they kept the fish alive in a bucket until they could have it weighed on a certified scale at a Cheyenne market.

The April 10 catch beats the previous state record, 2 pounds, 1.25 ounces, established at a different farm pond in 1973.

—Staff report

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Vermilion snapper catch limits increase

A new final rule revises the annual catch limit for vermilion snapper in the Gulf of Mexico.

The National Marine Fisheries Service increased the stock annual catch limit from 3.11 million pounds to 5,452, 500 pounds. The agency concluded the vermilion snapper population is not overfished, and new estimates showed the population is greater than previously estimated.

Recreational landings from 2012 through 2020 have generally been below 4 million pounds, with the highest landings occurring in 2018 at approximately 4,380,000 pounds.

—NOAA

Virginia

Striped bass regulation changes

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Striped Bass Management Board took an emergency action intended to reduce fishing mortality in the striped bass fishery with the goal of increasing the chances of rebuilding the population to the biomass target by 2029.

The emergency action will implement a 31-inch maximum size limit across the entire recreational fishery (in the Chesapeake Bay and along the Atlantic coast) with states tasked with implementing the change by July

2. The minimum size limit, bag limit, seasons and gear restrictions will remain unchanged.

The Massachusetts delegation led the emergency action after population projections showed significant rebuilding headwinds stemming from four consecutive years of recruitment failure in the Chesapeake Bay and an increase in fishing mortality in 2022.

—ASA

UTAH Winter hard on mule deer

After a winter of heavy snows, for the fifth consecutive year, the Utah Wildlife Board approved a decrease in the number of generalseason deer hunting permits.

The current deer management plan includes an objective to have 404,000 deer across Utah — there are currently an estimated 335,000 deer in the state. While most of the deer had good body fat conditions going into winter, the fawn and doe survival varied throughout the different parts of the state, depending on the severity of the snowfall in each area. Deer herds in the northern and northeastern parts of the state were hit the hardest.

The Utah Wildlife Board approved the following for general-season deer permits:

• Northern Utah: A decrease of 7,500 permits (31 percent)

• Central Utah: A decrease of 550 permits (4 percent)

• Northeastern Utah: A decrease of 700 permits (8 percent)

• Southern Utah: An increase of 600 permits (5 percent)

• Southeastern Utah: A decrease of 200 permits (2 percent)

—UDWR

FLORIDA

No discrimination against firearm companies

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 3, legislation that prevents corporations with discriminatory policies against firearm industry members and other businesses from collecting taxpayer dollars through state contracts and pensions. The state will choose to do business with those companies that do not discriminate based on an industry they may not like or with which they disagree politically.

—NSSF

INTERNATIONAL ISRAEL 3-D fish fillets?

An Israeli firm claims its 3-D bio-printed, ready-to-cook grouper fillets taste like the real thing.

The product was achieved using grouper fish cells from partner company Umami Meats, which are used in customized bio-inks. Steakholder, which claims the taste and texture of the manufactured fillets is the same as traditionally caught fish, then worked on the inks to optimize the taste and texture of its printed grouper.

—Staff report we have on offer! We’ve got enough prairie dogs to keep you shootin’ til you—or your barrel—need a break! Ask about our large group rates and bring your friends and family for a day of sun, guns, and fun! Contact us now to book your Texas Prairie Dog Safari Adventure!