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Fifth Annual Backcountry Film Festival to Highlight Japan, USA, and…Australia?

Have you waxed your boards already?  Is your winter gear where you can grab it and go immediately when the first big dump of the season hits?  Do you whoop every time you see even the slightest skiff of the white stuff in the mountains?  Get an early winter fix and join fellow winter addicts at this year’s Backcountry Film Festival. 

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NEW PROGRAM NEEDS MORE PRIORITY

“Open Fields” Hunting Access Program Needs a Push
The new Open Fields Program helps preserve hunting access. Photos by Dusan Smetana.

Open Fields was a “major victory” for hunters and wildlife conservation, according to the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) and many other green groups that lobbied for it. It passed back in December 2008, but almost a year later, this innovative hunter access program is still mired in the administrative rule making process.

Now, predictably, conservationists who struggled mightily for the program are asking Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack for a little more priority.

 

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Citizen Journalist Hunters: Bear Spray Bill Based on Bogus, Meaningless Statistics

Wyoming lawyer's proposed bear spray bill based on inaccurate information. To insure hunter safety, big game hunters in grizzly country need advice on how to use firearms effectively, not bear spray propoganda. 

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Economy

Surrounded by Job Losses, Montana’s Firearms Industry Thrives
John Disney, the lead gunsmith at McGowen Precision Barrels, LLC, measures to fit a gun site base to a barrel in Kalispell. - File photo by Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon

Brian Sipe recalls when the noted rifle barrel maker Les Bauska told him: “If you want to starve to death, become a gunsmith.” So, naturally, Sipe became a gunsmith.

Then in 1990, he parlayed his skills into the rifle barrel business, starting Montana Rifleman with “about $200” to his name. But one by one, the rifle barrels began pouring out of his shop and that $200 grew some fat. Nearly 20 years later, Sipe’s barrels can be found across the world, on rifles with household names like Remington and Bushmaster.

And this year, prompted by concern over how the Obama administration will affect federal gun laws, business has gone through the roof. People are stocking up on firearms, Sipe said. Montana Rifleman, located on Montana Highway 35 outside of Kalispell, has already churned out more than 100,000 rifle barrels this year. In past years, the total was closer to 70,000-80,000, Sipe said.

“We’re not a hobby barrel maker anymore,” Sipe said.

The Flathead Valley, and Montana for that matter, has a rich history of barrel and gun manufacturing, boasting names like the Bauska family, the Sipe family and, more recently, the Sonju family. The Sonjus have formed a sister company to their Sonju Industrial, which manufactures aerospace parts.

 

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PRATICAL TIPS FOR MAKING A GOOD CHOICE

Choosing a Fishing Lodge
Photo by Bill Schneider.

So, you’ve finally decided to take that fishing trip of a lifetime--to Alaska, Canada, Patagonia, the Caribbean or another exotic location. Now, be sure you choose the right lodge.

The cost is always key, of course, but hardly the only concern. Regardless of your passion--bonefish, tarpon, muskie, salmon, monster rainbows or pike, whatever--you don’t want your long-awaited (and deserved, right?) vacation to turn into a stressful and costly disappointment.

If you’re a do-it-yourself type of guy, this column isn’t for you, but if you decide to stay at a fishing lodge and have a guided adventure, finding the right outfitter and avoiding problems along the way can be challenging. I’m hardly an expert, but I’ve stayed at a dozen or more lodges through the years.  Along the way, I’ve picked up a few tips that might be helpful.

 

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FOLLOWING MY SHOTS

Tester’s Wilderness Bill, Updates
Tester's Wilderness bill strives to address the needs of many public land users. Photo by Bob and Estela Allen.

UPDATED 10/27/09. See end of column.

Anybody who reads NewWest.Net regularly might be getting a little weary of reading about Senator Jon Tester’s “Jobs and Recreation Act,” S. 1470. So far, by last count, we’ve posted twenty-two articles and columns on the bill and its impact. This includes our own coverage and several guest columns, as we’ve tried to give each major stakeholder a forum to voice their point of view, including one from the senator himself. (Click here to read them all.)

But this bill keeps on giving out stories, it seems, such as these updates and follow-ups to earlier postings.

 

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MICROBREW MONTANA

First Brewers Octoberfest a Hoppin’ Good Time
Microbrew fans sampling the fruits of Montana's brewing industry. Photo by Bill Schneider.

For craft beer lovers, Bozeman was rocking Friday night, October 23, when about 900 people crowded into exhibition buildings at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds for the first-ever Octoberfest sponsored by the Montana Brewer’s Association (MBA).

All seventeen brewery members of the organization were on hand featuring their favorite brews, 54 choices in all, and since I was among the 900, I can testify to the fact that the crowd loved every minute--and every ounce--of it.

 

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