From the Missouri Department of Conservation - Late spring may affect turkey hunters

JEFFERSON CITY, MISSOURI – Hunters hoping to bag mature gobblers during the early season should cultivate patience and watch wild turkey hens, according to the Show-Me State’s top turkey expert.

Resource Scientist Jason Isabelle oversees turkey management for the Missouri Department of Conservation. Like other hunters, he has been watching the weather and thinking about how it will affect hunting conditions during the spring turkey hunting season April 15 through May 5. Those considerations go all the way back to last year’s record drought.

Acorns are the single most important food source for wild turkeys in southern Missouri and other areas where forest is the dominant land cover. Waste grain is a staple food for turkeys in areas where row-crop agriculture dominates the landscape. Last year’s drought caused shortages of these dietary mainstays in many areas, but Isabelle doesn’t expect this to have a dramatic impact on the state’s turkey population.

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MidwayUSA Bianchi Cup Scholarship competitors to stand out more ways than one

Fairfax, Virginia - Think you shoot in style? Check out these jerseys that just came in for the NRA Bianchi Cup Scholarship Program.

Introduced this year by MidwayUSA, the scholarship program brings first time college-age shooters to the MidwayUSA & NRA Bianchi Cup with all expenses paid.

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From MidwayUSA - Ohio State Trapshooting Foundation to Benefit from Potterfield Donation

Columbia, Missouri - Youth in Ohio will hopefully be shooting a little more trap this year thanks to a recent $186,000 donation from Larry and Brenda Potterfield to the Ohio State Trapshooting Foundation.

The donation is earmarked to help fund endowment accounts for Ohio youth trapshooting teams that participate in local organized trapshooting events. The endowment accounts are designed to provide funding for teams through annual dividends paid through grants, creating a reliable form of funding well into the future.

More on MidwayUSA donation to the Ohio State Trap Shooting Foundation ..

Local NRA Certified Instructor Cummins teaches the leaders how to teach the Boy Scouts

Passing on lessons to tomorrow's shooting sports ambassadors

With approximately 97,000 NRA Certified Instructors, Counselors and Range Safety Officers, along with 5,700 Coaches, the National Rifle Association teaches and reaches just under a million students students a year. Men and women who are taking their first shots, refining their skills, or learning how to guide others through the revelry of America's shooting sports.

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From Bass Pro Shops - Bass Pro Shops Offers FREE Easter Fun

Springfield, Missouri - Easter means Spring is just around the corner—and Spring means time to start thinking about getting outdoors! Enjoy all your favorite Easter memories plus pass important family traditions on to your own children at Bass Pro Shops during their FREE Family Easter Event.

Visit the Bass Pro Shops in your area Saturday, March 23rd through Sunday, March 31st * and bring the kids to take part in the free, fun Easter activities they have planned for the whole family. Kids will have fun doing the crafts and Mom and Dad will really enjoy the free photo opportunity for the kids as they visit the Easter Bunny. And, of course, there’s the time-honored tradition of an old-fashion Easter Egg Hunt.

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Gear up for this year's MidwayUSA & NRA Bianchi Cup - it's coming

Fairfax, Virginia - Due to a scheduling conflict I didn't attend the 2012 MidwayUSA & NRA Bianchi Cup, but my experience at the 2011 championship - surprisingly - seems fresh in my mind. The crew upstairs at NRA Competitive Shooting have been hard at work to have everything ready for the end of May.

Amid hammering out sponsors, booking celebrity guests, and adding the new MidwayUSA Bianchi Cup Scholarship Program and the Pro-Clinic, they sent me this year's edition of the famed Bianchi Cup poster.

To those of you unfamiliar with the Bianchi Cup, you're probably wondering what the big deal is. It's just a poster, right? Well yes and no. The Bianchi Cup poster is steeped in tradition and allows everyone to be a part of the prestigious pistol tournament's history. During registration, staff, volunteers, and competitors are asked to sign their names on Bianchi posters with silver markers.

But there's a catch. Anyone who has won the coveted Bianchi Cup signs their name in black. The handful of names scattered among the silver show just how accomplished the previous winners are. Here's a look at the 2013 MidwayUSA & Bianchi Cup poster, featuring the cup in all its glory.

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From MidwayUSA - NRA-ILA National Endowment for the Protection of the 2nd Amendment receives donation

Columbia, Missouri - MidwayUSA announces that is has reached a significant milestone of one million active Customers! In support of this achievement, MidwayUSA also announces a major donation of one million dollars to the NRA-ILA National Endowment for the Protection of the 2nd Amendment.

Following is the official Customer letter from Larry Potterfield, Founder and CEO of MidwayUSA:

Dear Valued Customer,

One million is an attention-getting number, no matter what the circumstances. At MidwayUSA, Brenda and I – along with the MidwayUSA Employees -- have celebrated a good many ‘one million’ milestones during the last 35+ years.

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FNH USA brings $15,000 in prizes to the Bianchi Cup falling plate event

Columbia, Missouri - Competitors will battle it out on four separate stages at this year's 35th Annual MidwayUSA & NRA Bianchi Cup. One of those stages, the Falling Plate Event, is made possible thanks to firearm manufacturer FNH USA.

A subsidiary of the Belgium based FN Herstal, FNH USA has pledged $15,000 in prizes for this year's championship and is the official sponsor of the Olin C. Barjenbruch Falling Plate Event.

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MidwayUSA & NRA Bianchi Cup to offer even more cash prizes this year

Fairfax, Virginia - The MidwayUSA & NRA Bianchi Cup has seen tremendous growth the past few years and is one of the most exciting competitions in the shooting sports today. A great part of the championship's ability to draw the world's best shooters and put on such a great competition is from its sponsors' support.

For this year's Bianchi Cup, MidwayUSA has given $115,000 to help the championship continue being the richest and most prestigious shooting tournament in the world. This is MidwayUSA's fifth year as the title sponsor, a role it sees as important for helping both the shooting sports and its hometown of Columbia, Missouri where the championship is held.

More on how big this year's Bianchi Cup will be...