AUSTIN, Texas — For many a veteran angler, the pinnacle of a fishing career comes with the explosion of chromed muscle that signals his first tarpon hook-up. That experience was once common on the Texas Gulf coast; so common, in fact, that through the 1950s, tarpon tournaments were commonplace and presidents and potentates made the journey to the third coast to catch a “silver king.”

The Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, in cooperation with the National Shooting Sports Foundation, held the first Congressional Breakfast Briefing of the 111th Congress today.

Former Cabela's senior executive Michael Callahan has been appointed leader and facilitator of Task Force 20/20. Callahan brings 34 years of experience to the role, most recently serving as a consultant for Cabela's and as the company's senior vice president of business development and international operations before that.

Concern that the Obama administration could impose a new ban on some semiautomatic weapons is driving worried gun owners to stockpile ammunition and cartridge reloading components at such a rate that manufacturers can't meet demand.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation has stepped up in a big way to help save a portion of the nation's most important waterfowl breeding grounds by contributing $285,200 to Ducks Unlimited's "Rescue the Duck Factory" campaign.

In support of a new youth target shooting initiative, the National Shooting Sports Foundation will contribute $50,000 to the Scholastic Steel Challenge program of the United States Practical Shooting Association and Steel Challenge Shooting Association.

Today, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) -- the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry -- applauded Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, for introducing legislation to rectify a longstanding inequity in the frequency with which firearms and ammunition manufacturers pay a federal excise tax on the products they sell.

Try to imagine life in Texas without cattle, farm-to-market roads, trout and redfish.   It’s an odd combination of omissions to ponder, but there is a connection that leads to former Gov. Dolph Briscoe, this year’s Rotary Club of Corpus Christi Harvey Weil Sportsman Conservationist of the year, a distinction that labels him a man for all seasons.

Weaver Optics announces the unveiling of a new website at www.weaveroptics.com. This contemporary site design makes the user experience simpler and more informative, while integrating the rings, bases and mounting systems long trusted by hunters and shooters to hold their optics tight.