The U.S. Fish & Wild Service has released their “2017 Trends in Duck Breeding Populations” survey results (Waterfowl Survey for the layman. Ducks Unlimited Chief Scientist Tom Moorman jumps on to break down the results of the survey. We discuss the biggest winners and losers from a population change standpoint. Some species saw significant decline while others (like Gadwall) continue to increase in numbers seemingly year after year. We also take a look at Woodducks and ringnecks – two species that make up a decent portion of hunters bags but are not included in the annual survey.

Next up, we check in with Costa Sunglasses Coastal Community Manager – Todd Barker. We dive into Costa’s long standing support of the shark research organization Ocearch. We discuss why Costa supports Ocearch and how. More importantly though, we discuss the work that Ocearch is doing on behalf of the world’s different shark species. While the U.S. maintains healthy shark populations of it’s coasts, the rest of the world doesn’t seem concerned with the over 100 MILLION sharks that are killed annually to satisfy Asia’s appetite for Shark Fin Soup. Over fishing, illegal gill nets and widespread poaching, and poor regulations are largely responsible. What can be done, if anything at all? Todd gives us his take.

Last week, Henry and I had the pleasure of traveling to Pulsar Night Vision/Thermal Imaging headquarters to visit with President James Sellers. We discussed the ground breaking and highly affordable (from a Thermal optic standpoint) new TRAIL, HELION and CORE lineups. James talks about some specific features of each that truly separate them from the competition. If you are looking for a solid thermal optic, you can’t beat the HELION and TRAIL for clarity, function and value.

One of my favorite features of the TRAIL thermal rifle scope is the picture in picture function.