Cali Officials Greenlight Eradication of Catalina Island’s Mule Deer 🚦

As we continue to slowly but surely inch back towards the weekend, let’s all take a minute to grab a coffee or whiskey (no judgement) and get into what this beautiful Tuesday has to offer.

Here's what's worth reading about so far this week:

WE HAVE QUESTIONS
CALI OFFICIALS GREENLIGHT FULL ERADICATION OF CATALINA ISLAND’S MULE DEER HERD

On Friday of last week, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife granted the Catalina Island Conservancy its long-sought Restoration Management Permit. In looking to end a saga of sorts, the permit clears the path for professional ground-based hunters to remove the island’s entire population of non-native mule deer, which is currently estimated somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000 animals, over the next five years.

Despite the abrupt “solution” proposed by California officials, many hunters, island residents, and wildlife advocates see this as the wrong direction.

After nearly a century on Catalina, the question that needs asking is this: is it possible that these deer deserve managed, sustainable control, rather than total eradication?

🦘 Escaped Kangaroo with Joey Blocks Virginia Highway, Outruns Hunting Dogs. After being frightened and chased by a pack of hunting dogs, a female kangaroo escaped from private property in Nelson County, Virginia, adding a bit of excitement to what might have otherwise been just another ordinary weekend. Carrying her joey in her pouch, she leaped over a containment fence and ended up on Thomas Nelson Highway where she blocked Saturday afternoon traffic. Deputies from the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office responded to find the injured animal still in the roadway after she had outrun the dogs and were soon able to guide her off the highway onto nearby private property.

With help from Virginia Conservation Police Officer Andrew Sundra, authorities contacted the owner, who used a tranquilizer dart to subdue the kangaroo. The joey, which had been dropped during the chaos, was recovered and reunited with its mother. Sheriff Mark Embrey noted the unusual incident, quipping that "You never know what you are going to see on a weekend in Nelson County!" The kangaroo was safely returned home and is expected to fully recover.

📉 Deer Hunting in Wisconsin Projected to Drop by Another 190,000 Hunters by 2040. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has released projections indicating that the state could lose an additional 100,000 to 190,000 male deer hunters by 2040, building on an already significant long-term decline. Gun deer hunting participation in Wisconsin peaked in the 1990s at around 700,000 hunters and has since dropped by about 150,000, with roughly a 10% loss across all license types since 2005. These figures come from initial research by the DNR’s Office of Applied Sciences, published in the Wildlife Society Bulletin, which analyzed license sales data and demographic trends. The decline affects management of the state's deer population, which is growing, and raises concerns about worsening issues like overabundance, crop/forest damage, vehicle collisions, and the spread of chronic wasting disease.

Experts maintain that the drop is driven by widespread, long-standing national trends rather than isolated events or solely the aging of baby boomers (even though that generation's high participation and eventual exit definitely contributes) since the decline predates significant boomer retirements from hunting. Experts worry that even with optimistic increases in female hunters and/or from other groups, there’s not much that could offset the projected male losses. DNR research scientist Dan Storm referenced the strain on deer management and future revenue shortfalls from licenses, ammunition, and firearm taxes that fund conservation. The agency is continuing research into why hunters quit and how to potentially slow or reverse the trend, while officials note that broader responsibility will be needed to sustain conservation funding in the future.

🏷️ Maine Deer Tag from 2021 Washes Up on French Beach After Atlantic Crossing. A big game harvest tag from 2021 mysteriously washed up on a beach in La Turballe, France, after apparently crossing the Atlantic Ocean. The weathered tag, labeled "Maine Big Game 2021," was discovered and shared on Facebook by a user named Beg Ar Minou in the "All Things Lobstering" group, who initially asked if it was for hunting or fishing. It was later reposted in the "Maine Deer Hunters" group where Maine deer biologist Nathan Bieber confirmed that the tag's validity. According to the seal number, the tag matches a deer successfully registered in 2021 during the expanded archery season in Bath, Maine, meaning it was legitimately used by a hunter there before its improbable journey.

The exact path the tag took remains a mystery, but one theory is that it entered the water attached to a deer carcass discarded or used as bait by a lobster fisherman. Oddly enough, Minou has previously found other similar tags (mostly fishing-related) from various North American locations, including Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Massachusetts, and earlier Maine ones from 1999–2013, all washed up on French shores.

🤦 How’d it end? Just about the way you think it would.

I’d hate to watch that thing sink below the ice…

Oh, and one more thing…