Cali Wardens Bust Blood-Soaked Suspects With Deer in Trash Bags 🩸

ven•a•tic: fond of or living by hunting

NORTH AMERICA’S MOST-READ OUTDOOR NEWSLETTER

In the event that the weekend wasn’t quite long enough for you, here’s to hoping that your favorite dispatch from the outdoor world can give you 5-or-so minutes to prep yourself for yet another week.

So, without further ado, let’s grab that coffee or whiskey (no judgement) and get caught up on the outdoor news and views from the past few days. 

Here's what's worth reading about today:

CAUGHT RED-HANDED
CALIFORNIA WARDENS BUST BLOOD-SOAKED SUSPECTS WITH HEADLESS DEER IN TRASH BAGS

After spending the better part of the month of August fielding complaints about lights shining through the trees, trucks running off the road and mysterious shots after dark, California Fish and Wildlife finally had enough and staked out the situation. 

After committing to a series of night patrols in Angeles National Forest, wardens sat patiently in the dark waiting for the lights to come back on, until one night they did. According to a release, officials say they managed to luck out and spot a couple of vehicles working the nearby timber with spotlights. Moving in to make contact, officers were able to stop both rigs that evening and put three suspects on the ground…

Invasive deer and other non-native animals are eating away Hawaiʻi’s ranchlands: Researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience led the study, which provides the first evidence that grazing by wild ungulates – including axis deer, mouflon sheep, goats and pigs – is reducing the forage at Hawaiʻi’s working cattle ranches.  Read the full story.

Ontario hunter fined for shooting deer and using someone’s tag: The Ontario Court of Justice heard that on Nov. 5, 2025, Timothy Martin was hunting for deer near the Town of Massey. “Martin shot an antlerless deer but was only licenced to hunt antlered deer,” the Ministry of Natural Resources said in a recent court bulletin. “Martin then invalidated the antlerless deer tag of another person who was not actively participating in the hunt.” Read the full story.

National Elk Refuge fields questions about what feeding elk could mean for Jackson Hole’s water: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is weighing the pros and cons of feeding elk and bison, in part to keep the animals away from town and from damaging private property. But wildlife disease experts predict that continuing to concentrate animals around alfalfa pellets in the winter could lead to more elk infected with always-lethal chronic wasting disease, smaller populations and reduced hunting opportunities. Read the full story.

Wyoming Hunter Bags Antelope Buck With Supersized Double Set Of Horns: A pronghorn buck shot by a hunter in southeast Wyoming this week had a supersized double set of horns. That's because Instead of shedding last year’s horn sheaths, he just grew a new set right behind them. "I've Never seen anything like this," said one taxidermist. Read the full story.

Poacher arrested in New Mexico for killing and wasting two bull elk: Wildlife officials said one of the tips came from someone who was watching two bull elk through his spotting scope when he saw two hunters shoot them. New Mexico Conservation Officers hiked to the scene in the Jemez Mountains, where they found the two described headless elk carcasses.  Read the full story.

Arkansas alligator hunters harvest 150 alligators in first weekend hunt, 62 opportunities remain: The first weekend of the Arkansas alligator hunting season, Sept. 18-21, yielded 150 gators across the state’s three alligator management zones. The second chunk of the hunt is set for sunset Sept. 25-sunrise 28. Read the full story.

🦫 That’s an animal (among others) I would not want a bite from. Watch as this fisherman (even though he’s painfully close) gets charged and attacked by this beaver.

I’d be thinking of giving the next one space and getting myself a rabies shot…

Now that I have this handy list of the most popular baby names for the year that you were born, I finally understand why I knew so many Mikes and Jennifers. Speaking of birthdays, did you know that September 9th is the most common? One of my four kids was born on that day, so I suppose that tracks. According to this, we’ve been doing our reading on the porcelain throne for quite some time. And how animal groups escape danger together.

Sonoran Desert in black and white.

📸 by @danilocfaria

Oh, and one more thing…