California Man Sentenced to 6 Months for Smuggling Rare Sheep Trophy 🧑‍⚖️

I’m currently at the “it’s Thursday already?” phase of the workweek and am unsure as to whether or not that is a good thing as of yet.

With that in mind, let’s all take a minute to grab a coffee or whiskey (no judgement) and get this Thursday morning dispatch out the door.

Here's what's worth reading about today:

I’LL ADMIT, IT WAS BALLSY
CALIFORNIA HUNTER GETS FEDERAL PRISON TIME AND FINES FOR SMUGGLING ENDANGERED SHEEP FROM PAKISTAN

A Sacramento County big-game hunter has been sentenced to a bit of federal prison time and some pretty heavy fines for his role in an international smuggling scheme that involved shifty paperwork, deception and a rare and endangered species of wild sheep.

The Ladakh urial (a.k.a. Ovis vignei vignei) is listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and protected under international agreements like CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species). Over the years, populations have dwindled due to habitat loss, poaching, and overhunting, with some estimates from the 2010s placing remaining numbers in the low hundreds in certain areas.

According to court documents and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California, the smuggling scheme began way back in February of 2016 when Bruce connected with Pir Danish Ali, a 43-year-old Pakistani hunting outfitter and guide company CEO. Reports indicate that Bruce paid Ali upwards of $50,000 for a guided hunt targeting the Ladakh urial, followed by another $35,000 for a second trip in 2018. His goal was simple; find a target animal, kill it, and smuggle either the full carcass or the mounted head back into the United States…

🐚 California Woman Cited for Stuffing Poached Endangered Abalone in Her Pants. A wildlife officer patrolling Van Damme State Park in Northern California (near Mendocino) spotted a man and woman collecting purple sea urchins in the intertidal zone over the weekend of January 31st. Using a spotting scope, the officer observed the woman discreetly conceal what appeared to be an abalone (an endangered sea snail) down her pants, described by officials as "an unconventional storage method, to say the least." When the pair returned to the parking lot, the officer confronted her, and she produced a small abalone from her pants. Suspecting more, the officer called for a female wildlife officer to assist with a search; instead, the woman voluntarily produced a second abalone.

The woman was cited for illegally taking two red abalone, a protected species under California law with a long moratorium on harvesting due to severe population declines from overfishing, disease, and poaching pressure.

💪 Strong Backlash from Hunters Sinks Two Landowner Tag Bills in Wyoming. The Wyoming Senate decisively rejected two controversial bills on the first day of the 2026 budget session on Tuesday that aimed to expand privileges for landowner hunting tags in the state. Sponsored by Sen. Laura Pearson and backed by a legislative interim committee, the proposals faced strong opposition from hunters concerned about turning public wildlife resources into a "pay-for-play" system favoring wealthy landowners or out-of-state bidders.

One key bill, Senate File 51, would have allowed qualifying landowners to sell or transfer special elk, deer, and pronghorn hunting licenses on the open market, potentially creating a commercial market for tags. It was defeated by a vote of 6-25, well short of the two-thirds majority needed to advance. A second related bill sought to set minimum percentages or floors for landowner-allocated licenses in limited-quota hunt areas and was voted down 9-22. Pearson attributed the defeats to a flood of emails and correspondence from upset hunters. While the main bills died, one minor related measure survived: a proposal giving the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission more flexibility to set limits on landowner tags ahead of public lotteries.

👨‍⚖️ Indiana House Passes Bill to Abolish Natural Resources Commission Amid Conservation Backlash. Indiana lawmakers have advanced a sweeping government reform bill that includes a controversial provision to abolish the Indiana Natural Resources Commission, the independent board responsible for setting rules on hunting seasons, bag limits, fishing regulations, license fees, nature preserve designations, and more. House Bill 1003, a 456-page omnibus measure aimed at eliminating or consolidating dozens of "superfluous" state boards and commissions, passed the Indiana House of Representatives last week by a strong 67-29 vote. If enacted, the NRC's rulemaking authority would shift directly to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources or other executive channels, potentially reducing public input and independent oversight on wildlife and conservation decisions.

A broad coalition of conservation groups, including the Indiana Wildlife Federation, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, Sportsmen's Alliance, among others, has mobilized against the change, arguing it would move resource management "behind closed doors," erode transparency, silence hunters and anglers in public hearings, and consolidate power without solving any clear problem. Opponents highlight the NRC's role as a key forum for public testimony and balanced decision-making on issues funded by license buyers. The bill now heads to the Indiana Senate, where advocates hope to either kill the measure outright or amend it to remove or protect the NRC.

🤭 There’s one in every crowd. Watch as this herd outside of Estes Park seamlessly leap over this fence before a calf gets tangled up. They spooked, but thankfully the young one got herself sorted out and joined the group.

I ain’t poking fun either. I would have done the same damn thing…

🪶 Paradise on the Pampas: It was late morning, and the day was warming up fast. My outfitter, German, and I were walking quietly, quartering into the wind, when the bulky, reddish-brown forms of two red deer moved ahead of us in the thick brush. I caught a glimpse of what looked like a very large set of antlers disappearing behind the prickly branches of a calden tree. 

Momentarily stupefied by the sight of the enormous rack, I stood rooted to the spot. I glanced at German, who mouthed silently, “Wait.” I nodded almost imperceptibly.   Read the full story.

👍 A Georgian’s First Elk Hunt: I got off work at 4 p.m. in Atlanta and boogied home to catch my ride into the Wild West. After saying good-bye to sweetie, Jonah picked me up at 6:30, and we embarked. We made great time until we passed through Nashville and halted at road construction, which delayed us more than an hour. I went to sleep in the truck around 11 and was able to sleep off and on until 4 a.m.

Jonah was a real trooper. He pushed all through the night until we swapped at 4. I drove three hours past Kansas City, and after stopping for some grub, we switched back. Highway 70 from Kansas City to Denver must be the longest, dullest drive in the western hemisphere. After spotting a herd of pronghorns, the monotony melted as we marveled at the majesty of the Rocky Mountains while our ascent meandered. We scaled to heights unknown to me, as we crested as high as 10,500 feet driving in. With my neck craned out the window, my bewildered mind couldn’t fathom how any man could deny that there is a God in Heaven. For how else could such beauty exist on our clump of space dust we call Earth? Read the full story.

⛰️ Hills Are Up in Montana: When you leave a hunting vehicle in Montana you walk up a hill, and when you return to the car, you still walk up a hill. I have come to the conclusion that in the Big Sky Country, water must flow uphill.

My son Sam and I made our annual bird-hunting trip to Montana early last September to catch the sharptail grouse before they bunched up in large numbers, posted sentinels and flushed wild. We were also hopeful of finding Hungarian partridge, which had not been plentiful during our previous two years in North Dakota. This was not planned as a guided hunt. We flew out to Montana on the cheapest available airline tickets, rented a four--wheel-drive carryall in Billings, and then headed north, not knowing where we were going, but looking for some good prairie-bird habitat and hoping to see some birds along the roadside. Read the full story.

Oh, and one more thing…