Welcome to the Wednesday edition of the newsletter. If you’re still with us, that means you’ve made it to the middle of yet another week.
With that said, let’s all take a minute to grab a coffee or whiskey and get this mid-week dispatch out the door.
Here's what's worth reading about this morning:
Stolen hunt - Copper thieves make off with this year’s duck hunt at popular Arkansas WMA 🤬
Late start - Will it affect Wisconsin’s gun deer season? 🦌
In the face - South Carolina woman recovering after taking buckshot to the face 🤦
Too damn hot - Missouri’s dismal whitetail season so far has been blamed on warm temps 🌡️
Ram-on-ram action - And not in the way that you think 🤣
WHAT A PISS OFF
COPPER THIEVES RUIN ARKANSAS DUCK OPENER AT POPULAR WMA
Just days before Arkansas’s duck season opener, hunters across the Razorback state received devastating news yesterday detailing how one of the state’s premier public duck hunting destinations had been sabotaged by copper thieves.
The Ed Gordon Point Remove Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Conway County which boasts about 4,400 acres of waterfowl mecca is now essentially dry heading into opening weekend. The popular WMA was crippled after what is believed to be a small group of thieves stripped every ounce of copper wiring and components from the 200-horsepower electric pump that floods 20 of the area’s 23 greentree reservoirs and moist-soil units.
“They took everything,” says Alex Zachary, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission wildlife biologist who manages the WMA. “From the meter loop to the control unit to the variable frequency drive — they gutted the entire electrical system. It’s the brain of the pump, and it’s gone.”
QUICK HITS // FROM AROUND THE WEB
Late start to Wisconsin’s gun-deer season could be tough on hunters: While the late start will work against hunters because of reduced deer movements, colder temperatures and the potential for snow may provide more favorable conditions for hunters. Read the full story.
Woman shot in face with buckshot while hunting in South Carolina, rescuers say: A woman in South Carolina was shot in the face and arm with a buckshot while hunting on Saturday. Read the full story.
Changes coming to Pennsylvania's elk license lottery as lawmaker seeks more transparency: The Pennsylvania House Game and Fisheries Committee approved on Nov. 18 an amended version of House Resolution 356 to make Dec. 27 Pennsylvania Elk Hunt Day in Pennsylvania. Read the full story.
Brownstown hunter reminded the hard way it's illegal to hunt deer in-town: Brownstown Township police reported that an officer responded to reports of possible gunshots near Telegraph and West roads. The responding officer then found a vehicle believed to be connected with illegal gun hunting. Read the full story.
The poached buck | Brownstown Township Police
Commissioner hopes to spearhead push to raise Iowa hunting, fishing fees: Members of the Iowa Natural Resource Commission are expressing frustration about the declining level of state spending on wildlife programs, habitat restoration and acquisition of property for hunting and other outdoor activities. The money for those programs comes from the fees for state hunting, fishing and trapping licenses — fees that haven’t been raised since 2019. Read the full story.
Missouri's dismal deer season opening blamed on near-record-high temperatures: Hunters harvested 70,173 deer on Saturday and Sunday, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation. The total is just above last year's harvest total, but still far below the 90,253 deer harvested during 2023's opening weekend. Read the full story.
VIDEO // SOME THINGS JUST HAVE TO BE SEEN
😘 Mistaken identity or experimental? Watch as this fella seemingly chooses the nicest ram out of the group - for reasons we cannot comprehend. No judgement here, just the boys doing a bit of experimentation I guess.
Can we talk about how unfazed the bottom is…
QUOTABLES // WORDS TO LIVE BY
“The hunter does not love the game he pursues more than the non-hunter loves the fox; he simply loves something else even more: the ancient, unappeasable hunger to be, for a moment, the world’s most perfect predator.”
— Vance Bourjaily
HUMPDAY MEME // GOING OLD SCHOOL
WANDERINGS // A SFW GLIMPSE OF OUR BROWSER HISTORY
How sexual selection, not natural selection, has shaped the brains of both birds and humans alike. I’ve got a bald eagle hanging around the yard and last week the wife was telling me that eagles (and crows) can recognize faces and thus, remember us as we stroll by him each morning. It turns out that some humans also have a unique ability to vividly remember faces as well. From the factory to the track, an inside look at the fast-paced world of Ferrari racing. And the Decline of Deviance and how it relates to our current state of culture.
EYE CANDY // PICTURES > WORDS
Time to get to work.
📸 @argali_official
SHARE WITH FRIENDS // WE’LL SEND YOU COOL SH*T
It’s easy. Copy your link below and send it to your friends. If they sign up, you get free stuff.
Now, do it. (Please).
Oh, and one more thing…
