Former Louisiana Wildlife Secretary Pleads Guilty in Major Illegal Kickback Scheme 👨‍⚖️

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:

MORE INSTITUTIONAL ROT
FORMER LOUISIANA WILDLIFE SECRETARY PLEADS GUILTY IN MAJOR ILLEGAL KICKBACK SCHEME

In a stunning development, Jack Montoucet, who ran the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries until his abrupt 2023 resignation, walked into federal court in Lafayette on Tuesday and changed his plea to guilty.

That sudden change of heart comes after Montoucet was hit with a five-count federal indictment in May 2025 for allegedly orchestrating a classic kickback scheme involving a lucrative statewide contract for online hunter education, boater education, and citation resolution courses. The original charges included conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery, wire fraud, and money laundering. He initially pleaded not guilty and vowed to fight the case at trial.

A fight he now seems to have abruptly given up on…

🦃 Texas Coach Says He’ll Call a Turkey Off the Roost Before Getting Ready for the Final Four. Right after the No. 1 seed Longhorns blew out Michigan 77-41 to advance to the Final Four, Texas coach Vic Schaefer told reporters he planned to treat himself the next morning with a quick turkey hunt. Turkey season had just opened, and the veteran coach made it clear he had earned a short break in the woods.

“I’m gonna kill a turkey in the morning,” he said plainly. “I’ve earned that right to be in the woods for a couple of hours in the morning calling a turkey.”

Schaefer kept it confident and folksy, estimating the hunt might not take longer than 30 minutes if he can “call that dude off the roost”. Once that was done, he said he was committed to heading straight back to business in the office and prepping for the Final Four women’s matchup against UCLA tomorrow night.

Go get ‘em, coach.

💰 NSSF Donates $50,000 to Help Oregon Hunters Association Defeat Proposed Hunting Ban. The National Shooting Sports Foundation has handed over a $50,000 grant to the Oregon Hunters Association to help combat what they describe as extremism and misinformation threatening hunting in Oregon. The funding will support OHA’s 2026 education and outreach efforts, primarily focused on opposing Initiative Petition 28 (IP 28) — a psychotic ballot measure scheduled for the fall election that could effectively ban or severely restrict hunting across the state.

According to the release, passage of IP 28 could result in the loss of more than $20 million in federal wildlife restoration funding in 2026 alone, causing significant harm to Oregon’s wildlife management. OHA, which is Oregon’s largest hunting organization with 26 local chapters, plans to use the grant to fight what it calls animal extremist propaganda and protect long-term access to hunting and public-lands conservation.

🔫 Second Amendment Foundation Challenges Federal Ban on Carrying Firearms in National Park Facilities. The Second Amendment Foundation, along with the Firearms Policy Coalition and individual plaintiff Gary Zimmerman, has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the ban on carrying firearms inside certain facilities in the National Park System. The suit, Zimmerman v. Bondi, targets 18 U.S.C. § 930(a), which prohibits knowingly possessing a firearm in a "federal facility." This ban includes government offices, visitor centers, ranger stations, fee collection buildings, and maintenance facilities operated by the National Park Service.

SAF argues that the restrictions violate the Second Amendment, particularly in light of the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision, which protects the right of law-abiding citizens to carry firearms in public. The groups say the rules force visitors to disarm before entering common buildings, something top brass at SAF described as an unconstitutional attempt to create “sensitive places” that circumvent previous Supreme Court rulings.

🐊 Make sure you yield the right of way on this trail. This is out at the Circle B Bar Reserve in Central Florida which is home to some of the state's biggest gators.

My favorite part is the lady with the baby stroller in the background…

🛻 When the Tailgate Drops: On a crisp fall night driving down an old game management road in Edgefield County, we ease off to the side near a creek and shut off the truck. It’s quiet and so dark there’s not a star in the sky. Silence breaks when the coon dogs rustle around inside their dog box, excited about going to work.

We climb out the truck and walk to the tailgate to a pair of anxious hounds, a Treeing Walker (Molly) and a Black and Tan (Ellie). They leap from the tailgate and follow their owner, my daddy, Mark Hett. He walks into the woods several yards off the creek bed, unsnapping their leashes one by one before the dogs vanish. Daddy turns on his headlamp and sets his compass to where his truck is parked, listens for his hounds and checks a GPS tracker. Read the full story.

🪶 Shadows and Feathers: As the sun crested the horizon, the landscape was bathed in a purple haze. After two hours on the road, we arrived at a popular scenic overlook—an unassuming turnoff that lures in travelers with its sweeping view of the silent, stoic Flint Hills. The sight alone compels people to stop and stare at the sculpted expanse of color, shifting with the seasons.

But I wasn’t there just to admire the view. I was meeting a stranger, a fellow law enforcement officer and wingshooter, to chase a bird so steeped in history, conservation, and mystique that it draws hunters from across the country: the iconic prairie chicken. Read the full story.

🎣 Missed the Boat: Sometimes I wish I’d been born earlier. Not because I romanticize the past—I know it wasn’t all glossy black water and cooperative tarpon—but because there was a time when the fish were many and the anglers were few. I missed that window by just enough to know what I lost.

I’ve watched the fishing world transform in real time. Social media, GoPros, instant everything. You get a peek into someone’s life from thousands of miles away, in real time, while the guy standing next to you is doing the same thing on his phone. That instant-gratification culture misses the now. Back then, you waited for the next magazine issue—or headed to the newsstand to “preview” it before buying. That anticipation was part of the experience. It made the actual fishing feel like a payoff. Read the full story.

Oh, and one more thing…