Jury Clears Bowhunter Accused of Wasting Elk After Grizzly Hit the Carcass 🐻

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

NORTH AMERICA’S MOST-READ OUTDOOR NEWSLETTER

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:

A PHONE CALL MIGHT HAVE WENT A LONG WAY
JURY CLEARS WYOMING BOWHUNTER ACCUSED OF WASTING ELK MEAT AFTER GRIZZLY HIT THE CARCASS

It was late last month when a Park County jury put one seemingly ethical bowhunter's concerns to rest, clearing him of any wrongdoing after he took on a pair of misdemeanor waste-of-game charges. 

Those charges stemmed from an incident that took place last September when Cody bowhunter Ron Niziolek dropped a nice bull late in the evening and returned to retrieve it the next morning. When he arrived ready to pack out the meat, Ron and his companions came across a scene that would give even the most seasoned elk hunters shivers down their spine. As they approached Ron’s bull, Mary Miles later told the jury that the elk’s midsection had been eaten out, and noticed two fresh piles of what they took for grizzly scat beside the carcass…

🐺 Trio of South Carolina Hunters Battle Nearly 13-Foot, 600-Pound Alligator for Two Hours on Waccamaw River. Monday turned out to be anything but routine for three South Carolina hunters as they got hooked into a monster gator on the Waccamaw River between Georgetown and Myrtle Beach.

John Wayne Caulder of Marion County was hunting with his son Kelly Wayne Caulder of Florence County and their friend Josh Bumgarner of Hickory, North Carolina. Bumgarner just so happened to hold the harvest tag for South Carolina’s tightly regulated public alligator season in the Pee Dee management unit where the gator was taken. The men had taken alligators before, but Caulder said this one stood out as both one of the largest and the hardest fight they had ever had.

The group plans a European-style skull mount and kept meat from the tail after donating some to a stranger they met at a gas station.

👨‍⚖️ Florida Man Pleads Guilty to Killing His Two Brothers at Allegany County Hunting Cabin. A Florida man has pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in the November 2025 shooting deaths of his brothers at a hunting cabin in Allegany County, New York. According to prosecutors, Scot D. Thompson, 65, of Englewood, Florida, entered the plea this week, after a verbal incident turned violent while hunting last year.

The three brothers, originally from the Dansville/Hunt area of New York, had gathered at a family hunting camp for a weekend trip that relatives later said was meant to mend strained relationships. On the night of Nov. 23, 2025, those strained relationships reared their ugly head when a verbal argument that involved alcohol turned physical. One of the brothers managed to call 911, but by the time troopers arrived, 70-year-old Mark B. Thompson and 69-year-old David E. Thompson had been shot with a rifle — one inside the cabin and one in the doorway. Scot Thompson fled in David’s vehicle and was stopped without incident about an hour later in Livingston County. He was later indicted on two counts of second-degree murder.

He has been held without bail in the Allegany County Jail and is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 23, 2026, exactly one year to the day after the killings. He currently faces a maximum of 25 years to life.

⛑️ Alaska Air Guard Rescues Four Hunters in Two Missions on a Single Flight. Alaska Air National Guard crews from the 176th Wing were busy doing their thing last week when they pulled four stranded hunters out of Arctic Alaska in two back-to-back missions during one single sortie. The first call came through the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center after Alaska State Troopers requested help for two hunters stuck on the banks of the Koness River, about 250 miles northeast of Fairbanks. The pair had triggered an SOS on a two-way satellite communicator, prompting a launch by the 210th Rescue Squadron HH-60W Jolly Green II from Eielson Air Force Base. Aboard was 212th Rescue Squadron Guardian Angel pararescue Airmen, supported by a 211th Rescue Squadron HC-130J Combat King II that air-refueled the helicopter to stretch its range. The crew homed in on the SOS coordinates, hoisted the rescue team down, made contact, and brought both hunters home.

While that first pickup was underway, Troopers alerted the coordination center to a second party in trouble about 30 miles west on the Sheenjek River. Those hunters had also sent an SOS by satellite device and the Jolly Green wasted no time heading towards the new coordinates. They soon landed, put the Guardian Angels on the ground, and loaded the second pair of hunters. All four were flown to Eielson and released to state troopers.

This story should serve as a reminder to all hunters that cell service is spotty across much of Alaska’s backcountry. Always carry a satellite communicator when in remote areas and be sure to leave an itinerary with someone at home.

🫎 You call that a fence? Watch as this big fella steps over that 3-foot fence like it was a twig lying on the ground.

Ain’t nothing getting in his way…

☔️ Rainy Days in Cuba: Apparently brisk, stormy January afternoons are a thing in Cuba, too.

I’d rather find out a different way, though.

Somewhere in the channel between Cayo Cruz and Cayo Mégano Grande, along Cuba’s northern coastline, our little flats skiff had motor issues. We’d been heading out on a chilly winter morning, heavy storm clouds dotting the far horizon. It wasn’t a pleasant day; not a day to take clients fishing. But I was on a quick tour of Cuba to assess various fly-fishing destinations—it was a work trip—and so we bundled up in our rain gear and prepared to get bounced around in the boat all day.

It wouldn’t be a permit day. Not in this weather. But the guide thought he knew a channel where we could blind cast for tarpon, something I am always game to do.

We had to get there first, though. Read the full story.

🎣 Carp-eh Diem:  A half-dozen boulders as large as a Volkswagen Beetle sat at the head of the pool, and trout held exactly where you’d expect them to be. Some were in the hollowed-out river bottom in front of each rock, others finned in the slow water inside the vee current while smaller fish drifted in the soft flow further downstream. Bouncing a Goddard caddis or a Stimulator off the rock always produced a strike, but those paled in comparison to the best spot. The best place was 30 yards downstream and in the middle of the pool.

The kidney shaped pool was joined by a feeder stream that ran down the mountain. In the spring, run-off hammered down the mountain and when it dumped into the river the force hollowed out a deep trough along the bank. Trout held in that slower water against the bank, and they were among the biggest trout in the river. Rainbows and brookies liked the faster water, but if your goal was to hang a big brown then this was the place to do it. Nighttime was the right time, but when a hatch came off those big fish lost their head. Read the full story.

🍂 Game Day - Where Traditions Take the Field: There has always been a parallel between opening day of deer season and the home opener at Notre Dame. Both happen in the fall. Both feel almost religious and both begin with ritual.

Whether the camp sits beneath a cathedral of yellow aspens or beneath a sea of blue, gold, and green tents outside Notre Dame Stadium hardly matters. The faithful arrive early. Trucks pull into familiar places. Veterans know exactly where to park. Read the full story.

Oh, and one more thing…