Partial Victory for Colorado Sportsmen as Wildlife Picks Stall in Senate 🗳️

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:

IS HE QUIETLY “STACKING” THE BOARD?
PARTIAL VICTORY FOR COLORADO SPORTSMEN AS GOVERNOR’S WILDLIFE PICKS STALL IN SENATE

Colorado’s hunting and angling community breathed a sigh of relief Wednesday night after a key Senate committee delivered a sharp rebuke to two of Governor Jared Polis’ most controversial appointees to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission, but the fight is far from over.

This week, Jared Polis’s latest attempt to quietly remake the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission ran into a buzzsaw at the state Senate. Two of his three nominees got the committee’s middle finger (or close enough in polite legislative terms), while the third squeaked through on a wave of bipartisan shrugging. It’s a small, ugly victory in what’s shaping up to be a long war over who actually gets to decide the future of deer seasons, trout streams and how the nation’s largest elk herd is managed...

🚤 Six Injured in Boat Crash During High School Fishing Tournament in California. Six people were injured when two boats collided during a bass fishing competition on the San Joaquin Delta in Brentwood, California, on Sunday morning. The crash occurred around 7 a.m. near the Orwood Resort as dozens of teams from the Student Angler Federation launched for the California Open Challenge. Shortly after heading out on the water, one boat had reportedly slowed or stopped in the water when the second boat struck it.

Four of the injured were transported to hospital and injuries included one teenager with broken ribs and a punctured lung, while an adult remained hospitalized overnight. The incident remains under investigation, with witnesses noting concerns about speed and a lack of general awareness of the area.

🤮 Delaware Confirms First Chronic Wasting Disease Case in Wild Deer. The state of Delaware has confirmed its first case of Chronic Wasting Disease in a wild white-tailed deer, becoming the 37th U.S. state to detect the fatal prion disease. The positive sample came from a 2.5-year-old buck harvested by a hunter in Sussex County (the state’s southernmost county) during routine surveillance. The result was verified by the USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory. A second deer from the same county has tested presumptive positive and is awaiting final confirmation.

DNREC has activated its CWD response plan, creating a CWD Management Zone within a 5-mile radius of the harvest site. Officials will conduct additional sampling in the area, and hunters in the zone will be required to check in harvested deer at health-check stations starting next season.

❌ Tennessee Man Receives Lifetime Ban on Hunting and Fishing in Montana After Multiple Poaching Convictions. A Tennessee man by the name of Jerry “Trey” Truitt III, has been permanently stripped of his hunting and fishing privileges in Montana following a string of poaching-related crimes in the western region of the state. Earlier this month, Truitt pleaded no contest to five charges, including unlawful possession of wildlife (a turkey and a protected sandhill crane), hunting without a license, criminal trespass, and hunting during a closed season.

This latest sentencing adds to his prior convictions after he was found guilty of killing an antlerless elk and white-tailed deer without a license in Ravalli County, and pleading guilty to obstruction of justice, using another person’s license, and illegal waterfowl hunting in Lake County. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks cited the cumulative violations as the reason for the lifetime revocation, along with fines and restitution from earlier cases.

🐻 Just hanging out there, bud? Nah, it turns out this fella got himself way up in a tree and NY officials decided they ought to tranquilize him and get him out of there.

This reminds me of that cat poster my old boss had in his office…

🦆 Lovely, Dark and Deep: Down at the Plaza De Mayo, the Argentinians were beating each other with sticks. The Peronists stormed their own headquarters and wouldn’t come out until they called in a bomb threat on themselves. Throaty, concussive thumps rolled over the rooftops, and the breeze carried the bitter bite of teargas.

I was three miles away from the civic discourse, at Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, bound for Santiago del Estero, which is hard to say with a nose full of Argentine politics. Héctor Perin invited me bird shooting, and his invitations were the subject of fireside conversation from Australia to Zambia. Héctor didn’t speak English, so he hired a señorita for the subtitles: “While you may shoot still unlimited palomas, it sorrows me much to tell you we can shoot now only fifty ducks per day. We hope this does not affect adversely your plans to shoot with us.” Read the full story.

🦬 George Washington - Buffalo Hunter: When you think of buffalo hunting, you probably picture the West. That makes sense. Buffalo have always roamed there. An entire era of American history is defined by the estimated 30 million buffalo that ranged from the Great Plains to the wild frontier of Kentucky. When we imagine the hunters, our minds go to the Plains Tribes or the countless men heading west for pelts. The image is cinematic: wide-open grasslands, dust on the horizon, riders pressing into a thundering herd. 

What doesn’t fit is a Virginia gentleman in a powdered wig. Read the full story.

🌄 The Borrowed Gun : Our son, Jamie, is 10 years old. Today, after much pleading, he is with me at a cabin on the South Island of New Zealand, a long way from anywhere. There at the head of the valley, the snow looms high overhead, waterfalls cascade off the mountainside and fingers of dark beech forest reach down to the valley floor. 

Our days settle into an easy rhythm, splitting wood, scouting for wild red stags, then back for dinner. The old fireplace invites a blaze and we oblige—a good fire brings out the boy in every man. Then it’s time to blow the last candle out. Half an hour later, the fire is flickering but sleep is elusive. It’s easy to watch the flames and get lost in memories. Read the full story.

Oh, and one more thing…