SCI and Sportsmen’s Alliance Sue Colorado Commission Over Last-Minute Furbearer Limits 🧑‍💼

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:

“SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE” IS NOT A MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
SAFARI CLUB AND SPORTSMEN’S ALLIANCE SUE COLORADO COMMISSION OVER LAST-MINUTE FURBEARER LIMITS

The boys and girls at Safari Club International and the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation have once again hurled a suit at the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission. This time around, the organizations allege that the agency’s July adoption of a two-animal daily bag limit on 17 furbearer species violated Colorado’s Administrative Procedure Act.

The announcement of the filing was dropped earlier this month, in which they argue that the Commission abandoned the two options it had publicly noticed — a staff-recommended daily limit of 15, or a tiered approach of four or eight depending on the species — and instead adopted a far stricter rule after public comment had closed. The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the rule invalid, vacate the two-animal limit, and order the Commission to reconsider the issue with proper notice and an opportunity for the public to comment on whatever proposal just so happens to be under consideration…

💩 Manure Lagoon Overflow at Maryland Dairy Farm Kills Nearly 11,000 Fish in Basin Run. The Maryland Department of the Environment is investigating a major fish kill in Cecil County that killed an estimated 11,000 fish across 25 species, including adult brown trout, smallmouth bass, eels, and minnows. Preliminary findings point to an overflow from a manure lagoon at Kilby Farm as the cause. This is the second time in as many years that state officials have investigated the operation for related die offs and are calling this year’s significantly worse than a similar 2025 event.

MDE has already secured a preliminary injunction barring the farm from discharging pollution into the waterway and is asking a Cecil County Circuit Court judge to hold the operator in contempt of that order. Local residents, including longtime neighbors who described the stream as once supporting a strong wild trout population, expressed frustration over repeated issues at the farm and the pace of enforcement. County health officials tested the water and reported E. coli levels within acceptable limits, while community members have organized to share inspection records and push for additional accountability.

🕵️‍♂️ Pennsylvania State Police Renew Appeal in 2005 Hunter Homicide, Offer $5,000 Reward. It’s been more than two decades since Steven Andrew Kachonik was found shot to death beneath his tree stand in Loyalhanna Township, Pennsylvania. Now, 21 years later, State Police are renewing their call for information in the unsolved murder and are offering a reward for anyone with information to come forward. According to reports, Kachonik went hunting on November 12, 2005, but never returned home, prompting family members to report him missing around 9 p.m. that evening. The next morning, he was discovered dead under a portable tree stand in a wooded area where investigators determined he had suffered a fatal gunshot wound.

The case remains an active homicide investigation with no publicly identified suspect or arrest. The Pennsylvania State Police Kiski Valley Criminal Investigation Unit is offering a $5,000 reward for information that helps resolve the killing. Tips can be directed to the Kiski Valley station at 724-697-5780, the statewide tip line at 1-800-472-8477, or submitted online. The circumstances of the shooting and whether it was targeted or otherwise, have not been publicly detailed.

🦌 Illinois Youth Hunters Set New Deer Kill Record with 4,852 Taken During 2026 Season. The kids are alright in Illinois after setting a new statewide harvest record during last weekend’s youth deer season, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. A preliminary total of 4,852 deer were taken, surpassing the previous record of 4,714 set in 2025 and continuing a recent upward trend from 4,097 in 2024.

Randolph County led the state with 278 deer harvested. Jefferson County followed with 166, Pike County with 150, Fayette County with 145, and Marion County with 125. This year also marked the first time youth deer permits were sold as a combination package including one either-sex permit and one antlerless-only permit. And the fun isn’t over just yet. Any hunters who still hold valid, unfilled youth permits can use them during the upcoming firearm deer seasons in November and December. Let’s go!

🥊 And mom comes running out of NOWHERE! Watch this trail cam footage that captured a bobcat trying to feast on a fawn who’s mother came flying in off the top ropes!

No word on how it all ended…

🌳 A Well Spent Youth: My dad is always in motion. Nicknamed Boss Man, his highest praise is “not bad.” By age 4 I was his ever-present sidekick. It was only after becoming a father myself that I realized the discrete decision this was. Lesser men would have said “when you’re older” and deferred the effort requires to teach, to be patient, and to support. 

Because of him, many of my best friends are 30 years my senior. These are not the people who were conspirators in the dangers of youth or the ones I hit the town with to see what the night held. This collection of my father’s college friends, and various characters added along the way, unintentionally taught me about life and my place in the world. Read the full story.

🦆 Dangerous Game:  Waterfowl hunting’s popularity soared while I attended college, with countless waterfowl hunters fueled by Duck Dynasty and social media welcoming the cold morning from a duck blind and snapping a few pictures. What began as an exciting way to share duck hunting adventures quickly morphed into an obsessive, dangerous game that prioritized all the wrong metrics. 

I was not immune. Read the full story.

🔫 My Purdey: Much More than a Gun: If a man lives in the gun he loves and shoots, then my Purdey is endowed with the souls of two men, with a place reserved for me as Number Three. Those others were the gunners who shot it before me, this lovely thing alive between my hands. This is the story of 12-bore Purdey No. 21390 with two pairs of 26-inch barrels, standard rose engraving, and third grip and clips to action.

It has been mine to shoot for 25 seasons; I sometimes feel it has been mine for the 71 years since it was built, showing where hands have brightened the temper color on the sidelocks. Read the full story.

Oh, and one more thing…