Utah hunter busted with scoped .30-06 on restricted muzzleloader hunt 🔫

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

NORTH AMERICA’S MOST-READ OUTDOOR NEWSLETTER

The weekend might not be here just yet, but your favorite dispatch from the great outdoors is. 

So grab your coffee or whiskey (no judgement) and let's get caught up on the outdoor news and views from the past 24-or-so hours.

Here's what's worth reading about today:

.30-06 ≠ MUZZLELOADER
UTAH HUNTER USES SCOPED .30-06 ON RESTRICTED MUZZLELOADER HUNT, ILLEGALLY KILLS TWO BUCKS

Utah’s DNR Division of Law Enforcement is celebrating a bit of a win this week after buttoning up a case stemming from an incident that took place back in September of last year.

It was then that a tip came in about a pair of nice bucks that hit the ground in one of the state’s heavily restricted muzzleloader units that piqued the department’s interest. Deciding to have a closer look at the deer and just who exactly pulled the trigger (and what kind of trigger it was), an investigation was soon underway.

What investigators learned was that the two deer were taken by a party of three hunters. Two men in the group held valid tags while a third unnamed man, who was without a valid permit, was the one who dropped both of the deer with a handsomely outfitted .30-06 rifle.

In the state of Utah, a deer measuring in excess of 24 inches is considered a trophy animal. After putting tape to the bone, one of the deer measured in at 23 inches wide, while the other hit 28, quickly turning this messy field violation into a felony.

Utah’s muzzleloader hunts are highly restricted and are still quite new. The department added them just last year on a handful of general-season deer units as a short-range, iron-sight, traditional-ignition season. Hunters are required to use a flintlock, percussion cap or the like, paired with either open or peep sights and cannot have anything resembling a modern rifle with them in the field whatsoever. Naturally in this case, utilizing the aid of a scoped centerfire is the opposite of the hunt those two tags were issued for, and it burned two great opportunities that other hunters had waited to draw.

Eventually the shooter admitted to taking both of the shots and was charged with two counts of wanton destruction of protected wildlife (a third-degree felony on the trophy and a class A misdemeanor on the other deer). The judge went easy on the fines and restitution, which added up to just over $4,000 but hit him hard on suspension. A felony wildlife conviction starts with a seven year suspension, but state law doubles that term when a trophy animal is involved, leaving our shooter with a 14-year ban.

Hunting, fishing licenses could cost nearly 30% more in Tennessee next year. Here’s what we know: The Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission unanimously approved the TWRA’s 2027-2028 operation budget, which included hiking up the price of getting licensed in the Volunteer State. Read the full story.

Special lottery deer hunt along Lake Michigan shoreline accepting applications: Three adjoining parks on the Lake Michigan shoreline will be the site of a controlled lottery hunt this fall to manage the growing deer population, officials announced. Read the full story.

Hemorrhagic disease suspected in spate of white-tailed deer deaths on Flathead Indian Reservation: Tribal wildlife management suspect epizootic hemorrhagic disease caused a recent spike in deer deaths on the Flathead Indian Reservation near Hot Springs, Valley View and Mission Valley.  Read the full story.

'Strangest deer I've ever seen': Drivers react to kangaroos loose near Portage: "I thought, 'Wow, this is the strangest deer I've ever seen in my life.' But as I look closer, what I thought was a leg was a big old tail," Rouse said.

He quickly realized what he was actually seeing was one of four escaped kangaroos. Read the full story.

After decades of overhunting, black bears are slowly recolonizing the lower Mississippi River basin: While most black bears in Tennessee are concentrated in the east, reports from Middle and West Tennessee residents have steadily streamed in over recent years. The recent sightings are likely several bears, and probably came from bordering states with expanding populations, like Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas and Missouri. Read the full story.

A Strange, Never-Before-Seen Cancer Seems to Be Spreading Among Catfish in a New England Lake: More than a decade ago, fishers and biologists noticed jet-black tumors on the skin of brown bullhead catfish in Lake Memphremagog. Genetic testing hints that they are caused by the first contagious cancer ever documented in fish. Read the full story.

Missing Missouri Hiker Found Disoriented But Alive After Summiting Gannett Peak: Missing Missouri hiker Shaun Mackelprang was found dehydrated and disoriented Wednesday, five days after summiting Gannett Peak and three days after he was reported missing. The signed registry atop Wyoming's tallest peak helped searchers find him. Read the full story.

🫎 The Michael Phelps of the ungulate world. Watch this big fella just cruise across the lake with ease.

The pull of the weekend.

📸 by @ruggednorth.expeditions

 Oh, and one more thing…