Wyoming Man Gets Fines, Jail Time and Lifetime Hunting Ban After Multi-Year Poaching Case 🧑‍⚖️

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

NORTH AMERICA’S MOST-READ OUTDOOR NEWSLETTER

As we continue to slowly but surely inch back towards the weekend, let’s all take a minute to grab a coffee or whiskey (no judgement) and get into what this beautiful Tuesday has to offer.

Here's what's worth reading about so far this week:

HIGH-TECH TOOLS BROUGHT HIM DOWN
WYOMING MAN GETS FINES, JAIL TIME AND LIFETIME HUNTING BAN AFTER MULTI-YEAR POACHING CASE

In another case of blatant disregard for the law, a Fremont County man has lost his hunting and trapping privileges for life after pleading guilty to eight wildlife charges stemming from the illegal taking of deer, elk, and a moose dating all the way back to 2021.

According to the release, the investigation involved nearly every game warden in the Lander Region along with department wildlife investigators. While officers documented evidence of additional animals taken illegally, prosecutors focused on the eight counts supported by location data, text messages, photographs, and even forensic DNA matches…

😳 Minnesota Man Charged After Allegedly Firing Toward Hunters on Public Land. A Glyndon, Minnesota man is up against some serious felony charges after authorities say he fired as many as 20 rounds toward a group of pheasant hunters on public land.

Cole Lee Vanderlinden, 43, was charged in Clay County District Court with intentional discharge of a firearm that endangers safety and fifth-degree drug possession. According to the criminal complaint, deputies responded to multiple 911 calls on October 25th reporting gunshots near hunters. The three hunters, who were wearing blaze orange, said shots came from the direction of nearby houses while they were walking through brush and cattails. One hunter fired a warning shot into the air and the group yelled to alert the shooter to no avail. Finally, one of them approached to within about 50 yards, told Vanderlinden people were in the field, and asked him to stop. Ignoring the request, he allegedly continued firing. With bullets passing an estimated 50 to 60 yards above their heads, the hunters retreated into the cattails, with one saying he feared for his life.

When deputies arrived, they saw Vanderlinden near a vehicle holding an AR-style rifle with a scope and ordered him to put it down. He complied, then argued before being detained. A search of his property turned up the AR-style rifle, a shotgun, ammunition, and two small bags of a substance that field-tested positive for methamphetamine. The firearm charge carries a maximum of two years in prison and a $5,000 fine; the drug charge carries a maximum of five years and a $10,000 fine.

🤔 As Mississippi Black Bear Numbers Continue to Rise, a Hunting Season Could be on the Horizon. In another conservation success story, Mississippi’s black bear population has grown from near extinction to an estimated 400–500 animals, prompting conversation surrounding the possibility of a future hunting season.

Anthony Ballard, Black Bear Program Leader for the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, told the Senate Committee on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks that black bears were once plentiful but had declined to roughly a dozen animals by 1932 due to overhunting and habitat loss. By 2012 the estimate had risen to 150–250, and Ballard now puts the population at 400–500, concentrated mostly in the western part of the state near the Louisiana border, with occasional sightings along the Gulf Coast. For the time being, bears remain on the state’s protected species list and Ballard has cautioned that social media and news reports can make the population seem larger than it is, citing an example of a single animal nicknamed “Pear Bear” that was repeatedly reported across north Mississippi.

He went on to advise lawmakers that there is no urgency to open a season, as most states that reestablished black bear hunting waited until populations reached roughly 1,000 animals. Removing bears from the protected list would require legislative action, after which MDWFP would set tag numbers and regulations. Stressing that from as far as he can tell, the state is only about halfway to a legal hunt, he did suggest that any future season should start in mid-December (after breeding-age females are denned) and include protections for sows with cubs, steering any possible future hunt primarily toward adult males.

🐻 Texas Outdoorsman Creates First Public Bear Attack Database, Calls 2026 ‘Unprecedented’. A Texas outdoorsman has compiled what he says is the first publicly available database of bear attacks in North America and is calling 2026 an “unprecedented” year, tallying at least 64 attacks resulting in injury or death so far.

Mike Dickerson, 71, a longtime outdoor writer with contacts in wildlife agencies across the U.S. and Canada, began tracking incidents after agency sources and his own observations suggested this would be a bad year. Using news alerts, agency reports, and follow-ups, he has documented more than 70 encounters, including 64 attacks. Analysis of the data by grizzly researcher Chris Servheen found that 43% of the attacks were predatory, and 94% of those involved black bears. Dickerson said this aligns with the longstanding distinction that most grizzly attacks are defensive (protecting cubs or a carcass), while a high percentage of fatal black bear attacks are predatory.

Dickerson attributes the elevated numbers to a combination of factors including drought and wildfires damaging habitat and natural food sources (such as berry crops), growing bear populations, range expansion into long-settled areas, and increased human recreation in bear country. Colorado has been a notable hotspot, with wildlife agents killing nearly 300 black bears over conflicts, roughly four times as many in a typical year. Dickerson said he plans to continue the list through the end of the year but is undecided about maintaining it long-term, calling the work a significant time commitment. He supports the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and hopes the data proves useful to managers and the public.

🌈 So that’s what’s at the end of the rainbow. This is one of those unique captures that just works. Very cool footage out in the Grand Tetons.

Obviously an Irish moose…

Oh, and one more thing…