Colorado is Set to Lose Over $60 million if Mountain Lion Hunt is Canceled 💸

The weekend might not be here 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 few days. 

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

• That’s gonna cost ya - Study shows Colorado is set to burn resources 💸

• Buy that man a beer - Idaho biologist springs to action, saves 10-year-old boy from drowning 🦸

• Mysterious fish kill - 1,000 fish turn belly up in Tischer Creek ☠️

• Who you calling a minority? - A UK group is working to get hunters listed as ‘ethnic minorities’ 🤷

• New app, who ‘dis - Texas rolls out their new hunting and fishing app 📲

THIS IS GOING TO BE COSTLY
NEW STUDY SHOWS THAT COLORADO IS SET TO LOSE OVER $60 MILLION IN ECONOMIC BENEFIT IF MOUNTAIN LION HUNT IS CANCELLED

On the heels of the news that the controversial Initiative 91 is now a ballot measure in Colorado, a non-partisan group has completed an economic study of the effects of banning mountain lion hunting in the Centennial State. 

The report created by the aptly named Common Sense Institute not only took into account the amount of economic loss that would be caused by the loss of license sales for big cat hunts, but also the cascading effects of having more lions on the landscape. Beginning with license sales, the report highlighted that, if approved in November, Colorado Parks and Wildlife would lose $410,000 worth of license sales by June of 2025 and things would only get worse from there.

“These estimates only include the direct or static impacts resulting from the measure,” CSI writes in a summary of its report. “There are broader economic impacts likely to come from Initiative 91 as an increase in the mountain lion predator population will have impacts on other animal populations and habitats.”

🏊 Idaho Fish & Game biologist rescues 10-year-old boy from drowning in the Selway River. Clearwater Region Fisheries Habitat Biologist Robert Hand was just about to finish up another productive day on the river when a commotion downstream caught his attention. Nearby a family was in a panic as their 10-year-old son struggled against the raging current. Hand, a 22-year agency veteran, sprung into action immediately, running downstream to catch up with the boy. With all options exhausted and the boy slipping closer to the rapids by the minute, the biologist dove head first into the water and reached the young man who still managed to stay afloat.

The pair made it to shore safely where the boy was soon reunited with his family. 

“We are thankful this boy was able to return safely to his family,” Fish and Game Director Jim Fredericks said. “We also thank Robert for his fast action and bravery in assessing a dangerous situation and rescuing the boy. This reflects highly on his dedication and professionalism, and we could not be prouder.”  

Get that man a beer.

☠️ Mysterious fish kill claims hundreds of brook trout in Minnesota creek. Earlier this month a massive fish kill was reported on the Tischer Creek, which flows through picturesque Duluth, Minnesota. In total, an estimated 1,000 fish were killed in the incident that affected nearly two miles of the creek. Brook trout are the only trout species native to the area and are reported to have been the most affected by the kill.

Officials have been mum on the cause of the incident as it remains an open investigation by both the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Rumor has it that city staff released 400,000 to 500,000 gallons of chlorinated water from the reservoir the day before the kill was discovered. The city maintains that the water was “clean, potable” and not a threat to public safety, but it’s awfully coincidental, now isn’t it?

QUICK HITS // ^{_{FROM AROUND THE WEB}}

Camp Ripley’s expanded deer hunt is one of the changes ahead for Minnesota hunters, trappers: With the Minnesota harvest season around the corner, the Department of Natural Resources has adjusted season lengths and many other rules. Read more at Star Tribune.

Hunters search for pythons as the snakes keep slithering north in Florida:  As Florida embarks on a mass hunt to catch as many pythons as possible in South Florida, the invasive snakes continue to slither every now and then through Brevard, and have been for years. Read more at Florida Today.

Idaho Fish and Game to vote on bear hunting rules today, seeking balance:  The Idaho Fish and Game Commission is scheduled to vote on a temporary hunting rule package today that seeks to balance traditional black bear hunting practices with the need to protect grizzly bears. See the property at Lewiston Tribune.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department overhaul app to streamline hunting, fishing licenses: Yesterday, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department launched an updated version of the official mobile app used by hunters and anglers across the state. Read more at 12News.

White-tailed deer in north Idaho’s Boundary County tests positive for chronic wasting disease: Idaho Fish and Game recently received test results confirming a positive case of chronic wasting disease in an adult female white-tailed deer roughly 3 miles outside of Bonners Ferry in hunting Unit 1. The deer was reported to Fish and Game by a landowner who found the dead deer in early July. Read more at Idaho Fish & Game.

State publishes Maine antlerless deer permit lottery results early: Maine Inland Fisheries & Wildlife published the results of the 2024 antlerless deer permit lottery earlier than planned Thursday. Updated results are now available according to Bangor Daily News.

Natural Resources Board Approves 2024-2034 Elk Management Plan: The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board (NRB) today approved the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) 2024-2034 Elk Management Plan and the associated administrative rule package. Read more at WDNR.

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🧑‍⚖️ A group in the UK is working diligently to get hunters listed as an “ethnic minority” in need of protection. In the face of brazen attempts to stifle free speech from across the pond, a UK group has set out on an ambitious crusade to have hunters recognized as ethnic minorities. While here in America, we as hunters are statistically a minority of sorts, things are much worse for those who, for example, enjoy fox hunting on horseback in jolly old England. 

And according to Hunting Kind - the outfit putting on the campaign - fox hunting is one of the leading problems with how folks in the UK view hunters. They say that the attention that particular style of hunting gets works only to wipe out other traditional forms of hunting such as upland bird hunting and stag hunting. Scotland and England have already both outlawed hunting mammals with dogs and organizers believe more bans are set to come down the pipe.

“It’s something that’s very contentious,” Hunting Kind founder and chair Ed Swales said in a recent Fieldsports Channel podcast. “The attack on hunting and the anti-hunting lobby led by the animal rights extremist movement has effectively been a person-on-person conflict using the excuse of animal welfare.”

According to Swales, he’s already presented his legal argument with a leading councilor who has said that hunters would “qualify undoubtedly” as a protected minority group under the UK Equality Act that was signed into law in 2010.

Luckily for us here in America, getting ourselves a special designation is not yet a requirement. This should, however, come as a reminder that while we may personally not need any special protections, our lifestyle and heritage in the outdoors soon will.

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🐊 An alligator…in Lake Erie? Authorities and animal rescue organizations in northern Pennsylvania are on the lookout for an alligator last seen swimming in Lake Erie after a video was posted to Facebook. While wranglers believe this to be a pet that was released, they are asking for the public’s help in locating the lost reptile.

🤡 Dude dresses up as a bear, lays on the side of the road. Even though it’s idiotic, I admittedly laughed. Seriously, don’t do this though. Someone is bound to get hurt.

CAMP TALK // ^{_{BEFORE YOU GO}}

We get a lot of questions and comments on here, and we figure it’s time to repay the favor. As part of our new Camp Talk section, we’re going to ask you, the reader, your opinion on some serious (and not so serious) topics to close out each newsletter.

On Wednesday I asked; The wife says you can only hunt one day for one species this fall. What are you chasing?

To which all you apparently single gentlemen replied:

1. You guys have a wife?

2. A three-way tie for waterfowl, elk and bear

Here’s today’s question…

Oh, and one more thing…