Body Cams Coming to Washington Fish and Wildlife Police 📸

The long 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 kick off the three-day weekend by getting caught up on the outdoor news and views from the past few days. 

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

• Smile, you’re on camera - Washington wildlife police are now recording 🎥

• Flippity-floppity - Colorado asks for gov to help round up recently reintroduced wolves 🐺

• Can dogs detect CWD? - One study says we’re pretty darn close 🐕‍🦺

• EHD detected earlier than expected - Indiana has found a few cases of mortality already this year 🤢

• Speed kills saves - Watch a baby raccoon narrowly escape a baby gator 🦝

Check us out on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

KEEPING OFFICERS AND THE PUBLIC SAFE
BODY CAMS COMING TO WASHINGTON FISH AND WILDLIFE POLICE (AND OTHER AGENCIES TOO)

In a trend that was first spearheaded by New York City’s police department back in 2013, the idea of police officers wearing body cameras is a requirement that is now spreading beyond traditional law enforcement. Used as a tool to protect both the public and police officers, body-worn cameras are now used by the majority of large police departments across the country. 

This safety trend is continuing to expand outside of traditional law enforcement and into those we trust to guard and police our treasured natural resources.  While not the first to do it, Washington state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife is the latest to adopt the use of these cameras, and plans to deploy one for each and every one of their 152 commissioned state wildlife police officers. 

“This program advances our commitment to our core values and our mission to protect our natural resources and the public we serve,” said WDFW Police Chief Steve Bear. “Deploying body-worn cameras to our officers will help us build trust and relationships with all communities in Washington.”  

🐺 Colorado flip-flops on wolf reintroduction and is now asking the government to help capture and relocate transplanted wolves. After a bad few months of depredation on cattle, sheep and other livestock, Colorado Parks and Wildlife is asking the federal government for help to capture some of the very wolves that were released just last December. After CPW confirmed a total of 16 wolf attacks on livestock in and around the den site, the focus will be centered on the Copper Creek pack in Grand County. 

“The decision to capture and relocate the Copper Creek pack was made with the careful consideration of multiple factors and feedback from many different stakeholders,” CPW Director Jeff Davis said in the statement. ”Our options in this unique case were very limited, and this action is by no means a precedent for how CPW will resolve wolf-livestock conflict moving forward. The ultimate goal of the operation is to relocate the pack to another location while we assess our best options for them to continue to contribute to the successful restoration of wolves in Colorado.”

Ranchers and hunters alike have long been in opposition to the state's release program, which was mandated by a narrowly-approved ballot measure back in November 2020. While they work on capturing these particular wolves, the state is allegedly still shopping for a new supplier for additional wolves after being cut off by Washington’s Southern Ute Tribe earlier this month.

🐕‍🦺 Will we soon see dogs at CWD check stations? One study says that we just might. According to results from a study published earlier this month, researchers have made extensive progress in teaching dogs how to detect chronic wasting disease in whitetail deer samples. Lead researcher Glen Golden and his team obtained hundreds of fecal samples from a variety of both farmed and wild whitetail deer. 

Using the samples, the researchers presented each dog with five fecal samples, with only one of them being CWD-positive. During testing with toys and other rewards, researchers found that the dogs were 90 percent accurate in detecting the affected sample. The study also utilized gastrointestinal tissue samples to try to prove that dogs could transition from fecal samples to whole tissue samples. In these trials, which consisted of 419 reward tests using whitetail colon samples, the dogs were able to identify the infected sample with 96 percent accuracy. While the results of the study are promising, Golden and his team of researchers are still up against logistical challenges and the inherent risks of biosecurity. At this time, it’s just not feasible to go out and sell vials of CWD-positive deer samples to the general public. 

The plan is to develop some form of chemical substitute that could be used for training purposes and unleash that to farmers and wildlife agencies alike.

🤢 Indiana DNR is investigating some EHD cases that are coming a little earlier than expected this year. While detections of epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) in deer don’t usually pop up until early fall, Indiana’s DNR is reporting the first outbreak of the season ahead of the Labor Day weekend. Given the high level of deer mortality in the northern region of the state, the DNR has gone ahead and started the process of lowering the county bonus antlerless quota for deer hunting in that county from two bonus antlerless deer to one bonus antlerless deer to offset the EHD outbreak. 

Officials are asking anyone that encounters a deer they believe to be affected by the disease to report it at on.IN.gov/sickwildlife.

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

No hunting fatalities reported in Arkansas during 2023-24 season: Hunters pursuing their passions on private and public land throughout the 2023-24 hunting seasons reported a scant 19 incidents, and, for the first time since 2018, had no fatalities as a result of hunting accidents in the woods and waters of The Natural State. Read more at AGFC.

New sage grouse permit required for hunting season:  The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) is requiring sage grouse hunters to carry a new, free permit. The hope is it’ll help the agency collect more specific data on the bird, which is dwindling across the West. Read more at Wyoming Public Media.

Lottery for Louisiana black bear hunting permits opened Thursday:  Though the 2024 bear hunting season doesn't open until December, the lottery to obtain a permit to participate opened on Thursday.  Read more at WBRZ.

Texas A&M Forest Service asking Texans to prevent wildfires during dove hunting season: During Labor Day weekend and the start of dove hunting season, the Texas A&M Forest Service encourages residents to protect Texas land by being aware of the activities that may cause a wildfire. Read more at KWTX.

Louisiana’s National Hunting and Fishing Day Set for Sept. 28: NHFD has become a tradition since its establishment in the early 1970s. Since then, every fourth Saturday in September is dedicated to Louisiana’s popular outdoor pastimes. Read more at LDWF.

Mississippi alligator hunting season begins with high hopes: Mississippi's alligator hunting season kicks off Friday at noon, drawing hundreds of hunters eager to participate in this exclusive event and manage the gator population. Read more at WPAT.

New York State deer hunters eligible for $60 ammo rebate through new DEC initiative: The Department of Environmental Conservation is offering a $60 rebate for the purchase of non-lead ammunition for the 2024-25 hunting season. Read more at North Country Now.

Check us out on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

VIDEO // ^{_{SOME THINGS JUST HAVE TO BE SEEN}}

🦝 A pair of baby raccoons narrowly escape a young gator looking for his next meal. Watch as some dude does his very best to alert the young raccoon about the imminent danger lurking in the water on the other side of the log. Somehow, the little fella gets out of the way before it’s too late…

🦈 It’s a shark-eat-shark world out there. According to the videography, she was just about to sip on her morning coffee when she captured a large hammerhead dining on a reef shark off the coast of Florida.

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.

Last week I asked, Today's feature story was filled with ethical dilemmas. What would you have done?

To which you replied:

1. I’d still claim it and offer the other hunters a cut (100%)

Here’s today’s question…

Oh, and one more thing…