California duck hunters still missing after nearly 10 days of searching ⛑️

Another weekend has come and gone and hopefully we’re all better for it on this glorious Monday morning.

With the weekend now in the rearview, let’s focus solely on coffee for today and get another Monday edition of your favorite outdoors newsletter out the door.

Here's what's worth reading about today:

• Missing brothers - California brothers have not been seen in nearly 10 days ⛑️

• Big milestone - Wisconsin celebrates elk season 🥳

• Times are a changin’ - PA rule changes inbound 📝

• Mo’ money for elk - RMEF keeps doing their thing 💵

• Florida death - Officials investigating another hunting-related incident 🙏

THE PAIR HAVE BEEN MISSING SINCE DEC 14
TWO BROTHERS STILL MISSING AFTER DUCK HUNTING INCIDENT IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

It’s been nine days since two brothers, ages 17 and 19, were reported missing after embarking on a duck hunting trip in Northern California. According to a release from the Butte County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) on December 14th, BCSO deputies, detectives, the BCSO Aviation and Marine Unit, and BCSO Search and Rescue responded out to the Thermalito Afterbay after reports that one of two duck hunters had overturned on a kayak, and the other one swam into the water to try and help.

The teenagers were later identified as 17-year-old Wesley Cornett and 19-year-old Andruw Cornett. While the search efforts have been extensive the sheriff's office has said it is not asking for assistance from the public.

"We are receiving assistance today from several different law enforcement agencies from across Northern California. There are several boats out at the Afterbay searching," the sheriff's office said on Tuesday of last week…

2024 Wisconsin elk hunt results; DNR celebrates milestone season: The DNR celebrated a milestone this season: For the first time, hunters had the opportunity to hunt in both the Northern and Central Elk zones. Previous hunts only occurred within the Northern Elk Zone. Read the full story.

Pennsylvania Hunting Rules Could Change in 2025—Here’s What’s on the Table:  Big changes could be on the horizon for Pennsylvania hunters and trappers. The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners’ Wildlife Management Committee convened virtually on Thursday to review a series of proposed updates to the 2025-26 hunting and trapping seasons.   Read the full story.

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, partner organizations allot over $7.8M to wildlife, conservation & hunting efforts: The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and its partner organizations allotted $7,817,641 in 2024 to help elk, mule deer and other wildlife, their habitat and an assortment of conservation and hunting heritage projects across Wyoming. Read the full story.

Florida authorities investigating hunting incident, one person reported dead: Walton County Sheriff’s Office reports that they are assisting the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) in the investigation of a hunting incident on Eglin Range in Freeport. Read the full story.

🐻 You’re never the best: The Bitterroot Mountains are a place where the rules change. On the Montana side of the border, they rise like sentinels, guarding the wild spaces where most humans don’t fare well—at least not for long. I’d been in the wilderness for three days, tracking a bull elk that seemed to know the mountains better than I did. Every time I got close, he’d vanish into the thick pines, leaving only deep hoof prints and a few snapped branches as evidence that he’d ever been there.

But I wasn’t in a rush. This part of the world demands patience. You don’t chase; you wait. And I’d waited through dawn fog, high winds, and the kind of silence that makes your ears strain for the smallest sound. It wasn’t just elk country in this stretch of the Bitterroots, near the Selway River; it was grizzly country, too.  Read the full story.

🦆 Murphy’s law of Duck Hunting:  They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result. If I had to guess, I’d say whoever came up with that definition was probably acquainted with at least a few duck hunters—those intrepid outdoorsmen and women who abandon a warm bed on a cold morning to sit over a spread of lifeless decoys, in awful weather, with sometimes only slim chances of bagging a duck.

These hapless hunters often go home empty-handed, but they enthusiastically repeat this punishing routine the following morning and on many subsequent mornings over the course of a season. Sound familiar? It certainly does to me. I’ve performed this curious ritual day in and day out during duck season for over three decades. Read the full story.

🤠 What a Guy with a Missing Tooth and a Mullet Can Teach You About Living a Better Life Outside:  “It’s all about exploration,” says carpenter and snowmaker Rob Paulsen from Leadville, CO, the highest incorporated city in the U.S. There he works nine months a year—sometimes 80 hours a week—so he can afford taking the other three months off to travel. Between shifts or during his limited free time, Paulsen, who rocks a mullet and a missing front tooth, goes out in the wild every chance he gets.  Read the full story.

Oh, and one more thing…