Corrections officer arrested after poaching multiple trophy bucks 👮

I’m currently at the “it’s Thursday already?” phase of the workweek and am unsure as to whether or not that is a good thing as of yet. For those of you who have also made it through, a pat on the back is deserved.

With that in mind, let’s all take a minute to grab a coffee or whiskey (no judgement) and get this Thursday morning dispatch out the door.

Here's what's worth reading about today:

• Corrections officer corrected- NH officer nailed in poaching bust 👮

• Unlimited wolf bill dies - Montana’s unlimited wolf killing bill defeated 🐺

• Cattle and elk - Wyoming experimenting with paying ranchers to house elk 🚜

• First of the season - Yellowstone’s first baby bison is on its feet 🦬 

JAILER BECOMES THE JAILED?
NEW HAMPSHIRE CORRECTIONS OFFICER ARRESTED FOR POACHING MULTIPLE TROPHY BUCKS

Corrections officer Travis Cushman was arrested last week on the heels of an 8-month investigation that alleges his involvement in the illegal shooting of multiple deer. According to county records, Cushman has been employed with the Merrimack County Department of Corrections since 2015 and has held a number of positions within the department, including his current role as the superintendent of the Merrimack County Jail. He has since been placed on leave following his arrest on March 25.

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Law Enforcement Division broke the news on Friday regarding the investigation, stating that after serving a search warrant on the suspect’s property, they were able to recover and seize three deer mounts, a firearm and some archery equipment…

🐺 Montana Senate Rejects Unlimited Wolf Hunt, Passes Tamer Measures as FWP Sets New Management Plan. The Montana Senate recently voted on three wolf-hunting bills originating from the House, following a relatively calm debate. House Bill 258 extends the wolf hunting season to match the spring black bear season, House Bill 259 allows the use of thermal and infrared scopes, and House Bill 176 initially aimed to mandate an unlimited hunting season when the wolf population exceeds 550, though it was amended in the Senate to revert to a stricter directive. While HB 258 and HB 259 passed with amendments and await final House approval, HB 176 faced significant contention.

It narrowly passed 26-24 on Friday but failed 23-27 on Monday’s final vote after seven senators switched their positions, effectively ending the most significant wolf-related legislative push of the 2025 session. Supporters, like Sen. Greg Hertz, argued that the wolf population has exceeded recovery goals, justifying expanded hunting. Opponents, including Sens. Butch Gillespie and Pat Flowers, warned of overhunting risks, potential re-listing of wolves on the Endangered Species list, and complications for grizzly bear management, advocating for more targeted approaches.

Meanwhile, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) finalized its first comprehensive wolf management plan update since 2003, incorporating 20 years of experience and over 24,000 public comments. The 2025 plan established 450 wolves as the “benchmark to ensure” 15 breeding pairs, but emphasizes that “this is not FWP’s declared population target.” The number will be used as a float allowing the population to fluctuate anywhere within the “estimated population size identified during the 2021 Legislative Session,” when a law was passed seeking to reduce the number of wolves to a “sustainable population” of not less than 450.

🧑‍🌾 Wyoming Ranchers Paid to Host Elk as Feedgrounds Face CWD Crisis. A nonprofit conservation group known as the Greater Yellowstone Coalition (GYC), is paying Wyoming cattle ranchers to host elk on their land as part of an initiative to reduce reliance on state-run elk feedgrounds, which have been recently known to be spreading chronic wasting disease (CWD). Launched in 2019 in tandem with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) and the Knobloch Family Foundation, these “elk occupancy agreements” compensate ranchers in Teton and Lincoln Counties for costs like cattle relocation and infrastructure changes, such as let-down fences, while keeping elk away from cattle to limit brucellosis transmission. Wyoming, the only state with an elk feedground program, supports over 20,000 elk across 20+ sites, but recent CWD outbreaks—like those in Scab Creek, Dell Creek, and Black Butte feedgrounds, have intensified calls to phase out these disease-prone feeding zones.

The concept of paying ranchers for wildlife tolerance is gaining traction in the West, with programs like Montana’s “Elk Rent” which uses AI and trail cameras to track elk and calculate payments, are offering ranchers flexibility over permanent easements. In an attempt to ease tensions between elk and ranchers, these efforts could redirect some of WGFD’s $3.1 million annual feedground costs to ranchers. While the solution might make dollars and cents on the surface, some hunters are growing concerned about elk being harbored on private land for financial gain and thus further limiting access.

👶  A season of firsts. ‘Tis the season for new growth and that includes baby bison out in Yellowstone. Apparently this is the first one of the season and now all we have to wait for is a tourist to come and f*ck with it.

He’s cute though…

🎣 My Quest to Lasso an Aquatic Bronco: I was walking along the banks of a remote stretch of the Pecos River when I spotted something at the water’s edge: a blue plastic box, the size of a small book, out of place in this unpeopled land of rock and cactus. Inside lay a colorful assortment of fishing flies. It was May 2020, and I had been trying to teach myself to fly-fish on the Pecos, where some friends and I own a patch of riverside desert near Langtry, in southwest Texas. I had learned just enough to know that the lures were mostly hand tied, a personal collection curated by an expert. Some angler out there, I thought, must be pretty bummed. I, on the other hand, felt lucky, if a little guilty. Then I flipped the box over and saw a phone number.

“Hi there. I found a box of flies on the Pecos River that I think belongs to you,” I texted when I got back home to Austin. I received a reply five minutes later: “No way! Lost them last week! I’ll pay for shipping and a 6-pack LOL!” Read the full story.

👴🏻 The Last Camp Geezer: Back when America produced real leaders, one of them – Gen. Douglas MacArthur – said in one of his famous speeches that “old soldiers never die, they just fade away.” Maybe the same is true of old sportsmen.

As a stalwart deer hunter from the Old School, I’m confronting a new social dynamic: most of my contemporary hunt buddies are losing their passion for the hunt. Most of them, although living, will not, for various reasons, be making it to deer camp this fall. Mind you, we have a long history of being together every autumn in the Maine deer woods. I’m talking more than 50 years of sharing space with five guys at the same deer camp November after November for more than a half century!

Of course, there is a blanket explanation: geezerhood, plain and simple. When your vision and hearing is not what it used to be, when your knees crack and your hip hurts, or you are on heart medication, the days in the deer woods can lose their allure. Read the full story.

🪶 The Prince’s Grouse:  Uncle Don passed a few weeks ago. He didn’t leave behind much besides dogs, guns, and stories.

By the end of his time, he saw fit to make me the guardian of two beloved bird dogs, Alder and Cricket, distantly related to Grandpa’s old dog, Purdey. As we rolled down the freeway, they rested quietly in a nest of timothy hay in the back of the truck waiting for their new home. Laying against the seat next to me in a weathered leg-of-mutton case, stained and creased by adventures with dogs and birds, was the only other thing Uncle Don had willed to me: his favorite bird gun.

Heat from the dash warmed the leather, and it leaked aromas of sweat and cigar smoke and gunpowder and Hoppes No. 9. I didn’t dare look over at it for fear of finding Uncle Don’s apparition sitting there, lighting up a White Owl in preparation for one of the amazing tales that his nephews once lived for. Read the full story.

Oh, and one more thing…