Florida’s First Ever Fatal Black Bear Attack Shocks Collier County 🙏

Welcome to 4th best day of the week besides Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

So, while we continue to slowly 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:

• Shocking attack - An 89-year-old man is dead after an alleged bear attack in Florida 🙏

• Decoyed - Pair of Ontario man brought down after blasting deer decoy 🤦

• Dead hens don’t lay eggs - The fall turkey debate is heating up in Ohio 🦃

• Do not pass go - Wisconsin woman (finally) sentenced in heinous poaching case 👩‍⚖️

• Keep calm and YMCA on - This cop keeps it cool while escorting a deer from a local YMCA 😌 

OFFICIALS ARE AWAITING CONFIRMATION
FLORIDA’S FIRST-EVER FATAL BLACK BEAR ATTACK SHOCKS COLLIER COUNTY

An 89-year-old Florida man and his dog are now dead after what local officials are calling the first documented fatal black bear attack in the Sunshine State’s history. According to reports, the incident took place on 89-year-old Robert Markel’s property in rural Collier County just south of the Big Cypress Management area. 

The Collier County Sheriff’s Office received a call at 7:07 a.m. Monday morning reporting a “bear encounter,” after Markel’s daughter reportedly witnessed a black bear attack and kill her father’s dog. Deputies and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officers arrived about an hour later, discovering Markel’s body within a couple hundred yards of the dog. The FWC confirmed that the man and dog were killed in separate attacks “some time apart” on Monday, though it remains unclear whether one or multiple bears were involved.

“We do know it was a bear attack. We don’t know if it was the same bear or multiple bears,” FWC spokesperson George Reynaud stated…

🤦 Pair of Ontario men busted for firing seven times at a decoy. Late last month, a pair of illegal hunters in Ontario’s Rainy River District were apprehended by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) for illegally firing seven shots at a deer decoy during a nighttime enforcement operation. The incident occurred around 11 p.m. on Highway 600, where officers had placed the decoy to detect illegal hunting activities, such as spotlighting and shooting from a roadway. The two men, operating from a vehicle, used a rifle to shoot at the decoy, leading to their immediate detention by MNRF officers. A search of their vehicle revealed a loaded .308 caliber rifle, ammunition, a spotlight, and three legally hunted wild turkeys, highlighting additional concerns about their hunting practices.

The hunters, a 36-year-old from Emo and a 34-year-old from Fort Frances, now face multiple charges, including discharging a firearm from a vehicle, hunting at night with lights, and shooting from a roadway. They are scheduled to appear in court in Fort Frances on June 17, 2025. The MNRF seized the rifle, ammunition, and spotlight as evidence, and the investigation remains ongoing.

🦃 Debate Intensifies Over Ohio’s Fall Turkey Hunting Regulations. The Ohio Wildlife Council is grappling with mounting pressure to reconsider the 2025 fall wild turkey hunting regulations, particularly the allowance of hen harvests, amid concerns about declining turkey populations. The current fall season, set for October 1 to October 26 across 70 counties, permits a bag limit of one turkey of either sex, but critics argue that killing hens jeopardizes future population growth. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) reported a 2024 poult index of 2.9 poults per hen, slightly above the 10-year average but lower in southwest Ohio at 2.2 poults per hen. In 2024, the fall harvest reached a record low of 651 turkeys, with over half being hens (compared to nearly 600 in 2020 and almost 500 in 2022), prompting concerns about the loss of breeding females. Renowned turkey expert Mike Chamberlain told the council, “Dead hens don’t lay eggs,” emphasizing that hen harvests reduce spring egg production critical for population recovery.

Ohio’s fall season, shortened by a month compared to previous years, contrasts with states like Mississippi and Kansas, which have eliminated fall turkey hunting entirely to bolster populations. Mississippi’s decision, informed by mathematical modeling with Mississippi State University and supported by the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF), showed that sparing both sexes in fall and winter boosts population growth. Kansas and Mississippi faced little opposition, as most hunters supported replenishment efforts. In Ohio, sentiments vary, and only time will tell what kind of moves, if any, the council will take as the fall season approaches.

🦌 Wisconsin woman gets 30 days in jail for killing over 100 deer. You’ll likely recall the story of our old friend Jessica Kroening - the 37-year-old mother who took a few juveniles along on her relentless poaching spree last year. In early April, Kroening was in court working out the details of her plea agreement, for which she was finally sentenced for last week.

As part of the sentencing hearing that took place on Friday, Kroening was sentenced to one month in jail and was ordered to pay $1,000 for her role in poaching the deer along with three teenage boys, one of which was her son. In addition to the jail time and fines, she will be unable to obtain any sort of license through the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for three years.

As if that matters.

1. It rained in Florida for the first time in like six months on Friday. Now, in true Dad fashion, I can’t stop telling everybody how much we needed it.

2. Remember when you were a kid and someone/something challenged you and out of fear you’d say ‘I could do that, but I won’t’?

   As an adult I still have to check myself when that phrase pops into my head.

3. Every morning is a once in a lifetime event.

4. One of the guys at BJJ gifted me a copy of the novel he wrote. It was a good reminder to support your friends/family/community members who are out there doing rad shit.

5. Fill your heart, not your head. 🙏 

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😌 Honestly, this cop has got one seriously calm demeanor. There’s a lot of videos out there with deer in foreign situations and none of them are ever this calm. He just calmly escorted him off the premises.

Reminds me of that one time in a college watering hole when some big dude surprisingly told me it was time to head on home…

Oh, and one more thing…