Game wardens are putting the hurt on illegal road hunters 👊

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:

• Road warriors - Wardens aren’t messing around in Missou 👊

• A tale of pheasants - Illinois is reducing, while NY is increasing 🪶

• Mo’ money - Tennessee is set to increase permit prices 💵

• On this day - California’s gold rush kicked into high gear 💛

LAZY AND STUPID
WARDENS ARE STACKING ILLEGAL ROAD HUNTERS AT OZARK NATIONAL SCENIC RIVERWAYS

As many of us know, it’s a great time to be afield and chase whitetails. Unfortunately, for some, the problem lies in the going ‘afield’ portion of the aforementioned statement. 

Road hunting, or shooting an animal from the comforts of a vehicle on a public roadway is outlawed in just about every jurisdiction in the country. It’s unethical and it’s dangerous. While I am sure many of us have had ‘unpure’ thoughts about a massive buck we spotted along the roadway, the vast majority of us can resist the temptation and either let him walk, or mount some other form of attack - if the conditions/permissions allow, of course.

For others, the resistance to adhere to the laws is too strong and in some cases, people make terrible decisions. As part of an effort to reduce these kinds of illegal killings Ozark National Scenic Riverways rangers in tandem with state game wardens are using public participation along with decoys to catch poachers in the act.

Their efforts have been fruitful so far with two individuals already facing charges for blatant disregard to rules and regulations. The first suspect was involved in the illegal killing of a rare piebald deer on M Highway near Van Buren…

Here’s what to know ahead of muzzleloading deer hunting season in Michigan: Hunters in Zone 1 (Upper Peninsula) “carry afield or take a deer with a muzzleloading rifle, muzzleloading shotgun or black-powder pistol, loaded with black powder or a commercially manufactured black-powder substitute,” according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Read the full story.

Prince George County man honored for 5,000 hours teaching hunting safety:  Mike Norkus, a lifelong advocate for hunting safety, was recognized by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources during a ceremony at Dance's Sporting Goods Wednesday morning. Read the full story.

Illinois DNR reducing pheasant hunting permit numbers: Due to a pheasant die-off at a propagation center in Des Plaines, there aren't enough birds to fill the original quotas. Read the full story.

NYS is releasing 2,160 pheasants for late-season hunting in these CNY counties: DEC will release the pheasants on lands open to public hunting in Broome, Cayuga, Chenango, Madison, Onondaga, Tioga, and Tompkins counties. Read the full story.

Tennessee Hunting and Fishing Licenses Could Increase 28 Percent: The Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission (TFWC) will vote on an increase in the price of hunting and fishing licenses, as well as boat registration fees, at its final 2024 meeting to be held Thursday and Friday in Memphis (Dec. 5-6) at the Ducks Unlimited National Headquarters. Read the full story.

PA Hunters fill freezers and food banks despite challenging season: Hunters across northeastern and central PA are taking full advantage of hunting season, which means deer are piling up at a family-owned processor in Luzerne County.  Read the full story.

🐏 One Man’s Journey: Sheep hunting is a privilege. The pursuit is also the most coveted hunting opportunity in North America, as evidenced by hundreds of thousands of applicants applying for close to 1,000 available permits in the Western states. The simple math of this small number of Lower 48 wild sheep permits tells you that most who apply for a sheep tag will never receive one.

I have been lucky enough to receive more than one sheep tag. This fortune took me on a path that - as a young man - I never could have foreseen.

In August of 2018, I took a Stone ram that completed my Grand Slam of North American Wild Sheep. It was the fulfillment and achievement of a goal that I didn’t know existed in me when it all started.  This is the story of my journey. Read the full story.

🔫 An Old Man’s Handgun Elk Hunt: In 1976 I moved to Colorado and began shooting handgun metallic silhouettes. At that time Colorado did not allow elk hunting with handguns, so despite my total fascination with hunting handguns, my first elk (a cow) was taken with a Winchester Model 70 chambered in .300 Winchester Magnum. It was delicious but lacked the enhanced flavor that accompanies an animal harvested with a handgun. When handguns became legal for big-game hunting in both Colorado and Wyoming, I made the commitment to hunting with big-bore handguns and spent the next several years trying to find an elk and stalk within handgun range. All of these hunts were self-guided; i.e., I went camping with a bunch of friends every fall and wandered about the mountains hoping to get lucky. Despite my lack of success, the trips and resulting memories were fantastic! It wasn’t until I went on a guided horseback hunt with Wolfe Creek Outfitters in western Wyoming in the ’90s that I finally took a spike bull with a single-shot XL pistol chambered in .356 Winchester. Read the full story.

🐿️ Of Squirrels and Men:  January 1995. Bowl cut, pale skin, blue eyes, and a runny nose. A hand-me-down Mossy Oak button up and a sawed-off stock .410 to fit a 7-year-old frame. My dad and I loaded up into his red 80’s model Toyota pickup truck. It smelled like him. It had a rollbar in the bed and a Rock 101 sticker in the window. With shit-eating grins we hummed down the road to begin the Swaney family and friends annual father/son squirrel hunting tournament. Read the full story.

Oh, and one more thing…