Is elk hunting returning to North Carolina? 🤷

Welcome to the Wednesday edition of the newsletter. If you’re still with us, that means you’ve made it to the middle of yet another week.

With that said, let’s all take a minute to grab a coffee or whiskey and get this mid-week dispatch out the door.

Here's what's worth reading about this morning:

• Tarheel elk - A season could be on the horizon 🔖

• Ribeye of the Dairyland sky - Officials are still pushing for a sandhill crane hunt 🥩

• Blacktail poaching - Oregon officials looking for information in case 🕵️‍♀️

• Good to be a bear hunter - In New York, at least 🧸

• Tough ol’ deer - Watch this young buck who likely survived a viscous coyote attack 💪 

POPULATIONS ARE LOOKING GOOD
ELK HUNTING COULD RETURN TO NORTH CAROLINA AS EARLY AS NEXT FALL

Elk haven’t roamed North Carolina’s mountains for over 200 years, and now, the state’s just about ready to kick off its first ever modern elk hunt. According to the state’s Wildlife Resources Commission, they believe that they have enough of these majestic giants to handle a small, controlled hunt down in a few southern Appalachian counties.

Rep. Cody Huneycutt, a Republican from Stanly County, is the guy behind the bill that is set to make it happen. “The herd’s healthy enough to sustain this,” he says, pointing to the commission’s green light. If it passes, two bull permits will be up for grabs in fall 2026—one auctioned to the highest bidder, the other raffled off to another lucky North Carolinian. 

As of right now, the bill has already cleared its first committee hurdle this week, with one more to go before the House weighs in…

Sandhill crane hunting bill introduced in Wisconsin Legislature: The previous proposals failed to advance to the governor, even though they were authored by Republicans and introduced in a Republican-controlled Assembly and Senate. One even failed to get out of committee.  Read the full story. 

It's time to talk turkey: Georgia turkey hunting season set to begin: The statewide Georgia turkey hunting season opens on private land on Sat., March 29, 2025, and on public lands, including Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) and National Forest land, on Sat., April 5, 2025. Read the full story.

Oregon State Police searching for suspect who poached 2 blacktail deer: The Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Division is asking for the public’s help catching the person or people responsible for poaching two juvenile blacktail deer in Clatsop County. Read the full story.

Connecticut Considers Allowing Hunting On Sundays: Allowing hunting on Sundays in Connecticut is “long overdue,” avid hunters testified this week, while others urged lawmakers to reject a proposed change because Sunday is the one day a week they can feel safe in the woods and enjoy nature’s peace and quiet. Read the full story.

NY state bear harvest way up in 2024: The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation recently released its annual bear harvest report showing that hunters harvested an estimated 1,685 bears during the 2024 hunting seasons. Read the full story.

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

🤒 A lot of folks thought this was a friendly traffic jam, but we all know it’s much worse. We’ve not got confirmation about the animal, but from where we sit, this deer most definitely has CWD (or similar).

Apparently he was safely removed from the roadway, no word on whether or not the DNR was made aware.

Oh, and one more thing…