Show me some tail 😛

As if making it to the middle of the week is some kind of consolation, let's all take a minute to grab your coffee or whiskey (no judgement) and get another mid-week dispatch out the door.

Here's what's worth reading about so far this week:

• Show me some tail - Maui offers hunters $50/tail for dead axis deer 😛

• Cookie monster- Hunter nearly misses buck of a lifetime munching on Oreos 🍪

• Where did all the hunters go?- Michigan has plenty of deer but is losing hunters 🕵️

• Not your ordinary job - Idaho officials capture and collar moose and elk from choppers🚁

• Small town deer problems - SC town ready to cull deer, fill the food bank 🦌

SHOW ME THE MONEY
CHASING TAIL - MAUI OFFERING $50 FOR DEAD AXIS DEER, IF YOU CAN PROVIDE THE TAIL

If you happen to be a fortunate landowner on the island of Maui, the state’s Department of Land and Natural Resources has its checkbook ready and is ready to pay up.

As part of the evolving problem on Hawaii’s second largest island, residents there are turning their attention away from annoying tourists and concentrating instead on a group of locals they’d like to eradicate instead.

Wreaking havoc on grasslands meant to feed cattle, axis deer are now making their way into residential neighborhoods and more densely populated areas and doing much of the same.   

With recent population estimates coming in at around 18,000, axis deer have been a problem on Maui for a number of years. With the goal of keeping the deer populations in the 20,000 range, state biologists count on 10% of the population being culled each year to help keep that number consistent. 

While current population numbers remain a far cry from 2022 estimates, which pegged the axis deer population at roughly 60,000 animals, state officials remain vigilant about management to ensure numbers don’t swell again...

🍪 Put that cookie down: Bama hunter caught with his hand in the cookie jar when 14-point buck walks out.

🤴 An ode to the King: Wisconsin community remembers 15year-old albino deer affectionately known as 'The King'

🔮 Scary future?: Michigan is expected to lose about 250,000 hunters over the next 20 years - what about all of the deer?

🏆 It's a good time to be a deer hunter: NDA's annual deer report indicates that over 3,000,000 deer were shot in 2022-23 season.

🫎 Wasn't me: Photographer captures confused moose believed to have cause avalanche in Colorado.

SEND IN THE PROS
SMALL SC TOWN WITH A BIG DEER PROBLEM PLANNING CULL

Translating loosely to “beautiful peninsula” in a long-lost Polynesian language, the town of Tega Cay, South Carolina is home to a host of outdoor recreation activities, including beautiful golf courses, lakeside amenities and a whole lot of deer.

With under 15,000 residents, officials believe there to be more than 1,000 deer residing within a three-and-a-half mile area within city limits. As residents claim to host crowds of 20-30 deer at a time in their yards, the novelty of having them around is beginning to wear off as daily vehicle-deer collisions have become a daily occurrence. 

As with many small towns looking for ways to manage budding deer populations, the idea of some sort of birth control was previously floated by community members. While it might sound like a utopian idea, the truth is these experiments are wrought with massive monetary investments and low success rates.

Bringing themselves back to reality, city council members finally voted on the idea of a controlled cull at the hands of skilled sharpshooters. With only one council member in opposition to the proposal, it passed with flying colors. Originally authorized to cull 80 deer, the approval came back last week with nearly double that number and a price tag of about $94,000...

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

🚁 Not your ordinary job: Watch as Idaho Fish and Game capture and collar elk and moose from helicopter.

🥶 Shrinkage very possible: Texas alligator found frozen in lake breathing through small hole in the ice.