'Berta is bringing back the grizzly bear hunt 🐻

The weekend might not be here yet, but your favorite dispatch from the great outdoors is. 

So grab your coffee or whiskey (no judgement) and let's get caught up on the outdoor news and views from the past few days. 

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

• ‘Berta bear hunting - The grizzly bear hunt is back…kind of 🐻

• Ammo and bread - New start-up brings ammo vending machines to your local grocer 🛒

• Two dogs down - Pack of wolves devour one hunting dog in training, injure another 🐺

• NPS rolls back rules- No more bear baiting in Alaska 🍩

• Bear foils runners 50-miler - Running in the dark is a bad idea 🏃

WE’RE SLOWLY MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
‘BERTA BRINGS BACK THE GRIZZLY BEAR HUNT

Well, kinda.

After a two-decade hiatus, the Alberta government is bringing back a very controlled version of grizzly bear hunting to Canada’s west. Looking to put a plug in the number of attacks, the province is amending their Wildlife Act ever so slightly.

Inserting resident hunters as proxy wildlife managers, Alberta is allowing hunters to track and kill “problem” grizzly bears that are deemed a threat to public safety. The province will be taking applications from resident hunters to be entered into a government-approved pool of hunters that will receive “grizzly bear management authorization” for specific bears. 

Just how specific? Well, that’s where it gets kind of sticky…

🔫 In an effort to avoid leaving anyone in a pinch, 24/7 ammo vending machines can now be found in select grocery stores. It’s like RedBox (which announced a bankruptcy filing this week) but for bullets. Yes, bringing the convenience of buying bullets and bread, a company by the name of American Rounds is bringing true convenience to grocery stores across the south. Currently located in about a half-dozen stores in Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama, the vending machines require only the scan of your driver's license to deliver your choice of rifle, handgun or shotgun rounds with the click of a button. 

"Our automated ammo dispensers are accessible 24/7, ensuring that you can buy ammunition on your own schedule, free from the constraints of store hours and long lines," the company says. "...Our machines are as easy to use as an ATM." 

🐺 It’s only a few days into Wisconsin’s summer dog training season and two hounds have been attacked, leaving one dead. Well, it only took a couple of days to get the training season underway before two dogs were brutally attacked by wolves in northern Wisconsin. In two separate incidents in Bayfield County, hounds were training on live bear sign and were quickly knocked off their scent by a pack of ornery wolves. The first incident involved a two-year-old bluetick trailing hound that was released with four other hounds on a freshly hit bear bait pile. After about 30 minutes had passed, the owner’s GPS showed no movement from two of the five hounds. The owner was soon led to the carcass of the bluetick hound, which had already been fed on by wolves, leaving behind only the chest, front legs and head. 

The other attack was on a four-year-old walker hound who was close enough to its owner when the incident took place. The owner was able to interfere with the attack and scare off the wolves.

Because wolves are federally protected, all investigations must go through the feds, leaving the state to pay out damages. In cases like these, owners are reimbursed upwards of $2,500 for a dead dog and are entitled to 100% of any veterinary costs. 

🍩 The National Park Service trims up Trump-era rule changes, outlawing hunting bears over bait in national preserves in Alaska. While much of the Trump policies put into place in 2020 remain, this particular new rule change is the result of a 2020 lawsuit that challenged the Trump administration changes. According to the National Park Service, the process of eliminating theTrump-era rule began in February of 2022, when District Court Judge Sharon Gleason ruled that it violated National Park Service laws and policies, and ordered the agency to reconsider it.

Well, the Park Service did her a solid and have since banned sport hunting over bait inside Alaska national preserves. The right to hunt over bait remains an option, however, for subsistence hunters in the state. 

The Park Service declined to restore all of the Obama-era prohibitions on controversial sport hunting practices such as killing black bear cubs, adult female bears with cubs, using artificial light at den sites and killing wolves and coyotes, including pups, during the denning season.

CONTROVERSY // ^{_{THIS WEEK’S SH*T DISTURBER}}

With less than a mile to go in the race, a black bear ruins ultra-marathon-runner’s 50-miler. Imagine running nearly 50 miles in the darkness of night only to be interrupted by some grumpy old bear as you round the corner of your last mile?

OK, I can’t honestly imagine any part of this story, particularly the 50-mile run part. This is some Cam Hanes-type sh*t.

But, that’s exactly what happened to long distance runner Jon-Kyle Mohr last week as he attempted to complete the 50-mile trek from his home in June Lake over the Sierra Nevada and down into the Yosemite Valley. According to reports, as he was closing in on the last mile of his race, he collided with a black bear feeding on a bag of trash in the darkness of night. Unaware of what exactly it was that knocked him off course, the bear charged after the runner, solidifying to Mohr that he had, in fact, run into a bear. The bear took a few swipes, but eventually fled the scene. Mohr was treated for minor injuries and was unable to complete his run.

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

🚤 Permission to come aboard, sir!  A New Hampshire teen commandeers an out-of-control boat.  The boat which was unmanned and spiraling out of control on New Hampshire’s Lake Winnipesaukee was quickly boarded by a young man who heroically jumped aboard from a jet ski. He was able to get the boat under control after the boat’s sailing instructor fell overboard.

CAMP TALK // ^{_{BEFORE YOU GO}}

We get a lot of questions and comments on here, and we figure it’s time to repay the favor. As part of our new Camp Talk section, we’re going to ask you, the reader, your opinion on some serious (and not so serious) topics to close out each newsletter.

On Wednesday I asked, what are your thoughts on special interest groups sticking their nose into wildlife management?

To which you answered:

1. I don’t want to hear from them at all

2. They deserve to have a voice, but we should let state biologists do their job

Y’all also pointed out that groups like Ducks Unlimited, RMEF and NWTF are special interest groups too. Well played.

Here’s today’s question…

Oh, and one more thing…