New Jersey Town Set to Remove Deer Ovaries at the Old Firehall 🧑‍🚒

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:

• Going spayin’ - New Jersey town wants to spay local deer populations 🧑‍⚕️

• Have you seen my Mara? - Colorado officials looking for mysterious imported creature ❓

• Save the quail - A new drug has been approved to help struggling quail populations 💊

• The Matrix, man- Washington State programming error wreaks havoc on special tag draws 🧑‍💻

• Crossing swords - A marlin nearly impaled an unsuspecting fisherman and fortunately, the camera was rolling 🗡️

GET YOUR DEER SPAYED OR NEUTERED!
NEW JERSEY TOWN SET TO REMOVE OVARIES AT THE OL’ FIREHALL

I swear, these headlines just write themselves. Yes, following in the footsteps of Staten Island, Princeton, New Jersey is putting the wheels in motion on their own version of a program that plans to surgically sterilize wild deer.

In the event that you’ve been living under a rock (or not reading this newsletter), you’ll recall that Staten Island chose to spend millions on a vasectomy-for-deer program rather than shooting them, or allowing hunters to do so.

Not to be outdone, the town of Princeton is going all “hold my beer” by focusing on fixing female deer rather than trimming balls from bucks…

🦌🐇 An Argentinian deer-rabbit-looking animal is on the loose in Denver and no one seems to be able to catch it. The good news is, it’s harmless, but officials are still on the trail of the peculiar-looking little animal after some hikers videotaped it a couple of weeks ago. In what was later confirmed as an Argentina Mara, the small animal sports long ears like a rabbit and legs that resemble those of a deer. 

While it was undoubtedly a surprise to those on the trail that day, Colorado officials are under the impression that it was someone’s pet that has since escaped. CPW has a number of live traps set up in the city’s Bear Creek Lake Park in an attempt to capture the animal and place it in a long-term care facility. Whatever the hell that is…

🚨 Oregon state officials are investigating the “unlawful take and waste” of a deer who was shot with an arrow. A mule deer was found with an arrow in its stomach in the small Oregon town of Madras and officials are looking for clues. According to the Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife, troopers got a report of a dead mule deer doe on June 13. The animal was located near Northwest Hart Street and “had likely been killed the same day and left to waste,” officials said. Anyone with information is asked to come forward.

💊 Texas bird hunters fund a new drug set to save millions of wild Quail. While there have long been options for farmed game birds, the approval of this unique drug is the first of its kind available for use on wild birds. Affectionately known as QuailGuard, this revolutionary new FDA-approved drug comes in the form of a medicated feed used to protect wild quail from parasitic infections. Formulated at the Wildlife Toxicology Lab at Texas Tech University, the feed uses a combination of grains and active ingredients that have been proven to eliminate eyeworms and cecal worms, both of which are responsible for declining quail populations.

Following some testing at a ranch in Mitchell County, the results were astounding, prompting the approval from regulatory agencies. The feed is set to be available to the general public this fall.

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

🧑‍💻 Software error scrambles Washington State hunting tag draws. With over 27 categories of special hunts that hunters can apply for, things went a little sideways after a crucial software mishap at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. According to reports, a coding error wrongfully awarded specific tags to some hunters and declined tags for other hunters that were supposed to have drawn.

The error was caught on June 27th by WDFW and the agency worked tirelessly to rectify the many errors it caused. For those that were incorrectly informed that they had secured a permit, the agency is offering additional permits, or in some cases, increasing the number of tags available for certain hunts to smooth things over.

“I cannot overstate my disappointment in this situation and the impacts to hunters,” WDFW Director Kelly Susewind said in a statement.

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

🗡️ Close call on the Jubilee today! It’s not even funny how close of a call this actually was. Watch as a group of fishermen work to land a marlin as it suddenly leaps into the boat and nearly impales one of the men on board.

💨 OK, it seems as though bear spray is effective at keeping big ol’ grizzlies at bay. Watch as Park Rangers in Katmai National Park deploy a whole can on an overly-curious grizzly bear who seemingly disappears in a puff of smoke. Me personally? I’d still have a hand on my pistol though…

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, should lifetime hunting bans be dished out to all convicted poachers?

Turns out, we’re a reasonable bunch as top answers were:

1. Yes, but only for repeat offenders

2. Yes, no questions asked on the first offense

Here’s today’s question…

Oh, and one more thing…