California's first fatal mountain lion attack in 20 years 🐈

If you’re still with us, that means you’ve made it to the middle of yet another week. Give yourself a pat on the back.

With that in mind, let’s all take a minute to grab a 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:

• Should we not hunt these things? - Fatal mountain lion attack in California 🐈

• Ask for permission, pray for forgiveness - Washington man calls sheriff’s office to get clearance to hunt Bigfoot 👣

• On the move - Paralyzed Ohio women back on her feet after treestand fall 🙌

• The elk boom - Is happening in Wyoming right now 💥

• We’re hunting moose in Nevada, baby - This season is cleared 🫎

  Thanks for following along. Don't forget to tell your friends.

THE CAT HAS SINCE BEEN ‘DISPATCHED’
CALIFORNIA’S FIRST FATAL MOUNTAIN LION ATTACK IN 20 YEARS LEAVES ONE MAN DEAD AND HIS BROTHER IN HOSPITAL

It had been over 20 years since a mountain lion had killed a human being in the state of California until this weekend. 

After heading out into the El Dorado National Forest, a pair of brothers got entangled with an ornery cat. The two men, aged 18 and 21, were shed hunting in the remote area located about 50 miles north of Sacramento when they were attacked.

According to the surviving brother, he had become separated from his brother during the altercation. Placing a 911 call at 1:13 PM on Saturday, officials responded promptly as the teen told them that he had “suffered traumatic injuries to his face,” during the attack.

Upon arriving, sheriff’s deputies and paramedics performed first aid on the younger brother and then set out to locate the missing sibling. As they approached his lifeless body, they noticed that the lion had remained as well. Now located between the first responders and the victim, the sheriff’s deputy fired a couple of shots in the direction of the lion to scare it away…

👣 We can hunt Bigfoot, right? - Despite the 708 ‘credible’ sightings recorded by the Bigfoot Field Researchers Association, there’s no open seasons for hunting them in Washington State. This fact was brought to light last week when a man called into the Steven’s County Sheriff's Office inquiring about the legalities around downing a Sasquatch. The caller explained that he simply wanted to remain ‘above board’ if he was fortunate enough to come across one. While the sheriff’s office no doubt appreciated his offer not to shoot any female specimens, the patrol chief let him down easy, plainly stating that there were no sasquatch in Stevens County.

🙌 Back on her feet - Defying all odds, one Ohio hunter is back on her feet following a miraculous recovery after a hunting accident left her paralyzed from the waist down last fall. As she was climbing into her treestand last season, Leah Weiher fell 15 feet to the ground and landed on her crossbow. As a result of her fall, she suffered a burst fracture in her L2 vertebrae and nearly severed her spinal cord. Doctors told her that she'd be lucky to ever walk again. But, after months of intensive physical therapy, Weiher took her first steps last week - with her one-year-old daughter by her side.

💥 Wyoming’s elk (and hunting opps) are booming - Wyoming hunters set a new state elk harvest record as nearly 29,000 elk were put to sleep last season. Of those that hit the ground, 13,000 of them were cow elk - a level of cow harvest not seen in over a decade. Despite all of the success, many units remain over-objective and officials are toying with the idea of unlimited cow/calf tags to help thin some of the larger herds. Now, if only we could get some private land access…

💸 Pay the piper - Ontario moose poachers were handed over $12,000 in fines plus license suspensions for shooting moose on a roadway. The incident, which took place back in 2022, finally had its day in court last week as charges against Larry Canfield and Glenda McNally were brought forward. The court heard that the pair were traveling down English River Road in Northern Ontario when they came upon a cow moose and her calf. Canfield proceeded to grab his rifle and exit the truck to shoot the cow multiple times. His companion affixed her tag to the dead animal as the pair hoisted it into the back of their pick up truck and got on their way. Canfield received over $11,000 in fines and a two-year hunting license suspension, while McNally got away with only a $1,000 fine.

TIME TO GET THOSE BULLS UNDER CONTROL
IT’S OFFICIAL – WE’RE HUNTING MOOSE IN NEVADA THIS YEAR

While there isn’t an official number of tags that have been allocated yet, the word on the street is that it will likely max out at around three. Despite that low number of tags, over 70,000 hunters will have a shot at getting their hands on one, and more importantly, trying their hand at bagging a moose in Nevada.

If you find yourself like many that are drawing a blank as to how anyone might be thinking about hunting moose in Nevada, you aren’t alone. In fact, it’s brand new to the Silver State.

After the state’s Department of Wildlife confirmed that they did, in fact, have a breeding population of Shiras moose, the talks of a hunting season followed close behind. Sure, there were some groans from the animal rights crowd, but sustainable science reigned supreme as officials pointed out that the population’s demographics needed some help…

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

🌊 Don’t go chasing waterfalls: Watch as a family of tourists watch as a deer gets swept right over Niagara Falls.

🐻 Tearing up the town: Watch as a brown bear tears up a small town in Slovakia.