Tennessee poachers 3-year reign comes to an abrupt halt ✋

We have to apologize for missing y'all last Friday. We took a couple of days off to go fishing had some technical issues that needed to be addressed. The good news is, we limited out got everything fixed up and are back in the saddle again.

We appreciate all of the messages (seriously) letting us know you missed us. We're feeling the love and appreciate all of you that read along with us.

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:

• Don't threaten me, pilgrim - Tennessee poacher taken down after threatening landowner 🔫

• Hunting extensions- Mississippi and North Carolina are making changes 🗳️

• Aging hunters- Wisconsin has a whopping 569 licensed hunters over the age of 90 👴🏻

• Mule deer decimation - Wyoming's mulies are hurtin' 📉

• Fox News & Florida Deer- Florida man doing Florida man things 🏝️

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

LONG TIME COMING
AFTER THREATENING LANDOWNER, TENNESSEE POACHER'S CRIME SPREE COMES TO AN END

A Tennessee man has been handed a felony conviction after a 3-year poaching spree. His reign, which began back in 2020, came to an end after a landowner caught him and his accomplice shooting two deer after dark using a spotlight.

After coming out to confront the pair, the accused, William Franklin Stamey Jr., 22, pointed his rifle at the landowner and threatened to kill him. The pair were later stopped by a Hawkins County Sheriff’s deputy who uncovered a spotlight and hunting rifles in their vehicle. Both Stamey and the driver were taken into custody and a third vehicle occupant was charged as an accessory.

The case was then handed off to Tennessee’s Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) who kicked off a full-scale investigation into the accused. Multiple search warrants were executed at Stamey’s home producing one buck deer carcass which had been falsely checked in as an archery harvest and a second visit that uncovered eleven more sets of deer antlers Stamey admitted to killing illegally.

All-in-all, Stamey admitted to illegally killing 35 deer according to TWRA officer Justin Pinkston...

🤝 Mo' hunting, mo' problems?: That's a question being asked by Mississippi legislators and hunters alike. With a proposal that would see the state's hunting seasons extended by a month, opinions remain mixed as a bag of discount deer feed. While tacking on a few extra days in the woods seldom seems like a bad idea, there are those in opposition to the bill. The challenges, according to hunters, are the patterns in different parts of the state. In southern regions, it's reported that bucks ares still chasing does throughout February. Whereas that activity is over in the fall in many other regions. A this point, hunters want to ensure the bill is biologically sound before it heads to the House floor.

👴🏻 Age is just a number: While we're all used to the harvest numbers found in annual deer season reports, one managed to turn a few heads. According to the DNR's annual report, there were 569 licensed deer hunters in Wisconsin over the age of 90. With the oldest man at 102 years of age, and the oldest female logging 96 years of life, it's still unclear if hunting remains a young man's game.

📉 Wyoming's mule deer in peril: Aerial surveys are expensive and not often completed on an annual basis. But considering the declining mule deer numbers, Wyoming biologists justified the cost and took to the skies to assess populations. What they found was the lowest levels of mule deer on the landscape in 33 years.

🗳️ Bear regs approved: North Carolina has approved controversial changes to both bear and deer hunting seasons. By adding nine additional days to this year's bear hunt, many in opposing to the change believe that overlapping deer and bear seasons might cause problems.

FLORIDA MAN STUFF
WATCHING FOX NEWS WITH YOUR FLORIDA DEER

If you’re into dog sled racing, it’s likely that you’re familiar with the Iditarod. If you aren’t, it’s the largest sled dog race on the planet and has been running since 1973. It runs each March and, as one can imagine, can get a little hairy. In addition to blizzards and frostbite, participants are at risk for all kinds of animal encounters, including hard-charging moose.  As part of this year’s edition, one musher was hit with a massive time penalty after running into a moose and not taking care of business, as per the Iditarod Trail Committees rulebook.

After running into a moose in the early morning hours, the large animal became entangled with the dogs on the trail. Unable to release the moose, Dallas Seavey was forced to shoot the animal with his pistol around 2 a.m. on March 5th. The debacle, which ended with one dead moose and a severely injured K9, ended up costing Seavey two hours on his overall time...

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🦌 Buck, buck, buck...buck?!?: Trail camera footage shows four massive bucks walking in succession through the Ontario winter woods.

🦅 Freedom fightin': Police called to break up fight between a pair of bald eagles.