HOA president arrested after pulling gun on kids fishing in local pond 🐟🔫

If you’re still with us, that means you’ve made it to the middle of yet another week.

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:

• El Prez - HOA pres ends up in cuffs after pulling a gun on some kids 🔫

• Elk poachers on the run- Oregon officials catch them on trailcam 📸

• Passing the buck - NY’s buck harvest is getting dialed in 🦌

• Wolves up, moose down - Isle Royale’s wolf population is well-fed 🐺

• Odd find - Shed hunter stumbles across remains of missing human 🦴

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

THIS GUY RUNS A LITTLE HOT
HOA PRESIDENT ENDS UP IN HANDCUFFS AFTER PULLING A GUN ON KIDS FISHING IN NEIGHBORHOOD POND

In another installment of Florida headlines you won’t believe to be true, a Florida man has been arrested after allegedly pulling a gun on a bunch of kids. According to reports, Kyle Tate of Palm Bay approached a group of young boys and threatened them with a firearm inside the Stillwater Lakes Subdivision – a community of which he is the president of the Homeowners Association.

The arrest affidavit filed in Brevard County indicated that an agitated Tate approached three juvenile boys, aged 7, 10 and 15 “with a firearm, telling them to get off his property.” But that wasn’t where things ended. 

The three boys also accused Tate of confiscating their fishing poles, tackle boxes and cast nets before tossing them into a nearby wooded area. In addition to the fishing equipment, reports indicated that one of the victims also claimed that Tate took one of their cell phones and refused to return it…

🏃 Elk poachers on the run - Oregon State Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a pair of alleged elk poachers. After reports of several illegally killed elk surfaced from a private ranch, trail camera footage was obtained showing multiple individuals trespassing on the property.  It is believed those same individuals were also photographed packing out elk meat through the private property, during the same time period. Anyone with information is asked to contact Oregon State Police.

🦌 Passing the buck - New York’s 2023 deer numbers are in and according to the Department of Conservation, hunters had great success with bigger and older bucks last season. According to the report, hunters took more than twice as many older bucks (two-and-a-half years old or older) than were harvested in the early 1990s, and nearly five times as many than were harvested in 1969 when DEC first began monitoring the age structure of New York’s deer herd.

“Nearly 70 percent of the bucks harvested by hunters during the 2023-24 deer hunting seasons were two years or older,” Interim Commissioner Mahar said. “This demonstrates the continued effectiveness of DEC’s Let Young Bucks Go and Watch Them Grow campaign, and the willingness of hunters to voluntarily pass up opportunities at young bucks to improve their future opportunities to harvest older bucks.” 

While there might be a few more racks hanging on the walls of Empire State hunters this year, antlerless harvest numbers are down 16% from the five-year average. The DEC is evaluating various regulatory and non-regulatory alternatives to increase harvest of does and is encouraging all deer hunters to harvest at least one antlerless deer during the upcoming 2024-25 deer hunting season.

⬆️ ⬇️ Wolves up, moose down - The results of a 2024 study performed on Michigan’s Isle Royale are in and the results are shocking exactly as expected. The National Park is unique in nature as it is also home to the longest-running predator-prey study, with its humble beginnings dating back to 1958. While this year’s results show no major growth in the park’s wolf populations, it denotes that the four packs residing there remain well-fed and healthy. The local population of moose, on the other hand, is feeling the obvious strain of sleeping with the enemy. 

Estimated moose populations declined by 14% this year. While that alone is troubling, what is perhaps more concerning is the continued long-term trend of declining moose populations. Since 2019, the Isle’s moose populations have declined by 60% and is paired with an abysmal recruitment rate of just 5.5%. Necropsies performed by researchers are confirming what most of us already know - a rising proportion of moose are now dying from wolf predation rather than malnutrition.

NOT QUITE THE TYPE OF BONE HE WAS LOOKING FOR
UTAH SHED HUNTER STUMBLES ACROSS HUMAN REMAINS OF MISSING PERSON

While he was undoubtedly in search of a different type of bone, a Utah shed hunter, whose name has not been released, accidentally found the remains of a man who had been missing for five years.

Searching for discarded antlers in the remote Hansel Mountains last month, the hunter stumbled upon human remains while traversing the hillside in northeastern Utah. Alerting authorities about his findings, the Box Elder Sheriff’s Department scrambled a search and rescue team to the area to investigate. After officials successfully recovered the remains, they were later identified at the office of the Medical Examiner using dental records.

The remains were identified as Matthew Jay Broncho, a Shoshone-Bannock tribal member who was reported missing from Idaho in March 2019…

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

🐊 Treed by a gator - A Texas fisherman had to be rescued from the limbs of a cypress tree after an ornery gator put the run on him. Luckily, his fishing partner was able to escape and call for help. Watch as the Chamber’s County Sheriff’s Office Marine Division rolled up and found the fisherman still standing up in the tree.

⚪️ ‘Spiritual’ moment: Watch as an Albertan is treated to a once-in-a-lifetime viewing opportunity as an albino moose and its companion cross the road in front of her.