Mississippi Men Slammed with $117K in Fines for Southern Illinois Poaching Spree

The weekend might not be here just 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 24-or-so hours. 

Here's what's worth reading about today:

• Big time fines - Group of Mississippi poachers nailed for crimes in Illinois 🧑‍⚖️

• Mystery critter- A Wyoming woman snags a dead animal from the river and no one knows what it is 🤷

• Alaska reinstates bear cull - Despite being held up by egregious lawsuits 🐻

• Upped quotas - Wyoming raises wolf hunt numbers for this season 🐺

• Banner season: incoming - Texas officials are predicting one hell of a deer season this year 🦌

• Stay off the pole - Yellowstone bear euthanized after climbing food poles 😵

• How much horse moose power? - Watch this big ol’ bull go complete Michael Phelps 🏊

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AN ODD OPERATION
MISSISSIPPI MEN SLAMMED WITH $117K IN FINES FOR SOUTHERN ILLINOIS POACHING SPREE

In yet another multi-state and multi-agency investigation, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois has dropped the hammer on a group of Mississippi men after they were found to have poached multiple deer over a number of years. 

The case, which was investigated jointly by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Illinois Conservation Police, with support from USFWS Federal Wildlife Officers, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi, ended up in court earlier this year and resulted in big fines for five Mississippi men.

According to court documents, between the years of 2018 and 2022, the group planned and executed a sophisticated system of spotting trophy whitetail deer under the cover of darkness, shooting them with the aid of a spotlight and then transporting the animals secretly across state lines…

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🤨 Wyoming woman finds mystery critter in the Shoshone River and no one knows what the hell it is. On a floating trip last weekend, a Jackson, Wyoming resident spotted something peculiar floating in the water near the south fork of the Shoshone River. Thinking the animal was possibly a dead cat or something similar, she waited patiently in her anchored craft and was able to snag the dead animal by the tail as it drifted towards her.

As she hoisted it out of the water, it became immediately apparent that what she had by the tail, was not a cat. Snapping some pictures of the deceased critter, Sarah Harrison McMillan took to social media to try and source an answer for what it was she was holding. As anyone would imagine, the suggestions started pouring in, which included some stating that she had found a pine marten, a fisher, an oddly-colored squirrel or even possibly a baby wolverine. While she stated that her best guess would have been an immature marmot, she accidentally dropped the animal back into the river when a portion of its tail broke off in her hands.

Floating off into the distance, she was unable to retrieve the mystery animal and thus get it to wildlife biologists who would have very likely been able to identify the animal. She expressed her frustration in dropping the animal, but does remain helpful that a positive ID will surface one of these days.

🐺 Wyoming Game and Fish Commission approves increased wolf hunting season. On Wednesday, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission approved an increase in the wolf hunting quota in the state’s trophy game area. The changes are set to raise the mortality limit from 38 to 44 wolves for the upcoming season, which is set to run between September 15 and December 31. The decision, finalized during a meeting in Casper, was based on a proposal by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, supported by data-driven models assessing wolf distribution, mortality, and recruitment to maintain population objectives.

In Wyoming, the Game and Fish Department is legally obligated to keep the population above 100 animals and at least 10 breeding pairs. The department has stated that they continually manage for a population of 160 wolves and 13 or 14 breeding pairs to ensure they are well above legally-required limits. Currently speaking, there is believed to be about 350 wolves roaming inside Wyoming’s borders.

The trophy game area, located in northwest Wyoming, including parts of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, is where these regulations apply. Wolves in the remaining 85% of the state are classified as predatory animals, and as such, are subject to year-round killing with minimal restrictions.

🧑‍⚖️ Alaska officials reinstate bear-culling Program to help caribou in face of legal challenges. The Alaska Board of Game approved the resumption of a controversial bear-culling program earlier this week, a program which is aimed at boosting the struggling Mulchatna caribou herd in Western Alaska. The program, which involves killing brown bears, black bears, and wolves to reduce predation on caribou calves, was reinstated during a special meeting in Anchorage after being halted earlier in the year due to court rulings. Two state judges, Andrew Guidi and Christina Rankin, had previously ruled the program unconstitutional, citing violations of public notice requirements and inadequate analysis of impacts on bear populations. Despite these rulings, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game claimed to have addressed the legal flaws, leading to the board’s approval to restart the program, which has already killed 186 brown bears, five black bears, and 20 wolves since its inception in 2022.

The Mulchatna caribou herd, which peaked at around 200,000 animals in the late 1990s, has declined to approximately 15,000 as of 2024, an improvement from a low of under 13,000, which ADFG attributes to predator control. The program targets bears and wolves during the spring calving season to improve calf survival, with the goal of growing the herd to 30,000–80,000 in order to resume subsistence hunting, which has been closed since 2021. Critics, including the Alaska Wildlife Alliance and other environmentalists, argue that the program lacks scientific validity, pointing to habitat changes, climate-driven shifts favoring moose over lichen-eating caribou, disease, and past overhunting as more significant factors in the herd’s decline. 

Unfortunately, the legal battle continues, with a state Superior Court hearing scheduled for July 25th, to address a petition accusing ADFG of contempt for conducting bear kills in May of 2025 despite court orders.

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QUICK HITS // ^{_{FROM AROUND THE WEB}}

Texas PWD deer leader projecting banner hunting season statewide amid improved habitat conditions: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department white-tailed deer program leader Blaise Korsekwa recently unveiled his 2025-26 deer hunting forecast. Things are looking good all around the state.  Read the full story.

No applications required for Michigan fall turkey hunt: The Upper Peninsula will have a license quota of 2,200 for the upcoming fall turkey hunt, with licenses available on a first-come first-served basis starting Aug. 15, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources announced Wednesday. Read the full story.

Wisconsin DNR looks for volunteer hunting instructors: The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is seeking volunteers to instruct their beginner and advanced hunting education courses. Read the full story.

Yellowstone black bear euthanized after she learns to climb food poles: After a female black bear with a record of plundered human food learned how to defeat Yellowstone National Park’s food storage pole system, park management decided that she needed to be euthanized. Read the full story.

Louisiana Black Bear Hunting Lottery to Open July 28, LDWF Announces: The Louisiana Black Bear Hunting Lottery will open to state hunters July 28 and run through Aug. 28, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) announced. The hunt, administered by LDWF, will be held in Louisiana Black Bear Management Areas 1, 2 and 4 from Dec. 6-Dec. 21 with 26 permits issued, an increase from the 11 permits issued last year. Read the full story.

Wisconsin DNR publishes fall 2025 hunting and trapping forecasts : These forecasts outline what hunters and trappers across the state can expect while pursuing their favorite game species. In addition to information about specific game species, they also include helpful reminders about public land access opportunities, game registration requirements and season dates.  Read the full story.

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🫎 How much horse moose power that thing got?? Watch as this big old bull does his best to keep his distance from the boat. The speed is incredible.

Hell of an animal…

Miss something this week?

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The pull of the weekend.

📸 : @crookedskyoutfitters

Oh, and one more thing…