Ohio Officers Honored for Busting Record-Breaking ‘Alexander Buck’ Poacher 🏆

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:

• Officers honored - The dudes that busted CJ Alexander awarded by Pope & Young 👊

• See your a*s in court - Montana hurls lawsuit at Yellowstone over bison management 🧑‍⚖️

• Wolves in Wash - Wolf survey indicates pack expansion, population contraction 🐺

• Cash on the dash - RMEF ponies up $5K in Wisconsin elk poaching case 💰

• Gopher state gobblers - Could Minnesota have another record turkey season? 🦃

• Swamp Apes - How Veterans are finding peace…by chasing pythons?!? 🐍

• Stuck the landing - This young deer did anything but 🫣 

GREAT WORK, FELLAS
OHIO WILDLIFE OFFICERS HONORED FOR BUSTING RECORD-BREAKING ‘ALEXANDER BUCK’ POACHER

In a landmark case for Ohio’s wildlife conservation efforts, Wildlife Officers Isaiah Gifford and Matt Roberts of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife have been recognized with the prestigious Pope and Young Club’s Wildlife Law Enforcement Officer Award. 

The officers were honored for their relentless investigation into an intricate poaching case involving the largest typical white-tailed deer ever recorded in Ohio history. This marks the first time Ohio officers have received this national award from the Pope and Young Club, a nonprofit dedicated to the conservation of North American big game populations.

At the heart of the case is the “Alexander Buck,” an 18-point whitetail deer with an extraordinary antler score, making it the largest typical whitetail deer ever documented in Ohio. The deer, illegally hunted in Clinton County, became the focal point of a complex investigation that exposed a web of deceit and violations…

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🦬 The State of Montana Is Suing Yellowstone Over Bison Management, Citing Brucellosis Risk is Greater in Bison than Elk. Montana has filed a lawsuit against Yellowstone National Park, asserting that the park’s 2024 bison management plan poses a significant risk to the state due to the potential spread of brucellosis, a disease that can cause abortions in cattle.

In a Butte U.S. District Court hearing last week, attorney Rachel Meredith, representing Governor Greg Gianforte, argued that Yellowstone bison present a greater threat than elk, which also carry the disease but roam freely and have infected cattle in the past. The state contends that Yellowstone’s plan, which allows the bison population to range between 3,500 and 6,000, ignores Montana’s concerns, violates federal laws, and was developed without adequate collaboration. Montana seeks to maintain a bison population of 3,000 and restrict their movement outside designated tolerance zones, where bison are either killed or hazed back into the park in order to minimize disease transmission risks.

The state argues that without stricter measures, such as reducing the herd size and vaccinating bison, the disease could significantly impact cattle herds. That said, opponents of the lawsuit have continually addressed the fact that no recorded instances of brucellosis transmission from bison to cattle exist, while over 20 cases have been documented of elk spreading the disease to cattle and farmed bison in states surrounding the National Park.

🐺 Washington’s wolf survey shows pack expansion, but overall population sees first decline in 16 years. According to the state’s 2024 annual survey, Washington’s wolf population experienced a notable shift, with the minimum year-end count dropping to 230 wolves, a 9% decrease from the corrected 2023 count of 254. Despite this decline—the first in 16 years—the number of wolf packs grew to 43, including three new packs in Kittitas and Okanogan Counties, indicating resilience in pack formation. However, the reduction in overall numbers was influenced by factors such as 37 documented mortalities, including legal harvests, illegal killings, and natural causes, alongside a corrected error in the 2023 count that adjusted the baseline. The state’s wolf population, which has grown by an average of 20% annually since 2008, faces challenges from dispersal (15 wolves left their packs, some exiting Washington) and livestock conflicts, with 10 packs linked to depredation events.

While pack numbers and successful breeding pairs (18 in 2024) reflect progress toward recovery goals outlined in the 2011 Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, the overall population decline highlights ongoing management complexities. WDFW efforts, which cost upwards of $1.65 million in 2024, focused on non-lethal conflict prevention, lethal removals in response to livestock depredations, and the monitoring of 55 radio-collared wolves. Illegal killings, such as two cases in Klickitat County, and natural losses are believed to have further strained population growth.

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation ponies up $5K in reward dollars in Wisconsin elk poaching case. We broke the story on Tuesday about Wisconsin’s massive bull elk #244 being illegally killed just north of Black River Falls. The collared bull was discovered on a tract of private land and the necropsy indicated that the bull had died from injuries sustained from a gunshot wound.

As one of the largest bulls in the state and an original member of the imported elk from Kentucky back in 2016, the death of #244 caught the attention of the folks over at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. They’ve since added in a $5,000 reward to the investigation with hopes that someone, somewhere will come forward with some information that will lead to an arrest in this senseless killing.

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💨 This fella was on the move in a serious way. Watch as this young buck streaks across the field in an attempt to get ahead of the truck coming down the road.

Think he stuck the landing?

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Minnesota’s turkey hunt is off to a good start: Last year was a record setting year for spring turkey hunting in Minnesota.  This year could approach those numbers.  That according to Glen Schmitt from Outdoor News.  Schmitt says harvest numbers through Sunday are approximately 6,500.  He says just over 7,000 turkeys were shot in the first season last year and close to 17,000 turkeys were shot in all the seasons combined last spring.  It was a record setting spring for turkeys harvested in Minnesota in 2024.  Read the full story.

Louisiana Agents Cite Two Subjects for Turkey Hunting Violations in Beauregard Parish : Agents cited Chad Cole, 48, of Sugartown, for hunting turkeys without a turkey hunting license, failing to tag a harvested turkey, hunting turkeys without turkey tags, taking over the daily limit of turkeys and using another hunter’s turkey tags. Konner Seal, 24, of Deridder, was cited for allowing another hunter to use his turkey tags.  Read the full story.

Swamp Apes: Veterans find healing and purpose hunting pythons in the Everglades: Whether it's during the day or night, these veterans have no fear. Metts described the feeling is when he captures a snake as, "Adrenaline. A lot of adrenaline going through. We're all adrenaline junkies." Read the full story.

What hunters should know for the 2025 Utah spring turkey hunts: Utah's spring general-season turkey hunts are about to get underway, and if you like the idea of getting outdoors and harvesting your own delicious bird, now's the time to buy a permit and research an area to hunt.  Read the full story.

Where did hunters get black bears in Pennsylvania in 2024? Check out this map: Monroe and Pike counties were among the top eight in Pennsylvania for total black bears harvested in 2024. In Monroe County, hunters took 93 bears, including the heaviest in Pennsylvania at 774 pounds. Pike County had 85 harvested.  Read the full story.

Spying the weekend.

📸 :@evan.justicephotography

Oh, and one more thing…