Professional Deer Hunter Sues Iowa DNR Officer for Malicious Prosecution

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

With that said, let’s all take a minute to grab a coffee or whiskey and get this mid-week dispatch out the door.

Here's what's worth reading about this morning:

• Egos are us- A “professional hunter” is suing a DNR officer in contentious baiting case 🧑‍⚖️

• Last call - Wisconsin DNR reminds hunters to apply for elk tags before month end 📢

• 1.3 million tags - Why PA is releasing a record number of doe tags 🏷️

• Contact with a tent - It’s camping grizzly szn in Banff National Park ⛺️

• Officially official - All new regs are now law in Washington 👮

• “Hey bear!” - Watch as this big-clawed bear does exactly what he is told 🐻 

A LOT OF EGO HERE
PROFESSIONAL DEER HUNTER SUES IOWA DNR OFFICER FOR MALICIOUS PROSECUTION

A self-proclaimed “professional deer hunter” from Iowa has hurled a contentious lawsuit in the direction of an Iowa DNR officer. Mark Allen Luster, whose Linkedin profile undoubtedly contains at least one grip and grin, claims officer Dan Henderson cooked the books on a recent investigation he alleges contains some iffy search warrants and illegal drone surveillance.

In a story with a few apparent fourth amendment fumbles, Luster filed a lawsuit against Henderson in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa earlier this week. The lawsuit accuses Henderson of malicious prosecution, alleging that the officer included false or misleading information in search warrant applications, causing significant damage to Luster’s reputation and business as a hunter and land management consultant.

The case stems from events in the summer of 2024, when Luster was developing an 82-acre hunting property he co-owned in Iowa. Reports indicated that in October of last year, Luster arrowed a nice-sized buck on the property and later posted a picture of his kill on Facebook with the caption “Checkmate!” proudly displayed beneath it…

DNR Reminds Hunters to Apply for a 2025 Elk Hunting License by May 31: The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reminds Wisconsin hunters that they have until May 31, 2025 to apply for a chance at a 2025 elk hunting license.  Wisconsin’s expanding elk population has had an annual hunt in the Clam Lake Elk Range since 2018 and since 2024 in the Black River Elk Range. Each elk range is comprised of approximately 70% public lands, across varying habitat types, offering excellent opportunities to pursue elk.  Read the full story. 

Turkey Hunting In Wyoming: A Salute To Our Veterans: One of the driving forces of the turkey population is the Wyoming chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation. The NTWF was also behind, allowing four veterans to come to Wyoming and go on the Wyoming NTWF State Chapter Veterans Hunt. Read the full story.

Why Pennsylvania allocated a record 1.3M antlerless deer licenses for hunters: The number is so high, in fact, that when antlerless deer permits go on sale Monday, June 23, the Game Commission guarantees that every resident hunter who applies for a tag will get their first choice, no matter the Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) they request. Read the full story.

Banff National Park issues bear warning after ‘contact with a tent’: A bear warning has been issued for Lake Minnewanka Trail in Banff National Park. The warning, issued by Parks Canada on May 17, indicates that a female bear and her offspring “made contact with a tent” in a campground in the area. “Be prepared to encounter a bear at any time in this area,” cautions the alert. Read the full story.

‘Don’t feed wildlife.’ Why WA made it illegal to feed specific animals: As of May 17, 2025, it is illegal in Washington state to feed specific wild animals — deer, elk and moose in particular. Read the full story.

Wildlife commission adopts changes to hunting regulations on MS wildlife management areas: Russ Walsh, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Wildlife chief of staff explained in an earlier interview that hunters have long been required to keep their shoulder-fired guns unloaded and in cases while in a vehicle on WMAs, but there was no definition of a case. Read the full story.

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

🐻 This bear stumbled upon a group of humans and not only proved that he could hear them, but that he also seemed to understood them. Watch as this bear (and his gargantuan claws) come sauntering up the path and meet a group of humans. Just as quickly as one of the men yells “Hey bear”, he lifts up his paw, does a quick spin and heads back from whence he came.

Honestly, I wish my kids dog listened this well…

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