Texas game wardens bust poachers with 3 times legal limit of ducks 🦆

Welcome to 4th best day of the week besides Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

While we’re slowly inching back towards the weekend, let’s all take a minute to grab a coffee or whiskey (no judgement) and get into what this beautiful Tuesday has to offer.

Here's what's worth reading about so far this week:

• Didn’t know when to stop - Group of hunters caught with three times legal limit 🦆

• New wolf bill - Montana’s new bill hopes to cut population in half 🐺

• Big time rescue - Two men and a child rescued after weekend on the mountain ⛑️

• Mo’ elk in Minnesota - New elk plan is in play in northern Minnesota 🤝

• Swing and a miss - Honestly, today’s video is heartbreaking 💔

SELFISH
TEXAS GAME WARDENS BUST POACHERS WITH THREE TIMES DAILY LIMIT OF DUCKS

In a game of attempted hide and seek, Texas Game Wardens came out victorious after busting a group of poachers with more ducks than they needed last week. According to a post, Texas Game Wardens were patrolling the Brazos River in Bosque County when they heard a number of shots ring out in the area. Carefully listening to the nearby volley of gunshots, wardens worked their way through the area and stopped a couple of duck hunters along the way, but found no one in violation of any laws.

As the shots continued, game wardens turned to tech in an attempt to locate the mysterious gunfire and soon found a number of nearby private lakes that they believed would offer some great duck hunting opportunities. As game wardens approached one of the entrances to the possible locations, they came across a man decked out in camo. Wardens took note that the man’s behavior was evasive in nature and noticed that he was quite intent on sending what seemed to be a number of text messages in record time. Wardens stopped the man and had a brief conversation with him, who soon directed them to a duck blind where they found an additional three weary hunters haphazardly gathering up their gear…

🐺 Only one of Montana’s newly-minted wolf bills passes the chamber vote. With a consistent population of roughly 1,100 wolves, Montana legislators introduced a pair of bills last week they hoped would help curb bulging populations. Holding consistently at current population levels since 2009, legislators introduced both Bill 176 and Bill 222 in an effort to aggressively open up wolf quotas and get more wild canids on the ground.

Softening some of the wording found in House Bill 176, it was passed on its second reading following an amendment. The bill initially required the state Fish and Wildlife Commission to allow unlimited hunting the moment that wolf populations are above 550 animals, but an amendment softened the language to merely “allow” for such measures at the discretion of the Commission. 

House Bill 222, which called the situation an ‘emergency’, sought to have a 650-wolf threshold, above which there would be an open wolf hunting season with no restrictions between July 1 and April 31, was voted down 60-40 on Thursday.

⛑️ Missing Idaho hunters, including one child, safely rescued after being snowed in on the mountain. In what was supposed to be a day trip elk hunt for Tristan Galloway, and his son and father, turned into a weekend-long survival test after a snow drift hit the area they were hunting and left them stranded. 

Galloway, who is intimately familiar with the area, said the group had sufficient food and water to get them through the weekend and decided to stay with their vehicle until help arrived. After the group didn’t return home on Friday evening, the group’s family alerted the Owyhee County Sheriff's Office. It took the combined forces of the Owyhee County Sheriff’s Office, Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue and the Idaho National Guard to help locate and extract the group, who were finally found on Monday afternoon. The group was safely transported via Black Hawk helicopter to Boise and reunited with their families.

🤝 Fond du Lac Band and Minnesota DNR ready to tackle additional elk reintroduction efforts. With a small population of elk roaming some private property in Minnesota's northwest, the state’s DNR and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa are looking to add additional animals to the landscape. 

Now open for public comment, the cooperative Northeast Elk Restoration and Management Plan, aims to restore elk to the Fond du Lac Reservation and to surrounding areas within the 1854 Treaty Territory.

“The Fond du Lac Band has been working patiently for the last 10 years to bring omashkooz (elk) home,” stated Mike Schrage, band wildlife program manager, in the release. “This process has been about restoring a native species, providing future elk hunting and viewing opportunities, and re-establishing a species adaptable to a wide range of future climate scenarios.”

The DNR has said that they are in full support of this work along with ensuring the long-term sustainability of existing herds.An additional public comment period will open this fall before the plan is implemented.

1. Bees don’t waste their time explaining to flies that honey is better than shit.

2. A tired dog is a happy dog (same for humans)

3. I believe in the 3 Yeses and teach my kids the same:

   1. Yes, sir.

   2. Yes, m’am.

   3. Yes, please.

4. Asking God for grace is important. Asking God for victories is importanter. He delivers on both  🙏

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

🙈 No animals were harmed in the filming of this video.  Watch as this bowhunter nails the branch that is between him and this beautiful buck. Better luck next year, bud.

Oh, and one more thing…