The Veteran's Day edition

Fine. You win.

As per the request of many, we’re going to start doing these things on a daily basis. Honestly, it was a goal of mine all along, I just never thought I’d have enough people reading it to necessitate a daily - and, well, I guess y’all have proven me wrong.

Thank you.

I’d love to tell you all that the reason I do this is for you, but that just wouldn’t be true. I started making this for me. I wanted to write and curate something that I would love to read. I wanted something from the outdoor industry that would have the balls to take a stand every now and then, but at the same time provide a little humor and dig up some good stories along the way.

The fact that thousands of you like reading along, is an absolute blessing. I’m thankful y’all are here and I trust that you’ll continue to tell your friends and keep this (legal) immigrant off the unemployment line.

With that in mind, let’s all take a minute to grab a coffee or whiskey (no judgement) and get our first ever Monday morning dispatch out the door.

-Ryan

P.S. Happy Veteran’s Day and Remembrance Day (for my Canadians). If you’ve ever worn a flag on your shoulder, we all owe you one. Thank you. 🙏🇺🇸 🇨🇦

Here's what's worth reading about today:

• Operation Night Cat - A big bust coming out of New Hampshire 👮

• Stay safe - Two hunters shot in Minnesota over the weekend 🦺

• Young lad to the rescue - Another young man saves his father from an attacking grizz 💪

• You’ve been had - Decoy foils poachers in Washington State 🥸

• The chronic - CWD found in more Montana elk 🤮

ONE OF THE LARGEST BUSTS IN RECENT TIMES
“OPERATION NIGHT CAT” TAKES DOWN MASSIVE NEW HAMPSHIRE POACHING RING

In what is being touted as one of the largest poaching busts in the state’s history, four New Hampshire men and one Massachusetts man have been arrested as the result of a multi-agency sting operation known internally as “Operation Night Cat”.

According to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, the agency was first tipped off back in 2022 when reports surfaced about suspected illegal hunting activities in Gilmanton, New Hampshire. Working in tandem with the Gilmanton Police Department, the two agencies were able to secure a warrant for the cellular trail camera and cell phone belonging to one Thomas Kelly. 

After serving the warrant, officers gathered a great deal of incriminating evidence on Kelly and a number of others who were now sought as suspects in the growing investigation. The following month led to additional search warrants for Kelly and two other men believed to be involved…

2 hunters shot in Minnesota Saturday: According to a press release from the Clay County Sheriff's Office, just before 8 a.m. on Saturday officers were called to the area of 4600 90th Avenue North in rural Moorhead. Reports said a man was struck by gunfire while hunting. When officers arrived in the area they found a 34-year-old man from Dilworth had been shot in the head. Crews on scene gave the man first aid until ambulance crews arrived and took the man to Sanford Hospital by Airmed. Read the full story.

Son’s quick thinking saves father from grizzly attack in Wyoming hunting encounter:  "I turned around and just like that, it happened. It was a burst of timber snapping and cracking. You could hear something was in the trees,” said Garrett. "Right when I heard that initial snap, I didn't think it was good."

Suddenly only four yards away, a grizzly bear emerged and charged right in their direction.

“She was low and her ears were back. She was not playing around. She had a mission and it was to, I don't know, do something to me," said Garrett. Read the full story.

Rogue Hunters Confronted and Arrested in Okanogan County: The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is cracking down on hunters who flout the law. The department's police wing rejoiced on Friday in its completion of an afternoon decoy operation. The sting took place in the rural river town of Twisp.

A two-point mule deer buck was used to bait lawbreakers onto Forest Service territory. The illegal deer was soon encircled by a carload of hunters. As they exited the vehicle one by one, it became clear that none were appropriately dressed. Read the full story.

Two Montana elk test positive for chronic wasting disease: Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials announced on Friday that an elk in southeast Montana tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease. The elk was located on private land in Hunting District 704 north of the Custer National Forest.

This was only the fourth elk across the state to test positive for the always-fatal neurological disease since 2017. However, also in October, a fifth elk tested positive in Hunting District 322 in the Ruby Mountains east of Dillon, a region with the highest concentration of the disease in Montana. This hunter-harvested animal was the first CWD-positive elk in the Ruby Mountains.   Read the full story.

🔫 Real Life Die Hard: His point man whispered: “Hack. They’re here. I can smell ‘em.” It was August,1951 and a special Army team, the 27^th Wolfhound Raiders, was pulling a breathtakingly dangerous overnight behind-the-lines mission in Korea. They had spent hours lying in ambush, but no enemy had appeared, and they now had to beat sunrise back to their lines. Not-yet-Colonel David “Hack” Hackworth was commanding the team. His point man had picked up the scent of Chinese soldiers—the enemy’s limited diet of rice and garlic emitted a discernible odor. There’s some debate as to whether it was from their breath or from their pores, but there’s no debate that you actually could smell it. At least if the wind was right. Read the full story.

🌵 Coues Rodeo:  When my plane landed in Arizona, it hit me that my dream of hunting the “Grey Ghost” was becoming reality. It was finally here. The first morning, we headed to a great glassing knob and I had no idea what was in store for me. It was around 9 AM that I finally glassed up my first Coues – a doe and two fawns. I quickly set my spotting scope and took a picture; my excitement was through the roof. Over the next few hours, we found a few more does and fawns but we were yet to find a buck. Kyle, who had been glassing a different area, relocated to where Brandon and I sat. The moment he sat down he found two bucks over a mile away. I frantically searched the area through my binoculars to try and see my first Coues buck, but I couldn’t find them for the life of me. Read the full story.

🤠 Cowboy sh*t - New Lever-action Guns for 2024:  Lever-action rifles are hot sellers right now. Whether it is a counter-reaction to the long-range craze or simply an appreciation for the practical utility of a design that is more than 150 years old, lever guns are back in a big way. To feed that demand, firearm manufacturers are busy pushing new lever-action rifles to market. Read more and see the line-up.

CAMP TALK // ^{_{BEFORE YOU GO}}

We get a lot of questions and comments on here, and we figure it’s time to repay the favor. As part of our new Camp Talk section, we’re going to ask you, the reader, your opinion on some serious (and not so serious) topics to close out each newsletter.

Last week I asked, Lots of talk about beaver eating this week. What says you??

To which you responded with:

1. Wait...what are we talking about here...?

Followed by:

2. I love eating beaver

Which tells me the majority of you do know, in fact, know what we are talking about here.

Here’s today’s question…

Oh, and one more thing…