Virginia Poacher Sentenced for Killing Protected Bald Eagles and Hawks 🦅

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:

• Piss-poor sentence - Virginia man gets a sweetheart deal in poaching case 🖕

• Fair in the air? - Montana feeling its way through airborne assistance 🚁

• Pheasantry - South Dakota records best pheasant season in over a decade 📈

• Sunday debate - Pennsylvania still working through the Sunday hunting debacle ⛪️

• Safe-ish - Texas reports a slight increase in hunting-related accidents in 2024 🦺

• CANNONBALLLLL! - It’s so damn hot down here, everyone is looking to cool off🐊 

SLAP MEETS WRIST
VIRGINIA POACHER SENTENCED FOR KILLING PROTECTED BALD EAGLES AND HAWKS

In a case that undoubtedly deserved more than the slap on the wrist that was offered, a Virginia duck hunter was sentenced in federal court this week for his role in killing over 20 juvenile and mature bald eagles and other raptors.

The case was concluded at the end of March of this year after Virginia Conservation Officer Brian Bratton closed up his two-year investigation. Following information from a tip he received over the 2023-24 waterfowl season, Bratton learned of an individual who was allegedly trapping and poisoning hawks on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Given the alleged killing of protected hawks and eagles, Bratton called in the feds to help assist with the investigation. Together with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, their teams slowly but surely uncovered a network of traps, poisoned bait and multiple carcasses to help fuel their investigation…

New Law Addresses What’s Fair From the Air for Montana Hunting: Brett French, Outdoor Editor of the Billings Gazette, shared the interesting go-round in the Montana House over hunting ethics pertaining to aerial scouting for Montana game via drones, helicopters and planes. It all seemed pretty straight-forward, until a Senate Bill was signed by the governor, while another seemingly similar House Bill was vetoed.  Read the full story. 

Sunday hunting is up for debate again in Pennsylvania House: State Rep. Mandy Steele (D-Allegheny), sponsor of House Bill 1431, described the effort to repeal Pennsylvania’s Sunday prohibition on hunting as a “groundbreaking collaboration” of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, Pennsylvania Game Commission, and multiple advocacy groups.  Read the full story.

South Dakota records best pheasant season in 13 years, state parks department says: Hunters bagged more pheasants last fall in South Dakota than they have for 13 years, the state department of Game, Fish and Parks said Thursday. More than 1.3 million roosters were harvested during the 2024 pheasant hunting season, the department said, with another 380,000 harvested within defined shooting preserves. Read the full story.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department reports increase in hunting incidents in 2024: According to the TPWD, the state had seen an increase in hunting accidents last year, with 18 non-fatal hunting accidents and one fatality reported in the 2024 Texas Hunting Accident Report. Read the full story.

Idaho Fish and Game announces new hunting rules for Panhandle region targeting CWD: The Idaho Department Fish and Game announced the time frames and rules for deer and elk hunting for the 2025-2026 big game season in the Panhandle region. Many rules aimed to reduce the transmission and spread of chronic wasting disease. Read the full story.

Maryland Spring Turkey Hunters Harvest 4,851 Birds:Maryland hunters harvested a total of 4,851 wild turkeys during the 2025 spring regular and junior turkey seasons. While this year’s harvest was slightly lower than the 2024 season total of 4,959, it remained well above the 10-year average of 4,350.  Read the full story.

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

🐊 Things are getting spicy down in Florida. Honestly though, it’s always pretty spicy down here, but during the summer/hurricane season, the natives get a little restless - like this fella claiming a local pool.

So, what do ya say? CANNONBALL!!!!

It’s easy. Copy your link below and send it to your friends. If they sign up, you get free stuff.

Now, do it. (Please).

Oh, and one more thing…