The Daily Texas Outdoor Digest is sent to your inbox to keep you up to date about hunting, fishing, conservation and outdoors pursuits making headlines and going viral in the Lone Star State and beyond. It’s free, so subscribe today!
Here’s what’s worth reading today, Wednesday, September 25, 2019:
Man seriously injured in Montana grizzly bear attack: A grizzly bear seriously injured a Washington man who was elk hunting in Montana, according to wildlife officials. Donivan Campbell spoke about the terrifying attack Sept. 16 at Gravelly Mountain in Montana. He and his friend, Chris Gregersen, were on an elk hunting trip when they surprised a grizzly bear. Campbell and Gregersen ran in different directions. “I mean, it was no more than a few seconds and that bear caught up to me,” Campbell says, “That’s when the bear grabbed my leg.” Gregersen knew what was going on immediately. “I heard the bear catch Donivan before I actually saw it,” he describes, “and it’s a scream I hope that I never have to hear ever again in my entire life.” Donivan was on the ground when Gregersen reached him carrying a gun, pulling the trigger just in time. “I could feel his mouth right behind my head,” Donivan said.
Wisconsin father killed in freak accident during hunting trip in Idaho: A Wisconsin father of two died during a hunting trip in Idaho when a tree branch fell on the tent he was sleeping in Sept. 18. Sheriff’s officials say a lightning strike likely caused the massive limb to crash down on 33-year-old Chris Perow, killing him instantly while he slept. “It’s overwhelming,” said Lee Mostowik. “It’s tough to think about. It’s been rough, he was excited to go and spend some time out there.”
2019 Texas deer hunting forecast still looks ‘great’ despite dry conditions
An Australian town just held a pig-hunting competition to feed crocs: More than 200 hunters from across eastern Australia flocked to the central Queensland town of Dingo on Saturday for a feral pig-hunting competition. The inaugural Hogs N Dogs event saw the hunters spending two nights in the bush, hoping to bag a bunch of prize-winning pigs as part of a Dingo State School fundraiser which aimed to raise money for the drought-affected town. Hundreds of the pigs were shot over the course of the two nights, the ABC reports — most of which were subsequently piled into the back of a semi-trailer and trucked off to Koorana Crocodile Farm. After being minced, the pigs are expected to feed 1,000 baby crocodiles for three months. “The pig meat is by far the best food you can get for baby crocodiles,” said farm owner John Lever. “They find it very palatable.”
So what happened to deer hunting? Part II: Well, I didn’t see that one coming. I guess you could say that the response to the first entry of “So What Happened to Deer Hunting” was a tad more than I expected. Now it wasn’t a landslide and we didn’t have to get an extra mail bag (I wish we really had a mail bag!) but there were enough responses to show there is a lot of interest in this topic. If you didn’t see part one of this exposé, by all means go back and find it, should be online by now at most of the papers websites. The point is there are a bunch of you out there that deer hunt and have a lot of opinions on these matters, and that is good! So let’s continue with some of the things good and bad, that have changed about deer hunting.
Kayak fishing has come a long way: There was a time early in my guiding career when kayakers were about as welcome as a bunch of jet skiers when fishing the flats. The only saving grace was they were quieter. More often than not, the paddlers were not intentionally trying to interfere with your fishing, they just did not realize they were. Often the kayak anglers would paddle their craft between your boat and the mangroves where you had diligently chummed up a decent bite for your clients, only to have them spooked, sending you back to square one. Things have improved somewhat since then. Kayakers, for the most part, have become much more aware of courtesy among flats fishers and speed zones on the flats have helped quash the jet skiers.
Why not take a shot at fall turkey hunting? It never ceases to amaze me that more avid hunters don’t buy a turkey permit in the fall. They say there are too many other game birds and animals to hunt in the fall and they may not even see turkeys. They say the fall hunt for turkeys is merely an ambush and not as challenging as the spring hunt when you can call in love-struck gobblers. Plus, they say turkeys don’t talk much in the fall or respond to calls. They even say there could be an issue with over-harvest of birds in a turkey flock with the fall season. None of those things can be further from the truth. There is sure a lot of misinformation circulating in hunting circles.
Kansas is in danger of losing a generation of hunters and their conservation money: Hunters come to Kansas from across the country for a shot at the state’s deer, elk and turkey. But older Kansas hunters are setting down their rifles, and guided youth hunts — Kansas’ go-to method for attracting the next generation of hunters — aren’t stopping the decline among the next generations. So the state is now working on a plan that focuses on what it stands to lose: 60% of Kansas’ conservation dollars (the rest comes from taxes on firearms and ammunition sales). “We’re at that point where it’s like, hey, the bells and whistles are going off,” said Tim Donges, president of the Kansas branch of Quality Deer Management, a nonprofit hunting organization. “We’ve got a problem.”
Stay in the Know With The Daily Texas Outdoor Digest
If you haven’t subscribed yet, there’s no better time than right now (We hate spam and we won’t share your information with anyone. That’s just not cool):
