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Here’s what’s worth reading today, Thursday, November 14, 2019:
Feral hogs find and destroy cocaine worth $22,000 hidden in woods: A stash of cocaine worth $22,000 hidden in an Italian forest by a gang of suspected drug dealers was reportedly destroyed by wild boars. Police dismantled the smuggling operation in Tuscany after placing a wiretap on members of the gang, which consisted of three Albanians and an Italian. While listening on a call, officials overheard a person complaining about the damage caused by the hogs. Four suspects were arrested on drug charges after the bust, which left two members in jail and two under house arrest. But it’s not just drug dealers outraged by the rising wild boar population in Italy. This month saw an unprecedented protest in Rome by farmers calling for action from the government, complaining the animals are to blame for land damage and road accidents.
Texas inshore saltwater fishing outstanding during fall, winter months
Former Michigan lawmaker captures photo of ‘one-in-a-million’ 3-antler deer: A former Michigan state lawmaker believes he took a “one-in-a-million” photo last weekend of a rare three-antler deer in the state’s Upper Peninsula. Steve Lindberg, a former state representative who lives in Marquette, regularly posts wildlife photos on his Facebook page. “Five days before rifle season for Whitetail Deer and look who I get to see, along with his girlfriend,” he wrote on the post. “A three antlered, nine or twelve point buck (depending if you want to count the two little tines on the right antler, and the small tine on the left antler). I don’t recall ever seeing a three antlered deer before.” Lindberg posted another photo of the buck two days later “just to dispel any photoshop (sic) rumors.”
Minnesota hunter, 19, with Down syndrome bags his first buck: A family from Twin Cities in Minnesota celebrated a father-son victory after their 19-year-old with Down syndrome shot his first buck over the weekend, an accomplishment made possible by a change in state hunting and firearm legislation. Steve Pennaz said his son Pierce has Down syndrome and has been hunting under his supervision through a state apprenticeship that allowed him to hunt with a parent or guardian for two years. But after the two-year window closed, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources told Steve that his son would have to take and pass an extensive firearms safety exam in order to continue to hunt. The eight-week course and 100-question exam were too arduous for someone with Pierce’s condition, Steve said. “There was just no way with Pierce having Down syndrome that he would pass the test,” Steve said. “Even if he could pass the test, I didn’t want him to be able to hunt legally without direct supervision.”
Someone went fishing with Coke and Mentos, and we’re speechless: Once in a great while a video comes along that utterly, completely floors us. Watch all of this. It’s too important. Essentially this fisher dug a hole close to a river. At that point they cracked the egg in the hole, naturally attracting hungry nearby catfish. It’s here where the genius element of this comes in: The fisher dumps the Coke and the Mentos in the hole, which causes a massive influx of carbon dioxide, sucking the oxygen out of the water and essentially drowning the fish. They swim up the hole to find fresh water, but end up in the hands of the fisher.
What went wrong in the shootings of three Michigan hunters last year: The three men loved deer hunting. Strangers to one another, they share the catastrophe of being gunned down in the first days of Michigan’s deer firearms season last November. The circumstances of their deaths have been intensely investigated by law enforcement and state conservation officers, and have left those who loved them devastated. These are their stories.
Kansas tries to attract younger hunters: Attempts to lure more people into hunting have mostly failed. Kansas is working on a new plan to attract young people by focusing on what states stand to lose: conservation dollars funded by licenses. Hunters are disappearing in the United States. And for conservationists, that may be bad news because fewer hunters means less money for wildlife conservation. Stephan Bisaha of the Kansas News Service reports on the effort to attract younger people to hunting.
West Virginia man convicted in hunting bow death: A West Virginia man has been convicted of volunteer manslaughter in the shooting of a man with a hunting bow. Greenbrier County jurors found 25-year-old Carl Wayne Rich of Charmco guilty in the June 2018 death of 29-year-old Jeffery Booth. Rich testified he threatened Booth with the bow but did not intentionally shoot him. Rich says Booth had startled him and the bow accidentally fired. According to a criminal complaint, Rich believed Booth had taken his cell phone. A witness testified at the trial that the phone was later found at the home of someone else.
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