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 9, 2020:

Texas fishing calendar: In September head to Aransas Bay for flounder

Texas hunting accident deaths center on improper handling of firearms

Instagram’s Most Fascinating Subculture? Women Hunters.

A new school of social-media influencers are giving hunting a fresh and decidedly female face. Our writer joins two rising stars of “huntstagram” in the Arizona backcountry to chase mule deer for her first time — and see if she can stomach what it takes to be an omnivore.

Ladies they don’t mind. Just don’t call them huntresses. “We hate that word,” says Rihana, who lives in Layton, Utah, and works as a marketing director for Mtn Ops, a company that sells nutritional supplements and clothing for hunters. “It’s too sexualized, like temptress or seductress. Why does everyone try to put us in our own category? We’re hunters” — like hikers are hikers and runners are runners. Amanda, a realtor from rural Montana, agrees.

 

The style of bowhunting we’ll be doing, called spot and stalk — spotting an animal from afar, then stalking it until we’re within shooting range — is popular on the vast public lands open to hunters in the West, and it’s much harder than, say, deer hunting from a tree stand, which is more common in the East. “There will be lots of highs and lows,” Rihana warns. “But if we do get a deer, it’s going to be epic.”

 

I want epic. I think. As a liberal, urban, coastal-living walking cliché, I care where my food comes from: I’ll pay for the precious $4 peach, the $8 carton of local eggs, and whatever my bougie butcher counter charges for its organic grass-fed beef. But I have never cared quite enough to take it to the next level and harvest my own. That’s why I’m here, to fulfill my moral obligation as a meat eater. To experience what it feels like to, if not kill the animal myself, at least watch it die. And then, you know, help dismember it before sitting down to dinner.

Fishing participation increases among women and minorities

Recreational fishing has reached new diversity milestones, according to a new industry study from the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF). The 2020 Special Report on Fishing found that:

3.7 million African Americans participate in fishing, an increase of nearly 1 million over the last 10 years.

 

Hispanic Americans are participating at a new record of 4.4 million participants.

 

Women are also participating at an all-time high of 17.9 million participants.

 

Overall, more than 50 million Americans participate in fishing, the highest number in 12 years.

 

The activity gained more than 3 million new participants last year, the highest in five years.

 

The new participation data comes as Americans overall take increased interest in fishing as a remedy for COVID-19-related stress and anxiety. According to a separate study, 1 in 5 Americans are more likely now to try fishing than they were prior to the pandemic. Among parents, the statistic is 1 in 4.

Alaska Air National Guard rescues injured hunter on mountain

Alaska Air National Guardsmen of the 176th Wing rescued a hunter who was critically injured in a 100-foot fall Sept. 6 near the Eagle River Nature Center north of Anchorage.

Alaska Air National Guard Maj. Wesley Ladd, Alaska Rescue Coordination Center senior controller, said the hunter used a satellite communication device to contact the Alaska State Troopers who then contacted the AKRCC. The AKRCC notified the 176th Wing, which dispatched a 210th Rescue Squadron HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter carrying 212th Rescue Squadron pararescuemen, or PJs.

 

Aircrew of 210th Rescue Squadron are combat search and rescue Airmen highly capable in civil search and rescue missions in Alaska’s challenging weather and terrain. PJs and combat rescue officers compose the Guardian Angel Weapon system of the 212th Rescue Squadron. They are elite special operators trained in technical rescue and are advanced-practice paramedics who employ on combat and civil search and rescue missions.

 

Navigating to the survivor through a windstorm, rain and limited visibility, the HH-60 aircrew accessed the base of the mountain 500 meters from the hunter’s location. The aircrew landed and disembarked a CRO and two PJs who scaled 500 meters up the mountainside with their equipment to reach the survivor. The Pave Hawk then returned to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson for an additional PJ to aid in the technical rescue effort. The PJs and CRO on scene gained access, stabilized and packaged the survivor in a litter.

 

The team set up a technical rope belay system to lower the patient down the mountain and waded through Eagle River to the HH60. The patient and his hunting partner were transported to Providence Alaska Medical Center.

 

“This mission highlights the exceptional synergy of our rescue community,” said Capt. Dan Warren, 212th RQS CRO and team commander for the ground rescue effort. “The Alaska State Troopers provided critical info, 176th Maintenance (Group) personnel rapidly prepared the helicopter for flight, the helicopter crew navigated harsh weather to employ us, and the unmatched resolve of fellow PJs to overcome brutal terrain to save a life is a humbling endeavor. The team effort is what enables our success.”

Other Stuff That Might Tickle Your Fancy

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):

Link to this post!

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here