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Here’s what’s worth reading today, Friday, August 30, 2019:
‘I just paddled and paddled’: Massive 360-pound gator caught after chasing kayaker: Imagine being in a kayak while fishing when a 360-pound alligator starts swimming after you. It happened Monday to a kayaker off Gordon Highway. Thankfully, a group of Richmond County sheriff’s deputies helped wrangle the monster. On Monday night, it was the 10-feet long, 360 pound gator and Bo Storey in a pond together. “I was just going down the bank fishing and all of a sudden about 10 feet away I seen the big gator,” Storey said. Storey was practicing for a bass fishing tournament when he spotted the gator getting closer. In that moment, all that came to his mind was paddle. “I just paddled and paddled, it came within probably 5 feet of the back of my kayak like up on a plane surging, coming at me and I just non stop paddled til I got to my truck,” Storey said.
30 things I learned from my first hunting season: Since I took hunter’s education last year, I’ve spent a lot of time looking at very expensive pieces of equipment that seemed to have a purpose, but not an immediately discernible one. Understanding how that guitar-pick is really a cow call or why a DDPAT style of camouflage is worse or better than a Rorshach’s test of another pattern is something that will come with time. What I did learn over the past year could fill a book, and I haven’t even been close enough to take a shot yet. Normally I find that lists are a crutch in writing. But to sketch something as vast as the hunting experience in the American West, a list can work wonders.
Huge changes coming to Texas fishing, hunting pursuits Sept. 1
Craziest fishing confrontation we’ve ever seen:Â This is one of the craziest confrontations we’ve seen involving anglers and two men in a johnboat trying to force the bass fishermen out of a marina with their boat. It was originally alleged in the original post that these men might be workers at the marina but the marina owner confirmed on Thursday that they are not employees. Jacob Russell, who filmed the video and whose boat was being damaged, said the men were working on the roof of the marina and started throwing nails and cursing at the anglers demanding they leave. He has additional videos that corroborated the story. More details are coming in from authorities and we’ll post those as we get them as well as the full account from Russell directly.
Banning trophy hunting can have a detrimental impact, experts say: Experts have outlined “compelling evidence” that suggests banning trophy hunting can negatively affect conservation — arguing that unregulated killings are far more prevalent in non-hunting zones. More than 130 international scientists — including two from the University of Stirling — say that certain species, such as lions, do not fare well in areas where bans are enforced. In a letter published in the journal Science, they say that, in African countries that do allow trophy hunting, “more land has been conserved than under National Parks”; and that regulated hunting has boosted wildlife populations globally, including those of rhinos, markhor, argali, bighorn sheep, and many African ungulates. The authors acknowledge that, if poorly managed, trophy hunting can cause local population declines and admit that there is “considerable room for improvement.” However, they add: “Unless better land-use alternatives exist, hunting reforms—which have proved effective—should be prioritized over bans.”
Special Report: Cougar hunting restrictions hot topic as population grows: It’s been almost a year since officials said an Oregon woman was killed by a cougar near Mount Hood, but the debate over allowing hunters to use dogs to sniff out the big cats continues. Early on a Monday morning, predator control specialist Kelly Forney drives to rugged BLM land west of Roseburg to get ready for a day of tracking. He’s armed with a rifle that shoots non-lethal darts, and he’s not alone. Using GPS collars, Forney lets his seven hounds roam free while they search for their target, cougars. “They’re like cross-country athletes,” Forney said while talking about his dogs. “They cover a lot of ground, and they need to be in good condition. They need to be able to use their nose.” Since the 70s Forney has been a volunteer with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. He and his dogs are used to track the big cats. He shoots them with the darts, which contain DNA, and he retrieves and gives them to ODFW for a population study. Forney said all of his dogs are trained to sniff out cougars, and once they get the scent, they’ll chase the animal into a tree so he can take the shot.
Fish and Wildlife Police go fishing for an elk: The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife had quite the Thursday afternoon. They posted on their Facebook page Thursday about the scene they were called out to. The post stated the following: WDFW Officers Horn and Johnson and USFWS Officer Bullock responded to a call of a large bull elk stuck in a canal in north Franklin County. With the help of irrigation district employees and local farmers, the officers were able to free the animal without any harm.
Ilegal striped bass fishing raises concerns: The story of two fishermen recently arrested for catching more striped bass than is legally permissible while fishing off Block Island shines a light on the importance of conservation, and following the rules. The fishermen caught 38 striped bass with a total weight of 1,054 pounds with the intent of selling them in Massachusetts, which is prohibited. As part of a sting operation, environmental police officers from the R.I. Department of Environmental Management arrested two Rhode Island-based commercial fishermen on August 21. The men, charged with 37 counts of exceeding the daily limit, and 38 counts of failure to fin clip the striped bass, are due in court in September.
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