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Here’s what’s worth reading today, Friday, January 31, 2020:
‘It looked fake’: It’s only a 4-point, but you’ve probably never seen one like it: He’s 8 years old and it’s the only buck the Brookhaven boy has ever harvested, but it’s one with a rare genetic abnormality that produced one of the most unusual deer you’ll ever see. “We had pictures of it last year but hadn’t seen him,” said Nick Adams, Max’s father. “I’ve been hunting 35 years and I’ve never seen anything like it. “It looked fake. You see pictures in magazines, but I’ve never seen one in the wild. I was hoping one of the boys would get a chance to shoot him.” The buck was mostly white with small brown spots with some brown on his legs and head. It’s a condition known as piebald and among other things, it causes a deer to have more white than a normal deer. As much as Adams wanted one of his sons to harvest it, they never encountered it — at least not in daylight.
Coyote attacks skier near Canyon in Yellowstone National Park: A skier in Yellowstone National Park was bitten and pulled to the ground Tuesday by a young coyote, which was persistent enough in its attack that it had to be driven away by other people. The 43-year-old woman, who Yellowstone’s public affairs office declined to identify, is a resident of the park who was out on a cross-country ski tour on the groomed Grand Loop Road near Yellowstone Falls. In the late morning hours, an evidently desperate young Canis latrans with porcupine quills in its face approached the gliding skier from behind. While in the tussle with the animal, which park officials estimated was “probably” born last spring, the woman sustained lacerations and punctures to her head and arm. Veress wasn’t sure how long the fight went on, but at some point a snowcoach came upon the scene and its occupants pulled off the attacking animal.
South Dakota bill mandates ‘habitat stamp’ purchase with most fishing, hunting licenses: A bill has been introduced that requires anyone over the age of 18 who purchases a hunting or fishing license to also purchase a “habitat stamp” and if they fail to do so would be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. Senate Bill 75 aims to generate more revenue that will be used to care for public lands and waters. The stamp would cost $10 for South Dakota residents and $25 for nonresidents. A person would not be required to purchase more than one habitat stamp within a license period and the purchase of a habitat stamp is not required for a one-day license, a youth hunting license or a landowner hunting license. The revenue generated by the sales of the habitat stamps would be deposited in the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department funds for the “purpose of enhancing terrestrial habitat on public lands, providing additional public access to private lands and aquatic habitat enhancements on public waters.”
If you teach a man to fish: If you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he will spend a bunch of money on new fishing gear that he’ll use once and then leave in his garage for 10 years. Then, after a decade of collecting dust, the fishing gear will finally have a purpose. You see, the man will be asked to go on a fishing-themed bachelor-party trip — his friend is getting remarried — and he’ll go to REI to buy a fishing pole. And, while waiting in line, he’ll remember that he already has a pole (the one that you basically made him get when you taught him how to fish). So he’ll abandon his REI shopping cart, run home, and pull everything out of storage — the pole, the tackle box, even the wrinkled T-shirt that says “Gone Fishing, Back Never!” And he’ll think, I remember how to do this.
Minnesota’s deer hunting passions may be on crash course with CWD, experts say: Chronic wasting disease remains a leading threat to deer populations, but according to many experts, it might also threaten Minnesota’s deer hunting traditions. Marc Schwabendlander is the CWD manager at the Minnesota Center for Prion Research and Outreach at the University of Minnesota. He describes himself as a lifelong hunter and an active member of several conservation groups. “To put chronic wasting disease in the proper context, we need to think about the deer hunting heritage in Minnesota and across North America,” Schwabendlander said. “Conservation has always been a cornerstone of that heritage, and disease management is a crucial part of conservation.”
Disney’s planned live-action ‘Bambi’ remake is bad for hunters: Most of us who hunt have heard a version of this quip many times before, generally offered up in a light-hearted way by a friend who doesn’t hunt: “You going out to shoot Bambi?” Most of the time, we smile, nod our heads, and don’t think twice. No offense meant. No offense taken. Just one of hundreds of interactions on a given day. “Bambi,” the Disney film, came out in 1942, after all. And though it portrays hunters as villains, there’s really no sense getting worked up about a 78-year-old children’s movie. Or is there? A few days ago, word began to circulate about a new Disney project that’s in the works. Following a growing trend — see “The Jungle Book” and “The Lion King” — Disney is planning to release a live-action version of “Bambi,” presumably with talking deer and rabbits and skunks that look just like critters you’d see in the woods of Maine.
Hunters put the squeeze on 80 snakes in Florida’s Python Bowl: Once again, we have a winner in the annual contest of your dreams — your very, very bad dreams, that is. More than 750 people from 20 states turned up for Florida’s 2020 Python Bowl, catching 80 of the giant invasive snakes, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a release. The grand prize winner in the 10-day contest is Mike Kimmel, who caught eight Burmese pythons. His prize was a Tracker 570 Off Road all-terrain vehicle. One contestant, Tom Rahill, caught both the longest, a beast of 12 feet, 7.3 inches, and the heaviest, a 62-pounder. He won $4,000 for his efforts.
Pennsylvania seeks to boost female hunting numbers: For 15-year-old Julianna Jordan, of Middleburg (Snyder County), hunting offers a valuable opportunity to connect with family and friends. “I enjoy hunting because it’s been passed down through my family,” she said. “I enjoy the thrill and getting more funny or amazing memories with my brothers, my dad and my brothers’ friends!” Hunting isn’t just for guys, she added. “I could probably out shoot a few of those guys in our gang,” she laughed. The Pennsylvania Game Commission has seen a steady increase in female hunters in recent years — so much so that the organization recently created its first all-female hunter-safety course to be taught Saturday at the Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg.
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