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Here’s what’s worth reading today, Wednesday, December 9, 2020:
Man was not killed by mountain lion in Hood County, Texas Parks and Wildlife says
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department disagrees with reports that a man was killed by a mountain lion in Hood County, according to a statement released by TPWD on Sunday.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner determined Christopher Allen Whiteley, 28, was “attacked by a wild animal, possibly a mountain lion,” according to a news release from the Hood County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday. Whiteley was last seen in the early morning hours of Wednesday in the 1500 block of Howell Road in Lipan. Deputies checked a nearby wooded area, the sheriff’s office said, and found Whiteley dead.
However, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said it found no evidence of a mountain lion attack in that area, according to a news release Sunday. The TWPD sent its findings to the sheriff’s office Sunday, Lt. Johnny Rose with the Hood County’s sheriff’s department wrote in a separate news release.
The TPWD said Texas Game Wardens, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologists, and a United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services trapper investigated the scene and evidence and came to the same conclusion as the TPWD staff. TPWD has no record of a mountain lion attack in Texas or confirmed records of a mountain lion living in Hood County.
Texas Game Wardens seize 350 crappie fish fillets from fishermen at Lake O’ the Pines
Texas Game Wardens seized 350 crappie fish fillets that were confiscated from fishermen at Lake O’ the Pines in Upshur County.
According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, game wardens received an anonymous tip about a substantial amount of fish that had been cleaned and dumped at the lake. Officials then went to investigate.
TPW officials found two fishermen who were in the possession of 350 crappie fish fillets. Officials say the fishermen were well over the state legal possession limit of crappie fish, which is 25 per person.
The department said the fish fillets were seized and donated to multiple families around the area.
This late-night host just bought an Idaho fishing lodge listed for nearly $8 million
Late-night television host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel has partnered with renowned fly fishing guide Oliver White to purchase an Idaho fishing lodge that was on the market for nearly $8 million.
According to a Wall Street Journal article published last month, Kimmel and White closed on the South Fork Lodge in June after nearly a year of negotiations. Though the final purchase price of the property wasn’t disclosed, the 25-acre lodge near Swan Valley was on the market for $7.95 million in 2019, according to Flylords magazine.
The eastern Idaho lodge sits on the Snake River and boasts “eight bedrooms with outdoor patios, two private cabins containing five suites, a self-contained four bedroom/2.5 bath river house, four fisherman cabins, and a high-end restaurant replete with outdoor, riverside seating and a grand bar,” the magazine said. It even has its own in-house fly shop and guide service.
So what would the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host want with the South Fork Lodge? Probably what any visitors are angling for – great fishing.
Kimmel’s no fishing newbie. In 2012, he told Vanity Fair his favorite travel destinations are fishing spots in Montana and Wyoming. (He even gave a shout-out to the Stanley Baking Company.) He regularly posts fishing photos on social media, including snaps from Idaho.
New Jersey hunters kill 22 black bears in second round of state-sanctioned hunting season
Hunters shot and killed 22 black bears on Monday in New Jersey, during the second segment of state-sanctioned bear hunting in the state, officials said.
Hunters in eight counties used guns to kill the bears during the second stretch of the 2020 “harvest” which extends through Saturday, according to the state Division of Fish and Wildlife.
During the first segment from Oct. 12 to Oct. 16, hunters killed 336 bears using bows and muzzle-loaders, largely in Sussex County.
Gov. Phil Murphy has promised to end the hunt next year. He signed an executive order in 2018 that barred bear hunting in state parks, forests and recreation areas.
Other Stuff That Might Tickle Your Fancy
Check out this albino buck! Congrats to Jacob Herron of Cedar Lake, Indiana on once in a lifetime deer. He plans to get a full body mount. Have you ever seen an albino deer in the woods?#WhatGetsYouOutdoors #albinodeer #dreambuck #deerhunting #IndianaHunting pic.twitter.com/iWLI1OjFsV
— Outdoor Channel (@OUTDChannel) December 9, 2020
Check out this absolutely amazing buck that was photographed by @walterdorsettphotography in Maryland. Shared by @whitetail_paradise
Would you harvest the buck if given the opportunity? #IAMSPORTSMAN #hunting #buck #deerhunting #piebaldbuck #whitetails #photography #maryland pic.twitter.com/mlyvrq0gA5
— Sportsman Channel (@SPORTSMANchnl) December 8, 2020
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