Wildlife Management

Disturbing new details and images have emerged about three Wisconsin juveniles and one adult who allegedly poached over 100 deer, some of which they tortured. Police reports and other documents obtained by MeatEater make the case against 36-year-old Jessica Kroening, her 16-year-old son, and two of...

One of America’s most iconic fish species is in continued decline, new data shows. In the Chesapeake Bay, biologists are reporting that this year’s striped bass spawn was dismal—for the sixth straight year in a row. The Bay is the largest spawning area for stripers on the entire East Coast, and it’s...

In November 1959, 56 pronghorn were captured in the plains of Montana. Their final destination being the tropical island of Lanai, Hawaii. This bizarre plan stemmed from a discerning biologist who identified 35 square miles of grassland on Lānaʻi. The open expanse resembled the grasslands of the...

Ever wanted to hunt a hippo? It’s probably not something you’ve considered. But if Teddy Roosevelt had gotten his way in 1910, hippo tags would have been available to American hunters from Florida to Texas–not to mention, as the New York Times put it, “lake cow bacon.” Here’s what happened. A...

On November 5th, Colorado voters delivered a victory for science-based wildlife management by rejecting Proposition 127, which sought to ban mountain lion hunting. But this wasn’t just about mountain lions; it was an attempt to politicize wildlife management and shift control from scientists to...

It’s not “weights in fish,” but it’s pretty close. A 27-year-old Arkansas man named Andrew Riels has been cited by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) for poaching a buck and then entering it into a big buck contest. Louisiana officials first got a tip from the Arkansas Game...

Colorado voters have rejected by a wide margin a ballot measure that would have banned mountain lion hunting in the state. Only 72% of the vote has been reported as of Wednesday morning, but the current 11-point spread is wide enough that the New York Times and local media have declared victory for...

An elk hunter is lucky to be alive today after he was forced to use his own hunting rifle to defend himself from an adult grizzly in a remote portion of eastern Idaho. Dylyn Carter, 27, told MeatEater that he didn't doubt the bear's intentions when it appeared in front of him just a few yards away...

A Washington State man will spend nearly four years in federal lockup and be forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and restitution for hunting bald and golden eagles and selling their feathers on the black market. Travis John Branson, 49, of Cusick, Washington, pleaded guilty in...

Halloween is bat season. And tequila season. And the two are connected. Whether you take it straight up, in a margarita, or, like Danielle Prewett, use it to flavor your turkey tacos, if you enjoy tequila, you are in debt to a bat. Hunters and anglers understand that the earth is the source of all...

In less than a week, Colorado residents–nearly all of whom have no wildlife management training–will head to the ballot box to determine whether or not the trusted professionals of Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) may continue to use hunting as a method to manage mountain lion and bobcat...

Three juveniles and one adult have been charged in what law enforcement is calling a “senseless” and “indiscriminate” poaching spree that took place over the course of a year and resulted in over 100 deer being shot and killed. In addition to the reckless killing, the suspects are also being charged...