The Outdoor Pressroom

Deer vs. 737: 'That'll leave a mark'

Aero-News.Net reports today that a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 landing at Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI) on Tuesday struck a deer on the runway with its Number 2 engine and subsequently taxied to the gate without incident. In pilot lingo it was suggested, "That will leave a mark."

Doh! Hunting turkeys over bait while smoking pot

While checking an illegal baiting site on opening day of turkey season, West Virginia Conservation Officers not only found two men hunting over the bait, but detected a strong odor of marijuana coming from their blind. A subsequent search of one of the men's home turned up the beards of two illegally killed jakes and 18 marijuana plants. WVDNR.

Winchester ammo posts record quarter earnings

A nationwide run on ammunition is being credited for record level quarterly earnings posted by the Winchester Division of Olin Corp. Winchester first-quarter 2009 sales were $132.9 million, compared to $110.8 million in the first quarter of 2008. In the Alton Telegraph.

TPWD: No threat of swine flu from feral hogs

In a press release issued today, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department reminds hunters and trappers there is no indication of a human-animal disease relationship with swine flu and feral hogs indigenous to Texas.

S. Florida symposium: how to whack an iguana

A symposium at the Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Service building yesterday focused on how to harass and euthanize nuisance iguanas. "Whack them in the head, stun them and then decapitate them," said Bill Kern Jr., University of Florida professor of entomology and nematology. "Whack them in the head more than once and it's animal cruelty." More at my Slugs & Plugs blog.

Ruger reports first quarter earnings, declares dividends

After the closing bell today, Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. reported net sales of $63.5 million and earnings per share of $0.30 for the first quarter of 2009, compared with sales of $42.5 million and earnings per share of $.07 in the first quarter of 2008. Yahoo Business Wire.

Kayaker's 180-foot waterfall plunge a record

22-year-old Montana kayaker Tyler Bradt successfully paddled his craft over the 180-plus-foot Palouse Falls in Eastern Washington state last Tuesday, claiming an unofficial world record and surpassing his previous best, the 107-foot Alexandra Falls on the Hay River in Canada's Northwest Territories in 2007. In the Tri-City Herald.

Ag commish: Calif. needs more mountain lion control

The trailcam photo showing four mountain lions drinking from a San Benito County ranch's water tank combined with an overall increase in lion sightings has California Agriculture Commissioner Paul Matulich convinced that the state needs to relax hunting restrictions and implement a predator management program. "Years ago, you never would see a lion," he said. "Now you see them all the time." In the Hollister Free Lance.

Burglar bear busted in basement

A rural Eau Claire County, Wisc. man arrived home early Monday morning to discover food and furnishings strewn around his residence and a yearling black bear in the basement. Jim Hoover: "I got a bear in my basement." 911 Dispatcher: "A what?" Hoover: "Yeah, you heard me." Dispatcher: "No I didn't. A girl or a bear?" Hoover: "No, a bear." Dispatcher: "A bear?" Hoover: "Yeah." WEAU-TV reports.

Study: discarded soft plastic lures harm trout, salmon

A recent study conducted at Maine's Unity College suggests that soft plastic lures generally used for bass fishing can prove harmful when ingested by a trout or salmon, remaining in the stomach for the life of the fish. The experiment found 65 percent of brook trout voluntarily consumed soft plastic lures when they were dropped into water. In the Republican Journal.

Live grenade brought to NYC gun buyback

The sponsors of a gun buyback program in the Bronx, in another pointless and wasteful exercise in political correctness, were aghast this weekend when a man produced a live improvised hand grenade, expecting to receive 200 bucks for his noble effort. Instead the NYPD bomb squad was summoned and the man was being questioned. The NY Daily News.

Excuse me, do you serve deer here?

On an unusually warm spring day last week, a whitetail deer visited a bar and liquor store in Sebeka, Minn., wandering through the open back door of the establishment, past the seated patrons and bartender, and out the front door, without placing an order. The bar's security camera captured the deer's walkabout. More at my Slugs & Plugs blog.

Squirrel attacks woman on U of Michigan campus

A visiting teacher touring the University of Michigan campus was chased down and attacked by an irate mother squirrel after she approached one of the animal's young. The woman was treated for scratches and bites to her leg. Ann Arbor News.

.22 round + hammer = stupid

A Pleasant Lake, Ind. man who discovered a .22 cartridge while cleaning the trash from around his mobile home said he decided to dispose of the live round by placing it on a rock and hitting it with a hammer. "I smacked the bullet and fell down and blood came pouring out," said George Fath. "I was hitting it to smash it. I didn't expect it to go bang." WANE reports.

Lack of ammo prompts cancellation of shooting event

The annual Raahauge's Shooting Sports Fair, a hands-on shooting event in Corona, Calif. at which attendees can handle and fire multiple types of handguns and rifles, will not be held as usual this June because of a shortage of certain types of ammunition. Jim Matthews in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and my Slugs & Plugs blog.