Kellie Renfro and her husband didn’t have a lot of time to fish last Thursday when they took a quick trip out to Lake Nacogdoches. They had to make it to their kids’ baseball practice in a few hours. But as it turns out, they didn’t need very long. Renfro was able to put a 13.27-pound largemouth in the boat, making her the first woman in almost four years to catch a Legacy Class ShareLunker in Texas, KLTV-7 reports.

Renfro told the local news that shortly after making the “last minute” decision, they were on their boat fishing a lake point and her husband caught a 2-pound fish. He then told her to cast from the front of the boat, and when she did, something grabbed her bait right away.

Renfro was using a spinning rod rigged with a V&M Baby Swamp Hawg soft-plastic lure. She said at first, the bite felt like a snag.

“I turned to my husband and said, ‘Well, I’ve hooked a stump,’” Renfro told KLTV-7. “Seconds later, that’s when she started pulling drag, and that’s when I realized I had just hooked into the largest fish I have ever felt.”

Renfro said the fish pulled some serious drag, jumped twice, and took her all the way around the boat before her husband grabbed the net and “made the perfect scoop to get her in the boat.”

After realizing just how big the bass was, the two headed for the dock and contacted the ShareLunker program. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department sent someone out from the Freshwater Fish Hatchery in Athens to weigh the bass and collect data, and they used an official scale to confirm the bass’ weight: 13.27 pounds. The heavy female was 26 inches long, with a 23.5-inch girth. Aside from being Renfro’s personal-best largemouth, the 13.27-pounder was also the first ShareLunker of the season from Lake Nacogdoches.

TPWD confirmed that Renfro is the first woman to catch a Legacy Class ShareLunker (13-plus-pounder) in almost four years. The last Legacy Class entry made by a woman in the state came from Stacy Spriggs of Huntsville, TX, who caught a 13.06 bass during a tournament on Sam Rayburn Reservoir on March 31, 2018.

TPWD also explained that the big, egg-laden female was released into Lake Nacogdoches soon after she was weighed and measured. Typically, the fish would have been taken to the hatchery in Athens, but a spokesperson with the agency said that with all the 14- to 16-pound fish they’ve taken in this year, the “Lunker Bunker” is starting to reach capacity, and they’ve had to be more selective than usual.

Read Next: Two 14-Pound Bass Kick off the 2022 ShareLunker Season in Texas

TPWD’s Toyota ShareLunker program runs year-round. The program allows anglers who catch bass over 8 pounds to loan these fish to TWPD, where they are added to the state’s selective breeding and stocking program that aims to enhance largemouth bass genetics in Texas lakes. To qualify for the Legacy Class, anglers have to catch a bass over 13 pounds and loan it to TPWD during the spawning period, which runs from January through March.

The post East Texas Woman Lands 13-Pound Lunker Bass on a Last-Minute Trip to Lake Nacogdoches appeared first on Outdoor Life.

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It’s been more than two years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which threw global supply chains out of whack and kicked off a firearms and ammunition buying surge. The firearm industry had a record-setting year in 2020, which saw 8.4 million new gun owners and an estimated 21 million background checks conducted specifically for firearms sales, according to the National Shooting Sports Federation. All those new gun owners needed ammunition, and ammo became scarce on store shelves—many types of ammunition remain scarce.

The years-long ammunition shortage changed the way many hunters and shooters purchase ammunition, with more and more purchases moving online. This shift has opened a window of opportunity for ammo scammers, who operate by setting up fake websites that offer hard-to-get, name-brand ammunition at rock-bottom prices. These scam sites lure in unsuspecting consumers, take their money, and then never deliver the goods.

There are dozens of these websites out there, and while legitimate online retailers are working to keep the scam sites off the web, industry insiders say they aren’t going away anytime soon. Here’s what you need to know so you don’t get ripped off on your next online ammo purchase. 

Like Playing Whack-A-Mole

Outdoor Life spoke with a representative from an industry-leading ammo manufacturer who says that ever since the nationwide ammo surge began in 2020, scam websites have been popping up on a regular basis.     

“It’s really been over the past couple years … and they’re getting more sophisticated,” said the representative, who asked not to be identified since he wasn’t cleared to speak on the subject.

Here are four examples of scam websites that were still live within the last few days: federalammunitions.com, shopremingtonammo.com, remingtonammos.com, and winchesterammosales.com.

These sites should not be confused with legitimate websites of federalpremium.com, remington.com, or winchester.com, which are the manufacturers’ actual websites that sell ammo directly to consumers.

The scam site developers do their best to use URLs that are close to the legitimate URL of name brand ammunition. They also use similar branding and imagery (which they steal from the web) to confuse would-be ammo purchasers who are unable to find the ammunition they need from their normal, trusted suppliers.

These four examples are also just the tip of the iceberg. It would be impossible to round up all the scam ammo sites out there, but a quick visit to a couple hunting and shooting forums reveals plenty more. 

The ammo manufacturer representative we spoke to said they’ve been able to get many of these scam sites taken down by contacting web hosting companies like GoDaddy or Bluehost, which act as “internet gatekeepers.” And since the scammers are often stealing legitimate logos and product photographs from the manufacturers to make their websites look authentic, it’s been easy for legal teams to attack these scammers from all angles. But it’s impossible to track and eliminate them entirely.

“It’s like playing whack-a-mole,” he says.

Sometimes web hosting companies can track scam websites back to specific IP addresses, and this often leads them to specific bad actors who are running the same scheme over and over again.

Read Next: Where’s All the Damn Ammo? Federal Premium’s President Has Some Answers

Outdoor Life reached out to both GoDaddy and Bluehost to try to learn more about who these scam website developers are. Neither responded to requests for comment, but a little digging reveals that the scammers are almost certainly operating from overseas.

Looking at the contact page for remingtonammos.com, the scam website features a non-functioning map with an unknown location in Oslo, Norway. As for shopremingtonammo.com, the contact page lists their address as 3047 Beech Street in San Francisco, California. However, there is no Beech Street in San Francisco.

Neither winchesterammosales.com nor federalammunitions.com list an address on their sites, but a closer look at the text on these websites reveals plenty of grammatical errors and awkward sentences. Here’s an example of a paragraph found on the bogus Federal site:

The robust shotshell portfolio including the innovative, high payload weight, Black Cloud line continues upon the traditional Federal motions at play. With regards to this in the hunting and conservation spectrum, Federal figures that a more effective, better performing ammunition leads to a better conservation effort by individuals and contributes to better national habits in maintaining a comfortable wildlife population for future hunters to enjoy.

So, while it might be impossible to stop ammo scammers from finding their way onto the internet, it’s easy enough to spot and avoid these scam sites when you know what to look for.

How to Spot an Ammo Scam Website

The first red flag is when the website doesn’t offer a legitimate way of taking payment. None of the scam sites mentioned above will accept credit cards. Some require payment only in cryptocurrency, while others will let you “check out” using a third-party service like Zelle or CashApp.

The whole point is for the scammers to make it difficult to impossible for you to get your money back.

Which brings up another red flag. These scam sites, unlike legitimate ammo dealers, will say that they allow you ship your order to all 50 states. But there are at least six states that currently have laws restricting online ammo purchases. California and New York require point-of-sale background checks on all ammo purchases, while Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New Jersey require residents to show proof of their license or permit to buy ammo online.

Other major red flags include:

• Obvious typos or misspelling in the URL or body copy of the website
• Odd looking logos or font that does not match the real brand
• Outdated product photos and improperly formatted images
• Broken links

But perhaps the biggest red flag is when a scam website’s offerings are simply too good to be true.

“Your first hint should be that everything is in stock,” the ammo manufacturer rep says. “They also let you buy as much as you want, and it’s really cheap.”

Any major and legitimate ammo retail website is dealing with supply issues right now. Some ammo SKUs will be available, others won’t. So, if a site states that every single product is available, then you’re likely on a bogus page.

Use Legitimate Websites for Ammo Purchases

Make sure to review our guide on how to buy ammo online without getting ripped off, and use trusted online retailers, which there are many of:

• Remington.com
• FederalPremium.com
• Winchester.com
• Cabelas.com
• Guns.com
• Gunbroker.com
• Academy.com
• Brownells.com
• Palmettostatearmory.com

It will likely take some searching between these sites to find exactly what you’re looking for. But the search will be worth it, because when you do finally purchase the load you’ve been hunting for, it will actually arrive.

The post Ammo Buyer Beware: Don’t Fall for These Scam Websites That Claim to Sell Ammunition appeared first on Outdoor Life.

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After spending three months adrift on the Pacific Ocean, Australian sailor Timothy Shaddock was rescued by a group of Mexican tuna fisherman on July 12, the Associated Press reports. Stepping on dry land for the first time since April, Shaddock recounted on July 18 how he and his “amazing” dog Bella survived the ordeal by eating raw fish and drinking rainwater.

“I’m feeling all right. I’m feeling a lot better than I was,” Shaddock told reporters during a welcome ceremony in Manzanillo on Tuesday. “To the captain and fishing company that saved my life, I’m just so grateful.”

The 54-year-old sailor added that there were times when he didn’t think he’d survive. But thanks to his perseverance and ingenuity, he’ll be returning to Australia soon to reunite with his family.

“There were many, many, many bad days and many good days,” Shaddock said of his time adrift at sea.

The First Bad Day

Shaddock set sail in April from the Mexican city of La Paz, which is located in Baja on the Sea of Cortez. He was joined on his small catamaran, named the Aloha Toa, by Bella, a stray dog that he’d picked up during his travels in Mexico.

“She’s the spirit of the middle of the country and she wouldn’t let me go,” he said of his newfound companion. “I tried to find a home for her three times, and she just kept following me onto the water. She’s a lot braver than I am, that’s for sure.”

Shaddock originally planned to sail across the Pacific to French Polynesia, but that plan fell apart just weeks into the journey. He ran into bad weather in early May after sailing out of the Sea of Cortez and into the Pacific, and his catamaran was badly damaged in a storm. Without any electronics or the ability to cook, he and Bella found themselves adrift in a crippled vessel.

Survival at Sea

Fortunately, Shaddock had some fishing gear onboard. He spent the following weeks, which soon turned into months, catching fish, eating them raw, and sharing the meat with his dog.

While it’s unknown what kind of fish he was catching, the Sea of Cortez and South Pacific are known as some of the most fertile fishing grounds on the planet. They’re home to large numbers of billfish, dolphin, bonito, tuna, and other saltwater species that can be eaten raw. (Some of these species carry parasites and there is always a risk when eating uncooked fish straight from the ocean.)

As for how they stayed hydrated, Shaddock said he collected rainwater the whole time. He didn’t explain how, but there are a few different ways he could have done this—like using a tarp or one of his sails to catch and funnel the water into a receptacle.

Read Next: 10 Primitive Survival Skills that Will Keep You Alive

Of course, physical needs are only part of the equation when trying to survive in the open ocean. And Shaddock said he was able to stay sane all those months by tinkering with his boat and taking the occasional swim, which allowed him to “just enjoy being in the water.”

Saved by Fish, Rescued by Fishermen     

Shaddock has Grupo Mar, a Manzanillo-based commercial tuna fishing fleet, to thank for his eventual rescue. A helicopter pilot that was scouting for the fleet spotted his small catamaran roughly 1,200 miles from land. The pilot then returned with the María Delia, one of Grupo Mar’s tuna boats.

The crew did what they could to help Shaddock and his dog, who were both in a “precarious” state, according to the company. They gave them food, water, and medical attention before bringing them back to port on July 18. One of the crew members also agreed to adopt Bella and promised Shaddock that he’d take good care of the dog.

Shaddock has since been cleared by doctors and local governments to return to his native country. And when an AP reporter asked him what meal he was looking forward to the most when he got home, he gave an unexpected answer.

“Tuna,” he replied. “Sushi.”

The post Sailor and His Dog Survive 3 Months at Sea by Eating Raw Fish and Drinking Rainwater appeared first on Outdoor Life.

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Encounters between brown bears and dogs don’t always end well for the domesticated canines. But some dogs are just tougher than others. A recent video from Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula shows a handful of working dogs that aren’t afraid to go toe-to-toe with a brown bear. In the video, which was shared to Instagram on July 12, the four dogs win the fight and drive the bear away.

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Kenai River fishing guide Mike Evans filmed the video at Harpestead Mountain Kennels, where his friend Jen Harpe trains German shepherds, Border collies, and other working breeds. Evans told reporters that the bear had visited the property before and was about to crash their barbecue when Harpe’s dogs stepped in.

“Intense moment from a couple weeks back,” Evans writes in the video’s description, adding that no dogs or bears were injured in the tussle.

Of the four dogs that confront the bear, one in particular stands out as the dominant fighter in the group. While the other three bark at the intruder and run circles around it, the dominant German shepherd charges the bear, barking in its face and nipping at its throat. The brown bear growls, spinning on its heels as it shakes its head defensively from side to side. The dog only gives up when Harpe calls it off, using the German command “Aus,” which translates to “off” or “let go.”

Read Next: The Best Bear Hunting Dogs

There are a couple of explanations for why the dogs won the fight so handily. For one, the dominant dog had likely been trained for encounters like this. Harpe’s Instagram page features several videos of German shepherds, Belgian Malinois, and other dogs doing personal protection drills and biting down on would-be attackers. (Harpe did not immediately respond to requests for comment and little is known about her training programs or her dogs.)

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A post shared by Harpestead Mountain Kennels (@harpesteadkennels)

The other obvious factor was the bear itself, which took a defensive stance from the get-go. The young boar looks like a two-year-old, which would help explain its curiosity around the barbecue. It’s also clearly injured and has a large chunk missing from the back of its neck. This was probably the result of a recent fight with a larger, more dominant bear.

If that was the case, then the beat-down bear wouldn’t have wanted to fight and would have been more of a pushover than most Alaska browns. In any other circumstance, the dogs might not have been so lucky.

The post Watch: Alaskan Working Dogs Fight a Brown Bear…and Win appeared first on Outdoor Life.

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Ditch pickles and bronzebacks, bucketmouths and smalljaws. Largemouth bass and smallmouth bass go by many names, and when most Americans think about bass fishing, they picture one (or both) of these well-known species. The two closely-related fish are popular with anglers because they’re eating machines that grow to large sizes and put up a great fight when hooked. The similarities don’t end there, but there are also several key differences when comparing largemouth bass vs. smallmouth.

For starters, the two bass have different physical characteristics, and it’s easy enough to tell them apart if you know what to look for. They also inhabited different regions historically, and they still prefer different water types, which means anglers should change their approach when targeting largemouth bass vs. smallmouth. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at these two bass species, their preferred habitats and behaviors, along with some bass fishing tips from the pros. 

The Bass Family

Believe it or not, smallmouth and largemouth bass are both members of the sunfish family (Centrarchidae), which makes them cousins of the mighty bluegill. The two fish are part of the black bass (Micropterus) genus, which includes 13 recognized freshwater species native to North America. These carnivorous fish were historically distributed throughout the eastern part of the continent, all the way from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic coast, and from Hudson Bay down to northeastern Mexico.

Some of these species, such as the Cahaba bass, Guadalupe bass, and Suwanee bass, still occupy a very small range in the U.S. (Guadalupe bass can only be found in the spring-fed rivers of Central Texas, for example.) Other species, like spotted bass and redeye bass, have larger home ranges and can be found in multiple states. But none are as widely distributed as largemouth and smallmouth bass.

Because of their huge popularity as a game fish, largemouths and smallmouths have been stocked extensively west of the Rockies, and smallmouth bass are now present in all but two states (Louisiana and Florida) in the Continental U.S. Largemouth bass, meanwhile, inhabit 49 states and have even been caught in Alaska.

In fact, the two bass species have become so popular in sportfishing circles that they’ve been introduced to other countries as well. (Japan in particular has a thriving bass fishing scene.) Biologists now consider these bass to be “cosmopolitan” species, which means they can be found almost anywhere in the world.

Both types of bass are highly efficient apex predators that hunt down baitfish and other prey. What do bass eat? The simple answer is: Anything that will fit in their mouths. But some of their most common prey items include minnows, crayfish, insects, and amphibians.

The two fish have slightly different hunting styles, however. Largemouth bass are classic ambush predators, which means they like to hide in heavy cover, lie in wait, and attack their prey as it passes by. Smallmouths, meanwhile, are more apt to move around and chase bait out in the open. Like most fish, both species have a lateral line, which is a sensory system that allows them to pick up on vibrations and other movements in the water. (More on this in the tips section below.)

How to Identify Largemouth Bass vs Smallmouth

The two black bass species have a similar shape and body profile, but each has a few key physical characteristics that can help with identification.

The most obvious difference between the two is—you guessed it—the size of their mouths. Largemouth bass have bigger maws, and their upper jaw extends well past the eyeball, while a smallmouth’s upper jaw falls in line with the eyeball. For most anglers, this is the easiest way to tell the two species apart.

Another way to distinguish the two is by looking at their dorsal fins. Both fish have two dorsal fins, but largemouths have a tell-tale break between the fins, while smallmouths have clearly connected dorsal fins.

Their coloration can also help with identification. Although this can change depending on the water body and from one individual to another, smallmouth bass typically have brown bodies, and largemouth bass are usually more of a green color. (Some anglers refer to smallmouth as “brown bass” and largemouth as “green bass” for this very reason.)

Where to Find Largemouth Bass and Smallmouth Bass 

Although each bass species can be found in nearly every U.S. state, there are some basic guidelines for where to find good numbers of largemouth bass vs smallmouth.

Smallmouth have historically been a northern species, while largemouth bass have been synonymous with Southern latitudes. This is still the case to an extent, but the two species have been stocked so heavily throughout North America that their ranges now overlap. Today, they inhabit many of the same water bodies (and, like many anglers, I’ve caught largemouth and smallmouth bass from the same stretch of river on the same day).

Since they prefer different water types, however, the two species don’t typically hang out together. Smallmouth bass are more tolerant of cold water and prefer water temperatures in the mid-60s to mid-70s. Largemouth bass are more at home in warmer water, preferring water temps in the upper 70s to mid 80s.

Current, water clarity, and habitat types are other considerations when searching for bass. Classic largemouth water in a river would be a murky, slow-moving bend with thick cover (think fallen trees, heavy vegetation, and boat docks). Smallmouth bass are more often found in areas with current, clear water, and structured bottoms (think rocky shoals, points, and riprap shorelines.)

How to Catch Largemouth vs Smallmouth Bass

Bass fishing can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. Both largemouth and smallmouth bass can be found in sprawling reservoirs, but it can be difficult to fish these lakes effectively without a boat. Almost all tournament anglers use specialized bass boats complete with flat decks, aerated livewells, and large, powerful outboards that allow them to move quickly and cover water efficiently.

The best bass boats for the average angler aren’t necessarily the most expensive, however, and you don’t really need one of the high-dollar glitter boats you see on TV to catch fish. An old jon boat will get the job done, as will a canoe. A growing number of anglers are also embracing kayaks for bass fishing, and thanks to advances in battery technology and boat design, the sport has exploded in recent years.

You can still catch fish if you’re boatless, too. Both bass species are often found along perimeter shorelines, and a shore-bound angler can usually find plenty of good holding spots.

Ponds, creeks, and other small waterbodies should also not be overlooked. Depending on where you live, even the smallest ponds can hold bigmouth bass. Farm ponds are probably the best places for beginners to start, and if you can get permission to fish one of these private ponds, you’re almost guaranteed to have some action.

Once you find a waterbody to fish, a basic spinning rod or baitcaster setup spooled with eight- to 20-pound test is sufficient. Just grab a handful of the best bass lures in a few different colors and sizes and start experimenting. Or, if you want to make things as easy as possible, pin some live bait on a hook under a bobber and wait.

Bass Fishing Tips from the Pros

To get a better idea of the different approaches that anglers take when targeting largemouth bass vs smallmouth, Outdoor Life caught up with two fisheries biologists in different parts of the country. One primarily chases largemouth bass in the South, while the other fishes mostly for smallmouths in the Midwest. Both scientists are also tournament bass fisherman.

Tips for Catching Largemouth Bass

Todd Driscoll is a district fisheries biologist for Texas Parks and Wildlife, and he lives and fishes in deep East Texas, which is classic largemouth country. He frequents big reservoirs like Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend, targeting areas with thick cover and heavy vegetation. Because he often fishes in and around lily pads, fallen trees, and stumps, Driscoll uses a lot of soft plastics for bass and rigs them weedless to avoid getting hung up. The key to catching largemouth bass, he says, is understanding the available forage in any given lake and keeping in mind that their lives revolve almost exclusively around food.

“I would classify largemouth bass as opportunistic feeders and extremely adaptable apex predators,” Driscoll says. “Like Rick Clunn used to say: ‘Find the bait, find the bass.’ There’s a whole lot of truth to that.”

The only exception, he notes, is when largemouth bass are spawning and aren’t as concerned with hunting for prey. But even then, you can still convince a bass to eat a lure.

“That’s the time when a lot of finesse techniques—like weightless soft plastics or wacky worms—come into play,” he explains.

Although he considers largemouth bass to be “primarily sight and sound feeders,” Driscoll often fishes in murky water where it’s hard for fish to hunt by sight alone. To get a reaction in these situations, he likes to use buzzbaits, spinnerbaits, and other lures that move a lot of water and will trigger a bass’ lateral line.

“Sometimes you can fish something that’s totally abnormal to get that ‘reflex bite’ out of bass,” Driscoll says. “Anglers can take advantage of [their] aggressive nature.”

Tips for Catching Smallmouth Bass

Meanwhile, up North around the Great Lakes is where you’ll find NOAA fisheries biologist and smallmouth bass guru Jeff Elliott. Like Driscoll, Elliott fished in bass tournaments before he became a scientist, and both perspectives have shaped his understanding of what makes bass tick.

Because the Great Lakes are deeper than the warm-water reservoirs of East Texas, Elliott often targets bass more toward the bottoms of these lakes, where smallmouth like to stack up among the rocks. The water there is also much clearer, so Elliott doesn’t worry as much about triggering a smallie’s lateral line.

“Sight feeding is a smallmouth’s biggest thing,” he says, “much more so than the lateral line.”

Instead, he focuses more on imitating the gobies, alewives, and other prey that smallmouth key in on. And because these baitfish are highly migratory, he’s constantly tracking their migrations in order to stay on the bass. (Remember: Find the bait, find the bass.)

“Smallmouth bass are very nomadic,” Elliot says. “They move a lot, and as soon as they’re done spawning, they’re ready to follow the food.”

From an angling perspective, this is one of the most important differences between largemouth bass and smallmouth bass: The largemouth is more of a homebody, while the smallmouth is more of a traveler. Elliott, who’s also caught plenty of largemouth bass, says that in his experience, smallies are much more willing to move around and actively hunt for prey.

“Smallmouth bass fishing is so much different than fishing for largemouth,” he says. “Largemouth bass just want to sit somewhere, be lazy, and use their ambush skills to get fed. Whereas a smallmouth bass is just gonna go after it.”

Largemouth Bass vs Smallmouth FAQs

Final Thoughts

Largemouth bass and smallmouth bass are two of the most popular and widely distributed game fish in the world. However, the two bass have different physical characteristics, behaviors, and habitat preferences.

Largemouth bass are more at home in murky lakes and slow-moving rivers, while smallies prefer clear-water lakes and rivers with current. Largemouths also tend to stick closer to home and let their food come to them, while smallies will move around to actively hunt for food.

Both species are extremely fun to catch and they’re easy enough to find. Neither one requires expensive gear—just a basic understanding of bass biology and a willingness to explore your local waters.

The post A Guide to Largemouth Bass vs Smallmouth Bass appeared first on Outdoor Life.

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Wolves and beavers occupy many of the same habitats in the North Woods, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the apex predators occasionally hunt and kill the large rodents. But according to researchers there, it’s rare to witness this—and even rarer to catch it on video. Which is why researchers with the Voyageurs Wolf Project were so excited to share the recent footage they captured inside Minnesota’s Voyageurs National Park.

“A super-duper, amazingly lucky trail camera capture: we finally caught a wolf hunting a beaver on video!!” they wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday. “We cannot overstate how rare such observations are.”

Researchers captured the short video clip using a trail camera, which was placed near the top of a beaver dam. This is one of many trail cams they’ve installed throughout the park, and the group regularly shares videos of gray wolves, beavers, black bears, and other native wildlife.  

Read Next: Watch: Bobcat Fights a Python, Steals Its Eggs

This recently-published clip opens with the wolf running full tilt down the dam after a beaver. Another wolf follows close behind. The beaver doesn’t seem to notice its pursuers until the last second, but that’s all the time it needs to scramble off the dam and get away. The wolf tries biting down on the beaver’s tail but misses it by mere inches.

“In this instance the beaver was able to escape into deep water in a small pond below the dam,” the researchers point out. “But if there wasn’t that pond, the beaver would have been in trouble.”

Speaking to the rarity of the footage they captured, the researchers explained that, to their knowledge, the first recording of a wolf killing a beaver took place on a Quebec logging road in 2015. The Project’s researchers teamed up with the person who filmed that encounter to write a study that was later published in the scientific journal Ecosphere.

Read Next: Watch What Happens When Two Rival Wolf Packs Meet in Yellowstone

In the years that followed, they actively sought photographs, videos, and other visual documentation of wolves hunting beavers. But besides the occasional trail camera photos that people sent in, which didn’t show much, the researchers haven’t seen any videos of a wolf hunting and killing a beaver since the 2015 incident.

“What is amazing is that wolves regularly hunt and kill beavers across a wide swath of North America, Europe and Asia and yet so few people have ever actually seen this happen,” they write. “In sum, a super common event that is rarely observed.”

The post Watch: Rare Trail Cam Footage Shows Gray Wolves Hunting a Beaver appeared first on Outdoor Life.

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Forget sharks. Surfers on the Central California coast are dealing with a different kind of marine menace this summer: an oddly aggressive sea otter. The otter has been accosting surfers near Santa Cruz, hijacking their boards, and even riding in the occasional wave—leading wildlife officials to try and capture the animal. One of these close encounters was captured on video and shared to Instagram on July 11:

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At the beginning of the video, the surfer is already in the water while the sea otter climbs onto his board and starts gnawing on it. The surfer tries rocking the longboard from side to side and flipping it upside down, but the otter is unshakable. It keeps biting chunks out of the surfboard and briefly charges the man when he gets too close. The exasperated surfer eventually gives up, swimming beside his commandeered board while the otter stays put.

“This was a very aggressive encounter and scary to watch,” reads the caption. “Please consider this video as a warning to how strong and forceful this animal is and [it] should be avoided if at all possible!”

This wasn’t a one-off occurrence, either. Several surfers and sea kayakers have dealt with the hard-charging otter in recent weeks, with three incidents taking place just last weekend, according to the New York Times. The otter’s behavior has gotten so out of hand that it is now considered a public safety risk, and local wildlife officials started trying to capture it on Thursday. Working with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, a team of trained specialists with the Monterey Bay Aquarium has so far been unsuccessful in its attempts.

“She’s been quite talented at evading us,” Monterey Bay Aquarium spokesperson Jessica Fujii told the Times earlier this week. She also explained that the otter has a history with the aquarium, which helps account for its unusually bold behavior.

Known by officials as Otter 841, the five-year-old female was born in captivity. Her mother had become habituated to humans feeding it, and after boarding multiple kayaks in search of handouts, she was captured in 2018 and taken to the Marine Wildlife Veterinary Care and Research Center in Santa Cruz, where researchers quickly learned the otter was pregnant. Her sole offspring, Otter 841, was brought to the Monterey Bay Aquarium to be rehabilitated before being released into the Pacific.

“After one year of being in the wild without issue, we started receiving reports of her interactions with surfers, kayakers, and paddle boarders,” Fujii said. “We do not know why this started. We have no evidence that she was fed. But it has persisted in the summers for the last couple of years.”

While 841’s behavior was definitely out of the ordinary—most sea otters are terrified of people—locals found it cute at first. Over time, however, the animal grew bolder. And since Southern sea otters are federally protected under the Endangered Species Act, there wasn’t much that surfers, kayakers, and other oceangoers could do to fend it off.  

“I tried to paddle away but I wasn’t able to get far before it bit off my leash,” recalled one surfer who was forced to abandon his board in the surf last weekend. (Judging from his description, this was likely the same surfer who was filmed in the above video.) “I tried to get it off by flipping the board over and pushing it away, but it was so fixated on my surfboard for whatever reason, it just kept attacking.”

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Another surfer, 16-year-old Noah Wormhoudt, described his run-in with 841 differently. He said that getting his board hijacked by the sea otter was actually a “pretty cool experience.”

“The otter was shredding,” Wormhoudt said. “Caught a couple of nice waves.”

With 841 still on the loose in the California surf, officials are reminding everyone to give the otter space for both the animal’s benefit and theirs.

“Otters have sharp teeth and jaws strong enough to crush clams,” one official said, noting that if the sea otter bites a human, the state will have no choice but to euthanize it.

The post Watch: Aggressive Sea Otter Attacks and Steals Surfboards appeared first on Outdoor Life.

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If luck were money, then Ben Kenney would be filthy rich. In late June, the YouTuber from Massachusetts went fishing in the Atlantic and made an unbelievable catch. He landed a fishing rod with a giant striped bass still hooked up to it. Fortunately, Kenney has proof of the catch since he recorded a video and shared it on Instagram.

“This is one of the craziest things that has ever happened to me!” Kenney wrote in the video’s description. “I’m still in shock at how ridiculous and lucky this catch was.”

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The episode began on or before June 27, when Kenney and some friends went fishing near Boston with Captain Vinny and Storm Buster Charters. At some point that morning, while they were targeting stripers, one of their trolling rods was yanked out of the rod holder. It disappeared into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, and Vinny wrote it off as just another lost piece of fishing tackle.

A little while later, the group was still fishing when Kenney felt a tug on the end of his line and set the hook.

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The video starts here, with Kenney doing battle with what looks like a heavy fish. But after two minutes of reeling, they only see the tip of a fishing rod breaking the surface. It turns out to be the exact same spinning rod that fell into the drink earlier, and Kenney’s crankbait is hooked solidly on the uppermost guide.

“Did I just catch your fishing rod?!” Kenney asks the captain. “There’s no way!”

Everyone on the boat starts to laugh as Vinny lifts on the recovered rod. Then he feels weight on the other end of the line.  

“I think the fish is on this one,” Vinny says, reeling in the slack and handing the rod back to Kenney. “Yeah, take this.”

The anglers can hardly contain their laughter. They cheer Kenney on as he battles the fish, working the doubled-over rod up and down.

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“This is just way [more] bizarre than I wanted anything to be,” Capt. Vinny jokes. “This might be a boat that I lost a couple years ago.”

Moments later, Vinny slips the net underneath a giant striped bass. Then he hands it off to Kenney for a photo. It might not be the biggest catch of his life, but it will likely be remembered as the luckiest.

The post Watch: Fisherman Catches Lost Rod with a Giant Striper Still on the Line appeared first on Outdoor Life.

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A Canadian man pled guilty on Wednesday to violating a federal hunting restriction in Jasper National Park, CBC News reports. The violation stems from an incident that took place in August 2022, when he brought a shotgun into the park and shot a black bear with it.

Serge Painchaud, a 42-year-old Edmonton resident, claimed in court that he didn’t know it was against the law to carry a firearm in a national park. He said he brought the shotgun along and decided to use it because he was “scared.”

Watch: Whale Nearly Swallows Two Kayakers

Justice Rosanna Saccomani soundly rejected this defense and ordered Painchaud to pay a fine of $7,500, or roughly $5,640 USD, within a year. (The prosecuting attorney pushed for heftier fines and a two-year probation on owning firearms, but the court was lenient because Painchaud cooperated and had no criminal record.)    

“[That] would apply to pretty much every single person in your situation,” Saccomani told Painchaud. “We’re all afraid of bears.”

According to court records, Painchaud and two friends set out to hike the Overlander Trail on the morning of Aug. 6. He brought a Mossberg Model 510 20 gauge, which he carried loaded and openly on the trail.

At some point, after crossing paths with several other hikers, Painchaud decided to turn around and hike back alone while his friends continued on. Around 12:15 p.m., he came across a black bear that was roughly 100 feet away on the far side of a creek.

Painchaud then “became scared” and fired a warning shot in the bear’s direction. The bear shuddered and took a few steps forward, at which point Painchaud fired a second shot, striking the bear. The black bear rolled down a bank and ran off into the woods.

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One of Painchaud’s friends heard the two shots and called park wardens, who came to investigate. They discovered two empty shotgun shells along with traces of blood at the scene, but the bear was never found.

“Injured bears can be very aggressive when encountered in close quarters, so any further searches must be approached with extreme caution,” Parks Canada said at the time, pointing out that a wounded black bear is even scarier than a healthy one.

The post Canadian Hiker Brings Shotgun to National Park, Shoots Black Bear Because He Was “Scared” appeared first on Outdoor Life.

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Officials with the Houston County Sheriff’s Office in southeast Alabama are warning hunters about a scam letter that recently popped up on Facebook. The counterfeit letter, which claimed to be from the governor’s office, stated that cellular trail cams would be banned throughout the state beginning this deer season. It explained that the Alabama legislature made the decision out of a growing concern for public safety, and it listed the penalties for the first, second, and third violations of the new rule. The letter even included a fake signature from Gov. Kay Ivey.

“This letter is FALSE and has no truth to it,” HCSO officials wrote in a Facebook post earlier this week.

The prankster went to a lot of trouble to create what might look like an official letter to a casual reader, but there are several red flags—including the scammer’s poor grammar. The very first sentence contains a basic spelling error. (The second word in this sentence should be “effect,” not “affect.”) Apart from poor grammar throughout, the language in the letter is often difficult to follow and nonsensical, although that alone doesn’t rule it out as a government document.

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We could go on, but this would be an even bigger waste of time than mocking up a fancy letter only to riddle it with elementary errors. Fortunately, the folks at the local sheriff’s office noticed these mistakes on their own, although it’s unclear where the letter, dated May 8, was originally posted.

Fake News Abounds on Social Media

The Alabama scam letter is a reminder that misinformation runs rampant on social media. It’s also not the first “fake news” post that has targeted deer hunters in the South as of late. Last month, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources had to debunk a Facebook post that claimed the agency was offering hunters cash rewards for killing collared deer.

“Be cautious of what you see on social media,” the agency warned.  

And in April, a satirical Facebook page named “Arkansas Game Fish” posted a fake arrest report about a 43-year-old woman who was giving whitetails meth and training them to attack hunters.

“At the time of the arrest Watkins was in possession of several grams of meth, four deer and many stolen broken electronics,” the satirical post reads. “Attention was drawn to Watkins when she began giving meth to the young deer and they were caught rummaging through people’s garages and back porches.”

Outlandish? No doubt. But at least the grammar is sound. Well, mostly.

The post A Scammer Forged a Letter from Alabama’s Governor That Banned Cellular Trail Cameras appeared first on Outdoor Life.

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