Higher Calling Wildlife

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Email Chester at chester@chestermoore.com.

Dark Outdoors

Win For Subscribing To Dark Outdoors!

January 13, 2025 Chester Moore Leave a comment

The great outdoors has its light and dark sides, and here at Dark Outdoors, we’re committed to exploring both. Our mission is to uncover the untold stories, raise awareness about critical issues, and shine a light on the topics that many in the outdoor community shy away from. But to keep doing this vital work, we need your help.

Why Subscriptions Matter

Dark Outdoors is an independent media project. That means no big corporate backing, no glossy sponsorships dictating our content—just raw, real stories from the wilderness. Every blog post, podcast episode, and investigation is powered by passion and the support of our community. Subscriptions aren’t just about sustaining our work; they’re about making sure we can:

Dive Deep into Untold Stories: From environmental issues to outdoor safety, we cover topics that often go unnoticed.
Raise Awareness: With your support, we can amplify the voices and issues that need attention in the outdoor world like the growing and developing true crime, animal attacks and strange encounters in the great outdoors.
Support Our Families: As an independent creator, this isn’t just a passion—it’s our livelihood. Your subscription helps keep the lights on and ensures we can continue to bring you meaningful content.

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Get a Dark Outdoors Decal: Subscribe to Dark Outdoors and send us an email with your address. As a thank-you, we’ll mail you a Dark Outdoors decal. It’s a small token of appreciation and a way for you to proudly show your support.

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Joining our community is simple. We’ve provided a subscription link right here. Just click, sign up, and you’re in. Once you’ve subscribed, email us with your address, and we’ll get your decal on its way.

Why Your Support Matters Now More Than Ever

The world of independent media is more challenging than ever, but it’s also more important. We’re dedicated to bringing you stories that matter, whether it’s exposing environmental threats, sharing survival tips, or discussing the challenges people face in the wild. Your subscription ensures that these stories keep coming.

So if you believe in the power of storytelling, if you care about the outdoors, and if you want to support independent media that’s making a difference, we invite you to subscribe to Dark Outdoors today.

Thank you for being a part of our journey. Together, we can make sure these stories are told and that the important issues in the outdoor world don’t go unnoticed.

Stay wild,

Chester Moore

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Recently a police officer in Longview in East Texas road-killed a cougar. You can read that story here.

Email Chester at chester@chestermoore.com.

Cougars, Uncategorized

Photographic Proof Mountain Lions – Cougars – Roam East Texas

January 9, 2025 Chester Moore 8 Comments

The existence of mountain lions (cougars) in East Texas has been a controversial topic over the last 50 years.

Wildlife officials have balked at their existence and at one point their distribution was officially designated as living only West of Interstate 35 with breeding populations only in the Trans Pecos (far West Texas) and the South Texas Brush Country.

The fact is cougars are native in East Texas and have never been eliminated completely.

They are indigenous to the entire Lower 48, much of Canada and extend their range into the southern tip of South America.

When wildlife was wiped out in the late 1800s and early 1900s cougars like everything else declined. But as science-based wildlife management took root whitetail populations rose from 500,000 continent-wide to 25 million.

Cougar populations rose too.

It is my opinion through much research and many interviews they never left East Texas but they did decline and their seems to be ample of evidence more are showing up in the region.

In 2010-11 I reached out to many hunters, hunting clubs and wildlife enthusiasts and was given three different photos of cougars taken in that span in Newton and Jasper Counties. These photos were never circulated on the Internet. These were firsthand accounts. I thought I had lost these but was recently able to recover an old computer and found them.

These two photo were taken near Newton, the seat of Newton County on the Louisiana border. They were taken a few miles apart a fairly short time apart and me and the taker of the second photo believe it’s the same cat.

This next photo is a much larger cat-a mature male (no doubt) and this was taken on a hunting club in Jasper County. This is not the same animal and was taken the previous year.

These are not grainy shots with a motion blur showing a bobcat with the tail obscured. These are actual mountain lions and none of them showed up on the Internet before I published them in a series I was doing at the time in the Port Arthur News.

I get photos of cats sent to me multiple times a week for identification. Some think they’ve seen a black panther while others are wondering if they got a cougar.

The vast majority of the “cougar” photos are bobcats. People have a hard time judging scale and recognizing bobcats actually do have tails and some of them are pretty long.

Some of these “cougars” are actually feral house cats.

And I don’t fault anyone for misidentification. Not everyone is a wildlife expert.

But there are cougars out there west of Interstate 35 in Texas and there are legitimate photos and videos nows from Louisiana, Arkanas and other states.

There certainly isn’t a dense population like those that exist in Colorado or even the Trans Pecos of Texas but there are cougars out there. They have a big range and I believe they are reestablishing themselves in areas where many have thought them extinct for decades.

They are in East Texas.

How many? No one knows but their existence is unquestionable.

A big part of my journey as a wildlife journalist was encountering one while rabbit hunting in Orange County in seventh grade. You can read about that encounter here and the unique confirmation of my sighting.

If you have photos or videos of cougars -mountain lions -or of any mysterious cat email me at chester@chestermoore.com. I would love to see the photos and can maybe share some insights with you.

Cougars are amazing animals and their ability to remain elusive is what makes them so special. I’m grateful we have trail cameras now to even the odds a bit and give us a look at their lives in the wild areas-even of East Texas.

Chester Moore

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Email Chester at chester@chestermoore.com.

Cougars

Exploring Black Panther Insights with Chester Moore

January 6, 2025 Chester Moore 4 Comments

Our readers love the black panther topic, so when Paul Fuzinski of Aptitude Outdoors asked to interview me about the topic I was glad share my thoughts.

What is the source of these black panther reports?

Here’s the conversation.

Dark Outdoors®

One way you can really help support my independent media work is to subscribe to my Dark Outdoors® podcast. It covers everything from animal attacks to true crime in the outdoors and strange encounters. There’s no show quite like it.

Dive Deep into Untold Stories: From environmental issues to outdoor safety, we cover topics that often go unnoticed.
Raise Awareness: With your support, we can amplify the voices and issues that need attention in the outdoor world like the growing and developing true crime, animal attacks and strange encounters in the great outdoors.
Support Our Families: As an independent creator, this isn’t just a passion—it’s our livelihood. Your subscription helps keep the lights on and ensures we can continue to bring you meaningful content.

Follow Chester Moore and Higher Calling Wildlife® on the following social media platforms

Subscribe to this blog to keep up with wildlife mysteries like this.

To support the efforts of Higher Calling Wildlife® click here.

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To support the efforts of Higher Calling Wildlife® click here.

Email Chester at chester@chestermoore.com.

Mysterious Wildlife

Feral Primates In America!

January 1, 2025 Chester Moore Leave a comment

In a new ideo, we dive into a fascinating theory: could feral primates in America—such as escaped or thriving populations of orangutans, chimpanzees, or other apes—be behind some Skunk Ape and Bigfoot sightings?

Watch our mini documentary on feral primates in America.

We present:

*Verified photos of feral primates thriving in the wild.

*A mysterious roadkill photo from Louisiana that raises more questions than answers.

*Eyewitness reports of baboon-like creatures spotted in Texas and Louisiana.

This video explores the possibility that some Skunk Ape and Bigfoot-like reports could stem from encounters with escaped or feral apes.

Could these sightings explain some of the more ape-like descriptions of these elusive creatures? Watch and decide for yourself!

Verified photos of feral primates thriving in the wild. A mysterious roadkill photo from Louisiana that raises more questions than answers. Eyewitness reports of baboon-like creatures spotted in Texas and Louisiana.

While we don’t think feral apes are the answer to Bigfoot, this video explores the possibility that some Skunk Ape and Bigfoot-like reports could stem from encounters with escaped or feral apes.

Could these sightings explain some of the more ape-like descriptions of these elusive creatures? Watch and decide for yourself! 💬 What do you think? Are feral primates a plausible explanation for some Bigfoot or Skunk Ape reports? Let us know in the comments!

Chester Moore

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You can support future work like this with children across the nation by making a tax-deductible donation at this link here.

Email Chester at chester@chestermoore.com.

Higher Calling Wildlife

White Buffalo Inspires Epic Yellowstone Expedition

December 30, 2024 Chester Moore Leave a comment

In the latest episode of Higher Calling Wildlife®, we embark on a life-changing journey into the heart of Yellowstone National Park inspired by a white buffalo.

Burned out and seeking renewal, I revisited the lessons of resilience and hope found in nature—lessons that bison, elk, and pronghorn embody so profoundly. Joined by kids from the Yellowstone area, we explored the Lamar Valley, photographed incredible wildlife, and shared stories of survival and recovery.

Watch our latest documentary “Finding Hope In Yellowstone” via the player below.

From witnessing bison during their mating season to spotting pronghorn and elusive grizzlies, the trip became a powerful reminder of nature’s ability to inspire, heal, and transform lives.

This episode highlights:

*The conservation success story of Yellowstone bison *The beauty of pronghorn, elk, and grizzly bears

*Mentorship through photography and wildlife conservation *A deeper connection with nature and God’s creation

*Through unforgettable wildlife encounters and the lens of young photographers, this adventure captures the power of hope and purpose in Yellowstone.

Join us as we celebrate the spirit of resilience—both in nature and in ourselves.

Chester Moore

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Email Chester at chester@chestermoore.com.

Dark Outdoors, Uncategorized

Huge Drones Seen Coming Off Water -Major Drone Mapping Project Announced

December 27, 2024 Chester Moore Leave a comment

Dark Outdoors® gives an exclusive, detailed report of a huge drone seen at Sabine Lake on the Texas-Louisiana border as well as a large drone in the interior of Louisiana, plus more reports from the region.

We also talk with Scott Tompkins who has created www.dronetracker.app a mapping system to log drone sightings and to help get to the bottom of what’s going on.

Click here to get links to the show on Iheartradio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify & more.

Have you seen a strange drone? If so, you can share with us and choose to remain anonymous. Email chester@chestermoore.com.

So Why Report On These Drones?

*It’s obvious something strange is going on and the government is not being honest.

*People are seeing these on the water and while hunting, hiking and camping-that’s our domain.

*I have been putting together reports that go back several years of people being followed and even harassed by strange drones in the great outdoors.

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We cover true crime, animal attacks and strange encounters in the great outdoors and are set to make a big announcement on the show.

You can subscribe by clicking the link below that has links to the program on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, IHeartradio & more. This helps me do what I believe is important work.

Thank you for supporting me all these years! Much, much more to come in 2024.

Subscribe to Dark Outdoors® here.

Chester Moore

Download and subscribe on all major podasting platforms such is IHeartradio, Spotify & Apple Podcasts. Link to the podcast on all of these platforms below.

To support the efforts of Higher Calling Wildlife® click here.

Follow Chester Moore and Higher Calling Wildlife® on the following social media platforms

Subscribe to the Dark Outdoors and Higher Calling Wildlife podcasts on all major podcasting platforms.

Email Chester at chester@chestermoore.com.

Jan. 2025 Update: Photographic proof of cougars in East Texas. Click here to see.

Cougars

Cougars In East Texas – Mountain Lion Road Killed

December 16, 2024 Chester Moore 1 Comment

In an official statement from the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD, they noted that in the early morning hours on Tuesday, Dec. 10, a mountain lion was struck by a Longview Police Department (LPD) patrol vehicle.

The police department contacted the Gregg County Game Warden and coordinated the retrieval of the deceased lion.

TPWD noted their staff took possession of the deceased lion to collect DNA and other biological samples. The lion was estimated to be a 3-4-year-old female weighing 83.5 pounds.

Several of the samples will be sent to the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute as part of an ongoing research project and some were retained by TPWD staff as part of our effort to learn more about mountain lions in Texas.

In Texas, mountain lions are primarily found in the Trans-Pecos and parts of South Texas, however individual lions can move long distances and can show up in areas where they are not typically known to occur.

That’s the end of the TPWD statement. Here’s where I want to share my thoughts.

*East Texas has had cougars for years. I do not believe the population is high, but I have seen one myself at close range. And I have received two first-person photos from game cameras of cougars in Jasper and Newton Counties. East Texas is part of their natural range as is the rest of the Lower 48, much of Canada and all the way down to Argentina. But like everything else, they were knocked way back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. As deer and hog populations have exploded, cougars have turned up not only here but in Louisiana and other states.

*We will see more of this and in fact this is the second TPWD-confirmed cougar in the region in the last few years. The prevalence of game cameras will reveal more. Again, there aren’t a lot but cougars are here and as they noted they can move long distances.

*People have been afraid to come forward with reports to TPWD because of fear of being called crazy. They are asking for reports now, so if you have a game cam photo, etc., now would be a good time to reach out to them as they are obviously open to hearing reports. East Texas residents are asked to please report any additional mountain lion sightings to TPWD Nongame Wildlife Biologist Dave Holdermann, dave.holdermann@tpwd.texas.gov.

Drones!

Check out this special Dark Outdoors® episode on strange drone encounters in the outdoors including hunters being harassed by drones.

We talk about implications of what is happening on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts.

Download and subscribe on all major podasting platforms such is IHeartradio, Spotify & Apple Podcasts. Link to the podcast on all of these platforms below.

To support the efforts of Higher Calling Wildlife® click here.

Follow Chester Moore and Higher Calling Wildlife® on the following social media platforms

Email Chester at chester@chestermoore.com.

Subscribe to the Dark Outdoors and Higher Calling Wildlife podcasts on all major podcasting platforms.

Dark Outdoors

Mysterious Drone Sightings In the Great Outdoors -Drones Following People In the Woods!

December 14, 2024 Chester Moore 1 Comment

Check out this special Dark Outdoors® episode on encounters with strange drones in the outdoors including hunters being harassed by drones.

We talk about implications of what is happening on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts.

Download and subscribe on all major podasting platforms such is IHeartradio, Spotify & Apple Podcasts. Link to the podcast on all of these platforms below.

To support the efforts of Higher Calling Wildlife® click here.

Follow Chester Moore and Higher Calling Wildlife® on the following social media platforms

Get link to listen to the program on Apple Podcasts, Spotify & IHeartradio by clicking here.

Email Chester at chester@chestermoore.com.

Subscribe to the Dark Outdoors and Higher Calling Wildlife podcasts on all major podcasting platforms.

Uncategorized

Grizzly Attack Survivor Speaks For The First Time!

October 22, 2024 Chester Moore Leave a comment

Ben Verheul, a hunter from Wyoming, experienced two harrowing encounters with grizzly bears during an elk hunting trip that pushed his survival instincts to the limit.

In an interview with Chester Moore on Dark Outdoors, Verheul recounted how the first incident occurred during the day when he was scouting the area.

You can also listen to the player below.

He came face-to-face with a grizzly, narrowly escaping a direct confrontation. As if that wasn’t enough, a second, even more intense encounter unfolded later that night. While walking back to camp in the darkness, Verheul was suddenly attacked by another grizzly, leaving him in a desperate fight for his life.

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