Idaho Deer Hunter Magazine Spring-Summer 2013, Issue

2

Idaho Deer Alliance Table of Contents:President: Pg. 4 From the Rack Room, George Nelson George Nelson Pg. 5 Early Rifle Success!, SarahVitleyBanquet Coordinator: Anita Nelson / John Francesconi Pg. 7 Short Solo Adventure, Dale GarrardSportsman's Show Coordinator: Pg. 11 Tagged Out!, Brian Bower Cliff Ross Pg. 13 Idaho Sportsman Show HighlightsMedia & Publication: Travis Long / Amanda Long Pg. 15 2013 Banquet HighlightsMerchandising: Pg. 18 Banquet Sponsors & Contributors John Francesconi Pg. 19 Campfire Laughs!Board of Directors:Ike Mortensen Pg. 20 Passing on theTradition, Chris BeusSissy MoltenGary Gillespie Pg. 23 Hooked on Bears!, Michael BateaseDel GriffinMatt Doughit Pg. 24 Good Cookin’!Curtis Elton Pg. 25 2012 IDH Story Contributors,Winner! Idaho Deer Hunter Magazine Pg. 26 Outdoors to the Core,Tom ClaycombPublisher: Idaho Deer AllianceEditors:Travis Long, George Nelson, Pg. 28 In the Field & On theWall Anita Nelson Pg. 30 Wolf Management SpecialistsPrinter: Options Pg. 32 Predator Control Meridian, Idaho Pg. 34 Classified AdsContact: [email protected] Nelson - (208) 703-6870 MISSION STATEMENTTravis Long - (208) 412-0934 Idaho Deer Alliance is committed to being en- gaged in the conservation efforts and manage- www.idahodeeralliance.org ment of Idaho’s deer herds in order to preserve the future of Idaho’s wildlife resources for gen- erations to come. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Submissions: Articles, photos, and submissions represent the views of the author, not necessarily reflect the view of Idaho Deer Alliance. Suggestions and contribu- tions are welcome. All materials can be used with- out further consent or any time deemed necessary regardless of who or how the submissions came from. IDA also reserves the right to publish all materi- als for the use of IDA. 3

From the Rack Room Since our last issue we have had two major events: First was the Sportsman’s Show with theBig Horn Contest! Thank you goes out to all those that brought down their trophies. We had a greatturn out. The winners and some photos are in the issue. Then we had our Annual Banquet—That was a huge success! We had an awesome turnout asfar as attendance, and all that were in attendance, we had great feedback! A BIG THANK YOUmust go to everyone that helped not only with the setting up but also all our sponsors and donators!If it weren’t for people/businesses like you we would never be able to do what we do. With that be-ing said there is a list of those said donators/contributors in this issue as well. If you happen to beout and about, shopping, or you just happen to come about these places or just want to stop by andsay THANK YOU-please do. They need to know how much we do appreciate them and withouttheir help we could not do this. So here we are, our 4th issue, that also means we have come to the end of our 1st year of thismagazine. You have noticed, I’m sure, that we have made changes along the way. The most obviousis the paper/pages. We feel we have found the one that feels the best, looks the best and still givesus the value we were after. Most note worthy will be our ‘classified’ pages. This page will havesmall affordable ads for you to see your personal items as well as services you may supply. We arealso working on adding some new big name advertisers and a few regular new features. Last, but certainly not least, a THANK YOU to you that have stuck with us this past yearwith all our changes that have taken place. We still have a ways to go, but with your support andour hard work Idaho Deer Alliance will continue to grow into a driving force for habitat improve-ment, restoration and protection throughout our state. Always remember that Every dollar Raisedhere, Stays here!Thank you —GeorgePSTake a kid hunting—they are our future! 4

I drew an early hunt September 2012 and worked out for the best. We finally got to the top of the mountain, which seemed like an eternity, and wewas very excited to finally shoot a great buck. My ex- started up a fairly steep ridge. When we reached thecitement soon turned to disappointment when I top of the ridge we started to glass and we saw a cou-learned that the fires that where going on where wip- ple good size bucks but none of them were really whating out a good chunk of my unit and we were not able I wanted so I decided to pass them up. As the dayto head to the hills due to most of the roads being went on and as the smoke got worse it did make itclosed. I had finally drawn a hunt that I had wanted for much harder so see but I still passed up a couple morea long time and now I was afraid it was all for nothing. and at about five o'clock we spotted a pretty nice deerMy boyfriend Kane and one of our close friends Josh about 500 or 600 yards away and I knew that if I shottold me that everything would work out and that they him we would be in for a very long evening. I madeknew of a good spot that they thought we could get to the hard decision to pass him up knowing that I mayby motorcycle. I can't explain how excited I was to not have another great opportunity like this again.hear the words come out of their mouths. We madeour plans and started out one early morning in Sep- On the way down the mountain we hit a prettytember. bad spot on the trail and we felt that it would be a good idea if I get off and walk a little ways down the We got to spot where we unloaded the bikes mountain, with a gun of course, while Kane and Joshand I already had butterflies in my stomach, a lot of got the bikes to a better spot to finish the ride down.that could be because I had to double on the back of a On my way down, there was my deer along with 4motorcycle all the way up a tiny trail to the top of the other nice bucks, he was a pretty big three point buckmountain. Knowing that the trip was going to be rough and I really wanted to take him. I sat down and stead-and that one wrong move could result in bad injury or ied myself on my knee and tried to get a better look atworse I trusted who I was riding with and everything him through the scope. 5

I was getting ready to take my shot He was a 6 X 7 buck with double eye guards on thewhen my boyfriend says over the ra- right, he also had 2 pretty sweet kickers off his G3 ondio \"where are you\"? Well I probably the left and scored about 163 inches with a 28 Vi inchdon't have to tell you that all of those outside spread. I was the happiest girl in the world thatbeautiful bucks ran off and I did all I day and needless to say I am now getting a shouldercould do not to cry. So I came off that mount. What a great buck!!!mountain pretty ticked and told bothof them the news. They said every-thing was ok and that we would makeanother trip up there but by this time Iwas almost ready to give up. A couple days later after rest-ing and cooling off I was ready forround two. We went back up andmade the same scary ride up themountain. We went up the same ridgeand started to glass again. This time itonly took about an hour, maybe two,and there was the biggest buck I hadever seen out in the wild. The boyssaid we better start walking becausethis is going to take a while to get over to him. Aboutan hour later and lots of stopping and going, because ofthe Swirling wind pattern, we knew we were close. Sowe crept for what seemed like hours and there he wasnot more than 100 yards away. I propped myself upvery quickly, took a deep breath and made my shot. Hedidn't even budge, he was down and I was the happiestperson in the world. Congrats on a successful hunt Sarah! 6

This year, I spent the September bow season It was a cold, wet morning when I left home a couple hours before daylight and headed in the general directiontrying desperately to get friends and relatives into mulies. of where I wanted to hunt. I was pretty sure I could re-We had many close calls, and I even sent an arrow deer- member the directions I’d been given a few years back toward myself, but no meat hit the ground. Luckily, Idaho a promising area. Within one hour I knew I was lost;is blessed with generous of deer seasons. Hopefully, our within another 45 minutes I realized I’d come in on aregulations will never change in that regard (knock on road one un-crossable ridge north of where I reallywood). Presently, if you can shoot a bow, a rifle, and a wanted to be. When I got to the end of the road, I sawmuzzle loader, you can hunt deer from the middle of Au- the parked pickup of a Facebook acquaintance of minegust until the end of the year somewhere in the state. that I know shoots some giant deer. I didn’t want to jackKnowing this, I broke my .243 out of its vault and found with his hunt, so I decided to backtrack a mile or twosome ammunition for it. I figured it was time to see and look for a good canyon to hike up. If I did buggersome new country and try some rifle hunting for a any deer, hopefully they’d flee in his direction.change. If I did see a legal critter (bear, cougar, wolf,coyote- or even possibly a deer?), I’d be happy I had that I found a gorgeous canyon that didn’t look toogood old gun with me. nasty. It stayed that way for maybe a hundred yards, and then turned into Idaho. After I was maybe two miles from the road, I heard crunching below me in the leaves- and my binoculars revealed a doe and a yearling fawn sneaking away from my scent stream. This was late Oc- tober, so I figured it was close enough to the start of the rut that I might find something with antlers lurking with 7

antlers lurking with them- but no dice. This was a recur- He turned his head away to look at something just as Iring theme for the next couple of miles. I probably saw squeezed the shot off, and I watched him take an impactanother half-dozen does, but no boys accompanied them. through my scope. I’d expected him to bound off a bit,I was pooped, at least four miles from my truck, and it but before I could jack another shell into the chamber, hewas starting to snow. I sat down and had a couple Power crumpled over backwards, and I stood there with my jawBars and a bottle of water, and decided to just go up to on the ground. It had all happened so fast.the next rise to where a small stand of Christmas treeswere nestled into a rare flat spot in the canyon. I made a mental note of the shrubberies he‘d tum- bled into- a big dead log would be pointing straight to When I stumbled in and snapped the first twig in him- and shinnied across the gorge to him. Even thoughthere- you guessed it- I heard the telltale crashing of sev- it was only a 90 yard shot, it took me some time to climberal deer bounding away. Darn it! Why hadn’t I slowed down and back up on his side of the little canyon. Whendown and done it right? A little patience would have I got to him, I couldn’t believe it- I knew he had decentserved me well. Oh well- I crept along in the direction Ithought I’d heard most of them go and when I reached aclearing in the trees I saw the rear end of a doe disappear-ing into a canyon and then hopping over to the nextridge. It looked like the canyon the deer disappeared intowould lead me back downhill to the road, so I figured,“What the heck, it’s just adding on another mile.” I eased into the chute where the doe had disap-peared and took a careful look. Across a gully about 90yards, there was a deer standing in the open looking awayfrom me. I rubbed my eyes and fished out my binocularsbecause this doe looked funny to me. It had an awfullybig body and had something sticking out of its head… Iabout lost it when I figured it out. “What? Antlers? …SHOWTIME! “ There was no way to get down on the ground toshoot, and no friendly limb around to use as a rest- I’dhave to shoot offhand. I chambered a shell, twisted thestrap around my hand for a little bit of steadiness, andpeered through the scope. I confirmed there were hornson the deer, and then tried to get the crosshairs on somevitals. He was quartering away, with his head uphillpretty steeply from his rump. 8

I decided I’d drive back up in the morning with my son to help me bone and pack out the front quarters and headgear. This worked out great- ex- cept for when I stopped at the check station on the way out that first night. Not planning on detaching the hind quarters when I field-dressed the deer, I hadn’t intentionally left evidence of sex on the hind quarters. This deer isn’t a giant to most seasoned hunters, but I’m pretty ecstatic about him. He’s a mature deer taken on a one-day, public land D.I.Y. hunt. Scoring what I guess to be in the low 130’s He’s my largest deer to date- I couldn’t be happier! Great buck Dale! Congrats!antlers when I shot him, but I’d tried not to look at them,and just concentrate on the shot. He sported a beautifulchocolate 4x4 rack with nice eye guards.Luckily, the first mile or two was prettymuch straight down an avalanche shoot, soafter field dressing him I drug him out thatfar whole. When things leveled out a bit anthe brambles took over in what had nowbecome a running creek bed, I gave up mydelusions of getting him out in one pieceand cut his hind quarters off. I lashed myrifle and his hind legs to my pack, markedhis position on my GPS, and resumed tum-bling down hill. It was only another mileor so to the road, but when the snow startedpiling up I started getting a little nervousabout having a hundred plus pounds on myback shinnying down rock chutes in unfa-miliar territory. 9

10

Late October came and Kelly Leachman and I We headed up the hill and about 2 hours into our journey Kelly said he saw a group of deer withtook a jet boat up the Snake River from Hellar Bar to two nice bucks in it. By then the deer were alreadyour hunting area. We had both drew mule deer tags. spooked. I took my pack board off and used it as aThe first day we set up our wall tent and made camp. rest and took a couple of shots at the buck, butWe decided to go for an evening hunt. I went up missed. We watched the bucks go up the hill an-one drainage and Kelly went up another. The wind other 1200-1500 feet chasing the doe. We watchedwas blowing really hard. I saw a few deer, but no for 45 to 60 minutes until they bedded down. Webucks, some elk and a bear. I could see Kelly on the made a game plan on how to stock them. There wasnext ridge. It looked like he was humped over like a rock bluff between them and us that we used ashe was packing meat. I made it back to camp and cover. We belly crawled to the top of the rock bluffmet up with Kelly. He had also drew an either sex and peeked over the edge. We could see that theyelk tag and had ended up getting a spike elk. He had were still bedded down with the doe. I movedpacked the front shoulders out with him, so we took around enough so I could see one of the buckscare of them. We got our packs ready to go back in through the grass. I took a shot at him and he didn’tthe morning to get the rest of the elk. The next move. I took another shot and he stood up. On themorning I grabbed my gun, some water, pack board third shot I finally hit him. So I put some moreand grabbed a handful of shells and put in my shells in the gun and handed it to Kelly. By then thepocket. Kelly didn’t bring a gun. We hadn’t really other buck was about 300 yards away. Kelly usedplanned on hunting. We were just going to pack his my pack board as a rest and shot a couple of times.elk out. Right before the buck crested over the edge of the ridge he stopped and looked back at us. 11

Kelly shot again and got him. We only had one shell Phenomenal bucks! Congrats to you both!left when we were done shooting. We were really ex-cited to have killed both of them. The ground was sosteep that both of the bucks went sliding down the hill atthe same time. So we both took off running after ourbucks. We were both amazed at how big they were.After we took a bunch of pictures we started caping andquartering the bucks with a Leatherman because wenever took a knife. We weren’t planning on hunting.We were just going to retrieve the rest of Kelly’s elk.We were over whelmed with the amount of meat we hadto pack. We had one half of an elkand two mule deer to pack now. Wehung the meat from the mule deer upin a tree and continued on up the hillto finish the task of packing the restof his elk out. The three mile packout with the elk quarters wasn’t badat all because we were still so excitedabout the bucks we had just killed. The next morning we headedback in to pack our mule deer out.Once we got there we boned the deerout. We headed back to camp on ourthree mile hike. Back at camp wetook the tent down and packed upand headed back to Hellar Bar.It was a great 3 day hunt for both ofus. We were tagged out in two days! 12

13

14

15

16

17

2013 Annual BanquetContributors & SponsorsWe would like to thank all those who contributed, donated or sponsored the 2013 Annual Banquet! We greatly appreciate your support and contributions! THANK YOU!!100 Lashes - Justeen Long Northwestern Mutual - Bodie JonesAloha Tattoo Northwest PrintingAntler Addicts Skull Mounts Numzaan African SafariAntlered Creations - Chris Loehr Peter EadesArchery Central Pie Hole - MeridianAVON - Claudia De Simone Pink & White Salon - Edna LittleBear Valley Rafting Co. Phone SkopeBilly Molton Platinum Salon - Megan McClurgBlue Arms Gunsmithing - Tony Fanelli Premier Jewelry - Naoma BabbittBoise Truck Service Rhino MetalsCabela’s Ridgeline OutdoorsCommercial Tire RK GunsmithingCorner Café - Horseshoe Bend S&S ArcheryCustom Butcher Salmon River ExperienceD&B Supply - Glenwood Scentsy - Alicia CummingsDarwin Clampet Scentsy - Erin MooreDead-On Archery Scentsy - Becky & Kevin Preece, LisaHap Tallman TompkinsIdaho Glass Art - Del Giffin Serenity Salon - Natalie NelsonIdaho Gourmet Grills & Heritage Safe Sportsman’s WarehouseIdaho Trophies The Fish Icon - Captain James NelsonImperial Taxidermy Thunder Mountain LineIndian Creek Winery Walmart - Glenwood & StateJenn Lamb Walmart - MeridianJohn McKee Drywall Zamzow’sKit’s Riverside RestaurantKIZN 92.3 - Kevin Mee If we have missed anyone, we apologize andLee Blankenship we greatly appreciate your support!Les SchwabMusick & Sons Auctions 18

Campfire LaughsDeer hunters at the barOne night during the local deer hunting season a police officer was staking out a particularly rowdy countrybar for possible DUI violations. At closing time, he saw a deer hunter tumble out of the bar, trip on the curb,then try his keys in five different cars before he found his. He sat in the front seat fumbling around with hiskeys for several minutes. All the other deer hunters left the bar and drove off. Finally he started his engineand began to pull away. The police officer was waiting for him. He stopped the driver, read him his rightsand administered the Breathalyzer test. The results showed a reading of 0.00. The puzzle officer demanded toknow how that could be. The deer hunter replied, \"Tonight I'm the designated decoy. 19

The 2012 hunting year started like any other year. muzzleloader cow elk tag with three tags left. Come draw time I was expecting to maybe end up with theI contacted my dad and we put in for moose. We have doe tag. I was amazed to find that I had successfullybeen putting in for moose for the last 4 or 5 years with drawn all three tags.no success and this year was no different. When an-nouncements were made we were unsuccessful again. Fast forward to the start of the 2012 deer sea-On a fluke I decided to check the second chance draws son. I was going to be greedy thinking that the doe tagthis year, I have put in on them in the past but the odds would be a gimme hunt and super easy I decided that Iwere so much worse than the first go around I had de- would also attempt to become the fourth generationcided not to waste the time and money again. This hunter to fill a tag with a family heirloom. My greatyear was different in the fact that there were a signifi- grandfather back in the day had purchase a 303 savagecant amount of area 39 doe tags available for the sec- rifle new to hunt with and it had been passed down toond chance draw. Normally I would not have looked my grandfather. I never knew my grandfather on thatat a doe hunt but my oldest daughter is now 9 and has side of the family but was told that he had used theexpressed an interest in hunting. Before going to the rifle successfully to provide for his family. The onlyeffort of getting her into hunter's safety, which is an- deer I have seen my dad shoot was with this rifle. Itother story into itself, I wanted to make sure that she does not have a scope so I figured that my effectivetruly was going to be able to handle hunting and had range would only be about 100 yards.an interest. So with seventy odd doe tags left over inunit 39 I decided to try and put in for a second chance The first day out saw my dad, daughter, and Ihunt. Since I was putting in any way I also chose an making a loop past Arrow Rock Dam, up and pastantelope hunt with one tag available and a late season Thorn Creek Lookout, and dropping over and down into Idaho City. The only deer we saw was up on top by the lookout and it was a forked horn, go figure, and me with a doe tag. 20

The next day we went on a pretty long hike above If not we would head back to the truck. This is the partThorn Creek and although we saw some sign we never where the granola bar energy kicked in for one of us. Mysaw a deer that day. Our next trip out lead us up to a daughter took off like a hopped up hornet. Which in thisbench in 39 above Anderson Ranch Dam. case probably saved us; those three does were about twenty yards up the hill from us and blew out of there at a full run Although we didn't see any deer we did see a after the hornet went a couple yards down the trail towardsbear. The bear ran into our drainage and then fed down the saddle. Unfortunately the hornet was ahead of me ontowards us before disappearing from sight. The next the trail and to take a shot would have meant shooting alongweekend we headed further up the Boise Middle Fork side her, not an option. By the time I was able to stop herand tried to find a place to hunt without other hunters. and get alongside, the deer were just cresting the saddle andAfter a bust on the first two spots I had in mind, we I wisely decided to pass on a “insert favorite/least favoritetried the third place. I didn't have high hopes but fig- state name here” heart shot opportunity. I looked at myured we could glass a little and see what we could find. daughter and said let's go up to that saddle. We ran up toIn fact I made one of the typical rookie mistakes. the saddle only to find the three deer out at 190 yards on theWhen we parked the truck and headed out I told my back side of the ridge. I asked my daughter what shedaughter that if she wanted to leave her pack in the wanted to do. I felt confident that we could get down thetruck she could, that we wouldn't be here too long. ridge ahead of them. She said let's do what ever we need toThat would be her pack with snacks and more impor- do to get a deer. We headed down the ridge and tried to gettantly the water bladder for both of us. We were part in front of the three does. At the next knoll, I glassed andway to a good glassing point when we saw three does couldn't find any deer ahead of us down the ridge. Whileabove us on the ridge. They knew we were there, but talking to my daughter at the knoll I looked over her shoul-were intent on heading west down the ridge. We der and noticed a couple more does coming down the ridgemoved up and west as quickly as we could when ever following the path of the original three. She was still intentthe does were out of sight, either behind fingers or on catching up to the original three but didn't know aboutwhen the low hanging clouds would roll in. We the other two headed our way. I could tell she was tiringworked our way up and along the main ridge as fast as and mentioned to her I thought we should try for one of theour nine year old legs would allow for a little over a two newcomers. It was at that time that Mother Nature de-quarter mile. cided to roll in a new set of low hanging clouds, as we headed back to the saddle. At this point we came to a main finger a hun-dred yards off the top that allowed us to see clearly We picked a spot that hid us from view of the doesdown to the river and along the ridge. We had lost but would allow us to see them as they came to us. Theresight of the does a couple of fingers back and were ex- were two paths that they could take. One that would bringpecting to see them from this vantage point. We sat them to within 60 yards straight at us and the other woulddown and took a break, I had one granola bar in my take them past us at about 90 yards downhill. After whatpack which went to the growling stomach walking be- seemed like an eternity one of the does appeared out of thehind me. I wish I could get that energized from a gra- clouds at 90 yards below us. I let my daughter know tonola bar after a couple of minutes. After 15 to 20 min- cover her ears and took the shot. At this point I don't knowutes and no animals appeared, we decided to head up to who was more excited. After the shot there was the tell talethe saddle, maybe they had moved to the other side of \"thwop\" that comes with a successful hit. The doe tippedthe ridge. over and began to roll down the hill. She stopped in some brush and we headed down to her. Since this was the first 21

animal that my young future hunter had seen up close that the only time I will be more proud of her will beand the doe was still alive I made sure to explain to her a when she is successful in her first hunting endeavor. Itswift end was the best and finished the kill off with a was awesome to see her in that environment and be able toquick shot to the neck. I was very proud of my daugh- share it with her. If all goes well we will get to turkeyter, there were only questions asked and no hesitation hunt in the spring and the next generation of hunter willwhen we got down to the real work. My daughter had have picked up the hunting torch.been excited about a couple of things, one was thecleaning process. She handled it with flying colors and I (My nine year old daughter’s version of the hunt is be-now know that when science class comes along in a few low in her words.)years she will not have any problems when asked to dis-sect anything. She was instrumental in helping me clean My first hunt with my dad! Was totally wicked! It took athe deer. Given the distance from the truck I decided to while to find one, but we went to a lot of places to find aquarter and then debone the remainder of the animal. doe. I got to see a bear, buck, 5 DOES, a long river, aAs we wrapped up our hill side processing she asked stream, trails, and slow elk. It was awesome and I want towhat she could have as a memento of this hunt. It was do it again because it was fun. I can’t wait to hunt myself,decided to have a European mount made of the skull for and with my dad. It was fun to see the does last twitchingher to remember our first joint hunting adventure. To moves. I also got to see the gutting process. My dad letinsure that she understood the effort that goes into this me have its head, so I packed it out.she was tasked with packing out the skull and I packedout the meat. It took longer to get back to the truck than Awesome hunt Chris! Way to pass it on to the nextI would have thought. The small truck really doesn't generation!look that far away, but sure took its sweet time gettingbigger. The sandwich and water were extremely wel-come and the satisfaction of making it back after sharinga successfully hunt with my daughter was awesome.My only regret was that my dad had to work that dayand wasn’t with us. I am currently in the process of getting mydaughter into a hunter's safety class. I can only imagine 22

When it comes to baiting for black bears in Idaho, the commitment to come in I thought to myself that I was about toI am fairly new to it and still learning. I do however have harvest mya couple of friends that have been very successful at run- first bear. Ining baits for several years. After helping them bait for a did my bestyear and asking them questions, I figured the time for me to controlto strike out on my own was at hand. I learned a ton of my breath-valuable information that first season. I learned exactly ing andhow much work it was to establish a bait site by yourself, pick a spotalong with how important stand location was. That first to place myspring I had several bears coming in except for the days I pin. As Iwould sit in the stand. It took me a few evenings to figure drew backout that I had placed my tree stand in the wrong location. the bear heard the I had decided for the 2013 spring season that I little bit of noise from my jacket and turned to leave. Iwould move the bait and my tree stand to a better loca- thought I had just blown it when it stopped to looktion. Seven hours later, the bait was set in the new loca- around. I settled the pin and let the arrow loose. It foundtion. After waiting a couple of weeks I couldn’t stand it its mark. The adrenaline rush that took over my body wasany longer. I had to get up in the tree. A couple of bears unreal. My whole body was shaking like I was standingcame in the first night but never presented a shot oppor- out in a snow storm in only my underwear.tunity. I was excited to get back up in the stand for thesecond night. Three hours after climbing up the tree I no- As I climbed down the tree to recover my bear a feel-ticed a bear off to my right starting to make its way to thebait when I heard the familiar sound of motorcycles com- ing of uneasiness came over me. The shot looked great toing up the trail. The bear turned and took off for Colo-rado. I figured my night was done. I was really chewing me, but was it really good enough? A short distance laterthose guys out in my mind when I looked off to my leftand there was a good bear standing there only 40 yards I found the bear piled up at the base of a large tamarack.away. The bear would walk a little bit and then sit downand sniff the air and look around. When he finally made Even though it was only an average sized bear I was proud as all get out. I have a spot picked out on the wall for the rug to be hung so I will have a constant reminder of all that went in to this hunt. I am hooked! 23

Good Cookin’!Venison Meatballs2/3 pound ground venison1/3 pound ground beef (15 – 20% fat)3 garlic cloves, minced2/3 cup onion, finely diced2 – 3 tablespoons prepared horseradish1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese1/2 cup Japanese breadcrumbs (panko)1/4 teaspoon salt1/8 teaspoon pepperolive oilIn a medium bowl, combine all ingredients except olive oil. Mix well. Form into golf ball-sized meatballs.Heat a thin layer of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Brown meatballs evenly. Browned meatballs can befrozen and vacuum packaged for later use. Venison meatballs, like these made with cumin and butter, are versatile for main dishes or appetizers! (Photo: SusieFreakinHomemaker.com)Reference: www.deeranddeerhunting.comWild game chef: Scott Leysathwww.HuntFishCook.comVenison Marinade12 oz. can of beer1/3 cup of soy sauceMinced garlic to preferenceMix ingredients, soak venison in marinade overnightCan add other ingredients to your preference like stone ground mustard, horseradish, honey for sweetnessSubmitted by Cortney Dennis 24

Story Contributors We would like to thank all those who contributed to the magazine in 2012! Each story contributorreceived a $50 gift card to Sportsman’s Warehouse. We greatly appreciate each one of you for takingthe time to share your hunting stories with us! Keep sending them our way for future issues of Idaho Deer Hunter Magazine! Send stories to: [email protected] Devri Ard  Teryl Nielson Austin Atkinson  Candice Smith Blake Tubbs  Josh Majors Nicholas Muche  Rachel Cantrell Shawn Keller  Daniel Cantrell Christine Francesconi  Cody Cannon Lee Blankenship  Beau Cannon  Andrew KnightEach year we will draw one winner from all the story contributors from each of the quarterly issues towin a $500 gift card to Sportsman’s Warehouse. For our first three issues in 2012 we have drawn one winner form the list of contributors above. The winner is……..DANIEL CANTRELL!! 25

Outdoors to the Core! MOREL MUSHROOM HUNTING Tom Claycomb If you’ve never hunted morel mushrooms you’re missing out on one of God’s best treats that He ever gaveus. They are one of the top fungi in the world, second only to the truffle in England. They seem to be triggered by the spring rains and a few warm days and nights. Then it seems like they al-most spring up right in front of your eyes. It seems to me that they have about a two week growing period butyou can extend your hunting season by rising in elevation. Here’s what I mean by that. If this week you’re find-ing them at 5,500 ft., next week go up and hunt at 6,000 ft. Many will tell you to hunt them by old logs and fir trees. I’ve been hunting them since 1979 and you’d thinkthat I’d know more than I do. I’ve got one spot where they grow in the grass on the side of a hill every year.That’s not the norm but on this one hill they do every year. If you find one, look up/downhill. The spore washes downhill and more often than not, where I find one I’llfind more. But-the absolute best spot is old forest fires from the year before. I think it was in 2005 that I found amillion up by Warm Lake when the fires had run through there. Then in 2007 up in the fires at Silver CreekPlunge. Oh my gosh, we found a million. In one spot that you could have covered with an 8x10 tarp I picked162. I took another couple with Katy and I and we all picked 2-five gallon buckets each in no time at all andhad to walk over others when leaving. Now for the fun part. Eating them! To prepare them, gently rinse them off. They are the most fragile foodyou will ever prepare so be gentle. Rinse the dirt and ashes off and then split lengthwise with a knife. Put in abowl and gently rinse again. Then sprinkle on salt and fill the bowl with water. The salt will kill the bugs. I wastaught to let them soak overnight but if you’re chomping at the bits you can cook them muy pronto. Crack a few eggs in a bowl and beat with a fork. Dip the mushrooms in them and then roll them in flour. Isprinkle a little salt and pepper in the flour beforehand. Then throw them into a skillet with oil that is heated up. You don’t want to sizzle them but you do want tobrown them. While frying I sprinkle with TonyCachere’s. Flip when ready and remove when they getgolden brown and put on paper towels on a plate. If you were blindfolded you would swear that theytasted like meat. You just have to try them if you neverhave done so. They are the best food in the world. Ifyou’re lucky enough to find more than you can eat youcan dry or freeze them. So this spring while you’re outturkey, bear or shed hunting keep an eye peeled and youmight just pick up a new first love. (If you don’t knowwhat they look like have an old-timer go with you andteach you the ropes so you don’t pick poisonous ones).For more on morels Google outdoorsite.com, select TomClaycomb as the author and click on Morel Mushroomhunting. 26

27

In the Field & On the WallTracy Bennett Tracy Bennett’s Idaho 2010 2010 Buck 180 3/8” GrossJosh Cooper Josh Cooper’sIdaho 2010 2010 Buck 28

Travis Brown Ridgeline Outdoors Idaho 2010Keith MottIdaho 2007 Kurtis Brooks (right) & Brian Brooks (left) Idaho Backcountry Bulls 2012 Congrats to all the successful hunters!Rick Long, with grandson Cody Long Send us your harvest and/or wall Idaho 2012 mount photos and we’ll publish them in the next issue of Idaho Deer Hunter Magazine! 29

Wolf Management SpecialistsRoger Meyers doing his part to save our deer Tara Cooper with here 2013 Idaho Wolf! and elk herds in Northern Idaho! Way to get it done Tara!Mention this ad and receive a FREE scope mounting and bore sighting (parts not included) 30

31

Predator Control Fresh Mountain Lion Kill 2013Blake Simmons Cougar 2011 Brandon Madsen Cougar 2013 (Cat from fresh kill pictured above) 32

Travis Brown Ridgeline Outdoors Idaho Bear 2010 Trevor WilderIdaho Bear 2013Blake SimmonsIdaho Bear 2011 Josh Cooper A good day of coyote hunting! 33

Classified Ads1970’s RC Cola soda machine. Everything works. Asking $300.00Call John at (208) 629-9605Fifth wheel hitch and mount. 14,000 lb. rating. Asking $200.00Call John at (208) 629-96052011 Bowtech Assassin. 29 inch draw, 70 lbs.. Comes with 6 arrowsand a release. Asking $650.00 o.b.o.Call Mike at (208) 949-5024 Want to sell something?Send us your classified ad and we’ll put it in our magazine. 34

22 Idaho locations to serve you and your tire and vehicle needs! Aberdeen, ID  Idaho Falls, ID Boise, ID - Apple St.  Idaho Falls, ID - Ammon Boise, ID - Cole Rd.  Lewiston, ID Boise, ID - Fairview Ave.  Meridian, ID Boise, ID - Fleet  Meridian, ID - Corporate Boise, ID - State St.  Mountain Home, ID Burley, ID  Nampa, ID Caldwell, ID - Farm City  Pocatello, ID Caldwell, ID - Fleet  Rexburg, ID Emmett, ID  Twin Falls, ID - Kimberly Rd. Grandview, ID  Twin Falls, ID - Pole Line Rd. Complete Lube Services Wheel Alignment Premium Brake  Shocks & Struts Batteries  Fluid Maintenance & Flush  Tire Siping & Other  Bandag Retreading www.commercialtire.com 35

36