Team Fur News
Being In The Game
By FUR-FISH-GAME Editor, John D. Taylor
The rewards of being in the game can be substantial. Taylor and a nice Nebraska gobbler he tagged.
“Well, at least we’re in the game,” wildlife artist Denny Burkhart, said. He’d just watched the turkey he’d worked, trying to get me a shot at my first gobbler, trundle up the hemlock and oak-wooded Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania slope, without hearing my shotgun go off.
Attempting to remain absolutely still in the presence of this gobbler, I never saw the bird. This, despite the fact that it was probably not more than 40 yards to my left. Tucked into a pocket of young hemlocks as I was, I heard the gobbles, but saw only evergreen branches, no turkey.
I felt bad about Denny working so hard and me missing out on a potential opportunity to tag the bird. But we continued on, and Denny’s focus was on keeping us “in the game.”
Thanks to Denny, my turkey hunting mentor, I eventually came to tag my first gobbler – a jake, taken on a fall hunt with Denny more than two decades ago. More importantly, I came to a greater understanding of what he meant by “being in the game.”
Being in the game is about maximizing your chances for success. Giving it your fullest measure, not giving up. It doesn’t mean that you’re always succeeding. No one can be that perfect. But at least you’re working at it, not surrendering to defeat... you’re trying.
I think I always knew about this and tried to stay in the game, but with some things, especially turkey hunting, that seemed harder than it should have been.
Growing up in the southcentral Pennsylvania, pheasants were far more common than turkeys, so I had little exposure to the bigger birds. My first forays into spring turkey hunting were more like dipping a toe into the pool instead of doing a cannonball off the high dive. I hunted a few times with people who invited me to join them, but none were truly in the game. Not like Denny was. They were toe-dippers. If they happened to luck into a cooperative gobbler, great. If not, that would be okay, too.
I tried solo turkey hunts several times but was left unsatisfied. I didn’t feel like I was in the game, doing it right, doing the things that might lead to success. I could call proficiently, get gobblers to answer, but it seemed like they always hung up.
So, for a time, I stepped out of the game, quit turkey hunting to focus on fly fishing Pennsylvania’s trout streams. I was especially into meeting and imitating the cycle of mayfly hatches on those waters. From April’s Quill Gordons and Hendricksons to late May’s Green Drakes on Penn’s Creek, sometimes even June’s Potamanthus, I fished ravenously, managed a big, high-dive cannonball into that experience. I was really in the game.
But this wasn’t done solo. Several books – particularly Charles Meck’s – hatch charts and fly patterns that mimicked the whole life cycle of nearly every aquatic insect found on Pennsylvania’s streams put me up on the diving board. Using this vital information, I was able to feel like I could truly enter a trout’s world and offer it something natural-looking and believable. And that felt like an exceptionally righteous way to fish.
They say the teacher appears when the student is ready. Denny and I hunted ruffed grouse and waterfowl together many times before that. But it was two decades before we hunted turkeys together.
In between those years, I learned what being out of the game meant.
When a second cousin’s Potter County, Pennsylvania, deer camp adventures started, we’d be up at 4:30 a.m., eat breakfast, get ready and be headed across the swinging bridge over Sinnemahoning Creek to hike back into the West Darin Run country. This was no tiny undertaking, but an all-day affair, weather be darned. You packed a lunch and planned to still hunt deer in the big mountains’ mature timber all day long. That was how we did it.
I loved it. We did this for about a decade, from the time I was 13 years old. Doing so felt like we were in the game. We saw deer, mostly does, but we were hunting with intention.
Since my cousin considered himself mostly a deer hunter, he had all sorts of deer-specific magazines, pamphlets and other literature in the camp. If we weren’t scouting on the weekend before the Monday after Thanksgiving deer opener (this has changed), I was reading that literature, learning a lot about whitetails.
As time went on, my cousin’s ardor for that style of deer hunting wilted. He seemed to be feeling his age. And when his son joined us, things really changed. No more up at 4:30 a.m., to be hiking back into the boondocks. Now, we drove up the mountain, parked on top. If anyone got cold or wet, it was back to the truck to warm up. We began regularly swapping easy, comfortable hunting for the opportunity to enter deer country and tag a buck. This slide continued for decades until going to deer camp felt more like a family reunion (that side of the family held one each summer) than deer hunting.
The aging part I understood – I saw it in my father, a similar age to our cousin. But when I suggested, we quit trying to find the few deer in the 100-year-old, mature oak forests that covered most of the county, and hunt deer-dense timber cuts, or at least the edges of them, instead, I received a vehement “I’m not going in there,” from my cousin. My cousin essentially chose the bench over getting into the game. And that attitude soon spread to his son and my father.
Initially, I couldn’t understand why this hunter who’d been to Alaska, who I’d seen drag out some exceptional Potter County bucks, who I admired, didn’t want to be in the game anymore. If you wanted to see more deer, maybe get a shot, it seemed pretty simple. According to Pennsylvania Game Commission information, there were more deer per square mile in the younger forest of those timber cuts due to better food sources. Yes, it was thick with saplings and brush. I’d hunted some of those timber cuts for ruffed grouse and they were not always pleasant to walk through. But deer were thick in there. Deer trails crisscrossed the cuts. Droppings, tracks, buck rubs and scrapes were everywhere. My cousin insisted on staying in the big woods, and since it was his camp, we felt obligated to follow his “armed hiking” lead.
After several years of this, I was ready to leave the camp, despite some regrets about the three decades we’d spent there. I came to hunt, not have a reunion. When I talked this over with Dad, he decided he really didn’t want to hunt any more, mostly a health decision.
The next fall, Denny invited me to his Tioga County, Pennsylvania, deer camp. His hunting partners were a guy named “Blackie,” several years older than my father, and Barry, who had a heart condition. Neither man chose easy hunting. They were all in, doing all that they could do to stay in the game. We genuinely hunted, working together to move deer into each other and work the terrain. And we had fun doing it, often filling our tags. Everyone was in the game, not sitting on the bench.
In a like manner, Denny showed me his turkey world. It began well before spring, when he shared some of his favorite turkey books, far more turkey biology than hunting stories. I digested them, learning much.
Come turkey season, we crept in close to roosts before daybreak, heard the woods come alive with tree yelping hens, gobblers preening and gobbling from their limbs before flying down. We worked toms across hayfields and through the woods. We got close several times.
Denny’s theory was that if you can hunt turkeys, you can hunt anything, and I believe that’s accurate – given a turkey’s pronghorn-like eyesight, elk-like ESP when it comes to sensing danger, a whitetail’s hearing and ability to vaporize in the face of impending jeopardy.
The spring after I’d taken that jake with Denny, our schedules couldn’t jive for more spring hunts, and I struck out on my own. I found birds, called a mature tom to about 35 yards and when my shotgun roared, I’d tagged my first turkey on my own. I remember calling Denny to share the good news and being ecstatic that I was truly doing a cannonball into the turkey game.
That was nearly 20 years ago now. During that time, Denny and I would hunt gobblers together in Pennsylvania, Alabama and Virginia. Later, I took those turkey hunting skills to the West, encountering South Dakota and Nebraska Merriam toms, always striving to be in the game in any outdoor endeavor.
Along the way, I learned that being in the game could apply to anything in life. So long as you’re going to do a thing, why do it half-baked? Go all in or don’t bother.
The other day, cleaning up the horse corral and barn, toting another wheelbarrow load of horse leavings to the manure pile, to be turned into compost, I felt proud that I’d done a good job on this. I was in the road apple game! Looking down at my rubber barn boots, I had to laugh. I was in the game, all right, up to my muddy ankles. That old saw, any job worth doing is worth doing right, echoed in my head, too.
Get into the game, and like Phil Goes says, keep the faith. It’s worth it.
Florida Proposes Changes to “Modernize” Trapping Regulations
Photo: Xiangkun ZHU/UNsplash
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is holding a series of virtual public meetings to collect feedback directly from Florida residents on proposed changes to modernize the state’s trapping regulations. FWC held meetings with the public and a diverse group of stakeholders in a Technical Assistance Group to develop these proposed changes. The content covered in all meetings is identical, and it is not necessary to attend more than one virtual public meeting. Meeting dates and times are:
-May 6 from noon - 3 p.m. EDT: Virtual meeting via Zoom
-May 8 from 6 - 9 p.m. EDT: Virtual meeting via Zoom
-May 10 from 9 a.m.- noon EDT: Virtual meeting via Zoom
These proposed changes will include new regulations that will more closely align with the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ best management practices, which ensure that trapping is more humane, species-specific and efficient. Members of the public can learn more about the proposed changes by visiting MyFWC.com/TrappingRules and clicking on the banner that says “Learn More.”
Habitat Challenges for Colorado’s Lynx
Canada Lynx. Photo: Lisa Hupp/USFWS
Scientists with Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), the U.S. Forest Service and the University of Wyoming recently published groundbreaking research on the habitat needs of the threatened Canada lynx in the southern Rocky Mountains – particularly in western Colorado. Decades of reintroduction efforts, monitoring and cutting-edge research have ensured that this elusive wild cat has a foothold in Colorado’s high-elevation forests despite ongoing challenges. Canada lynx depend on snowy forests with dense understory for hunting and shelter. Snowshoe hares, their primary prey, also thrive in this habitat. In Colorado, this habitat is now limited to small, scattered areas on mountain slopes, making lynx especially vulnerable to wildfires, development and climate change. Lynx are primarily found in the San Juan Mountains and Sawatch Range of western Colorado. In the late 1800s, lynx were found in most high-elevation forested areas of the state. By 1930, however, they were considered rare, by the mid-1970s considered extirpated in Colorado. In the late 1990s, CPW launched a lynx reintroduction program. Currently, CPW believes Colorado is home to between 75 and 100 lynx with evidence of a stable distribution and successful reproduction in the wild. CPW’s efforts to reintroduce and study lynx represent one of its most successful conservation efforts. Recent research shows that in Colorado, 62% of likely lynx habitat overlaps with protected areas – wilderness zones and national parks. This provides vital refuges from permanent habitat loss caused by development. However, severe wildfires, by destroying the forest understory lynx rely on, pose the greatest threat to lynx habitat. Only 5% of likely habitat has been impacted by fire to date, but the risk of wildlife is increasing due to climate change. Recovery from such fires can take decades in Colorado’s subalpine forests. Urbanization and ski area expansions are another issue for lynx. These areas overlap 4% of likely lynx habitat. Changes wrought by this are permanent and require careful management to avoid long-term impacts. Visit https://cpw.state.co.us/species/lynx for more about CPW’s lynx conservation and research
Keeping Wildlife Wild
If you find a rabbit nest, leave it be, keep children and pets away to reduce stress on the animal. Photo: Maddy Hunt/Unsplash
With warmer weather, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) reminds the public that wildlife and their young will be on the move. Knowing what to do before you find a young wild animal can make all the difference to protect it and keep it in the wild with its parents. For many species, it’s perfectly natural for young wild animals to be left alone for extended periods of time. While alone, they will often lie quietly and still – to avoid attracting predators. Drawing attention to a young animal's location can tip-off predators or keep its mother away. For example, cottontail rabbit kits can be encountered anytime from spring through fall. They open their eyes at one week old and begin exploring outside the nest for short periods to nibble on grasses after about two to three weeks. Eastern gray squirrel litters of two to four young, called kits, by 7 weeks old, will also explore outside their nest. And raccoon kits are capable of walking, climbing and exploring by 6 to 8 weeks old. When they're at the exploring stage, they can be seen active during the day without their mother. You can best help young wildlife by keeping people and pets away from the area. WDNR has \resources to help determine when a young wild animal needs help and when it's best to leave them in their natural environment. Visit https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/WildlifeHabitat/orphan.
New F-F-G Travel Mug Available
After multiple requests, a FUR-FISH-GAME travel mug is now available for purchase. It sports our traditional mug logo, with a 100th anniversary twist. 16 ounce, BPA-free plastic design features the FUR-FISH-GAME logo, and a slide-to-open drink-through lid. Double-wall insulation means the hot stays hot and the cold says cold. The best part? Made in the USA. Click this link to purchase, or watch for the ad in the July 2025 issue of FUR-FISH-GAME.
Delaware River Basin Conservation Program Reauthorization
Congressional leaders have introduced legislation to safeguard the Delaware River. Photo: Clay Banks/Unsplash
In February, bipartisan congressional leaders introduced legislation to safeguard the Delaware River, a vital water source for over 13 million people, and the driver of a $25 billion economy across Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The Delaware River Basin Restoration Program Reauthorization Act was introduced by Reps. Fitzpatrick, Evans, Houlahan, Gottheimer, Riley, Boyle, McBride, Van Drew, Scanlon, and Watson Coleman. Reauthorization of the restoration program ensures continued investment in water quality and fish and wildlife habitat restoration. It will protect communities from pollution and flood damage, while supporting jobs and improving access to recreation. This legislation intends to unite all levels of government with community partners to ensure a healthy river continues. The Delaware River, well known for its fishing opportunities, supports more than 60 fish species — including game fish like Eastern brook trout, striped bass and migrating river herring. That’s one reason why more than 500,000 people are drawn to the Delaware annually to fish, boat, camp, hunt, hike, watch wildlife or just enjoy the scenery.
Periodical Cicadas Emerging in Southwest Ohio
A periodical cicada. Note the black body with red eyes. Annual cicadas will be larger with a green to black body. Photo: ODNR
Southwestern Ohio residents will witness the emergence of a remarkable natural phenomenon this spring: the arrival of Brood XIV (14) periodical cicadas, according to Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Forestry. While annual cicadas throughout the world emerge each year, periodical cicadas are a unique group of insects found only in eastern North America. These cicadas live underground as nymphs for either 13 or 17 years before emerging above ground in massive numbers. Different populations of periodical cicadas are called “broods” and are numbered with Roman numerals. Of the 15 recognized broods of periodical cicadas, only four occur in Ohio. Brood XIV, with distribution from northern Georgia to Massachusetts, is set to emerge this spring across Hamilton, Clermont, Brown, Adams, Scioto, Lawrence, Gallia, Butler, Warren, Clinton, Highland, Ross, Pike, Jackson, Washington, Greene, and Champaign counties in Ohio. While swarms of cicadas may be unsettling to some, they are harmless to people and pets. They’re also a valuable food source for many birds, mammals and fish. While egg-laying by female cicadas can cause “flagging” on trees and shrubs, there is little to no impact on established, otherwise healthy plants. Protect small or newly planted trees and shrubs with fine netting for the few weeks adult cicadas are active. The use of pesticides is not warranted or recommended. Visit https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/safety-conservation/about-ODNR/forestry.
Minnesota Duck and Pheasant Plan
Minnesota aims to increase duck and pheasant habitat in the state.Photo: June Gathercole/Unsplash
Wildlife managers across Minnesota will soon begin planning and implementing updated conservation efforts designed to foster duck and pheasant habitat. These efforts are part of the state’s recently updated pheasant and duck action plans. The plans were updated recently via input from conservation organizations, state and federal agencies, tribal nations, technical experts and the public. Each plan outlines short-term actions that will help fulfill long-term conservation goals and focus the state’s Department of Natural Resource’s (MDNR) duck and pheasant conservation efforts. This includes acquiring additional habitat via wildlife management area acquisitions, especially those in priority duck and pheasant areas; improving access to private land by upping the acreage enrolled in MDNR’s Walk-In Access Program; restoring and enhancing habitat on state-administered land and managed shallow lakes; and, supporting the work of partner groups to protect, restore and enhance duck and pheasant habitat. The action plans highlight MDNR’s priorities for pheasants and ducks through 2030. Visit mndnr.gov/waterfowl and mndnr.gov/pheasant.
Pennsylvania Game Commission Lauds Sunday Hunting Bill
Could Pennsylvania soon end the Sunday hunting ban?Photo: Matthew Maaskant/Unsplash
Legislation that could fully repeal Pennsylvania’s Sunday hunting ban has been reintroduced in Harrisburg. Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, recently reintroduced Senate Bill 67, which would end the state’s prohibition on Sunday hunting and allow the Game Commission to include Sundays when establishing hunting seasons. The bill picked up momentum last year, when it passed the Senate and gained preliminary approval in the House of Representatives before time ran out in the legislative session. The bill now has a fresh start, and a broad base of support behind it.
New York Record Second Safest Hunting Season
New York recorded its second safest hunting season in 2024-2025. Photo: Rhett Noonan/Unsplash
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) says the 2024-25 hunting seasons was the state’s second safest on record. DEC released its annual report documenting hunting-related shooting incidents and tree stand/elevated hunting incidents. The numbers are consistent with the low rates observed across the state in recent years. DEC documented 11 hunting-related shooting incidents in 2024, including four two-party firearm incidents and seven self-inflicted incidents. Unfortunately, one of the incidents was a self-inflicted fatality. Two incidents involved individuals who were not hunting legally. DEC also documented 11 Elevated Hunting Incidents (EHIs) in 2024, though not all falls are reported. Of these incidents, nine involved hunters failing to wear a safety harness or failing to connect the harness to a tree. Two falls were fatal; the others resulted in serious injuries. All incidents could have been prevented by proper use of a fall-arrest harness system connected to the tree. All first-time hunters, bowhunters, and trappers are required to successfully complete a hunter or trapper safety course and pass the final exam before being eligible to purchase a hunting or trapping license. These efforts to increase public awareness about hunting safety have resulted in a sharp decrease in hunting-related incidents. For example, 166 HRSIs were reported in 1966. Hunting and treestand safety statistics are viewable via https://dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/hunting/hunter-education#Statistics.
Midwest Walleye Challenge Returns
Nebraska is offering anglers a chance at prizes in exchange for helping fisheries biologists gather information on walleye populations. Photo: Seth Schulte/Unsplash
Anglers and biologists are joining forces to bring a new kind of fishing tournament to Nebraska. The second year of the Midwest Walleye Challenge will give anglers in states across the Midwest a chance to compete for prizes while collecting important data for biologists. The collection of angler catch data, which runs through June 29, can help Nebraska’s Game and Parks Commission (NPGC) learn more about the state’s walleye fisheries. Here’s how it works: A $25 entry fee gets you in. Anglers record their walleye catches in the mobile app MyCatch. They must photograph their catches on a measuring device using the app. Once the fish is reviewed and meets rule requirements, it will appear on a live leaderboard. More than $5,000 in weekly and grand prizes will be drawn and awarded throughout the competition. The prize structure is designed to encourage reporting any walleye catch (or lack thereof) so fisheries data collected is representative. Visit OutdoorNebraska.gov and search Midwest Walleye Challenge.
Deer Season Tallies
Does represented the bulk of the Ohio’s deer harvest with 115,683 deer (49%). Photo: Holly Landkammer/Unsplash
Illinois, Missouri and Ohio have tallied their deer season harvest totals.
Illinois hunters harvested 170,758 deer during the 2024-2025 archery and firearm seasons. This is more than 10,000 additional deer compared to the 2023-2024 160,313 total harvest. Illinois hunters tagged 46.27% females and 53.72% males, with archers accounting for 73,598 deer, more than 2,000 deer greater than 2023-2024’s bag. Firearm hunters tagged 82,496 deer, a significant jump over the 76,494 deer tagged in 2024. Muzzleloader hunters harvested 2,832 deer, fewer than in 2023. Eighteen northern Illinois counties were open to the special CWD season, used to slow the spread of chronic wasting disease in the Illinois.
In Missouri, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) says a total of 276,262 deer were harvested: 129,252 antlered bucks, 23,842 button bucks and 123,168 does. Top counties were Franklin with 6,208 deer, Jefferson with 4,900, and Macon with 4,495. The overall harvest was down 15% from last year’s record total of 326,448 and was 8% below the five-year average. Archers tagged 56,347 deer. Top archery counties were Jefferson with 1,579, Franklin with 1,216, and St. Louis with 994. This year’s archery deer harvest was 1% higher than last year’s total of 55,731. For more harvest information, visit mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/deer/deer-reports/deer-harvest-summaries.
In Ohio, hunters checked 238,137 whitetails – about 12 million pounds of venison – says Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. This is the fourth highest number of deer taken on record. The three-year average (2021 to 2023) is 207,295. Does represented the bulk of the harvest with 115,683 deer (49%). Antlered bucks came in at 97,618 deer (41%), and button bucks represented 21,689 deer (9%). Archers accounted for 106,269 deer; gun hunters, 104,565; muzzleloaders,13,476; and youth, 10,449. Top five counties were Coshocton, 8,196; Tuscarawas, 7,373; Knox, 6,730; Muskingum, 6,269; and Ashtabula, 6,042. Crossbows were used by my than 78,000 hunters; straight -walled cartridge rifles by 77,027; a shotgun, by 34,338; a vertical bow, 30,839; and muzzleloaders by 17,092.
White-nose Syndrome Causing Fungus Found in Arizona Bats
Arizona had detected an outbreak of the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome among bats near Sierra Vista. Photo: Clément Falize/Unsplash
An Arizona bat tested positive for Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), the fungus that causes the deadly white-nose syndrome (WNS) disease in bats. WNS is named for the fuzzy white growth of fungus observed on infected bats. The bat, a cave myotis, was sampled by biologists conducting surveillance at Fort Huachuca near Sierra Vista last summer. The bat exhibited suspicious wing abnormalities that may be related to the disease. Four additional bats, including two other species, were determined to have trace levels of the fungus, indicating Pd is present in the area. Cave myotis are especially vulnerable to WNS because they hibernate in cold caves with high relative humidity, which is optimal for fungal growth. But any hibernating bat could be susceptible to the disease. Since its discovery in 2006, WNS has spread to 40 states and 9 Canadian provinces and killed millions of bats nationwide. WNS poses no risks to the public or pets. Although bats themselves are the primary way the fungus spreads, human activity in caves is also a major concern as fungal spores may be inadvertently carried into caves on clothing and equipment. Now that Pd has been confirmed, Arizona’s Game and Fish Department is asking the public to help monitor the arrival of white-nose syndrome in bats statewide. Bats infected with WNS may display unusual behavior, like the bat that is unable to fly or is on the ground or low on a wall. Don’t handle live bats. Report bat observations or sick, injured or dead bats to bats@azgfd.gov. Include location, contact information and a photo, if possible, along with any other useful information. Arizona is home to 29 bat species, about half of which are known to hibernate during winter, making them vulnerable to WNS. WNS has previously been discovered in New Mexico and Texas, where it is impacting cave myotis, a western species that may be particularly susceptible to the disease.
An Iowa Coon Hunt
100th Anniversary Article from March 1927
By "Ed" Barko
It was a warm, wet, misty afternoon when my brother suggested a coon hunt for the night. We had had cold weather for about a week and this was the first warm night, so the coons and possums would sure be running. So, it didn't take me long to make up my mind, and we soon decided where to go.
We got our carbide light ready (which is a brilliant search light), gave the dogs a good feed, ate our supper and were soon ready to go. Now for the dogs, we don't have much. We have "Bob," a black and tan hound with a bobtail. He is 3 years old. And Queen, a 3-year-old, half beagle, half foxhound that wouldn't look at a rabbit if one stepped on her. She is a small dog, good on skunk and possum, but slow at tree barking if she can't see her game.
Well, we got started about 7 p.m., going through a field that led to the woods, cornfields and small streams. We went about half a mile when the dogs bayed a small possum in a tiny woodlot to the right of us. We soon had him in our coat and were on our way again. Half a mile further down a small creek, the dogs hit a trail that took him down the creek, around a hill and up a larger creek for about fifty rods. Here they treed in a small tree on the hillside. We shined the light up and there was a small possum. We shot him out with the .22 and were soon going again.
We decided to go down the creek to the railroad, then out the tracks for a few miles, then hunt over a place where there were coons. On our way down the tracks the dogs caught a large possum right in the middle of the tracks. Here we left our other two possums in a small ditch so we wouldn't have to carry them all over.
About a mile further on, we left the railroad and cut through the woods. The dogs hit several trails but could not straighten them out. They must have been too cold. We walked for an hour or two and did not get a thing. It was a very hilly place, up one hill and down another. We were going down a small stream on our way back to the railroad, when the dogs hit a hot trail. It led up a dry creek, through a thicket and across a stubble field. They led over to a pond surrounded by a small woods and began barking treed. We hurried over and found they had a coon in a scrubby, bushy tree. We knocked him out and the dogs soon had him finished. He was a small one. Just as we were leaving the place, Queen ran over and put her feet on a large slim oak tree and looked up. She did not bark, but she stayed there. My brother, who wore the light, looked up and saw eyes but could only shine them once. He climbed up a nearby tree and after shooting four times a large coon hit the ground like a ton of lead.
Well, we decided that was enough for the night, so we made for the railroad which was not very far off. It was about three miles to where we left the three possums and three miles from there to home. We sure were tired when we reached home at 3 a.m. with our two coons, three possums and four rabbits my brother shot. But it was a good hunt and we were well-satisfied with our catch.
We have had several hunts in that vicinity since, one night we caught a large mink, two possums and a skunk. Another night two coons, and several nights nothing.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Northcentral Trap Collectors’ Swap Meet
The Northcentral Trap Collectors’ will hold a swap meet Saturday, May 10, from 8 a.m. until noon, at the Adams County Fairgrounds, in Friendship, Wisconsin. The public is invited to attend, and admission is free. Contact Bob White email grneagle@frontier.com or call (608) 339-6686
Montana Fur Harvesters
The Montana Fur Harvesters will hold their Spring Mountain Man Rendezvous, May 16 and 17 in Ronan, Montana. This is a family event, for all ages, an opportunity to experience the rich history of the mountain man era. Included are trapping demos, muzzleloader shooting demos, an ax throwing contest and hound hunting demos. Visit montanafurharvesters.com or call Scott D. Smith at (406) 837-2659.
Idaho Trappers Association Convention
The Idaho Trappers’ Association (ITA) will hold its Summer Convention June 13 and 14, at the Lemhi County Fairgrounds, in Salmon, Idaho. Also, ITA, in conjunction with the National Trappers’ Association, will hold their annual banquet September 6, at the Shoshone Bannock Casino, in Fort Hall, Idaho. For more information on any of these events, contact Rusty Kramer, ITA President, at (208) 870-3217.
Upper Peninsula Trappers’ Association Convention
The Upper Peninsula Trappers’ Association will hold its U.P. Trappers’ Convention and Outdoor Show July 11 and 12, in Escanaba, Michigan, at the U.P. State Fairgrounds. Camping and food will be available on the fairgrounds. Activities will include demos, mini raffles, can raffles and a new “kids cave.” Contact Roy Dahlgren (906) 399-1960 or email trapperroy@outlook.com, and visit www.uptrappers.com for more information
New Mexico Trappers’ Association Fur Sales and Rendezvous
The New Mexico Trappers’ Association rendezvous is scheduled for June 13 and 14, at the Mountain View Christian Camp, in Alto, New Mexico. Contact Shelly (575) 649-1684 or gypsytrapper@yahoo.com.
New England Trappers
The New England Trappers (NET) will hold their NET Weekend August 14-16 in Bethel, Maine. Contact Neil Olson (207) 875-5765 or (207) 749-1179 for more information.
Coming in June
Features
Spring Bliss: Fishing Small Prairie Lakes – Garhart Stephenson says catching big pike in small North Dakota lakes is the perfect spring tonic.
The PPP Buck - Corey Roebke shares a two-generation father and son story about the hunt for big Wisconsin bucks.
A South Mountain Trapline - Robert Sellers recounts his mid-1970s fox and raccoon trapline in Pennsylvania’s Michaux State Forest.
Fly Rod Faux Pas - Phil Goes looks at some of the mistakes beginning (and experienced) fly anglers make and how to correct them.
Too Many Brook Trout? - Jim Zumbo looks at the West’s bountiful brook trout, an invasive species for Western waters and encourages catching them.
Bugging Panfish By the Moon - Jeremy Grady shares how to catch panfish on popping bugs during the full moon summer spawning season.
Other Stories
• Foraging for Wild Mushrooms – Jenny Underwood tells how to start foraging for wild mushrooms.
• Inland Redfish – Ron Peach tells how to catch drum, the inland redfish.
• Wolves of the Birchwood, Chapter 10
• Seward Peninsula Moose –Tyler Kuhn guides two hunters to successful bull moose hunts on Alaska’s Seward Peninsula.
• Let Trapping Open the Door to Private Land – Noah Davis tells how trapping can lead to other outdoor opportunities
• A Fly-In Canadian Fishing Memory – Fred Prince shares his experiences on Quebec’s Lac Parent.
• 100th Anniversary Article: The Blue Crab of the Chesapeake Country - S.B. Poole shares the adventures of his crew crabbing in the Chesapeake Bay.
• The Spark of Ingenuity – Alan Davy tells how NOT to fire up a Coleman stove when it’s pouring rain and the wind is making whitecaps on a fishing trip.
End of the Line Photo of the Month
Denny Kuehling, Unity, Wisconsin
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