The Story of the Great Fox Shot

“The Story of the Great Fox Shot”
Excerpts from “An “Autobowography” of the Past 55 Years of Archery”
By Tom Dorigatti

Welcome back, readers.  In the previous blog, I told about pulling a nice stalk on a big buck pronghorn only to be foiled by a pair of pronghorn does I hadn’t seen that were lying down watching out for that big buck.  The 1969 hunting season was continuing like the 1968 hunting season, with me making rookie mistakes.  Let’s pick up the continuance of the fall pronghorn season and my adventures with trying to bag my first pronghorn with a bow and arrow.
Equipment: Here is a listing of equipment used during that 1969 Bow Hunting season: 
Bow: Bear Kodiak Magnum recurved bow, 50#@28” draw length. Dacron String, no bow sights, combination gap shooting/instinctive.
Arrows:  2016 24SRT-X aluminum with index nocks and Chartreuse Feathers fletched full helical. Spare arrows were 11/32 Matched set of Bear Port Orford Cedar arrows, brown in color, with white feathers fletched full helical.
Broadheads: 125 grain Bear Razorheads with inserts.  Everything hand sharpened.
Release style: Fingers on the bow string, apache style, with Bear 3-fingered shooting glove.
Quiver:  4-arrow Kwikee Quiver, mounted on the riser.
Arrow Rest: Arrow shot off the shelf of the bow.
Clothing: State law required blaze orange hat and blaze orange vest or jacket. I wore Levis and standard hunting boots.  No Camo gear whatsoever.
Hunting style:  Spot and stalk.

The Story of the Great Fox Shot.
Jim and I didn’t get another good opportunity for a spot and stalk that day.  It seemed that about every time we’d find something worth going after, they would “make us” or whoever’s turn it was would manage to screw up worse than the pronghorn buck and the buck would get away.  We nevertheless had fun because we saw a ton of huge “goats” that first day out.  Guns were firing all around us, but always in the distance, because “road hunters” didn’t want to hoof it out away from the main course and into the Bad Lands where we were hunting, and of course we were thankful for that, too.  The bigger bucks were out where we were, or so it seemed, anyway.  Either way, we didn’t run across other hunters and that made our lives easier.
The next morning we were out bright and early and while coming back from yet another failed attempt at a spot and stalk by Jim on a huge pronghorn buck, we spotted a fox.  He was about 30 yards or less away, and we could see his head and the upper half of his body because he was in a small ditch.  He was stopped, looking right at us, but apparently he didn’t know we had spotted him, so he just froze and wasn’t moving.  I drew back the bow and launched the arrow.  I hit well short (hey, for once, I didn’t over-shoot, hoo-rah!), and the arrow skidded along and out of sight.  A big old cloud of dust went up, and Jim shouts, while looking thru his binoculars, Great shot, Tom!  You nailed him right in the head; he’s flopping around out there!  That was one helluva shot!  I had no more made a good shot on that fox than the man in the moon.  It was a super fantastic clear lucky shot; lucky in that the arrow skidded just right and ricocheted to nail him in the head before he could move and run off.  But hey, Jim and I split that $75 bounty so what the heck.   I did break down and tell Jim that I saw the arrow hit short and skid/ricochet into the fox.  He was busy watching in binoculars and hadn’t seen the arrow on its way in the direction of the fox.  Glance offs might not count for score in target shooting, but hey, in bow-hunting, sometimes a skidder is as good as a double lunger!  We didn’t have to chase that fox at all.  He went down immediately.  Hey, I didn’t hit him in the ears; I didn’t hit him in the horns and knock him down, and I didn’t shoot over the top of him either.  I’m making some progress here!
Stay tuned for the next story about a great stalk on yet another huge pronghorn buck….

Illinois Whitetail Alliance update

Spent a short period of time at the Illinois Deer & Turkey Classic today and, as near as I could tell, the most interesting deer-related thing going on in Springfield was the Illinois Whitetail Alliance.

Members of the new deer advocacy group had a 2.5-hour meeting with Department of Natural Resources director Marc Miller on Friday. While I don’t know what will come of that meeting, I can say the Alliance is on its way to shaking things up in Illinois.

Let’s face it, Illinois deer hunters are an unhappy lot in the wake of a 2013-14 hunting season that saw the deer kill decline by 18 percent.

This year’s preliminary kill total of 148,569 for all deer seasons was down 32,242 and marked the eighth straight season of population decline. It was also the lowest gun season total in 23 years and lowest total deer harvest since 1999.

Faced with those facts, a group of Illinois hunters has formed the Illinois Whitetail Alliance. The goals of the organization, whose founding members include former Department of Natural Resources Director Brent Manning, are outlined in a proposal recently released to the public.

Manning praised the DNR for a recent announcement about possible regulation changes. But he added, “Many other recommendations have been made with the best interest of Illinois’ deer herd in mind. The entire Alliance proposal is well thought out, and deserves consideration.”

Alliance member Kevin Chapman, a past Illinois Bowhunters Society president and Springfield conservation legislation watchdog, said one goal is to be proactive, instead of reactive.

“In the past it seems like everyone has wanted to sit back and complain about what the DNR did,” Chapman said. “I don’t think an organized group has wanted to take the initiative to make suggestions.

“Many in the Alliance have been involved with Illinois deer management issues for over 20 years, and have witnessed the rise and fall of Illinois deer hunting. Most hunters are passionate about the future of one of the state’s greatest natural resources. That’s why some of the best deer management ideas in the past have come from the hunting public, including the current statewide two-buck limit.”

Hunter’s passions have not been lost on DNR upper management. As Manning noted, in a recent press release the DNR said it “plans to revise deer population objectives for more than 40 counties beginning with the 2014-15 deer season, following a two-year review of Illinois deer management.”

“In these counties our strategy is shifting from deer herd reduction to maintaining or increasing deer populations,” said IDNR Director Marc Miller.

DNR is also considering limiting over-the-counter firearm permits and seeks hunter input at www.surveymonkey.com/s/IDNRdeerSurvey.

But the Alliance is asking for greater changes, as outlined in a presentation Chapman will make Saturday (4:30 p.m.) and Sunday (11 a.m.) at the Illinois Deer & Turkey Classic.

He is also scheduled to speak March 2 at 12:30 p.m. at the Elmwood All Outdoors Show in Elmwood.

Chapman believes in parts of Illinois the deer herd may be down by as much as 50 percent with a statewide average of 30 percent.

For proof he points to the continued decline in deer harvest totals and in deer-vehicle accident totals (DVAs). Based on 2012 numbers, DVAs are down 25 percent or more from the peak in 2003 ­– which Chapman notes, “was really before we even started seeing the effects of EHD in 2012 and 2013).”

“I know DNR has to balance this between all stakeholders, but whatever the magic number is, I think hunters are taking notice that the herd is below the acceptable level they want to see,” Chapman said.

Alliance members were scheduled to meet with Miller after Heartland Outdoors went to press.

The plan outlined by the Alliance heading into that meeting included the following five points:

1) Enact an immediate five-year moratorium on any new legislation or administrative rule change that could result in the expansion of any deer hunting season, add any additional weapons, or increase the deer harvest in any way. After five years, an independent review of the deer management program would be performed by a qualified source.

2) Reduce the pressure on the overall deer harvest, particularly on female deer, by implementing the following:
a) Eliminate the current late winter deer season (LWS)
b) Move all future antlerless-only (A-O) seasons to mid-September
c) Implement a one-buck and one-doe limit in counties where an additional A-O season is not needed
d) Eliminate all over-the-counter (OTC) gun permit sales, and OTC archery sales after November 1

3) Implement a statewide one-buck limit, all seasons combined.

4) Implement new regulations on non-resident (NR) permits including an immediate elimination of the OTC A-O permit, unless the NR has purchased a regular combo permit.

5) Enact stricter penalties for deer hunting violations that involve “willful intent” which would result in a two-year suspension of hunting privileges for the first offense, five-year suspension for the second offense, and permanent loss upon the third offense.

Members of the Illinois Whitetail also include outdoor writer Les Davenport, whitetail habitat consultant Don Higgins and biologist/forester Lee Mitchell.

Hunters in Illinois took a preliminary total of 74,355 deer during the 2013 firearm season, 3,546 deer during muzzleloader season and 3,012 during the youth season. All totals were down from 2012.

Bowhunters shot 57,290 deer, compared with a harvest of 59,805 in the 2012-13 archery season. Late-winter and special CWD deer seasons had a combined harvest of 10,366, down from 14,723 in 2012-13.

Chapman concedes many other Midwestern states experienced similar harvest declines this year.

“I think everybody kind of adopted the same principles. It’s the same story everywhere,” he said. “All the other DNRs are just realizing we did a little too much and now we need to tweak it back the other direction.”

Chapman said he hopes the Alliance can help the Illinois DNR reach the same conclusions as it reviews deer management.

Alliance members urge hunters to contact their local legislators. The group also has a Facebook page with 1,615 members.

- Jeff Lampe 

- Heartland Outdoors

That First Real Bow Hunting Season, circa 1969, Nice Pronghorn…BUT..

Excerpts from “An “Autobowography” of the Past 55 Years of Archery

By Tom Dorigatti

Ok readers; let’s turn back the clock some 45 years to 1969.  I had moved to Casper, Wyoming and was teaching at East Junior High School in Casper, Wyoming.  The teaching assignment was the best of both worlds.  I was teaching French and Earth Science; both of which were elective courses.  Life was good in the teaching, life was good with the family because we were expecting our first child in February 1970, and in addition to all this, I had found and become a member of the Red Arrow Archers Archery Club in Casper and had experienced my first outdoor field archery tournament in early August.  I also met some great archers and bow hunters, one of which took me under his wing and set up a hunt for mule deer that I will remember the rest of my life.  But I am ahead of myself here, so let us get on with these true stories about that “First Real Bow Hunting Season.”  The facts are true and no names have been changed to protect anyone!  Keep reading.

Hunting Season, October, 1969.

I managed to get lucky and get a pronghorn (antelope) permit for the Poison Spider hunting area West of Casper for the fall of 1969.  Since the indoor target season wasn’t going to start until November, I still had some time to go hunting.  I was quite successful in finding some BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land and also got permission to hunt on some private land if need be.  I still had a 50# Bear Kodiak Magnum recurved bow (compounds weren’t available in our area just yet) and I also had my matched wooden hunting arrows, along with some 2016 24SRT-X aluminum shafts that a club member, Art Cox had given me.  He had given me two dozen of them, so I took one dozen and made hunting arrows out of them after having tested them to see how they flew. They flew just great out of the Kodiak Magnum!  HMMMM…2016’s flying great out of a 50# Kodiak Magnum with 125 grain Bear Razorheads on the end, and the same arrow flying great out of a Bear Polar target bow at 35#@28”?  I only mention this in passing…or is there a reason for me mentioning this? Well of course there is, but that, too is another story to be told.  Read on.

I was still shooting bare-bow (no sights) for hunting, with fingers on the string, since I felt more comfortable hunting in this manner.  (In 1969, release aids weren’t yet in the game of archery and bow hunting).  In the early fall, I had met another fella that was a bow hunter and he also had a pronghorn permit for the same area.  However, he worked late during the week, so he could only hunt on weekends.  The hunting season always opened on a Saturday, so Jim Lewis and I were out there early on Saturday for the opening day.  It is important to know that in Wyoming, back in 1969, we did not yet have a special pre-season for bow hunting!  That was to happen, however in 1970 or was it 1971?  Not to matter, I would have bow hunted anyway.  The big thing was that in order to hunt, you had to wear a blaze orange cap and so many square inches of blaze orange on your torso, and in addition to that you were competing with the rifle hunters to boot!  It is obvious that if blaze orange was required, then camouflage clothing was out of the question!  Competing with rifles and not having Camo gear didn’t seem to matter much either as you will soon find out.

Nice Big Pronghorn Buck, BUT...problems arise!! HRUMPH!

Jim and I both knew that the road hunters would be all over the place.  We had pre-scouted and found a spot a few miles away from the beaten path. This was where several large bucks were frequenting.  The pronghorns did go for water early in the mornings and late in the evenings, but neither Jim or I wanted to sit at a waterhole or windmill and fight the mosquitoes and boredom, so we elected to go into the back territory and spot and stalk our “goats”.  At first light, the rifle shooting started off in the not so far distance.  We had spotted a couple of really nice bucks and I decided to try to pull a stalk on one of them.  There was plenty of higher sage brush, a couple of deeper gulches, and some other “stuff” that would provide cover.  In addition, the wind was in my favor.  I had about 300 yards or so of stalking to do. I was able to move reasonably well to within about 80 yards or so before things got a bit dicey.  I then had to basically start to do a slow belly crawl, moving a few feet, stopping, watching for rattle snakes and other creepy crawlers, cacti, rocks, scorpions, etc, and then moving a few more feet onward.  All the while, this buck kept feeding and his head was away from me.  I knew full well, however that their vision was very acute and sensitive to movement and that they also had uncanny peripheral vision, too.  Thus getting up super close behind one would be tough, but not impossible.  I got to within about 30 yards or so when the buck turned dead broad-side to me, still grazing and oblivious to my presence.  I then moved maybe at most another 2-3 yards and I heard this snorting off to one side of me.  That buck didn’t lift his head; that buck didn’t turn to look over my way; that buck simply put it into high gear and high-tailed it right outta there muy pronto like somebody had lit a fire under his butt!  I remember thinking quickly, that buck didn’t snort, his head was down, so what the….and then I looked over and about 15 yards away, still lying down were two doe antelope, looking right at me!  I hadn’t seen either one of them; I was so intent on stalking that buck (and watching for rattle snakes, ha), that I hadn’t seen those two does lying down.  That ole buck wasn’t as stupid as I thought he was; he felt safe because he knew he was safe…guarded by those two does!  Oh, how I wanted to shoot one of the does out of spite, but of course, that would have meant the end of my season by taking a doe.  Not hardly; not on opening day. 

Yet another lesson learned about bow hunting…or was it one forgotten and re-learned as in “pay attention to what is around you”?  Seems I’m screwing up by the numbers on my quest for my first big game animal with bow and arrow, doesn’t it?  Just the previous year, I had skillfully stalked to within 20 yards of a huge mule deer buck and taken the shot.  The arrow had gone right where I was looking too.  Nailed him in the antlers and knocked him off his feet.  I thought I had a spine shot, but no, he is only stunned and got back up, violently shaking his antlers trying to get the arrow out of them and stop it from rattling around!  He ran off, all the while acting dizzy and shaking his head.  I saw him a few days later, but couldn’t get close enough for another shot.  Yes, the arrow was still stuck in those antlers, too.

The saga of my first full season of bow hunting will continue in the next episode….

DU Pleased NRCA Providing Innovative Ways to Conserve Grasslands

BISMARCK, ND- Ducks Unlimited applauds USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) increasing its efforts to work with landowners in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) to conserve grasslands and wetlands. Agriculture Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Robert Bonnie announced today that NRCS is committing up to $35 million over the next three years for prairie conservation in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa.

"We are pleased to see NRCS renewing its commitment to grassland and wetland conservation in the PPR, which is so critical to waterfowl production," said DU CEO Dale Hall. "We're seeing unprecedented pressures to convert native prairie and drain wetlands. We need to look for new ways to make conservation programs more economically competitive and attractive to landowners." 

Conservation Reserve Program acres have dropped substantially over the last few years and these trends are expected to continue. "This investment by NRCS will keep grasslands and wetlands intact by helping farmers and ranchers conserve working lands for livestock production, hayland and wildlife habitat," Hall said.

As part of the 2014 Farm Bill, NRCS will offer private landowners a mix of financial and technical assistance opportunities to restore wetlands and grasslands and help mitigate a recent regional trend of conversion to croplands.

The farm bill also includes a "Sodsaver" provision, which reduces crop insurance subsidies for farmers and ranchers who convert native grasslands for crop production.

Thanks to a NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant awarded in 2011, DU and several other project partners are also working on a pilot project in North Dakota to create new carbon credit opportunities for landowners who permanently protect grasslands. The project partners are currently validating this program and hope to have it available to producers in late 2014 to early 2015.