Wyoming Elk Hunt, 1963

Wyoming Elk Hunt, 1963

7 for 7 by 7:30

By Tom Dorigatti

I have mentioned in prior blogs that being born and raised in Wyoming; I grew up with a fishing pole in one hand and a rifle in the other.  Most of the time, whether it be small game or big game, my father and I hunted as a “party” in a spot and stalk fashion.  What you are going to read is a break in that mold that turned out to be quite an elk hunting adventure of a life-time. 

Over the years, the photos of this hunt have been lost, so, unfortunately, I don’t have those anywhere but in my mind.  So special was the nature of this hunt that it will always be with me. So sorry I cannot share those images with you, because the proud faces of us hunters were something to behold, let alone the nice elk that we took that one fine morning in November, 1963.

Elk Hunt Area by Drawing

We had most always hunted elk in the general areas that did not require us to submit an application for a special elk hunt area drawing.  In 1963, however, a relative, Norman Gillespie asked us to try for a special elk hunting license in the Killpecker Sand Dunes area of SW Wyoming.  We commonly call this area “The Sands.”  If I remember correctly, back then there were only about 150 permits issued for this elk hunting area, again by special drawing only.

Here is a link to allow you to read about this area without me having to give you the details and take up space:

http://www.tourwyoming.com/things-to-do/attractions/killpecker-sand-dunes/

After reading the above, you would never believe that the “Wapiti” or “Rocky Mountain Elk” would ever roam such an area, but trust me; they are out there in relative abundance.  The elk herd in this area is the only desert elk herd found in North America. Some experts think that the Killpecker Sand Dunes are only a part of the migratory route, but when I was younger, we could often see the elk out there pretty much year round.  The “Sands” is relatively close to my hometown, Rock Springs, Wyoming. It has always been a “hot” area for big and small game.  Boar’s Tusk is another familiar land mark right at the edge of the Killpecker Sand Dunes.  One of the highest points in the area is “Steamboat Mountain” and there is another “mountain” we’ve hunted before called “Table Mountain.”  This is often confused with “Table Rock” which is to the South East of Table Mountain, but not very far away at all.

The Wapiti or Rocky Mountain Elk:
I’m not going on a diatribe to tell you how beautiful these animals are.  Many of you may well have already been elk hunting.  Did  you know that the elk in Colorado were first “transplanted” there from Wyoming?  Thus, here are some links that will allow you to refresh your memories and/or allow you to learn something you may not know:  I will tell you that back in 1963, CWD or other diseases weren’t even heard of and that the numbers of elk were far higher than they are today! Years ago, brucellosis was also diagnosed in the Yellowstone elk herd and they had to put down several animals due to this disease.  Not so back in the early 1960’s.

To demonstrate the “sizes” of the different bulls, I’ve included photos that I dug up from open sources on the internet:  (Note:  The author did not take the photos of the elk above. They are here for demonstrative purposes to show the obvious changes from “decent bull” to Bull Royal (6x6) to Monarch (8x8)) A “decent” bull, then a “Bull Royal” (6x6), and finally a “Monarch” (8x8). Not only are the size of the antlers huge, but the animal under that “rack” is huge, too!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountain_elk

Luck of the Draw

Lo and behold, both my father and I were lucky enough to draw special elk permits for “The Sands” for the 1963 elk hunting season!  In addition our relative, Norman Gillespie, a noted professional hunter’s guide at the time, and 4 other acquaintances from Rock Springs were all lucky enough to draw permits as well.  What makes it better is that all of us drew Antlered Elk only permits.  Antlered only did not include “spike elk”, so we could not harvest elk with spikes for antlers, nor could we harvest cow elk or any other anterless elk.  So, we knew early on that we would be hunting in a party of 7 hunters, all seeking to harvest a decent bull elk with rifles.

Pre-Scouting

Norman was the primary pre-scouter for our hunting group and spent quite a bit of time figuring out the best locations for our planned week-long hunt for the wiley “Wapiti.”  In addition, he had told us to go ahead and snoop around too and let him know if we found any other hot spots.  By the time hunting season rolled around, Norman and the group had pretty much figured out what and where the best spot was for that important opening day of elk season.

Why the all important opening day?  Well, something is fishy about these animals.  For the first day or so, they aren’t so skittish, but once that shooting starts, they get really smart in a hurry and can pull a disappearing act of monumental proportions.  One minute they are there, and the next they are gone.  They can “hide” in those dunes like you wouldn’t believe, too.  Lucky for us, we weren’t going to be hunting in the dunes right away.  Another item of note is that unlike the pronghorn and the mule deer, once an elk decides to “take off” and he raises his head and tucks those antlers back, you won’t hear him and he won’t stop running until he gets to, as Norman put it, “the next county.”  They won’t stop out 100 yards or so, turn broadside, and look at you!  In addition to that, in this area, you aren’t likely to get a 300 or 400 yard shot anyways.  The terrain doesn’t lend itself to that.  Those dunes are NOT flat by any stretch of the imagination.  The sage brush is high, and up on Steamboat Mountain, the terrain is too uneven to give you long range “looks.”  Get a shot?  Better make it count; you won’t likely get another unless it is at a fast moving target that doesn’t always run in a straight line, ha.

What about School?

In my hometown, the opening of mule deer season “out South” and the opening of Elk season were/are a big deal.  The schools had certain rules for us students to abide by: First, to be excused from school for a week, both your parents had to write a note to the school telling the exact dates you are to be out of school to go hunting.  Secondly, and it was mandatory to have the absences be “excused” and not truant, was that all the school work for all the classes had to be made up in advance and each teacher sign off that the work was done and turned in.  Without the above being accomplished, the absences were unexcused and the results were zeroes for all missed days with no chance of making up missed work for credit.  They stuck to their guns on this issue, too!  Thus, all my school work was indeed made up and turned in before leaving school on the Friday before hunting season opened.

The Night before the Season Opener:

We left for Steamboat Mountain and ramparts nearby right after I got out of school on Friday.  The plan was to hunt from opening day through a week from Sunday; a total of 9 days.  It was pretty much standard back then to plan on a week or so for elk hunting.  The success rate for elk back then was running 95-98%, depending upon the area.  If I recall correctly for antlered elk in “The Sands” the rifle success rate back then was about 97%.  We knew we would get our elk, but didn’t know how long it would take or how “big” the elk was going to be.  The gang had set a limit of at least a 4x4 for the first 4 days and would renegotiate those terms on the 5^th day, depending upon what we were seeing/running across.

The “Perfume”

We got up part way on Steamboat Mountain before it got dark and set up camp.  Norman had a large tent that accommodated all 7 of us quite comfortably, and the tent was going to be nice and warm.  Of course we had a nice campfire we sat around and BS’ed until it was time for sleepy-byes.  Once we went to bed, there always is one among the group that perfumes the quarters and laughs about it.  That one person happened to be my father.  His perfume was so bad that we all abandoned the tent until the air cleared, my father roaring in laughter the entire time he sat and inhaled his own perfume! Haha.

The Ruckus

We are all sleeping soundly when much to our alarm and surprise, all hell is breaking loose outside our tent.  We were obviously all startled wondering what earthquake had just struck only to find out it was some elk going through our camp on their way down to water.  We knew they’d be back up again in the morning; either when the shooting started down below, or from their natural movement up the mountain around day break.  One way or the other, we knew we were going to at least encounter elk that very morning.

Off To Our Sitting Area

Well before light, we had breakfast at the campfire and some hot coffee and then Norman gathered up the group of us and took each of us to our “sitting spot” a bit farther up the mountain.  He clearly told us to sit tight and to simply wait until the shooting started down below us.  We knew that this would drive the elk up the mountain in our direction.  He also admonished us to stay put and if we downed an elk to stay put and not to go over and get that elk right away.  I don’t know how many times he told each of us about the stay put or you might get shot thing; but it was more than ample warning about what he wanted us to do.  He obviously had this all planned out and had us spaced properly so as not to be shooting at each other or at each other’s elk (Unless we missed our shot and the elk kept on moving out). 

7 for 7 by 7:30

Around 6:45 AM it was light enough to be “legal hunting time.”  Moments later, it almost sounded like a small war had started down below.  We all knew the elk would be moving up the mountain in our directions.  I closed the bolt on my trusty 30-06, cradled the sling onto my arm, and assumed the sitting position so as to allow me to adjust up and down or left to right, and waited.  I didn’t have to wait for long when a nice 4x5 bull made its presence known by walking quickly up towards me.  He was oblivious to my presence, and to this day, I must admit to some “buck fever” and heavy heart throbbing as this animal came up that draw.  Once he was into the draw, he slowed down as if he knew (or thought, ha) he was safe for now.  I let him slow even more and let him come on in closer and closer.  Somehow, as if on queue or something, about 50-75 yards out, he stopped in a great angle for a killing shot to the neck.  I took off the safety, raised the rifle, aimed a touch low on his neck and squeezed off the round.  The elk went down in a heap immediately, the 180 grain Sierra Semi-point bullet effectively killing him instantly.  My elk season was officially over. It wasn’t even 7AM on opening morning yet, and my elk season and big game season was done for. 
Within the next half-hour I heard 6 more shots close by.  There were no rapid repeats of any shots, so I knew full well that those shots had scored as well.  When I looked at my watch after hearing the last of the shots nearby, it was just shy of 7:30AM.  7 elk down for 7 hunters by 7:30!

What We Had Harvested:

Norman came around to each of us, told us to empty our guns and put us to work tagging and cleaning our kills. He had already taken care of his requirements for his elk, so he went down to camp to gather the horse so we could haul the elk back to camp. 

The largest of the elk taken was a fine Bull Royal (6x6) taken by Eddie Dolinar.  I sure wish I still had a photo of this magnificent bull elk!  The rest of us managed 4X4’s, my 4x5, and my dad’s 5x5 with a broken brow tine.  None of us had seen an “Imperial” (7x7) or heaven forbid a “Monarch” (8x8).  We pretty much were presented with what was above the minimum and took no chances.  Norman later said he had not seen anything bigger than a “Royal” during his scouting trips, and only a few of those.

Now the Work Begins

We spent the better part of the day quartering and hauling all 7 elk and managing to keep track of which elk was what, just in case we were to be checked by the Wyoming Game & Fish Commission to validate we had permits that matched up with the right number of “quarters” and right type (antlered elk only; we not only had to keep the antlers, but the animals’ private parts as well).  As it was, I don’t recall having to check in the elk as we got to the highway to go home.  After all, it was only like 40 miles or less from where we harvested the elk to Norman’s house in Rock Springs!

I Make Some Extra Money

In spite of being quartered, those elk did have to be hung properly to age in the cold garage.  They also had to be skinned, which is where the extra money comes in.  Norman knew I could use the extra money, so he hired me on as his “skinner” for the elk.  I had been skinning the pronghorns and mulies he and his out of state hunters had harvested during Norman’s guided hunts all fall long.  I was paid $2 each for pronghorn and mulies and $3 each for each elk.  I was not, however involved in “caping out” trophy animals; that was Norman’s ‘job;” besides, I had never been shown how to properly cape out a trophy animal.  Funny, but you know what?  To this very day, I don’t know how to cape out a trophy animal!  I got pretty good at skinning those big game animals and was always trying to skin ‘em out without putting a lot of slice marks in the fat or the meat as I skinned down the carcass.  Takes some learning and practice to do this efficiently, but it really helps if the animal is hanging by the rear quarters instead of the neck.

What about School?

Gotta save the best for last.  I told you that we got home before dark on Saturday, which was opening day.  Well, since I was too cheap to pay my sub on my paper route any longer than necessary, I was up early on Sunday and again on Monday running my paper route.  I got up especially early on Monday to get that job done and went back to bed.  About 7:30 AM, my father comes into my room and shakes me loose.  He tells me to get my butt out of bed and get ready for school.  I told him that I didn’t have to go to school the entire week because all my work was made up.  I lost that argument in a hurry and was told that I was going to school all week and that since my work was all done, I could learn better because I would see it twice.  He said he expected better results on the tests as a result and also to make sure I got some extra credit and not just sit in class!  Can you imagine that happening today?  So, off to school I went.  Yes!  I also did better on the tests, and when it came to Geometry class, being there to see this TWICE really helped on the unit on “Proofs.”  I got all kinds of extra credit in my other classes as well.

So, there you have it, the story of “7 for 7 by 7:30.”  7 men, 7 elk taken with 7 shots in less than 45 minutes.  Tommy sent back to school, work made up in advance or not.

I again drew a special elk license for “The Sands” in 1968, but that one is yet another story, and a fun and memorable story it is!

---Good Hunting

Tom Dorigatti

5 Off Season Decoy Tips

I'm sure you all put away your decoys at the end of last season clean with good lines and weights, checked them all for leaks and made your repairs.  If so stop reading and you are good to go, but for guys like me here are a few tips that can help pass the time until duck season arrives. 

Wash off your decoy by getting out the hose and washing off the mud.  Ducks are constantly cleaning themselves, so there is no reason for a dirty decoy because realism kills. 

Check you anchoring system.  No matter what method you use I am sure you will have loose lines or crimps and missing weights. 

Check for leakers.  If water is still in the decoy you have a problem.   Check for shot holes and cracks.  Cracks are most commonly found at the attachment of the keel or on the seam of a plastic decoy.  I have used a hot glue gun to plug the holes and can get another year out of a leaking decoy. 

Touch up the paint.  I like to touch up the bills with some orange or yellow for mallards and maybe some black and white on the heads and tails of a goose floater.  Don't be scared to try it, but don't get carried away because a little goes a long way.    

Clean out the decoy bag.  No matter what kind of bag you use it probably has mud and vegetation and maybe even garbage in it.   Hose it down and let it dry out to keep your freshly reconditioned decoys organized and ready for opening day. 

Remember most decoys are plastic and the new ones on the market have unbelievable detail and paint schemes.   Getting another year out of some old decoys is a great idea but there is no comparison to fresh out of the box new decoys.   If you replace some of your old rig this year, do our sport a favor and give a dozen decoys to a young hunter who is just getting started and can't afford much. As always, shop Presleys Outdoors.     

www.presleysoutdoors.com

  

  

Prairie Dogging!

Visions of the Way it Was, Circa 1962
Prairie Dogging!

By Tom Dorigatti

I have mentioned in prior blogs that being born and raised in Wyoming; I grew up with a fishing pole in one hand and a rifle in the other.  The hunting that I did with my father was for food most of the time.  However, we also did some varmint hunting, specifically, prairie dog hunting; long range prairie dog shooting, in fact.  Our weapons of choice were the .22 rim fire Long Rifle and the .222 Remington long range varmint round. 

Cost of Ammunition back in the early 1960’s:

I might mention that back then, a “brick” of 500 rounds of .22 LR shells cost us $5!  If we bought hollow-points, they were $6 for a brick of 500 rounds.  The cost of reloading the .222 Remington was less expensive than 30-06 or .300 Magnum cartridges, roughly around $9 per 100 rounds.

For those of you not familiar with the .222 Remington, it was a round specifically designed for varmint shooting at long range.  We also had a .220 Swift, but quickly found out that it was too “hot” and that the barrel and chamber were worn out quickly (300-400 rounds and accuracy went to pot!), so we quickly got rid of the .220 Swift and went with the .222 Remington, or as we called it, “the triple deuce.”  Even at that, when economic times got tough, we ended up selling off that .222 Remington too, dang it all anyways.  The rifle was fun too shoot; not only for long range prairie dog hunting, but from a bench or even the sitting or prone positions! 

 Specifications for the .222 Remington Cartridge:

(Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.222_Remington  )  I won’t repeat the entire thing, since you can look it up if you are interested.  I’ll simply talk about my experiences with this low recoil (did I tell you I HATE recoil, haha?).  The cartridge was designed in 1950 by Mike Walker and manufactured by Remington.  It is a Rimless bottleneck center fire cartridge. The bullet diameter is .224 and the cartridge length is just over 2”.  If I recall correctly, we used 50 grain bullets out of the rifle we had which gave it some great knock down power for small varmints.  The cartridge was tried for military use and eventually, some other changes were made, based upon a stretched .222 case, and adopted, along with the M-16 rifle (.223 Remington).  You don’t find this .222 Remington round easily anymore, but hey, I’m talking the early 1960’s for this blog!  We had the rifle and used it effectively for long range varmint shooting.  Today, the .222 is the parent case for the .221 Fireball, the fastest production handgun cartridge!

The .222 Remington still is very, very popular in Europe, where gun manufacturers like Sako, Tikka and Sauer chamber rifles for the .222 caliber. Firearms that are usually chambered for the .223 Remington/5.56×45mm NATO caliber are often re-chambered for the .222 Remington for sale in countries where laws restrict or even totally forbid civilian ownership of "military calibers". Two countries that have such laws include France and Spain.

Rules of the Game for Shooting Prairie Dogs:

Before I get into a great story of accuracy and a super long distance kill, I have to talk about the rules of the “game” we played while shooting prairie dogs.

This may sound harsh, but trust me when I tell you that back in the early 1960’s, prairie dog cities were very common around the area where I grew up, and there were literally thousands of the critters out there in countless numbers of large and small prairie dog cities.  Other varmints included badgers, coyotes, bob-cats, and an occasional mountain lion.  We could literally walk into the middle of a “dawg city,” sit down with our rifles and just wait ‘em back out of their holes.  Then the shootin’ started!  But you gotsta have rules!

Rule #1:  The .222 was for use on p-dogs, gophers, and other varmints at ranges in excess of 150 yards.

Rule #2:  You get ONE shot, if you don’t get a kill, then you lose your turn and get a punch to the shoulder.  If you get a kill, then it is still your turn.  ONE shot per dawg and you had to go to the next one.  (NOTE: one reason for the ONE shot was that we had experiences with the .220 Swift burning up a barrel quickly and didn’t want to screw up the barrel on the .222 in spite of it “only” shooting at 3,000 fps instead of 4,000 fps! Besides, there were plenty of dawgs out there, and we had no reason to take them all out and spoil future excursions.  We never hunted the same prairie dog city two days or two weekends in a row either.

Rule #3, all “dawgs” were in a safe zone if closer than 50 yards.  We did not shoot dawgs closer than 50 yards away!

Rule #4:  The .22 rim fire Long Rifle was used from 50 to 150 yards; the same one shot rule and penalties applied. We did not burn up the .222 for “chip shots,” haha.  By the way, a 150 yard shot with a .22 Long Rifle can be most challenging, especially in the wind!  We’ve shot ‘em at longer distances, too!

10 Things you Don’t Know About Prairie Dogs:
Check this out.  You should enjoy it!

http://news.softpedia.com/news/10-Things-You-Did-Not-Know-About-Prairie-Dogs-65579.shtml

A side note about prairie dogs: 

Not many know this, but the prairie dog will eat just about anything, including their own species.  In addition, mother prairie dogs will eat their weakest or sickly young and also feed it to the stronger ones! It also wasn’t all uncommon to come out a few days later passing through the same dawg city to get to another one and see them, along with the Black-Footed Ferrets eating on the carcasses of the downed dawgs!  We tried to never shoot black footed ferrets, but these creatures look and act a lot like the prairie dog and actually prey upon the prairie dogs.  For this reason, sometime around the late 1980’s or early 1990’s, the black footed ferret was protected and shooting prairie dogs was banned, and I think Colorado still bans the hunting of the black tailed prairie dog for sport.

Guided Prairie Dog Hunts in Wyoming

In Wyoming, however there are actually hunting guides that have prairie dog hunts!  One such place is the Bar-Nunn Hunting out of Laramie, Wyoming (http://www.bar-nunn.com/wyoming-prairie-dog-hunt/ ).  For those that may be interested in this, here is a link for the Top 10 Outfitters and Guides for Wyoming Prairie Dog Hunts.
(http://huntingtop10.com/Wyoming/Hunting/Prairie-Dog-Hunting/  ).  They say to bring two or three rifles with you, because you could go through 300-500 rounds a day and you need to let the barrels cool!  I don’t know if they allow the use of the trusty .222 Remington or hotter cartridges or not.  Again, my blog deals with the 1960’s and another story from the early 1980’s.  Of course, there are prairie dog hunts in South Dakota, Kansas, Colorado (not for sport, but you can get guided hunts), Texas, and Montana.

The Story of the “longest shot.”

The story I’m about to tell is true.  The names have not been changed to protect neither the innocent nor the guilty.  This is not a “tale.”  It actually happened!

My father and I decided to go to a prairie dog city we knew about that was just east of an old abandoned coal mining town of Winton, Wyoming.  We had to cross a decrepit bridge and drive a few miles East towards Superior, Wyoming on a rickety old road to get to the dawg city.  We always wanted to get there early in the morning for prime time dawg hunting, because the wind came up around 10:30AM and made getting true shots very difficult and we had too much wasted ammunition and lucky shots!  Remember, Rule #2?  ONE shot, so you couldn’t Kentucky windage in with more than one shot per dawg; that is a no-no!

So we are sitting in the middle of the prairie dog city and had been plinking away with the .22 and sometimes the .222.  Hitting and missing and thumping each other on the shoulder when whomever missed their shot.  After quite some time, my father spots this prairie dog way, way, way out there.  It is my turn.  He tells me where the prairie dog is sitting and I quickly find it in my scope.  The rifle is sighted in for 250 yards, but this dawg is OUT THERE.  My dad figures it is easily 350 yards; I’m thinking more like 375, but this is one hell of a poke, even with the .222!  There isn’t any wind to speak of, so, I take aim, raise the cross-hairs on the scope well above the dawg’s head and squeeze off the round.  My father calls out, “You nailed him!  Great shot!”  I’m thinking, “I sure saw a lot of dust.”  I then look again thru the scope and the prairie dog is indeed down and kicking up a storm of dust.  I told my dad I had to go see where I hit him and off I go.  I find the prairie dog, dead as a door-nail.  However, I was right.  I had not hit the prairie dog with the bullet.  I had shot short, and piece of shale (rock) had splintered off and lodged right in the forehead of the prairie dog!  To the day my father passed away, he never knew and was never told that my “great shot” was not made by the bullet hitting that prairie dog in the head, but rather a one in a thousand “rock skip shot.”  I had obviously missed the dawg by shooting well short, and got lucky due to the ground conditions!  TRUE STORY!

We had pretty good success that day, all in all.  Don’t remember how many good shots we both made, but both of us had a lot of one shot and misses, too.

Forward to 1982 or so.

I left Wyoming for college in 1967, and for many years, we never went back to the above mentioned prairie dog city.  While we did hunt prairie dogs from time to time, my father no longer had the .222 or anything like that for a varmint rifle.  The family did have a .22 Lever Action Marlin Lever Action and a couple of .22 pistols.  One is a Ruger “Single-Six” revolver that my father purchased new around 1956, and a High Standard Semi-Automatic that I never did shoot.  I don’t even know when my father purchased the weapon.

So, let’s fast forward to about 1982 or 1983.  My oldest daughter, Kari has always been one for shooting guns and catching fish (I might mention that she catches and cleans her own fish…but won’t eat them under any circumstances.  She follows the “You caught them, you clean them” rule to the hilt, too!  She nailed me but good on that when, after she finished cleaning her trout, I asked her for help (she was about 10 years old at the time), she got up, looked at me and said, “Dad, you caught ‘em, you clean ‘em.”  TRUE STORY!!  She also liked to shoot my 16 gauge double barreled shotgun; both barrels at the same time!  She thought that it was “cool” to do that!

Different rules:

Since Kari was only 12 or 13 years old, we had to modify the “Rules” for dawg shooting just a bit. The minimum distance for us this day was to be 50 yards and max distance was 100 yards, give or take.  The rule about the fist to the shoulder for a miss was that the thump on the shoulder wasn’t to be hard, just firm, more as a tease.  As you will soon see, however, there was to be no thumping Kari on the arm for quite some time!  Now, I will say that Kari’s shooting form wasn’t the best.  However, just like her mother, Kari follows instructions when it comes to shooting guns!  Put the cross-hairs right where you want to hit, steady the rifle, take in a breath, let some of it out, slowly squeeze the trigger without jerking it, wait for the shot to break, and follow through.

So, my oldest brother and I think this is going to be a cake walk and him and I will get a lot of shooting and soft thumping Kari!  That is what we got for doing our own thinking!

We were nice guys and let Kari go first, figuring she’d get one shot and miss and then Pete and I would have our turns that would go on quite some time!  Well, Kari’s first 10 shots were all scores/kills!  She missed on her 11^th shot, and not by much, and that dawg was out there a ways, too.  I got one or two and missed, and got thumped.  Pete got a couple and missed, and got thumped.  Kari’s turn again.  I don’t recall exactly, but it seems like she wasn’t going to miss unless we forced her on the super long shots of 100 yards plus!  Lousy form and all, this gal could shoot that .22!!!  She had the time of her life out there shooting dawgs, but unfortunately we haven’t been out together for this since.  Of course with the prairie dogs being protected all the years since and the family being spread out; we haven’t had the opportunity either.

Footnote:  Kari’s high school had “riflery” as a PE requirement.  They shot .177 caliber pellet rifles.  This was right up Kari’s alley, but she didn’t tell anyone that she knew how to shoot and shoot well.  So, what do you suppose happens in PE class when they qualify with the pellet rifle?  You got it!  Kari proceeded to kick butt, including beating the teacher’s score by a wide margin!  We still get a laugh out of that one.  Yep, Kari shoots like a girl; a danged accurate shooting girl, “bad form” and all.

Wish I had a photo of her shooting the .22 to share, but I don’t!  

Top 10 Turkey Hunting Counties in Illinois 2015

Did you have luck this spring in you quest for a gobbler?  Well this years Illinois spring wild turkey season harvest totals were up to 14,999 Birds, compared to 13,514 in 2014.  With Illinois tag system being issued by county and with 100 counties to choose from, a little planning and permission from land owners are required before you apply for next years tag.

By the numbers your top 10 Illinois counties to turkey hunt are:

1.  Jo Daviess (601)

2. Jefferson (433)

3. Fulton (401)

4. Adams (389)

5. Pope (366)

6. Pike (341)

7. Marion (333)

8. Macoupin (328)

9. Union (312)

10. Randolph (300)

“Turkey hunters in the North Zone, particularly in west-central Illinois, benefitted from improved turkey reproductive success during the spring of 2014,” said IDNR Forest Wildlife Biologist Paul Shelton.  “This was evident from the improved harvest numbers in those areas and a higher proportion of jakes in the harvest than we’ve seen in many years.”