Page 57 - Flathead Beacon // 11.23.16

MOUNTAIN EXPOSURE
OUTDOORS IN BRIEF
DEER HARVEST AHEAD OF LAST YEAR AS SEASON WINDS DOWN
Down to the nal week of the big game hunting season, the deer harvest in Northwest Montana is slightly ahead of last year while hunterschasingelkarehavinga di cult time so far this season, according to regional check sta- tion results.
At the six Northwest Montana check stations through Nov. 20, a total of 14,192 hunters checked 1,141 white-tailed deer, includ- ing 813 bucks. Last year at this time, hunters had checked 953 whitetails.
Hunters have also reported 129 mule deer and 64 elk. This year’s harvest success rate is 9.4 percent compared to 7.5 percent a year ago. Hunter participation, with 14,192 hunters reported, is down 6 percent compared to last year, according to check station results.
The general big game season ends one half hour after sunset on Sunday, Nov. 27.
“Overall success rates continue
to be above 2015 levels,” stated Neil Anderson, wildlife program manager for Fish, Wildlife and Parks. “We are seeing a higher percentage of 3-year old and older bucks at check stations now, which is expected with the onset of the rut.”
Anderson noted that elk hunt- ing continues to be a challenge. Hunters are reporting seeing cows and spikes, but legal bulls have been hard to come by, Anderson said. The lack of snow makes elk hunting di cult and allows bulls to stay at higher elevations and in thicker cover, he noted.
Hunters are reminded that it will be legal to harvest antlerless white-tailed deer on private prop- erty during the last week of the season with a general deer license. This does not include corporate timberlands.
Hunters should refer to the hunting regulations for the hunt- ing district they plan to hunt.
OUT OF BOUNDS ROB BREEDING HUNTING THE HOLIDAYS
MANY HUNTING FAMILIES have holiday hunting tradi- tions. Many of us have a day or two o this time of year, and we often choose to spend it outside. That’s a good thing.
I grew up in urban Southern Califor- nia, so my family wasn’t in the habit of being outdoors. We’d be outside of course. It was SoCal after all, and Thanksgiving Day usually runs about 75 degrees, as I recall. But outside meant tossing a foot- ball around in shirtsleeves or a walk through the neighborhood. The hunting grounds were a long way o , as were sh- ing holes, though there were some pretty decent largemouth bass opportunities nearby if we’d had half a clue.
Actually, our nest holiday tradition involved all us kids gathering in the den around the bowl of shrimp dip Grandma B always made when the family was over. It was a simple dish: pulse a can of deveined shrimp with a softened block of cream cheese in the food processor. Maybe add a touch of garlic, open a bag of Ru es and eat.
That dip had almost magical qualities. Once put out it didn’t last long. All of the nephews and nieces would gather around that small bowl, ravenous. It was a ridic- ulously simple recipe, but we only got shrimp dip once or twice a year. Appar- ently our parents couldn’t make it. Only Grandma B had that mojo.
We’d put a big dent in the bowl of dip, then get shooed away, then sneak back a short time later to nish it o . That was always the most disappointing part of the holidays, staring at that empty bowl.
I’m not sure why she never made a lit- tle more. Not even a double batch? It was easy enough. But somehow, maybe the way it seemed such a rare commodity, has something to do with how all of us grand- kids, now mostly in our late 40s and early 50s, still talk about Grandma B’s shrimp dip with such reverence.
I didn’t really get my outdoor holi- day tradition going until I had long since moved from my native urban home- town to Montana. And even then, with young kids around it was hard. There are always family things to do. But if you’re fortunate enough to have good hunting grounds nearby, and an understanding spouse, sometimes you can get away with it.
I remember spending Christmas one year with friends in the Bitterroot, and having our host describe how on Thanks- giving Day he had watched a decent buck wander out into the eld as they ate. Din- ner apparently could wait. He grabbed his ri e and lled his deer tag. His wife just sighed and said “Well, it was hunt- ing season.”
Now that my kids are grown, and increasingly out in the world far, far away, I’ve stumbled into the opportu- nity to play outside on the holidays on a more regular basis. I’ve spent a couple of Thanksgiving days out east of the moun- tains chasing birds near Valier. And there was the Christmas Day I might have killed a pheasant at Blasdel, but for some inexplicable reason when the rooster ushed out in front of me in easy shoot- ing range, I just decided to let it y.
It was Christmas after all.
Increasingly the holidays are an opportunity to get away to warmer climes where I can hunt my favorite game: quail. The Arizona desert at Christmas time is about as good as it gets in the winter, if you can truly call any season in a place where the high temps bounce around the 60s, winter. I’m going to California for Thanksgiving this year, and hope to sneak a few valley or mountain quail onto the platter next to the roast turkey I’ll get to enjoy with some of the old shrimp-dip clan.
And that’s exactly how one is supposed to enjoy the holidays.
294 2nd Ave WN Kalispell 257-1341 www.airworksmt.com
Rob Breeding writes and teaches when he’s not shing or hunting.
NOVEMBER 23, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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