KODIAK BROWN BEAR!

Transcription

KODIAK BROWN BEAR!

MAR/APR 2012
WESTERN OUTDOOR ADVENTURE MAGAZINE
K
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R
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BROWN
ry PG.10
Cover Sto
LAST CHANCE!
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entered to win a 3 DAY DREAM
ALASKA FISHING TRIP!
PG.19
BEATING THE ODDS
Inspiring stories you’ll never forget!
YOUTH OUTDOORS UNLIMITED PG. 21
TAKING A SHOT PG. 50
WASHINGTON DROP HORN
MOUNTAIN GOAT PG. 32
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Wolf overpopulation is dramatically damaging and even eliminating entire populations of Moose, Rocky Mountain Elk and other large ungulate populations. Wolf predation is erasing decades of effort and hundreds of millions invested in rebuilding healthy big game populations.
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Mission Statement
Our mission at HORNS AND HOOKS LLC is to satisfy the burning hole in
your soul that longs for western outdoor adventure. HORNS AND HOOKS
MAGAZINE will do everything we can to suppress the fire that burns inside
of you when you cannot be out living your own western outdoor adventure.
We will give you six full adventure packed issues each year with action packed
stories, high quality photos, and eye popping layout. We want you to feel
like you are living the western outdoor adventure story you are reading.
After you read each issue of HORNS AND HOOKS MAGAZINE we want you
to be inspired by one or all of the stories you have read enough to get out
there and experience your own western outdoor adventure! After you have
experienced your western outdoor adventure we would like to publish your
story in HORNS AND HOOKS MAGAZINE in order to inspire someone else to
live a western outdoor adventure of their own!
Enjoy!
THE HORNS AND HOOKS TEAM
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INSIDE THIS ADVENTURE PACKED ISSUE!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
06
10
21
28
30
32
38
45
50
57
62
65
70
72
78
Introduction
Kodiak Brown Bear (Cover Story)
Kids Corner - Youth Outdoors Unlimited | Y.O.U.
Subscriber Adventure Package Contest
Hood River Sturgeon
Washington Drop Horn Mountain Goat
Sacremento River Fishing
The Big Five Bull
Taking A Shot - Jake Stoneking Story
Kodiak Dungeness Crab
Hooked on Gear
Roosevelt Elk
Horns and Hooks Cookbook
Colorado Adventure
Adventure Shots “NEW!”
HORNS AND HOOKS LLC
Horns and Hooks Magazine is a publication
of Horns and Hooks LLC
P.O. BOX 106
Aberdeen, WA 98520
(360) 580-1279
[email protected]
hornsandhooks.com
Stories by their respective authors.
Editing by Rex Peterson
Graphic Design by Jared Loman Creative
Layout by Jared Loman & Rex Peterson
Published by Rex Peterson
Managing Partners:
Jesse Kollman & Rex Peterson
ADVERTISTING:
Kyle Jarmin: [email protected]
(360) 490-3222
32
Washington Drop Horn Mountain Goat By: Desmond Iverson
An once in a life time opporunity...a once in a lifetime adventure!
21
YOUTH OUTDOOR UNLIMITED
An inspiring look into the Y.O.U.
Outdoor adventure program.
45
THE BIG FIVE BULL
Whoever said hunting was a
man’s sport hasn’t met this girl!
30
HOOD RIVER STURGEON
A bite in the cold air and a bite
on the pole!
50
38
SACRAMENTO RIVER FISHING
Rainbow Trout Galore..
57
TAKING A SHOT
KODIAK DUNGENESS CRAB
A dream outdoor adventure for a A not so deadliest catch..
kid who is beating the odds.
WOW WHAT A WHIRLWIND!
6
We launched our very first issue of HORNS AND
HOOKS MAGAZINE two months ago and we have
been on a whirlwind ever since. We started by
going to the Denver ISE show in the beginning
of January where we had a great show met some
fantastic people and laid the groundwork for a
great start to our show tour. While we were in
Denver Tim Tebow pulled off a miracle overtime
playoff win over the Pittsburg Steelers and we feel
like maybe a little bit of that magic wore off on
HORNS AND HOOKS while we were there. Our
next stop was Sacramento where we had an even
better response from everyone and really started
to gain traction and subscribers quickly. Once we
hit the Western Washington Sportsmen’s Show in
Puyallup which is the closest show to us we feel
like things really started to steamroll. We also had
quite a response to the Horns and Hooks girls who
showed up in Puyallup and stole the show. Next
stop Las Vegas for the ISE show and the Super
Bowl. Then we came back to the Pacific Northwest
in Portland Oregon and continued to rack up the
subscribers. Jesse just got back from the Yakima
Washington Sportsmen’s Show a few days ago
and had a great response. As I am writing this with
our final deadline fast approaching for issue #2, I
am staring at our tradeshow luggage and booth
getting ready to fly to Phoenix, Arizona for the ISE
show.
The whirlwind will continue in March as we will
be at the ISE show in Salt Lake City, Utah March
15 -18. The same dates March 15 - 18 we will also
be at the Big Horn Show in Spokane, Washington.
March 23rd we will be at our local Coastal Conservation Association banquet to support that
great organization. Then in April 28 -29 we will
be an exhibitor and sponsor for the Grays Harbor
Outdoor Adventure & Travel Expo Show in Elma
Washington. May 12th we will have a big presence
at the 1st annual South Sound Chapter Mule Deer
Foundation Banquet at the Red Lion in Olympia
Washington.
MULE DEER FOUNDATION BANQUET
WELCOME TO THE HORNS AND HOOKS FAMILY!
Being a true mule deer fanatic I am also the chapter chair of the South Sound chapter and I am
proud to say we will have a tremendous banquet
with a ton of great items for our auctions including
numerous rifles, guided fishing and hunting trips,
and many more exciting items. If you would like
to attend Saturday May 12th in Olympia Washington please call or email me at 360-580-1279
[email protected] or Kyle at 360-490-3222
[email protected]. The Mule Deer Foundation is a tremendous organization and all of us
that are mule deer or blacktail deer hunters should
support the Mule Deer Foundation as much as
possible. Their mission statement is to ensure the
conservation of mule deer, blacktail deer and their
habitat. What hardcore deer hunter in the west
can’t agree with that?
As well as having a tremendous response from
subscribers so far we are also receiving a great
deal of positive feedback from current, new, and
potential advertisers and business partners. We
would like to consider ourselves partners with our
advertiser because when they succeed we have
also succeeded. In this issue we are introducing
a few new advertisers to the pages of Horns and
Hooks Magazine.
The first new advertiser I would like to introduce
is Moose Creek Outfitters offering High quality
moose and big whitetail hunts in northern Alberta.
We met Bryan Radke at the Sacramento ISE show
and we hit it off immediately. Bryan is a fantastic guy to talk with and from the pictures I have
seen he runs a tremendous hunting camp. He has
monster whitetails and fantastic moose hunting
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Bryan & Geraldine
R.R. #1, Site 1 Box
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Ph: (780) 674-5
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ail, mule deer
offers moose, whitet
• Moose Creek
and wolf hunts.
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and is currently offering great prices for next year’s
hunts. I guarantee if you go hunting with Bryan
you will have a great time and leave with a new
friend. His pictures don’t lie either he has some
fantastic hunting. You can check out the website
[email protected] or call Bryan at 780674-5715 to talk with a great guy and book your
hunt.
The fine people of Lavro Drift Boats will also be
joining us as new advertisers in this issue. I met
Dustnn and Steve Smith at the Puyallup show and
I was blown away by them and their boats. Lavro
has been in business for 40 plus years and have
been building the most durable and maneuverable
boats since they opened the doors. Today they are
offering up to 17 different models from the basic
11 foot small fry for only $ 2,395 up to the top of
the line 16 foot white water dory. These boats are
all top quality if you are in the market for a drift
boat you can go to their website www.lavroboats.
com or call them at 360-794-5525. You won’t be
disappointed in the people or the quality of the
boat.
The next new addition to Horns and Hooks that I
am going to introduce is Huskemaw Long Range
Optics. When we were at the ISE show in Denver
I was fortunate to meet Jim Sessions and Jack
Peterson from Huskemaw Long Range Optics and
of television fame on the Best of the West television series on the Outdoor Channel. I have since
got to know them better and met several other
members of their team and I have been extremely
impressed with everyone I have met. We have
been so impressed by them and their optics that
we have become certified dealers and installers
of Huskemaw Long Range Optics and the rest of
their product line. We will be offering these products locally through our office in Aberdeen Washington. We will go above and beyond to meet our
customer’s needs with these products. We will be
offering their full product line and also be mounting scopes and custom data collection for your
specific rifle and load. If you are interested in talking with us about these products you can reach
me at 360-580-1279, [email protected] or
Kyle at 360-490-3222, [email protected].
INSIDE THIS ISSUE!
Inside this adventure packed issue of Horns and
Hooks magazine are some amazing stories of
western outdoor adventure. The fantastic cover
story from Ian Turner takes us on an extremely
exciting Kodiak brown bear and Sitka blacktail
deer adventure. In our Kids Corner Cindy Carpenter takes us along as Youth Outdoors Unlimited
takes 3 fantastic young men on their first western
outdoor adventures. We also get to tag along with
Jason Olsen for sturgeon on the Columbia River.
Desmond Iverson shares his unique western Washington drop horned mountain goat trophy with us.
Lance Gray then shares his experiences fly fishing
on the great Sacramento River with us. Up next
we follow Angela and Greg Nichols on a Colorado
Elk hunt that ends with a monster 5 point bull. We
then get to experience Idaho western big game
hunting with Jake Stoneking a fantastic young man
from western Oregon. We return to Kodiak Island
with Luke Eschbach on a Dungeness crab boat for
giant crab. We also have a western Washington
Roosevelt elk story with Kyle Jarmin and I take you
to Colorado for and mule deer elk combo hunt. In
every exciting issue of Horns and hooks we have
our HOOKED ON GEAR review and the HORNS &
HOOKS COOKBOOK. Our newest feature inside
this issue of Horns and Hooks is our reader submitted photo gallery called ADVENTURE SHOTS.
7
SUBMIT YOUR STORY!
Don’t wait any longer to submit your western outdoor hunting or fishing adventure story. We are
getting great stories and pictures every day from
readers just like you that will be in the next exciting issue of Horns and Hooks magazine. We need
as many high quality western hunting and fishing
stories as we can get to make this magazine the
best it can possibly be. Each issue we will choose
the most exciting and adventure packed stories
for publication inside Horns and Hooks Magazine.
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
There is no better time than now to subscribe
to Horns and Hooks! We are gaining subscribers daily you don’t want to be left out and miss a
single western outdoor adventure packed issue.
You can go directly to our website www.hornsandhooks.com or page 19 in this issue and subscribe
to both the digital edition and the hardcopy for a
The stories must have high quality photos to go
along with them in order to keep the high quality
look and eye popping layout to the magazine. We
also want your high resolution hunting and fishing
pictures for the ADVENTURE SHOTS section. Don’t
forget you can also submit your favorite wild eats
recipe to our HORNS AND HOOKS COOKBOOK
section where in each issue we feature one mouth
watering wild game recipe.
special introductory price of only $ 24.95 per year
for six adventure packed issues. Every subscriber is
entered to win an ALASKA DREAM FISHING TRIP
with Eagle Charters in beautiful Elfin Cove Alaska.
The Drawing will take place at the end of April so
don’t miss your chance to win this exciting fishing
trip SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
Rex Peterson
[email protected]
360-580-1279
8
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HORNS AND HOOKS LLC
IS NOW A CERTIFIED HUSKEMAW DEALER!
CONTACT US TODAY TO GET YOURS!
[email protected] 360-580-1279
or
[email protected] 360-490-3222
HU
USKEMAW
SKEMAW BL
LUE
UE DIIAMOND
AMOND SE
ERIES
RIES
3-12X42 RIFLE SCOPE
8 MOA
ACTUAL MAGNIFICATION:
TOTAL LENGTH:
EYEPIECE LENGTH:
OBJECTIVE LENGTH:
OBJECTIVE DIAMETER:
EYEPIECE DIAMETER:
TUBE DIAMETER:
WEIGHT:
EYE RELIEF:
OBJECTIVE LENS DIAMETER:
EXIT PUPIL DIAMETER:
MAX ADJUSTMENT:
ADJST/ELEV. DIAL REVOLUTION:
FOV:
MOUNTING LENGTH::
FRONT RING SPACE:
REAR RING SPACE:
ZERO STOP RING:
PROTECTIVE TURRET COVER:
WINDAGE ENABLED:
3X BY 12X
13.8IN | 350.5MM
3.4IN | 86.4MM
3.9IN | 99.1MM
1.97IN | 50MM
1.72IN | 43.7MM
1.18IN | 30MM
18OZ | 510GRAMS
4.0-3.8IN | 102-97MM
1.8IN | 42MM
0.38:0.1IN | 9.6:2.5MM
70IN @ 100YDS | 177.8CM @ 100M
20FT | 6.1M
38.5-14.4FT @ 100YDS | 12.8-4.8M @100M
6.5IN | 165MM
2.9IN | 73.7MM
2.3IN | 58.4MM
YES
YES
YES (WITH 8 MOA RETICLE)
HUSKEMAW BLUE DIAMOND SERIES
5-20X50 RIFLE SCOPE
8 MOA
ACTUAL MAGNIFICATION:
TOTAL LENGTH:
EYEPIECE LENGTH:
OBJECTIVE LENGTH:
OBJECTIVE DIAMETER:
EYEPIECE DIAMETER:
TUBE DIAMETER:
WEIGHT:
EYE RELIEF:
OBJECTIVE LENS DIAMETER:
EXIT PUPIL DIAMETER:
MAX ADJUSTMENT:
ADJST/ELEV. DIAL REVOLUTION:
FOV:
MOUNTING LENGTH:
FRONT RING SPACE:
REAR RING SPACE:
ZERO STOP RING:
PROTECTIVE TURRET COVER:
WINDAGE ENABLED:
5X BY 20X
13.6IN | 345.4MM
3.64IN | 92.5MM
4.361IN | 110.7MM
2.3IN | 59MM
1.7IN | 43.6MM
1.18IN | 30MM
23OZ | 652GRAMS
4.0-3.4IN | 103-87MM
2.0IN | 50MM
0.38:0.1IN | 9.6:2.5MM
70IN @ 100YDS | 177.8CM @ 100M
20FT | 6.1M
18.5-4.9FT @ 100YDS | 6.0-1.6M @100M
5.6IN | 142..2MM
2.0IN | 50.8MM
2.1IN | 54.4MM
YES
YES
YES (WITH 8 MOA RETICLE)
9
10
hornsandhooks.com
A NOVEMBER
TO REMEMBER
Story by: Ian Turner
I
t was just one year ago that I sat behind a computer in my living room pouring over the regulations
and draw permit supplement, dreaming of the opportunities to come once my resident status
went into effect in July. Having missed a fall of hunting for the first time since I was 12, I was quite
anxious to experience all that Alaska has to offer. Finding out in February that I had been drawn for a
Kodiak Brown Bear permit was elating and yet drew more than a handful of jabs from friends who have
only dreamed of such a hunt. After months of detailed planning, the day was finally here when my dad
and good friend would join me on the adventure of a lifetime.
Thursday afternoon we boarded the jet in Anchorage bound for Kodiak Island. Little did we know this
would prove to be the only leg of our transportation that would go as planned. After spending 3 days
socked in due to rain, snow, and 50+ MPH winds, we finally left the town of Kodiak bound for Uganik
Lake.
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Following a choppy ride, Bob from Island Air set
the Beaver down on the lake and we caught our
first glimpse of the cabin that would become our
home for the next 8 days. While we had finally
gotten a break in the visibility department, the
winds were still ripping across the lake. Needless
to say, the trusted Park Service cabin and its oil
stove was an essential respite from the crushing
wind and snow combination.
After quickly unloading some gear and grabbing
lunch, we headed to the butte above the cabin
which provided a commanding view of the lake
and river valley below as well as the plateau above.
Not spotting any animal activity, we headed back
to the cabin to settle in for the night. The next
morning we again trekked up the alder infested
hillside to the butte. On our way we decided to
hunt out a cottonwood ridge to break up the
vertical climb a bit. Along the way, we spotted
our first of dozens of deer for the week. We were
fortunate enough to harvest a nice fat doe and a
beautiful buck. Despite this being my first blacktail
buck, I knew he was a dandy but couldn’t have
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hornsandhooks.com
imagined the quality of deer we would encounter
the rest of the week.
For the next couple of days we continued to
brave the bone chilling temperatures, horizontal
snow, and vicious winds while diligently glassing
from the butte behind the cabin. Our glassing
was virtually ineffective due partly to the fact that
we couldn’t sit in that weather for more than 30
minutes and (as we would later learn) the bears
had mostly all headed for dens thanks to the early
cold and snowy weather. On the fourth day of the
hunt, the weather finally broke to some beautiful
blue skies but not before dumping 2’-3’ of snow
throughout the valley! That morning we had
decided we couldn’t keep getting distracted by
the deer or we’d never find a bear. However, within
the hour we spotted a dandy buck and I wanted
to make sure my buddy was able to harvest a nice
animal on the trip and encouraged him to shoot
the beautiful mature deer.
By Thursday we’d only spotted one bear and 2 sets
of tracks. Neither of which was a good sign. I’d
been told time and again there are tons of bears
in Uganik and it’s just a matter of which one you
want! Certainly not the case when aggressive
winter weather comes early and drives them to
their dens. The one large bear we’d spotted was
down the hillside, across the lake and heading
down the lake shore. We had seen him digging
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for nearly an hour and thought
he might have a kill site he
was working on that he might
return to. After hitting the cabin
and changing into waders, we
sat near the ‘dig site’ awaiting
his return, however it never
transpired. Anyway, on Friday
we opted to go high to check
some of the north facing
slopes across from the cabin
and hopefully catch a bear
establishing his den.
Again, we passed up a dandy
buck in the morning to ensure
we weren’t distracted from
our mission for the day. After
cresting the ridge, we again set
up to glass the north facing
slope. Unfortunately, the trend
14
continued of finding no bears,
no tracks up high, difficult deep
snow drifts and cold temperatures.
We slogged through the deep
drifts for the early afternoon but
eventually conceded to Mother
Nature and headed back down to
the valley below. Once we arrived
at our stashed waders, we noticed
a group of does milling around in
the Cottonwood bottom just below
us. Then in the middle of swapping
out boots for waders, I noticed
the buck we’d seen that morning
had made his way back down the
hill and was standing broadside a
mere 30 yards away! With nothing
on my feet and my rifle 10 feet
away, I quickly pulled waders
on and grabbed the .338WM.
Fortunately, he was so focused
on the does that by the time I
got the rifle pulled up on him
he was still within 100 yards.
Talk about being caught in an
unprepared situation!
With our flight home from
Kodiak to Anchorage scheduled
for Sunday evening, we figured
we’d better check in with Island
Air Friday night to see how the
forecast looked for getting out
of the cabin in time. After the
call, we agreed to call again
Saturday afternoon. We spent
Saturday morning trailing a
fresh set of bear tracks to a cut
bank where he had been fishing
for the few Silvers still hanging
out in the river.
hornsandhooks.com
The Kodiak bear population was estimated to include
3,526 bears in 2005, yielding an estimated archipelagowide population density of 0.7 bears/square mile
(271.2 bears/1000 km²). During the past decade the
population has been slowly increasing.
15
From there we lost the track
despite looking up and down
the river for the better part of
an hour. Disappointed on the
bear front but relishing the
great deer hunt we’d had, we
made our way back to the cabin
to call the pilot. He immediately
was on his way to get us
which led us into a scrambled
hurry to pack our gear. After
he didn’t show, we called and
learned he’d come half way
and had to turn back due to
visibility. The rest of Saturday
was spent boning out the 20
deer quarters hanging in the
8’x8’ meat cache (what a sight
that was!) and playing some
cribbage. Sunday became a full
on standby day with check-in
calls every 2 hours. This was
frustrating to say the least as
we weren’t able to venture from
the cabin for fear of missing our
weather window. By 3:30 it was
clear that we wouldn’t make it
back to Kodiak in time to catch
our commercial flight home.
As I was breaking the news to
my wife over the sat phone
I suddenly lost the call but
caught a glimpse of movement
across the bay. Low and behold
a nice bear was making his way
towards the cabin! I quickly ran
inside announcing my discovery
and all three of us rounded up
the minimal gear we’d need to
stalk the animal. All our gear was
packed to fly out so locating what
we’d need took a couple minutes.
After stalking towards the beach I’d
seen the bear on, we had difficulty
locating him. He had
turned and walked
up the creek
bottom only
to circle
around
into a
snow and fading light, I quickly
pulled up on magnificent boar
and immediately after the shot
rang out, watched him spinning
and biting at the source of
pain and disappear into the
brush. The bear only went
50’ into the brush and after a
quick recovery; we were all as
shocked and excited as ever!
clearing
where
my dad
spotted him
at 220 yards
away. Through the
Ian Turner’s
KODIAK BROWN BEAR
Ian proudly shows off his
impressive trophy. At approximately 16 years of
age, a 27 inch skull and
over 9’ square.
16
hornsandhooks.com
It was truly an incredible
adventure that I had just
experienced with my dad and
good friend. We’d put together
a hunt in one of the most
beautiful corners of our state,
harvested some incredible
animals, and experienced the
challenges associated with
steep terrain, unforgiving
weather, and unpredictable
transportation. For being
the first time any of us had
hunted black tail or brown
bear, we were quite fortunate
to say the least. I learned so
much on this hunt, including
hunt planning, logistics, bear
hunting techniques and how
proper preparation can truly
be rewarding. The bear’s skull
measured out at 27” and
will likely square over 9’. The
ADF&G biologist estimated his
age at 16 years and commented
that we were quite fortunate to
find a bear as the early winter had
driven most to their dens. His worn
teeth and lack of substantial fat led
me to believe he was struggling to
build up winter reserves and quite
possibly would not have made it
to the spring. We were picked up
by the Beaver on Monday morning
and would later learn that flights
in and out of Kodiak had been
cancelled all weekend. We finally
made it back to Anchorage on
Wednesday. The hunt plan was for
10 days, 9 of which would be at
the cabin on the hunt. Instead,
we were gone 13 days with just
7 being in the bush. You never
know what Alaska will do to
your plans but as long as you’re
prepared you will endure and
overcome her challenges!
WHAT’S YOUR ADVENTURE?
Do you have a western outdoor
adventure you’d like to see
published? Send your stories to:
[email protected]
17
GOOD NEWS...
There’s still room!
Horns and Hooks magazine is a six issue per year western outdoor
adventure magazine. Our readers are some of the most hardcore
western outdoor adventure enthusiasts out there. Our readers
are people that live the outdoor lifestyle using thousands of different products on their adventures, and in their daily lives. Our
readers are active people with high disposable income, which
they spend on vehicles, fishing gear, hunting supplies, and all of
the finer outdoor products available. If this sounds like your potential customer then contact us today! We are offering tremendous prices on advertising for the first years issues of this high
quality adventure packed magazine and on our great website!
CONTACT US TODAY!
[email protected]
360-580-1279
WE LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU!
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19
Moose Creek Outfitters Ltd.
ALBERTA, CANADA
“Real Hunting, Real Excitement”
2012 Season Dates
6-day Moose Rut — Sept. 24th – Oct. 20th
6-day Whitetail Rut — Nov. 1st – Nov. 30th
6-day Whitetail/Mule deer — Nov. 1st – Nov. 30th
• Moose Creek offers moose, whitetail, mule deer
and wolf hunts.
• ATVs, snowmobiles or jet boats are used for
transportation during hunts.
• Moose hunts are conducted in wilderness areas.
• Deer hunts are conducted in forested areas close
to agricultural land.
Bryan & Geraldine Radke
Ph: (780) 674-5715
R.R. #1, Site 1 Box 2 Barrhead, AB, Canada T7N 1N2 Cell: (780) 674-0866
Email: [email protected]
www.moosecreekalberta.com
“Enjoy the Great Alberta Outdoors”
Y.O.U
YOUTH OUTDOORS UNLIMITED
Youth Outdoors Unlimited, Y.O.U. is a central Washington
based 501(c)3 corporation organized to take youth who
have been diagnosed with a life threatening illness or
physical disability and has a DREAM to hunt or fish on
his or her own outdoor adventure.
Y.O.U. guides and fully
funds all expenses for
these adventures in order
to introduce youth with
extraordinary medical
conditions to the great
outdoors.
www.youthoutdoorsu.org.
Let me tell you about three
of the boys that Youth
Outdoors Unlimited had
the opportunity to work
with this year. The hunting
and fishing community is a
strong community. We all
have a special bond with
each other and share in the
success and disappointments
of our time in the outdoors. HORNS AND HOOKS MAGAZINE
Once in awhile there is a bond
within this community that is
exceptional. That is exactly what
happened when Justin Ristine
met Rex Peterson at the 2012 WA
Sportsmen’s Show. This bond
that quickly formed between Rex
and Justin is how Youth Outdoors
Unlimited was invited to share
this story in Horns and Hooks
Magazine.
JUSTIN
Justin is an 11 year old boy who
is a straight-A student. He likes
to fish and play video games
like every other youth his age
and had a real interest in
becoming part of the hunting
community. There is
something unique about Justin,
which created a slight challenge
for hunting; he was born
without his right arm. Youth
Outdoors met Justin when
he was taking his Hunter’s
Ed class with one of
Y.O.U.’s other hunting
participants. When
the Y.O.U.
organization
heard
about
Justin’s
21
and preparation. In camp, it
is the getting up at O-darkthirty and heading out for the
opportunity for that deer that
you have dreamed about, the
conversations in the blind while
you wait, wait and wait some
more, sitting around the fire
and talking about the day’s
hunt or the next day’s hunt. desire and his disability, there
was an overwhelming “YES”
from the selection committee
to invite him to participate! He was a perfect fit for this
program and was the exact
reason that Youth Outdoors
Unlimited was created.
Y.O.U. began the shooting
training process with Justin.
Although he was a little
hesitant at first he was
incredibly accurate. After
months of training, Justin
became very comfortable
with the rifle he would use for
hunting which was donated
by the Mule Deer Foundation
and modified by Gunwerks. At
the last training before Justin’s
hunt in October, he was calling
out his shots on the target
at 100 and 200 yards. The
hunting guides and directors
During the first day of Justin’s
hunt, he saw plenty of does but
chose to wait for the buck he
had been dreaming about. The
afternoon of the first day, a nice
4-point whitetail buck came
across the hillside. Justin had
of Y.O.U. knew that with some
the deer in his scope waiting for
encouragement, and the right
the right opportunity, which did
equipment, Justin would do great.
not present itself. As shooting
And he did!
hours closed that first day, Joe
had to tease Justin about the
Guided by Joe Carpenter, Y.O.U.’s
fact that he was shaking like
Hunt Coordinator, Justin’s hunt
a leaf when that buck came
took place in Colfax, Washington,
into view. It was definitely the
on property with hunting privileges topic of conversation around
donated to Youth Outdoors
the fire that night but Justin
Unlimited by Tom and Cheryl
laughed along like a true
Kamemrzell, owners of Maple K
hunter. Joe let him know that
Farms. Justin’s family came into
buck fever happens to most
deer camp the day before his hunt; hunters at one time or another.
everything was set and ready for a The next morning was foggy
great hunting weekend.
and quiet. After breakfast, the
guys headed back out for the
Although Youth Outdoors cannot
afternoon hunt. Justin had
guarantee the harvest of an animal, decided that he would settle for
they do guarantee a great hunting the doe if he had the chance
experience. As all hunters
know, there are
the months of
anticipation
Justin has learned to use modified
shooting rests to enhance his unique
shooting style.
22
hornsandhooks.com
again. No does were seen, but 45 minutes before
the end of Justin’s hunt, he spotted a 3-point in
the trees. While waiting for the buck to get into
range another buck walked out. After confirmation
from Joe that the second buck was a nice legal
4-point, Justin took the shot like a pro – 135 yards
and straight through the heart just as he had
practiced. I do not know who was more excited:
Justin, his dad, or his Y.O.U. family. What a great night at camp as we congratulated
Justin on his success! As anyone who has helped
a child learn to become part of the hunting
community can attest, it was a complete thrill. We released Justin’s story success to his local
newspaper, which gave him front-page coverage. The associated press picked up the story and
deemed Justin the ‘finest one-armed hunter in the
country”. If you ever have the pleasure of meeting
Justin, that is exactly how he will introduce himself. In the hunting and fishing world, bragging is
allowed, encouraged and expected.
Wholesale Sports in Burlington, Washington
donated Justin’s outfitting. Thank you to Jay Shuler
and his staff who provided all Justin’s hunting
clothing for him to keep. His shoulder mount is
awesome and donated by Zach and Bob Kenner,
Big Game Taxidermy in Moses Lake, Washington. Thank You to Justin’s supporters. When a youth applies for a hunting adventure
with Y.O.U., the first thing we ask them to do
is get through Hunter’s Safety. That was how
we met Justin. Mikey Williamson was already
preparing for his hunt with Y.O.U. and was taking
his Hunters Education class. Mikey’s interest in
hunting was fostered by the Outdoor Channel
and specifically Ted Nugent’s, Spirit of the Wild. His mom, Nicole, had been searching for a way
for Mikey to be exposed to the world of hunting. The connection between Mikey and Youth
Outdoors was meant to be. MIKEY
Mikey was born with Spina Bifida and Amniotic
Band Syndrome, which caused him to be missing
part of his fingers on each hand. He is smart
and funny and Youth Outdoors enjoyed every
minute of his training. Because of Mikey’s
hands, it was necessary to do some unique stock
23
the second morning. Jim had
to catch a flight so Mikey was
left in the hands of Jim’s son,
Randy Burnworth, and Y.O.U.
Guide, Curt Carpenter. As
the staff of Youth Outdoors
waited, the call came at about
7:30 am that there was a deer
down. Mikey had made a 160yard kill shot, which resulted
in the harvesting of his first
buck. Although Mikey was
cold, it did not prevent him
from doing snow angels in
celebration.
modification in order for him to
be able to grip the gun safely
and comfortably. Red Dawn
Tactical, a gunsmith shop in
Moses Lake, Washington, did
an amazing job with Mike’s
gun modification. Besides the
muzzle breaks, which they did
to three of Y.O.U.’s rifles, Red
Dawn Tactical built a stock to
fit Mikey’s hands and missing
fingers perfectly. It was “a
great improvement,” Mikey told
Joe during the last shooting
practice before his hunt. These
modified guns were donated
to Y.O.U. and will remain in the
organization for future youth to
use.
24
Mikey’s hunt was set up by
Outdoor Channel icon, Jim
Burnworth. The day began with
breakfast; Mikey and Jim really
hit it off. There had been a big
snowfall in the area, but thanks
to Cabela’s in Post Falls, ID and
Tri State Outfitters in Moses Lake,
Mikey was warm and ready. The
first day of hunting presented
some deer but not one that Jim
wanted Mikey to take. A small buck
walked into view and Jim asked
Mikey if he could see him. Mikey’s
innocent response was “well I
might be able to if someone wasn’t
so stingy with their binoculars.” Jim laughed as he told us the story
back at camp. Since he didn’t get
the deer, Mikey’s hunt went into
Mikey’s shoulder mount
is being done courtesy of
Kevin Miller, owner of Saddle
Mountain Taxidermy and Y.O.U
had Mikey’s meat processed to
his liking and delivered to him
and his family.
SPENCER
Y.O.U. actually started with
another amazing young man
named Spencer Kimbro. Spencer was born with Spina
Bifida and missing part of his
left leg. This is actually how we
met Mikey as we contacted the
Seattle Spina Bifida Association
because we were so impressed
with Spencer.
hornsandhooks.com
Youth Outdoors was born
during some of the director’s
late archery hunt in Wilson
Creek, Washington. As the
landowners in Wilson Creek
embraced our organization
and fell in love with Spencer
it would be the home of
Spencer’s hunting adventure. His hunting adventure
took place in Wilson Creek,
Washington courtesy of
landowners Don Kesselring,
owner of Kesselring’s Gun
Shop, Tony Breckenridge, Dean
Moore and Dallas Kimble. The preparation began weeks
before Spencer’s hunt as we
all went (including Spencer) to
Wilson Creek to set the blinds
where he would be hunting. Dallas kept us informed of what
the deer movement was like
in the areas where the blinds
were set. Spencer and his
family made the exciting trip to
Cabela’s in Post Falls, ID to take
care of Spencer’s outfitting all
courtesy of Pete Marion, Event
Coordinator at the Post Falls
store. Thank you Pete for being
so generous to Spencer, you
went above and beyond for his
outfitting!
As Spencer was counting
down the days, hours and
minutes until opening day we put
him to work. We had found our
spokesperson for press releases,
appearances at the Bighorn
Outdoor Adventure Show, and
many other public appearances. If Y.O.U. had asked for a poster
child, they could not have come
any finer or more perfect for
this organization’s mission than
Spencer Kimbro! He is outgoing,
well spoken, and has become quite
the celebrity in Moses Lake. If
Spencer is not in the paper every
week, the kids at school want to
know what’s going on. “Spencer,
you weren’t in the paper this week,
how come?” The self-esteem
that is built in these youth is a
side effect that we had not
anticipated but couldn’t be
more pleased about. Spencer
was the first participant with
Y.O.U. and continues to be
our spokesperson and mentor
for other children. He is well
spoken, a real leader and we
are proud to have him as a
representative along with Mikey
and Justin.
Y.O.U. director, Don Sell was
the guide for Spencer’s hunt
with the assistance of Chris
Newhouse and Steve Nuss. Don, Steve and Chris went into
to Wilson Creek to prepare for
the arrival of Spencer and his
25
family. However, as prepared
as they were, Spencer didn’t
harvest a deer that weekend. Spencer, his Dad and Don
enjoyed their time in the blind,
telling stories, eating pop tarts
and watching the deer go
by, but there were no bucks
to be shot. Spencer did get
to experience a wonderful
weekend of hunting and went
home with great stories and
memories.
and Dan decided to leave for the
afternoon to do a bit of work
with the crossbow and to grab a
sandwich. The boys gathered back
in the blind at two in the afternoon
and began their afternoon/
evening vigil. Again doe after doe
paraded by the blind until finally
Fifteen minutes before dark and
the end of hunting time for the
day, a 3-point buck appeared in
front of the blind. Randy had to
talk Spencer out of just shooting
right away; after weeks of no shot,
Spencer was very antsy. Randy
calmed Spencer down, the buck
turned broadside to the blind, the
arrow was loaded, camera turned
on and the shot was finally made! It was a kill shot – Spencer had his
first buck! Months of training and
anticipation had finally paid off.
and the friendship grew. People
just happen into our lives.
Randy and Spencer’s meeting
was for a purpose and we are
eternally grateful to his new
friend, Randy “the cameraman.” Youth Outdoors Unlimited is
thrilled and proud of all of our
2011 hunters for not allowing
a disability to prevent them
from experiencing the great
outdoors. The directors and
volunteers of Y.O.U. have a
Although Spencer was not
passion for the outdoors and a
able to get his deer in Wilson
love for some amazing youth
Creek on his Y.O.U. hunt, he
who are merely differentlyformed a friendship with
abled. Kids with extraordinary
Randy Burnworth. Randy was
medical challenges who want
Spencer’s cameraman, sent
to hunt, fish, or just become
courtesy of Media Jungle and
outdoorsmen are eligible. So
Jim and Lorrie Burnworth. far, all the children have been
Randy soon arranged for
from Washington, but that
Spencer and Dan Kimbro to join Spencer’s mom, Robin, got the call. is not a requirement. In fact,
him on private hunting ground
In a hushed, whispered voice she
Y.O.U. is flying Zack Winkle and
in the Spokane area, hunting
heard the message from her boy
his two parents from Eolia, MO
for whitetail. Of course, there
through his tears of joy, “Mom, I
to Washington in 2012 for his
was still no guarantee of
got him.” Those four words are the first deer hunt. Youth Outdoors
harvesting a buck, but another
ones that keep all of us motivated. is excited for Zack and the
great weekend of sitting in a
This young man had joined the
other 2012 hunting and fishing
blind at the crack-of-dawn and
circle of successful hunters. Randy participants and hope that you
bonding with other hunters
was not required to help him
will all follow their adventures
was enough for Spencer. Randy out and he did not take Spencer
on our website.
made all the arrangements with hunting out of pity. They became
the landowners and the Kimbro friends because he opened his
family headed to Spokane for
heart to a young man with a need
Round Two.
26
This time, Spencer was set up
to hunt with a crossbow that
Randy provided for him to
use. Spencer and Dan went to
meet Randy and head to the
blind for a day of sitting and
waiting for a chance to finally
bags his first deer. Similar to his
first hunt, Spencer spent most
of the day watching doe after
doe come into view, play in the
area, walk within feet of him in
the pop-up blind and Spencer
loved every minute of it. Randy
You can read more about our youth on our
website at: youthoutdoorsu.org. If you know
someone that Youth Outdoors Unlimited can
help, please direct them to our website. Youth
Outdoors Unlimited survives on financial
donations so if you know someone who would
consider making a donation, they can contact us
at [email protected] or call
Cindy Carpenter at (509)431-1604.
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29
Hood River
I
have been hearing about how
good the Sturgeon fishing
is above Bonneville Dam for a
few years now and I have really
been itching to try it for myself.
After a ton of research on the
internet and talking with my
fishing buddies and we decided
that we would head to the
Hood River area of the Columbia River. The morning started
off pretty typical I swung over
to pick up Brett and he was
still sleeping. Then we headed
over to pick up the boat and of
course I forgot the keys to the
30
shop at home. Just like that the
early start isn’t so early any more.
Next stop on the journey is to pick
up Casey if he hasn’t already given
up on us.
After getting lost and taking a scenic tour through downtown Hood
River we found the boat launch.
With the weather were having
the boat launch was crusted over
with snow and ice. After fighting
through the ice and snow we are
able to launch the boat. Finally we
are on the river and started searching for a hole to hit. We had never
fished this area before but
somehow everybody on board
knew exactly where we should
start. We finally agreed on a
hole and fished it for about an
hour but there was no action
at all. We decided to move,
and move again, and again. 5
hours and a few more spots
later Brett was focused on the
mp3 player trying to find music
sturgeon might like and Casey
was burning his gloves on the
heater and there was still no action. We decide to hit one more
spot before calling it a day. We
hornsandhooks.com
By: Jason Olsen
Sturgeon Fishing
found a nice shallow flat to fish,
the anchor held perfectly and
we got our gear in the water.
Before I could get inside out
of one of the many snow flurries of the day my pole started
dancing. I hooked a really nice
37 inch sturgeon unfortunately
it was undersized and I had to
release it. Just like that the bite
was on.
The fish were taking everything
we could give them, squid,
sand shrimp, 3 yr old smelt it
didn’t matter. They were hun-
gry all of a sudden and we were in
the middle of a sturgeon feeding
frenzy. We were catching quite a
few fish that were oh-so close to
being legal but we could not find
a keeper. Suddenly the constant
action on my pole quit for a few
minutes so I figured something
was wrong. I give my rod a quick
jerk to reel in and check my bait.
Immediately the line started peeling off and I knew I had a good
fish on! After a great fight, the 2
1/2 hr trip and cold weather was
worth it. I had a beautiful 49 inch
keeper on board. Of course af-
ter that we decided to stay a
bit longer. Once I gave Brett
and Casey some expert “how
to” fishing tips, Brett managed
to catch a 39 inch keeper just
before we left. It eventually
turned out to be a great day of
fishing. We caught two keepers
a bunch of shakers and had a
dangerously icy boat launch to
deal with. We had a great time
and we will definitely be back!
31
32
DROP
HORN
BILLY
GOAT
STORY BY: DESMOND IVERSON
hornsandhooks.com
M
ountain Goat hunting in Washington is now a
once in a lifetime tag. That rule started in 1999.
I have been extremely fortunate to have drawn
two previous tags. One of those tags was good for a 10
and a half inch billy that ranks 141st in the all time Boone
and Crockett record book. This hunt started when I looked
on the Washington Game Department web site and the
word SUCCESSFUL came along side Mountain Goat. I was
one of 6 lucky tag holders in 5000 applicants. My shouts
of joy were heard around the house and on the telephone
lines for the next hour. Drawing a goat tag in Washington
is now more difficult than a sheep or moose tag in my
opinion.
My immediate thoughts were to try and better my previous best goat of 51 6/8 Boone and Crockett, a real challenge to say the least. I went on two tough scouting
trips in August and my hunting partner of 30 years Randy
McClesky flew over the unit looking for goats for me. After
these trips I knew this was not going to be a cake walk. I
decided this hunt had to have the four-legged power of
horses. So I contacted a friend of mine, Mark Auman.
His pack mules would fit the bill perfectly if I could twist
Marks arm hard enough to go along. Just as I thought, no
twisting was needed to get him to come along. I could
tell right from the start of our conversation this was going to be just as exciting for him as it was for me. To my
surprise, Mark had drawn the same tag last year and taken
a big 10 inch billy that weighed over 300lbs. I told Mark
this was going to be a repeat trip because the pictures of
his billy were exactly what I wanted and his convincing
optimism was music to my ears.
We decided to start our hunt on September 18th, as long
as Mother Nature didn’t intervene. The area we were planning to hunt is around 7,500 ft. elevation so we watched
the weather closely. The weather man said we were going
33
to be blessed with cold clear
nights and sunny days. What
a hunt this would be without a
cloud in the sky.
The day had finally arrived. The
mules were loaded with all of
our gear and supplies and we
hit he trail. The climb would
take about 4 hours all of it up
hill. I thought humans sweated
badly but I’ll tell you that the
mules sweat even worse even
though we rested them often.
I’m not an experienced horseman but in my mind mules are
the only way to go. Their sure
footedness in very steep terrain on
extremely narrow footing proved
to me what an asset they are to a
packer.
Upon arrival at our base camp we
were greeted with beautiful views.
We were surrounded by tall peaks,
meadows and streams, plus two
isolated lakes. We set the tents up
fast, tied the mules up, and ate
a quick breakfast, lunch and dinner all in one meal. We were off
to glass with my 15x binoculars
and Swarovski spotting scope. In
no time at all I spotted a group of
nannies and kids. Mark glassed
up a couple of 8 inch billies.
What a feeling, I was totally
consumed by this picture perfect setting. Total wilderness, no
clear-cuts, no roads, no hunter
orange anywhere just Mark,
Eddie and I. Eddie is a hunting
machine who Mark invited to
come along with us to help out.
This trip would be Eddie’s first
since he was injured in a logging accident over a year ago.
His body was still sore but he
needed this hunt to help the
healing process. Our glassing
efforts paid off with the spotting of eight billies feeding on
a far away meadow just before
dark. That would be our starting point for the morning hunt.
Monday, September 19,
dawned cold and clear just as
predicted. Our goat hunting
trio was in no hurry we knew
there were goats everywhere.
There was nothing to spoil
our quest for the king of these
mountains. Little did I know
that in just three hours I would
let the king walk by in order to
take one of the most unusual
king’s men.
34
We saddled up to the mules
and headed back up the trail.
Our morning destination would
be a rather vigorous climb for
the mules. Then we would side
hill around the basin on a trail
that was made for man and not
mules. I made sure to lean uphill trying not to look DOWN!
I kept telling Mandy (my mule)
to keep looking ahead. What
a job she did, never missing a
step. There was never a doubt
in her mind or mine????? Our
strategy was to reach a cluster
of spruce trees that you could
tell were old, but small due to
the harsh weather conditions
that all living things have to
endure at this altitude.
The mules were secured to nature’s hitching post in “Spruce
Central”. We put our day packs
on our backs, I took my rifle off
the saddle, and the new shinny
ammo was introduced to the
outside world for the first time.
We were just about to begin
our hike when I took one last
look up, STRAIGHT UP. I was
thinking I’m sure glad we are
not going that way. Just at the
end of that thought a beautiful mountain goat appeared on
the highest rock. I said to Mark
look up, there’s a billy looking
right at us. You could tell that
he was a billy by his horns and
body features. The horns looked 7
to 8 inches long after closer scrutiny. Then the small billy walked
out of sight as another much larger
billy nudged him to get out of the
way. This goat perched himself in
pure full broad side view. Head
high looking over his domain.
What a picture, full heavy white
hair against the dark blue sky with
his jet black horns. His slightly angled body showed his heavy bases.
We knew that was our goat without discussion. I mentally calculated distance. No time for range
finder, 325 to 350 yards, extreme
uphill, wind blowing 10 to 15 miles
from my left. My gut feeling told
me NO! My emotions were saying
“piece of cake” go for it. I opted
for the NO and decided to let
him go and reposition for a
better shot.
I lead the way switch backing
up the hill at a very slow pace.
The last thing I wanted was a
pair of winded lungs, a racing heart, dry mouth and then
to try to make a steady shot.
Finally at the top, our three sets
of anticipating eyes scoured
the landscape below finding
nothing but a shear drop off.
The billy must have gone left
because the right looked bleak
as well. A nanny came into
view about 200 yards below us
on our left. With my binoculars I could see 12 to 13 inch
horns that looked like daggers
35
straight up. Mark and Eddie
agreed to the length and we
all agreed that she was a tremendous trophy even though
she was a nanny. My tag was
for either sex, so my emotions
took over again “Take her” but
my vision of that billy flashed
before me. Then Mark pointed
to a goat bedded down to our
immediate left. Could this be
the one? No, he was the one
that was butted out of the way.
I looked at the nanny one more
time. She was a keeper for
most hunters but 10 inch heavy
horns sounded a little better,
but not by much.
36
The bedded billy got up and
walked out of sight just as another billy was coming up the
ridge towards us. Could this be
him? Everything happened in
the next two minutes. I remember saying that’s him! Mark
wanted to video so with camera
rolling I was waiting for a good
shot, with cross hairs centered and
finger ready. Then I saw the drop
horn billy coming up behind the
big one. Instantly my brain told
me to take him. Mark was already
on him with the camera like a
Hollywood professional. What an
unbelievable finish!
God blessed me with a truly unique
Mountain Goat. A special thanks
to Mark and Eddie and their fine
mules. I would also like to thank
the Lord for his many blessings he
has bestowed on my family. Words
cannot express my thanks to my
wife of 35 years, Debbie and our
children; Pepper, Torrie and Kannon
who ran the family business while I
was on “TOP OF THE WORLD”.
hornsandhooks.com
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Sacramento
River
fishing
by Lance Grey
38
hornsandhooks.com
fish ON!
T
he first time I fished the
Lower Sacramento River
was with my late friend
Dave Simmons. It was a cold
morning in March and we
launched the jet boat (yes, a
jet boat) from the Balls Ferry
Launch. The Jet Craft fired right
up in the chilly air. As the boat
warmed up, so did the seat we
both sat on. It was the engine
cover and we made good use
of any heat that we could find.
We rumbled out of the launch
and into the main current of
the river. Dave laid the throttle
down and we instantly got on
plane from the wound-up 302.
We both took refuge behind
the little windshield on the
boat and off we went. It was a
magical morning. The dormant
tree branches glimmered in
the morning sunlight, the rocks
seemed to have a touch of frost
on them. The rocky river bottom twinkled as we passed.
Everything on the river stood
silent and still as we rushed by
without a sound.
The river suddenly turned from a
long, drawn-out run into a riffle
where Cow Creek enters the Lower
Sacramento on the northeast side.
Some huge boulders were scattered through the channel as the
white-capped water crashed into
the undertow and disappeared into
the deep green pool.
Bridge, finally coming off plane
just as we reached the Interstate 5 Bridge. Dave gently
glided the boat to the south
bank and I threw out the anchor out in a foot of water. It
made a huge splash and I realized that I was even colder with
a face full of water.
“Hold on,” shouted Dave. I grabbed
the “Oh Crap” bar attached to the
boat’s console and hung on for
dear life as he pushed down the
throttle and the boat traversed
the big boulders just beneath the
river’s surface. We glided over
them, taunting them to bang the
bottom of the aluminum boat, but
the rocks just zipped by as we continued upstream. Dave just looked
at me a grinned that little wicked
smile he brought out on special
occasions. He turned back to the
river and returned his concentration to the task at hand.
We flew by Anderson River Park,
traveling through water that I was
dying to fish. We continued up
underneath the old North Street
The day held even more significance for me because I was
fishing with a rod I’d personally
built. I worked at Powell Rod
Company, mostly in the retail
fly shop, but by the time my
stay was over I’d built and purchased many rods. This one was
a new Legacy Series 10-foot,
6-weight (slow by today’s action standards, but at the time
it was absolutely perfect for
me). Matched with a Lamson
LP 3.5 reel, it was a setup I was
very proud of (I still have it).
I waded away from the boat,
only 50 feet or so. The water
just came up to the middle of
my thighs and I made my first
cast – just a nice little high-stick
39
fling working a shelf that the
water ran off and down into a
clay cutout. I picked up the first
cast and hurled it right back to
the same spot. My poly-yarn
indicator suddenly jetted across
the river and I lifted my rod to
find a jumping rainbow in front
of me.
“Fish on”, I screamed. The
rainbow took off on a nice run,
head-shaking all the way back
to me, making endless gallops,
digging for all it could muster.
It finally came to hand and I
was holding a beautiful rainbow
in the 19-inch range. It was flat
gorgeous!
40
Today we mostly negotiate the
Lower Sacramento with drift boats,
although some “throwbacks” are
still running jets. The drift boat
offers more than functionality;
it’s also safer for both passengers
and the environment. The river
has reached a legendary status in
the West. It’s been mentioned in
into the San Francisco Estuary.
The water that runs from Shasta
Dam, just north of Redding,
downstream to the riverfront
town of Red Bluff comprises the
Lower Sacramento. It meanders over a freestone bottom,
through shallows, deep runs,
riprap, islands, and finally falls
numerous books, magazines and
websites, and bloggers pound on
keyboards about the fishing all
night long. But to know it – to really, really know it – is to fish it.
down into a canyon that is lined
with red-soil and layered with
rock stratus that reaches back
to the beginning of time.
It’s a beautiful, majestic river
that holds wild rainbows reaching sizes that dominate most
blue-ribbon trout streams. The
river is huge. Low flows are at
3,000 cubic feet per second
The Lower Sacramento is located
in Northern California and splits
a portion of that part of the state
down the middle before it flows
hornsandhooks.com
(cfs), with normal summer flows
averaging around 11,000 cfs or so.
At times it’s a torrent – the 2011
spring flows pushed 25,000 cfs.
The main THING that makes the
river so great is that it’s available all year long to both wading
anglers and those fishing from a
boat. The river challenges the angler to be at his or her best – casting, wading, setting the hook and
fighting the fish. It’s a place where
anglers come to play, much like a
child at Disneyland.
The drift-boat angler has a wide
array of choices when it comes to
drifts. The combinations are endless. You can do a couple-hour
drift to an all-day, dawn-to-dusk
excursion. There are multiple boat
launches to choose from.
The Posse Grounds-to-Bonnyview
trip is a great morning or evening drift. It only takes about four
hours to fish the area, including
back-rowing in some spots. If you
launch at Bonnyview you can drift
down to Sacramento River RV
Park (four-wheel-drive dirt boat
launch) or you can continue down
to Anderson River Park public boat
launch. The drift is a short as 6
hours or can be stretched into an
all-day affair.
The water in this stretch is a mixture of long runs, whitewater riffles
and islands scattered throughout
the main current, making it fun
to jump out of the boat and fish.
Wading all the endless fingerling
streams cutting through the gravel
is fun and brings you to the heart
of the Lower Sacramento.
From Anderson River Park downstream you can do a short drift
down to Balls Ferry Boat Launch,
or you can make a longer day by
stretching it down to the Battle
Creek gravel bar launch (very
primitive) or to Jelly’s Ferry Boat
Launch. This is an all-day drift
that takes at least 11 hours to
complete. Anderson River Park
to Balls Ferry Boat Launch is
close to four hours and the drift
from Balls Ferry Boat Launch
to Battle Creek is another four
hours, with the last leg from
Battle Creek to Jelly’s Ferry
being three hours or so (Jelly’s
Ferry Boat launch is also dirt. It
is smooth and well maintained,
but a four-wheel drive is still
recommended).
The water in this section graduates from freestone to boulderladen rapids to the stunning
clay canyon. It is a beautiful
drift, but the river can be dangerous. Accomplished oarsmen
can handle all or most areas
without an issue. As always,
boaters need to use caution
and (by law) have life-saving
flotation devices aboard the craft.
The angler wishing to experience
the river by wading must do so at
lower flow levels. Flows from the
3,000 to 5,000 cfs range are safe
for wading. A wading staff, good
boots and a PFD are necessary
equipment.
The Posse Grounds is one of the
primary areas to which the public
has access the huge riffle runs for
hundreds of yards and has countless shelves, seams and pocket
water that a fly fisher can spend
hours working. The Posse Grounds
has a nice little park with plenty of
parking. The coolest item about
the riffle is that it is the backdrop
for the famed Sundial Bridge (Not
to exclude the trout).
The next main public access area is
at Girvan Road. This area is basically a large turnout on the side of the
road located next to a park in
Redding. There are trails leading out into the series of channels, islands, and small streams
that cut their way through the
willow-lined gravel bar. It’s a
place that you can fish without
seeing another angler all day.
The access also lets you reach
out to the main current of the
river and there are many side
seams that an angler can fish.
Battle Creek is the next public
access area downstream. It’s
located just south of Battle
Creek’s confluence with the
river at the “old mouth” of the
creek. This area holds a long,
classic steelhead riffle at the
upstream side of the huge
gravel bar. The gravel bar is a
great area for anglers to break
out the switch or spey rod and
swing flies for steelhead in the
fall and winter months. The
riffle starts out fast and then widens out into a
long, freestone run.
The best times for anglers to visit the river are
in the spring and fall. That’s not to say that
winter and summer are bad times to go, but if
you want to hit the river at full tilt, spring and
fall are best. The spring brings the unrelenting caddis hatches. The rainbows are hungry
in preparation for spawning and they become
eating machines. Anglers can expect multiple hookups with fish ranging in the 2- to
4-pound range.
The fall brings the next session of mass feeding. This time it’s not an insect hatch, but the
salmon are in and the egg-drop is happening.
The rainbows and steelhead feed with reckless
abandon. Without much consideration of the
surroundings, fish feed until they can eat no
more. The river flows in March and October
are traditionally low, so they’re great times to
wade or drift.
A well-drifted nymph, straight-line or under
an indicator works extremely well, caddis,
mayflies, stoneflies and egg patterns are all
effective. Match the hatch, or with the eggs,
the timing (spawning). Start with brightly colored eggs at first spawn, moving to eggs that
are discolored or marble-colored at the end of
the spawn cycle. Swinging standard nymphs,
streamers and salmon fry patterns are worthy
of a toss. Using switch and spey rods on the
Sacramento can be very effective in a combination with MOW tips.
The wild fish on the Lower Sacramento, which
average about 16 inches, are known for their
long runs and strong fighting skills. The average fish will weigh approximately a pound
and a half. These fish are footballs – healthy,
vibrant survivors, and they’ll show off their
abilities for the fly fisher. The Lower Sacramento is a treasure of trout and memories.
43
Twin Harbors Chapter CCA Banquet and Dinner March 23rd
Prime Rib, roasted red potatoes, vegetable, dinner roll and side salad with dressing.
Beverages will include coffee and tea. Well drinks, beer and wine will be available at a No Host Bar.
This year we are proud to announce our guest entertainers:
Glenn Hall from the television show “Hawg Quest” & Local country Artist Tony Wintrip as well as
Rex Peterson from the new western outdoor adventure Magazine “Horns and Hooks”.
Auction Item Sneek Peek:
Southeastern Alaska 3-Day Fishing trip including float plane transport from Ketchikan
Several Locally guided fishing trips
Entertainment packages
Dinners from several restaurants
Erickson Boat anchor system
Marine AM/FM stereo with speakers…………and much more
Doors Open at 5pm: At the Aberdeen Eagles 200 West Market Street, Aberdeen WA
Tickets – Singles $60 Couples $100
Tickets include meal, one year membership to the Twin Harbors CCA Chapter, and subscription to Tide magazine.
For tickets contact Norm @ (360) 532-4311, email [email protected], or contact any Twin Harbors CCA Member
44
hornsandhooks.com
THE BIG
Story By: Greg & Angela Nichols
45
THE BIG 5
W
inded after our hurried
hike to beat the falling sun, my wife dug out her
binoculars and wearily looked
through them. Not 5 seconds
later and as if she was bored
with elk hunting, and with
no emotion, she spoke up…
”There’s an elk right there.” I
didn’t believe what I heard. “It’s
a bull too.” After I found the
right rock that they were beside
out of the hundreds of rocks
out there, I saw them. A small
group of bulls were all feeding
together across a mix of meadow and pine trees in front of us
about 550 yards away.
We were at the top of a famous
ridge hunting late season elk
in Colorado. It’s not a famous
ridge to most, but it is to me.
46
My first two bulls came from this
same ridge and now, it was my
wife’s turn with the tag. Angela,
my wife had drawn this tag 5 years
ago and unbeknownst to us, she
became pregnant with our first kid
that year. So… she hunted as hard
as she could being 7 months pregnant but didn’t get close enough
to take an elk. Let’s just say she’s
pretty tough! So now, after 5 years
and 3 awesome kids later, she drew
the tag again and here we are on
the same ridge top.
We had already been hunting
hard as this was the 7th day of the
season. We had spent 4 mornings out hunting, had covered over
20 miles, and climbed more than
7,000 vertical feet of mountainous
terrain in search of an elk ranging
from 6800-8700 ft in elevation. The
hunt almost ended on opening
day, but thanks to a malfunctioning scope, we watched a group of
7 bulls disappear over the next
ridge top over a half mile away.
The next 3 mornings didn’t help
the lingering feeling of what
should have been on opening day. We hiked and hiked
and became more discouraged
with each step. But the thrill of
being able to be out hunting,
seeing God’s creation, the pinks
and oranges of the sunrise on
the high mountain peaks to the
west, and also knowing that
with each glass of the binoculars, we could see an elk, kept
us going. We knew those elk
were still in there, it was just a
matter of finding them.
The afternoon of the 7th day of
the season found Angela and I
dropping our 3 kids off at the
baby sitters, aka. Grandma and
Grandpa. We headed west of
town to the trail we were go-
hornsandhooks.com
ing to try. Generally, this trail
is a pretty popular one during
the hunting season and I wasn’t
surprised to see a truck parked
at the base. In my mind I immediately felt, “Why even go,
I’m sure this truck is a hunter
and he’s up there right now and
we won’t have a chance.”
We started up anyway hiking fast up through the deep
wooded valley and towards the
top where the terrain opened
up. Once we got there we settled down and started to glass
the hillsides scattered with
pine. Still catching her breath
from the hike, Angela props her
binoculars up on a rock that we
were behind and says,” There’s
an elk right there.”
There were 5 bulls together in
this group that we could see.
With shooting light a big fac-
tor, we had a quick chat about how
to get closer we decided to angle
straight at them using the ponderosa pines and cedars to block
their view. As fast as we could get
there in the crusted 10 inch snow,
we cut off 300 up hill yards. Looking up through the trees I could
still see them just hanging out in
front of us. After dropping off
our backpacks 50 yards back, we
edged closer. We came to a thick
cedar and worked our way around
it and sat down in a dry patch of
grass. Angela set up the shooting sticks and got her youth model
Ruger .308 steady. I pulled out the
range finder. It was 190 yards to
the first one. Upon a closer look
with my binoularss, he turned out
to be a very nice 6x6 bull. We had
decided to take that one as he was
the closest, but I wanted to get
some video of the others before
we shot. Plus I knew Angela would
need some time to calm down.
As I glanced around at the
feeding elk, time seemed to
freeze. There is a certain peace
that comes with watching
these animals just being what
they are. Slowly grazing on
tuffs of yellow grass sticking
up through the snow, picking
those majestic antlers up for
a quick glance around, moving effortlessly around on the
steep terrain, wondering what
they have endured throughout
their life, wondering where they
have been, how many winters
they have survived, how many
battles they have been in… It’s
moments like these that make
me respect them more than
anything. There have been
many times in my life when
after I hold an animal that I was
able to take, tears come to my
eyes and I want them to get
up and go back to what they
were doing, similar to catch and
47
release fishing. Just being able
to hold them and then release
them after a picture. I know
for me that it is this feeling that
allows me to keep hunting. It
truly is a mutual respect.
Off to the left of the six point,
was a smaller raghorn with its
backside to us feeding up hill.
To the left of him I saw one
that took my breath away. This
thing was the widest elk I’d ever
seen alive. I counted the points
and figured out it was a 5 x 5.
Talk about unique. He was a
main frame 5 and that’s all it
would be. It’s not like he broke
off the 6th point, just straight
up huge 5. I didn’t even care
to look at the others after seeing this one.“Angela, forget the
6 x 6, you need to take this 5.” I
whispered to her.
I ranged the big 5 at 220 yards
as he was feeding uphill from
us. Part of me wanted just to
watch them some more, but
the other part said, you better
shoot while you can! Real48
ity is, they could be gone in seconds. The big 5 was broadside
feeding with the bottom quarter
of his body blocked by a slab of
granite. Angela found him in her
scope asked if I was ready. I was
and she let the .308 go. The bullet
smashed in the granite just below
him causing a puff of smoke to
rise into the air. All the elk did was
raise his head obviously not knowing what was going on.
“Angela, you shot low, aim a bit
higher!” Shot number two I knew
hit him but I didn’t know where.
He took it, circled lower, and
stopped again behind a dead tree
that had fallen. I had previously
told her to keep shooting if you
can because I’ve seen how far elk
can go even after taking a good
hit. The third shot went low again
causing rock dust to paint the sky
around him. The dust hadn’t even
cleared when I saw his front feet
start to step up into the air and
then his backside start to droop.
“Angela you got him, you got him,
he’s going down!” Down he went
and we both went a little crazy.
With tears in her eyes and a
shaky hand over her mouth,
she looked back at me in disbelief of what just happened.
Of course it was all I could do
to keep from jumping up and
down. We kept saying the
same thing over and over… “I
can’t believe it, you got him!”
Even though I’ve seen many elk
on the ground before, I always
forget how truly big they are.
This thing was enormous. Not
just the antlers, but the body
too. With Angela sitting on him,
it looked like she was riding a
horse. Her hands couldn’t fit
all the way around the main
beams between the 2nd and
3rd points and she could hardly
reach the span of the 5th
points, just massive. His outside
width measured more than 54
inches which was equal to his
main beam lengths. We later
scored him at 302 B & C inches.
It was just amazing to be looking at a main frame 5 point
being that big.
hornsandhooks.com
After a bunch of ooh’s and ahhh’s, the work began. It got dark on us quick that night and we carried
out what we could, only to return the next day to get the rest. It was close to a 2.5 mile round trip from
the car up to the elk and back.
My wife and I both know that by not getting an elk on opening day and having to spend so much more
time and effort up in the hills, it just made the hunt even better. We were truly blessed to have been
able to take one of God’s amazing creatures and will forever respect them as the majestic animals that
they are.
BIG 5? HOW ABOUT
BIG 6?
Get 6 Adventure Packed Issues Shipped Directly to your
door! Visit hornsandhooks.com or turn to page 19!
49
TAKING
Taking a shot is something Jake Stoneking
does on a daily basis. As an avid outdoorsman, he never thought that the shots he’d be
taking were with his health. For two years this
remarkable young man has been battling High
Risk Medulloblastoma, a malignant brain tumor, but that didn’t stop Jake from taking not
one, but two shots of a lifetime!
50
hornsandhooks.com
A SHOT
Story by: Shelley Neal
A
bright smile and a positive attitude are
what you see when you meet Jake Stoneking. For two years this remarkable young man
has been battling High Risk Medulloblastoma,
a malignant brain tumor. Jake, a seventeen
year old sophomore at West Linn High School
outside Portland, Oregon, is the son of Todd
and Wendy Stoneking and has an older brother,
Ben.
Being an active person who loves the outdoors
has proved beneficial in Jake’s recovery. Since
he’s been old enough to walk, he has been
trampling through the woods hunting and fishing with his dad, Todd, forming a tight bond
between father and son.
Jake has made tremendous strides in a year.
“Last year when we went hunting, I literally held
onto Jake, keeping his arm hooked into mine
as I carried his rifle and we walked through the
woods, we stumbled and fell a few times,” Todd
beams, “Now this year he is walking on his
own and carrying his own rifle.”After regaining
his strength from spending over a year in the
hospital through brain surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and a thirty pound weight loss, Jake
emerged out the other side set on gaining back
his active lifestyle. He wanted to hunt a bull elk!
This hunt was made possible through The Outdoor Dream Foundation and several gracious
volunteers from the Lewis and Clark Chapter of
the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. The Outdoor Dream Foundation, started in the spring
of 2004, is a non-profit organization that grants
outdoor adventures to children who have been
diagnosed with terminal or life-threatening
51
illnesses. The Outdoor Dream
Foundation raises the funds for
travel, hunting licenses, meat
processing, and taxidermy. The
Outdoor Industry chips in with
guns, ammo, and clothing for
each child.
I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting Jake and Todd
Stoneking when we opened
our ranch for Jake’s dream
hunt. Two long-standing Rocky
Mountain Elk Foundation members, Paul Bogar and Ted Zmak
along with many others were
instrumental in putting all the
logistics and people together
for this successful adventure.
Jake and Todd flew into Lewiston on a Saturday where they
52
were picked up by Paul’s wife,
Toni, and transported to hunting
camp on the Gill Ranch near Lucile,
Idaho. Here Todd and Jake’s comfortable accommodations included
a travel trailer donated by Lewiston
RV. We had a fantastic dinner with
grilled rib-eye steaks and all of the
fixings.
gun, it had previously been
sighted in by RMEF volunteer,
Rory DesJardin, who is a National Shooting Champion.
Paul guided the hunters to the
north end of our ranch. First
plan was to check Paul’s bear
bait and perhaps get Jake a
shot at a bear. While glassing
the mountain-side, they spotAfter a wet, foggy weekend, the
ted some elk. He was so exweather broke and beautiful fall
days shined on Jake and crew. On
cited all he could say was “ears,
Monday, his first shot was hitting a ears!” The hunters watched
coyote at 428 (four hundred twen- a few cows, and then saw the
ty-eight) yards with his new gun, a bull. Crack shot Jake pulled
Thompson/Center Encore 7mm-08 the trigger and down the bull
complete with a Nikon scope! Paul went. Jake let out a big yahoo
and beat us all up the hill. A big
said, “I think all our jaws dropped
when we saw the coyote go down!” five-point bull elk completed
Jake’s dream hunt. Jakes dad
Todd had tears in his eyes and
Although Jake had never shot this
hornsandhooks.com
Jake & Todd Stoneking, Mike MacDowell, Jeff Hammrich, and Paul Bogar with bull elk.
53
was filled with emotions after
all that Jake has been through.
That afternoon, Paul took the
hunters to the south end of
our ranch. Here Jake successfully put down a nice four-point
whitetail buck. Again, only one
shot was needed! Todd commented, “I knew from the first
day when we drove up and saw
more deer than we ever see in
our area that Jake was going to
be able to get his deer.”
The next day after sightseeing the crew returned to Lewiston. With an
extra day in the area due to Jake’s quick hunting success, the Stonekings
were treated to a jet boat ride. RMEF volunteer, Don Vogel of Vogel Outdoor Adventures took them up the Snake River and lower Salmon River.
Here Jake got the opportunity to view bighorn rams, drive the jet boat,
and soak in some more breathtaking Idaho scenery.
RMEF Volunteers, Tom Donohue and Paul
Snider along with a few other helpers, will
be cutting and wrapping the meat for Jake
and his family to enjoy. Clark’s Taxidermy
of Lewiston will do a European mount
on Jake’s bull and a shoulder mount on
Jake’s whitetail buck.
Tom Donohue, Todd & Jake Stoneking, and
Don Vogel with Jake’s whitetail buck.
Jake Stoneking driving Don Vogel’s jetboat.
54
hornsandhooks.com
Friday morning saw the Stoneking family flying home, with many
pictures and a heart full of lasting memories.
According to Jake’s mom, Wendy, he was put on a clinical trial
study that will last for four years. Jake gets a brain and spine
MRI every three months for four years and then moves to
every six months. Jake and his family have endured a lot of
medical trials and tribulations. When talking about all that
he has been through, Jake says, “I just keep on going.” Keep
on going for us Jake we hope you have many more successful hunting trips in the future!
55
56
hornsandhooks.com
K
A
I
OD
K
uk
:L
y
B
y
or
St
K
odiak Island is the third
biggest island in the United
States. It is a little chilly during
the winter, however during the
summer it truly becomes the
emerald isle. Tall lush bright
green grasses and shrubs everywhere. Known mainly for its
Volkswagen sized grizzly bears,
its rivers and creeks team with
salmon and steelhead. The
surrounding waters are home
ch
hba
e Esc
to an abundance of marine life,
whales, shellfish, and giant halibut
are all easily found. The beautifully
eroded landscape, and dramatic
sunrises often feel like a scene
from Jurassic park. This is where I
have spent the last two summers
as a deckhand, chasing the ever so
finicky Dungeness crab.
The vessel is half keeled 42” fiberglass Hansen hull with a 482
Detroit in her belly. Originally
intended to be a purse seining vessel, its half keel design
gives it an extremely shallow
draft. When the boat has no
water in the hold I would guess
it can maneuver in less 4ft of
water. Most of the boats commercially fishing these waters
are 70 to 90 plus feet and need
much more water underneath
them if they don’t want an
57
extra hole in the bottom. The shorter boat
and its shallow design allow us to fill a niche
in the fishery. We cannot carry as many pots,
or as much crab, or a shower for that matter. We do get to put crab pots in places that
haven’t been fished for quite some time. In
these shallows along the craggy Kodiak coastline lie monster Dungeness crabs. Crabs old
enough to have drivers licenses, crabs heavy
and hard enough to throw through a double
pain sliding glass door only to land on his feet
and scurry off victoriously into the sunset.
58
Crabs and there prehistoric relatives have truly
evolved some incredible abilities, they love to
eat and feed on dead animal matter decaying
on the sea floor. Given that there is enough
nutrients in the water a crab can simply settle
into the sand with its mouth sticking out and
filter feed. Essentially it is a clam with legs and
pinchers. They can actually live for years without physically hand eating anything just sucking in the nutrients flowing out of the streams
and rivers. These are the crabs were looking
for, a lazy overweight crab that will choose to
just lay in the sandy, muddy shallows until its
legs rot off, literally. hornsandhooks.com
In 2010 a childhood friend of
mine called me out of the blue
to inform me he had purchased
a boat and needed a hand,
a few buckets of sweat and
blood later we were shoving
off from Petersburg, destination Kodiak. The skipper is an
incredibly rounded fisherman
for his age, crabbing and long
lining for that last 8 years. I felt
very comfortable with him and
the vessel, plus being on the
sea is one of the most exhilarating sensations. I love it. He
had never crabbed specifically
in Kodiak waters but was familiar with dungy’s habits and
eccentricities. We did quite
well for just the two of us that
year; we poked and prodded
the nooks and crannies of one
specific bay. Setting pots in less
than a fathom of water all over the
place. We soon became accustomed to actually seeing our pots
on the bottom before we even had
the buoy on board. It might seem
cool, but spending the vast majority of our time in unfamiliar water,
less than a fathom deep is not easy
to navigate. It requires the skipper
to keep his head on a swivel at all
times and leaves very little room
for error. It was a little slow going
at first but as we familiarized ourselves with the seafloor, weather
and tides, we located some serious
honey holes.
It was in one particular mud puddle sized freshwater flat that really
grabbed our attention. In these
“flats” the rivers and creeks drain,
creating a very clear layer of
freshwater on top and denser
colder seawater against the
seafloor. Freshwater will kill
crab so often times we have
to do a lot of maneuvering in
shallow water as fast as possible to prevent freshwater
exposure that could kill the
crab. In more cases than one
that required me leaning over
the bow to retrieve a buoy and
hold on as skipper jammed it
in reverse and we drag the pot
out to deeper water. All inconveniences aside, this is where
the granddaddies reside. One
pot we hauled out of six feet of
water with 48 keepers in it all
way above average size. Let’s
say 48 crabs, times 2.5 pounds,
times 2 dollars a pound, pretty
59
good for a few minutes work. A
keeper is 6.5 inches wide on its
shell and in Kodiak the average weight per crab is about
2.3 lbs. Needless to say landing
that pot led to some serious
hooting and hollering, even
the ravens were looking at us
funny. When we deliver the
crab and offload generally there
is an agricultural department of
fish and game employee asking
us about the area and taking
averages. Our first delivery after finding this hole the fish and
game lady guesstimated many
of the crabs were 16 to 18 years
old and around 4 lbs. she had
never seen anything like it.
It was this same hole we were
pumped about returning to
this season with more pots and
an extra deckhand. It was the
first area we canvassed and
60
there was no other pots to be seen
anywhere. The crabs were acting
a little different this year which
allowed us to set a few pots a
little deeper in the same area. For
whatever reason all of the crabs
from this area are just generally
larger and even have a distinguishable color, they are absolutely
beautiful, and they pinch harder
than hell. Often times if the extra
large males get in a pot first, they
will fight all the other crabs trying to get in. Which leads to one
single giant crab in the pot with
his claws cocked and drawn? This
one was definitely a loaner and
it was obviously huge, in perfect
condition with all the legs and no
discoloration. We kept it on deck
until we finished so we could snap
a couple of pictures, then put it in
the live tank with its kin. We never
measured it or weighed it because
we figured it would be easy to find
during the offload, which never
happened. A week later when
we returned to sell another
load the cannery manager told
us they had found a ridiculous crab while processing our
last delivery. It measured 11.5
inches at the shell and weighed
a little over seven pounds. I
can’t seem to find information
on the Alaska state record, but
this thing was huge. Unfortunately seeing is believing and I
am a little skeptical that it was
that large, if it was why not call
fish and game. Although this
season wasn’t quite as successful as the one previous, nobody
was seriously injured and I got
to see the biggest Dungeness
crab I will probably ever see for
the rest of my life.
hornsandhooks.com
3102 SIMPSON AVE.
HOQUIAM, WA 98550
Phone: 360 532 4600
SOLD AT:
This past fall I found myself preparing for the exciting adventure
for elk & deer in western Colorado. One of the most important
parts of hunting a new area is having the ability to determine
exactly where you are and exactly what property owners land
you are on. In my case, I was hunting with a landowner tag,
which allows me to hunt anywhere in the entire unit on public
or private land with that landowner’s approval. As with many
units across the west, ours was checkered with many pieces of
private land. The software from Hunting GPS Maps takes the
guess work about your location out of the equation and gives
you the confidence to take that shot on your trophy animal
knowing what piece property you and your trophy are both
on, right down to the fence line.
The software from Hunting GPS Maps takes
the guess work about your location out of the
equation and gives you the confidence to take
that shot on your trophy animal knowing what
piece property you and your trophy are both
on, right down to the fence line.
There are a couple of different options available for
purchasing these maps. If you don’t care to view the maps
on the computer and upload and download maps to your GPS
yourself, you can order the state maps on a micro SD card that
will fit in your Garmin GPS (if it contains a micro SD card slot).
This is more of a plug and play version and extremely easy to install and use.
The other option that I went with is to order the downloadable version that is installed in Garmin Mapsource and upload the maps to your GPS. This version is extremely helpful for scouting prior to visit62
hornsandhooks.com
ing your hunting area. With this version you are not
limited to how many computers you can install the
software on, but you are initially limited to two GPS
licenses. This means you can only initially install the
maps on two Garmin GPS’s but you can call 208 GPS.
MAPS and purchase additional unlock codes instead
of purchasing the entire map again.
Not only do the maps show you what property is private, but in the case of the PLAT version it shows you
the names of the land owners (so you can look them
up and ask permission). Hunting GPS Maps will get
you to your desired hunting grounds in less time, and
with more certainty of what is public land and what
is private. There are two other versions available as
well, BLM or PLAT. The difference between the BLM
and PLAT maps is landowners’ names. All of the color
coding for public and private property, topo, roads,
trails, and all other features are the same. Both maps
look identical except the PLAT map also has private
property boundaries with landowners’ name. PLAT
maps are currently available for the following
states AK,CA, CO, FL, MT, OR,ID,MT,NM,OR,UT,
WA and WY.
Overall, this product is a game changer in my
mind. Even the computer illiterate can handle
this simple map program. The website is very
user friendly with some nice intuitive videos that
give you step by step instructions. The one gripe
that I could see that one might have is the software is only compatible with Garmin GPS units,
not a big deal to me as that is what I and most of
my hunting partners have. I feel that in today’s
hunting reality this product is a must have and
I highly recommend everyone that hunts the
west should have this product. Knowing exactly
where I am hunting on such a simple system in
the palm of my hand gives me the piece mind to
hunt with confidence. I give Hunting GPS Maps
5 out of 5 HORNS.
GEAR RATING:
5 OUT OF 5 HORNS
Hooked on Gear
Hooked on Gear is the official gear review of HORNS AND HOOKS MAGAZINE. Each issue will have a gear review
section reviewing only gear that we feel are important products to improving our readers outdoor adventures.
All gear will be rated on a scale of one to five horns. We will only review items that we would use in our own
western outdoor adventures. This issues official HORNS AND HOOKS reviewer is Jason Cameron. Jason is a
Pacific Northwest native and is a western outdoor adventure junkie. He is a tough critic and you can trust his
opinion on gear. Jason is only satisfied with the best.
63
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http://washingtonpredatorhuntingassociation.com/
1510 199th Ave. E
Bonney Lake, WA. 98391
360-584-4870
by Kyle Jarmin
ROOSEVELT
ELK
65
T
his hunt started out like a
lot of Washington’s better
hunts in March when the new
game regulations came out. I
started going through the new
book trying to decide what to
put in for this year. The decision
came down to asking myself
how much I really wanted to
spend on putting in for these
tags at $5.99 a pop. This may
sound like a small amount but
it adds up quickly with all the
new tag options. After coming
to a decision the waiting began.
After what seemed like forever,
I got the call from my buddy
that the draw was complete
and I couldn’t get to the computer fast enough. As I entered
in my wild id numbers I knew
in the back of my mind that I
didn’t have a chance of being
66
drawn. At least I would have another point for the following year
and then it happened! I looked,
and looked, and I can’t believe my
eyes, I DREW AN ELK TAG. After I
slapped myself in the face to make
sure I wasn’t dreaming, I realized
that I had drawn one of the 6 bull
tags available for the Skokomish
unit. After the initial shock I started
making calls to my friends to tell
them the unbelievable news.
Not knowing the area as much
as I wanted to I got all the maps I
could find to become more familiar
with the area. The detailed maps
from the national forest office were
very helpful and after studying
the unit on paper it was time to
strap on the boots and get after it.
Scouting new county is something
I love. I had worked in the unit a lot
over the years and knew most
of the roads and seen some elk
but I knew if I was going to do
this tag justice I was going to
have to get off the roads.
After a few trips in to different areas and talking to some
people that had hunted the
unit I took a game camera to a
spot that I really thought would
be my best option to find a
mature bull. It was a long drive
in behind a gate that was to be
closed during my season but
open for the summer months.
After parking the truck I started
up. Five miles up hill was an adventure in itself and I don’t care
how good of shape you are in
this walk was a tough one. I
reached the little meadow and
it was a beautiful place with
hornsandhooks.com
patches of old growth timber
and a little creek very close to
the meadow I knew it was a
great spot for my game camera.
I had seen fresh tracks near this
spot in an earlier trip. This trip
in was solo and being pressed
for time I set up the camera
had a bite to eat and headed
back down the hill. The walk
down was much faster than the
trip in but still a long one. Wow,
what a grind! After a few trips
up and down that hill I knew if
I was going to hunt it I was going to have to get a helicopter
or horses to get a mature bull
off that hill. I figured I would
cross that bridge later since
I hadn’t even seen an elk up
there, just a few tracks and one
amazing place. I think that is
what kept me going back to
that awesome place.
During one trip, up there I met
two guys on their way down
packing a bear out and they
told me that they had hunted
bear in the area for years and
had seen some amazing bulls
up there. They were extremely
envious of my elk tag and
wished me luck. A week later I
was back up there swapping
out the SD card and exploring
a little more. Up on the hill I
found an old weather station,
a pond, big patches of blueberries, and the biggest pile
of bear scat I have ever seen.
Back down the hill I went very
excited about what may be on
my camera. I headed for home
to find nothing on the SD card!
All that work for nothing! After
that it was a while before I went
back since it was hard to find
time to go, with family and
work, and nothing on my game
camera. Once I did make it back
up and there was still no animals sighted. I switched out the
SD card wishing I could camp
out up there like those two
guys that got the bear. To be up
there on top at daylight looking over that amazing country
would be great. Work and family responsibilities would not
allow time for that. I headed
home only to see that there
were only three pictures on the
card. I was not very excited until I opened the file. I just about
fell out of my chair! There was
the picture I was looking for. It
was not of just any bull but “the
one” a big beautiful 6x6 Roosevelt bull. He was awesome and
was absolutely the bull I wanted. I knew where I was going to
be opening morning.
Now I had to wait for opening
day, and of course like a lot of
the best laid plans this one did
not work out. November was
still a long time to wait and
after hearing from a very good
source that some tribal hunters had came out of that exact
spot with three 6x6 bulls and a
muzzle loader hunter had spent
67
his entire season in that area
but was unsuccessful. Was I still
going to try this hunt? It was
a 5mile hike before the gates
were closed and with the closed
gate it was more in the 9 to 10
miles range. I had horses lined
up to help pack an elk out but
I was still packing my fat self in
on foot. I was now on the fence
and looking for a backup plan.
Most of the elk were on the
west end of the unit but I did
know of a few elk in the east
side of the unit. One week before the season I went up to see
if I could find something special
in a new area.
I parked the pickup and right
off the bat I spotted about 30
elk 20 cows, 10 bulls, 2 big 5
points and no people. This spot
was close enough to the border
of the unit that I was concerned
that they may move out of the
unit. I was also a little worried
about exactly where the border
was. I made a call to a game
warden that I knew to pick his
brain and tell him my plan. He
knew the spot and assured me
I was okay to hunt there but he
did warn me to make sure that
the bull stayed in the unit. I had
made my choice to go after
the big 5 point and after put68
ting them to bed two days before
the season with no other hunters
around I called a few friends to
come help. I hooked up my travel
trailer and met up with my buddy
Ryan the night before the season
and we went to set up camp. We
made it back up there a little before dark and found the elk but did
not see the big bull. Did he move
out of the unit? We were able to
put the heard of about 25 elk to
bed and headed back to camp. The
next morning was opening day and
I could not wait.
Opening morning was finally here,
we got up had a bite to eat and
were off for the day looking for
the big one. We headed up to
the spot we had put the elk to
bed the night before. We were
there a little early and still no
hunters just a little fog. As it
started to get light enough to
start glassing I spotted the elk
about 500 yards away moving
into the timber. There was still a
little too much fog to make out
horns but we had to get moving to cut them off and get our
chance. We quickly moved in
around the gate on the logging
road easing our way into the
big timber slowly walking with
a slight breeze in our face. We
worked our way up and down
the little finger ridges stopping
at the top of each one waiting
hornsandhooks.com
down in the Winston creek unit
and I thought that elk was big
but this was a giant Roosevelt
bull. It was 9:00am on opening morning and I was tagged
out and the work was about to
begin!
and searching for that first elk.
Finally Ryan spotted a cow
about 40 yards ahead. I slid
around the tree to conceal myself a little more and got down.
We waited the whole time she
was staring at us like we were
busted? Finally we started seeing the rest of the heard moving around behind her and they
all looked nervous. Suddenly
they all started moving up the
bottom single file right in front
of us. I slowly stood up to get
a shot. I found a good shooting lane and get set up and the
elk just keep coming cow, cow,
cow, then Ryan said “here he
comes”. I saw him and flipped
the safety off. He stopped right
behind a tree concealing his vitals. To get a shot at him he had
to move past the tree into my
shooting lane. Finally another
elk came up behind him and
gave him a push and he took
one more step past the tree.
There’s that front shoulder
and I squeeze the trigger. He
didn’t even break stride after
the shot. Did I hit him, did I hit
him? The heard moved out fast
after the shot but I don’t see
him. The last time I saw him he
was going between an old snag
and a giant old growth stump. The
herd is out of sight now and I head
straight for the old growth stump
to see if I can find any sign of him.
I moved very slowly toward where
I had last seen him and as I got
closer I thought maybe I missed. I
scanned the area looking for any
sign of the bull. As I walked around
the huge old growth stump there
he is he tipped over right behind
the old growth stump. Holy cow
what a bull there is definitely no
ground shrinkage on this guy! I
had shot one elk before, a 4 point
Ryan headed out to get pack
boards while I stayed there and
went to work on the big bodied bull. After some time Ryan
returned with pack boards and
our friend Mike to help pack.
Mike was lucky enough to draw
and successfully harvest a wall
hanger Shiras Moose last year
in Washington and he felt that
the moose had longer legs
but was similar in body size to
the elk I had taken. Again wow
was he big! We immediately
went to work and after a ton of
hard work and 7 heavy packs
of boned out meat we had it
all back to the truck. It was
4:00 and we were starving and
exhausted so we grabbed the
trailer and headed for home. It
was an unbelievable day and a
great season I can’t thank Ryan
and Mike enough for that day.
Without them I may still be
packing out that elk.
69
COOKBOOK
BRINGING OUTDOOR ADVENTURE TO YOUR TABLE
This section of HORNS AND HOOKS MAGAZINE will be a feature
of every issue. We want you the readers of HORNS AND HOOKS to
submit your favorite recipe using your successful western outdoor
adventure eats. Every recipe will include a wild ingredient in the dish.
Most recipes will include wild game meat, fish, seafood, waterfowl, or
upland birds as the main ingredient. We know there are a ton of great
cooks out there and we want you to share your wild eats recipes. To
submit your favorite wild eats recipe log on to our website:
hornsandhooks.com
and choose submit your story. Please give as much detail as possible
in the recipe and submit before, during, and after photos to pull it all
together, from adventure to table.
Enjoy!
70
hornsandhooks.com
Venison Jalapeño Popper Steaks
Ingredients:
1-2 pounds trimmed venison back strap
4-5 slices of bacon
About 6 -8 Jalapenos
1 package of cream cheese
1-2 tablespoons of your preferred steak seasonings
Toothpicks
1 BBQ grill heated to medium – high
Step 1: Cut venison back strap into ½” – ¾” thick butterfly steaks that are big enough to wrap
around a jalapeno.
Step 2: Cut stems off of jalapenos, clean, and remove seeds.
Step 3: Fill jalapenos with cream cheese.
Step 4: Heat BBQ grill to medium - high
Step 5: Wrap Venison steaks around cream cheese stuffed jalapenos.
Step 6: Wrap ½ slice of bacon around venison steak stuffed with jalapeno.
Step 7: Skewer entire stuffed and wrapped steak with toothpick to hold together.
Step 8: Season meat to your liking.
Step 9: Place Stuffed and wrapped steaks on hot grill for about 15 minutes checking and turning often.
Step 10: Cook meat to medium rare or until the bacon is done cooking. Do not overcook venison it becomes extremely dry if overcooked.
Step 11: Remove meat and let stand for a few minutes and serve.
Suggested sides are a fresh green salad, potato or pasta salad, and garlic bread.
ENJOY!
71
Colorado
ADVENT
by Rex Peterson
I have been dreaming of that one special mule deer buck
for as long as I can remember. So I convinced my dad,
Lloyd and hunting partners Jason Cameron and Chris
Jensen that we needed to go to Colorado where there are
more giant bucks taken every year than anywhere else in
the west.
72
hornsandhooks.com
TURE
I
have been dreaming of that
one special mule deer buck
for as long as I can remember.
So I convinced my dad, Lloyd
and hunting partners Jason
Cameron and Chris Jensen that
we needed to go to Colorado
where there are more giant
bucks taken every year than
anywhere else in the west. So
we researched and were able
to get four landowner vouchers
for the 3rd season in a unit that
held a lot of public ground and
hopefully a giant mule deer or two.
After what seemed like forever the
time finally came to hit the road.
We left our homes in Washington
for the day and a half drive. Once
we got to Colorado we stopped
at the local Cabela’s to buy a few
last minute supplies, our deer tags,
and we might as well get over the
counter elk tags. After all we are in
Colorado, the state with more elk
than several other western states
combined.
Like little kids on Christmas Eve
we were all out of our minds
with the excitement of what
opening morning would bring.
We awoke to cold temperatures and quickly ran into heavy
snow on the way to where we
had planned to begin our hunt
in the upper elevations of the
unit. The first full day was spent
exploring the unit, avoiding
73
the many people, and trying to avoid
getting stuck in the fast accumulating
snow. The next day was more of the
same very few deer spotted and deep
snow that totaled almost 2 feet in the
high country pushing us down to lower
elevations. Morning number three
found us in the low country along the
private lands trying to hunt the deer we
had seen feeding in the fields as they
headed to their bedding areas. Well
needless to say many other people had
the same strategy and the deer stayed
on private property to bed.
That afternoon we hiked deep into the
upper end of one of the many giant
canyons of the unit. Once we got down
in to the canyon away from where
anyone else had been since the snow
fell we began to see animals. First we
saw a few does and some cow elk and
then we finally found two bucks feeding
through the aspens around 1500 feet
across the canyon. We got the spotting
scope set up and were able to determine that they were both four point
bucks. The first one that we saw was
a nice buck probably 22 inches wide
with big back forks nice eye guards and
heavy. The other buck was a younger
deer but probably 24 inches wide with
smaller forks and less mass. These
bucks were not quite what we had in
mind as our dream bucks in Colorado
so we decided to back out, once a snow
storm rolled in eliminating all visibility.
We were in better spirits as we hiked up
the steep snow covered canyon walls
back to the pickup, we had finally found
a good area to hunt that held some
animals.
74
The next morning Jason and Chris were
headed back into the canyon from the
previous evening and Dad and I were
going to another promising spot we
had found in the low country. Dad and
I saw more deer that morning than we
had seen before in a single morning but
nothing worth going after. So we headed over to where Jason and Chris were
only to have the second flat tire
on the trailer we were towing
our four wheelers in. Needless
to say we headed for the tire
store. Four hours later and two
new trailer tires we were headed to find Jason and Chris and
see if they had any luck. Along
the way we stopped to glass a
big deep canyon that was the
lower part of where Chris and
Jason had been hunting.
I immediately spotted four
cows and one nice bull elk. I
told my Dad where they were
and to get his things together
I was going after the bull. We
quickly closed the distance to
400 yards and ran into a vertical
cliff that we could not get down
safely and the bull began to get
nervous. I quickly set my Stoney
Point Shooting bipod up and
put the 400 yard crosshair of
my Ziess scope on the bull’s shoulder. When he turned broadside I
squeezed the trigger and immediately heard the distinct smack of a
180 grain Accubond. I got the bull
in my scope again a sent another
shot his way missing. You could
tell he was hit hard but I did not
want to let him get away so as he
stumbled behind a giant scrub oak
I smacked him again. Dad and I
watched until dark and he never
came out of the thick scrub oak
brush he went into.
Just a few minutes before dark as
we were hiking back to the road
Jason and Chris pulled up cussing
me like I was their enemy. Come
to find out they had went back
into the same canyon as the night
before only to have two young kids
hiking out of the first part of the
canyon as they were hiking in. The
kids told them that they had seen
a small three point bull which
is not legal in the unit we are
hunting; a bull must have four
points on one side. So Jason
and Chris headed down the
trail to see what the boys were
talking about. Once they got
down to where they could see
the animal they set up the Leopold spotting scope and gave
it a good look. They found that
it was a small four by five bull
instead of the three point the
boys had suggested. It really
does pay to have quality optics.
So they snuck down to within
three hundred yards of the
bedded bull and got ready. You
have heard this story before,
hunters set up on a bedded
animal in a foot of snow freezing their butts off. Finally they
got the bull to stand and Jason
had shot his first bull. The mortally wounded bull went down
75
within 10 feet of his bed.
Back to where they were cussing me as they pulled up. They
had been packing that bull out
of the deep canyon they had
killed him in wondering and
hoping I would get there to
share the work. We told them
about our bull and they immediately forgave us and wanted
to know what they could do to
help. With the dark overtaking
the canyon and the steep cliff
below we made a plan to safely
get down in the canyon at first
light the next morning. We
headed to town for dinner and
a restless nights’ sleep wondering if I had made the right
decisions and if the bull would
be lying were we had last seen
him.
The next morning was clear and
cold thankfully freezing, and
76
hopefully keeping my bull from
spoiling. We immediately headed
down into the canyon to find my
bull. After what seemed like forever we were at the spot he bull
was standing when I first shot. We
found his tracks and began to look
for blood after tracking him in behind the brush we saw him go into
we found blood. Boy was I excited.
We kept tracking and found more
blood and around the corner of
the brush not 30 yards from where
he was standing when I first shot
there he was, a really nice Colorado
6 by 6 bull. The high fives, hugs,
fist bumps and shouts with sheer
joy began. The rest of the day was
spent taking pictures and butchering the big bodied bull. Then the
real work began we had to pack
him on our backs around a mile
to where we could get the four
wheelers.
The next morning our focus again
took us back to deer and the
canyon we had been packing
elk out of the previous two
days. Jason and Chris hiked
down into the canyon on the
upper end and my Dad and I
hiked down in from the lower
end. None of us saw a single
deer and we decided to concentrate on the lower ground
hoping that the snow and or
rut would finally turn up a big
buck for one of us. We took
our four wheelers into some
lower country and spread out
hoping to find some more
deer. When we met back at the
pickups at dark Chris was no
where around. About 45 minutes after dark Chris showed
up with a real nice 160’s class
4 point. Finally, one of us had
found a buck worth shooting
after covering so much ground
and most of the season. Apparently Chris had spotted a group
hornsandhooks.com
of three small bucks and got
set up on them. After watching
them for a few minutes the four
point finally stepped out right
before dark and Chris dropped
him in his tracks.
While we were taking pictures
and loading up a local came by
and gave us some advice and
wished us good luck. The next
morning we followed his advice and immediately we began
seeing deer. After seeing some
smaller bucks and does in the
morning the afternoon was
slow until right before dark. Jason and I got a call on the radio
from my Dad saying that he
had a buck down and needed
our help. We headed over his
way to find he had taken a nice
four point and again the
celebration began.
back to the area that Dad and
Chris had taken their bucks hoping to find a big buck. After getting back in away from the people
I finally spotted the first deer I had
seen in two days and it looked to
be a nice buck. I wasted no time
and immediately got set up for the
shot. His body was behind a cedar
bush so I settled the crosshairs on
his neck at about 200 yards and
squeezed the trigger. At the smack
of the bullet he bucked up on his
hind legs and did a cartwheel. I
jacked in another shell and got
on him again and saw him running through the cedars hit hard. I
quickly fired another shot and the
buck dropped in his tracks.
and see what he looked like.
When I grabbed hold of his
antlers I was not disappointed
he is a 23 inch 150’s class four
point. Although not the monster trophy I was after, nine
days of hard hunting and not
seeing many deer at all I was
extremely happy to put my tag
on this beautiful buck on the
final morning of the season. We
had tremendous trip seen some
beautiful country, met some
great people and came home
with some great animals. I am
looking forward to my next
western outdoor adventure.
I immediately ran up to my buck
happy to put my hands on him
The next morning was
Saturday and Chris and
Jason were to head
home at noon. We
searched and searched
for a buck for Jason but
that was not meant to
be on this trip. Dad and
I hunted hard in a new
area that evening and
did not see one deer
the entire day. The next
morning was Sunday the
final day of the season
and we planned to leave
at noon. We headed
77
ADVENTURE
SHOTS
Send your western outdoor adventure shots
to [email protected]!
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hornsandhooks.com
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If you have an exciting outdoor adventure story we want you to submit it to us for publication in
HORNS AND HOOKS magazine. Everyone that has been on an exciting Western adventure always
has great stories to tell and pictures to go along with it. We want you to take some time after your
adventure, write down your story and submit it to us (in Word format) along with your high quality
pictures (No Cell Phone Pics)and we will publish them in HORNS AND HOOKS!!! We want all types
of Western outdoor adventure stories. We want Alaska Moose hunting stories, Montana Paddle fish
stories, Colorado Mule Deer stories, Grand Canyon rafting stories, Columbia River Sturgeon stories,
Oregon Roosevelt Elk stories, Vancouver Island Black Bear stories, Wyoming Antelope stories, California
Shark fishing stories, Mt Rainier climbing stories, and any other exciting western outdoor adventures. If
it is an exciting Western outdoor adventure story we want to publish it. Stories must be full of western
outdoor adventure, be in word format, and have high quality photos to accompany them. We can’t wait
to publish your stories!!!
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Transcription

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