Seminars and stations include:

-Ladies on the hunt
-High Country Mule Deer Tactics
-Pathway to Mule Deer Hunting (for youth hunters)
-3-D Archery Target Shooting (Instruction and Techniques)
-Rifle Target Shooting (Instructions and Gun Safety)
-Wildlife Photography

WHAT: Mule Deer 101 with DOW and the Mule Deer Foundation

WHO: Anyone interested in learning the fundamentals of deer hunting

WHEN: Saturday, July 9th, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

WHERE: Colorado Division of Wildlife, Hunter Education Building, 6060 Broadway, Denver

HOW: To register for this FREE seminar, please e-mail tony.dymek@state.co.us or call 303-291-7804 and leave a message with your name, CID number, address, and phone number. Spaces are limited to 60 people so register early.

DIRECTIONS: From I-25, take the 58th Avenue exit and go west. Turn right at the first light onto Broadway. Follow Broadway over the railroad tracks and turn right into the second entrance to the DOW campus. Follow the signs to the Hunter Education Building, located in the northeast corner of the campus.

For more information on planning a hunt in Colorado, go to:

http://wildlife.state.co.us/Hunting/PlanYourHunt/

For more information about Division of Wildlife go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us.

Not only was this a training run to prepare for my race in August but it was an opportunity to get out the tent and get some nights under the stars with my fellow trail runners.

We hiked about a mile down to the ocean to watch the sunset on Saturday night. Tim, a fellow runner and hunter had three abalone we enjoyed grilled with butter and garlic. We finished out the night around the Campfire.

The next morning we enjoyed coffee as the birds tweeted their wake up calls. I could feel the prior evening’s hike in my hamstrings so I was a little hesitant about how today’s training run would be. Last year here, I had a very bad training run and that caused me to almost bow out of the race.

1375 feet of elevation gain at the start AND at the finish OOOFFF!

This time I was familiar with the trail so I knew what lay ahead. I ran when I could, walked when I had to and I took advantage of the downhill whenever possible.

Our route for our training run

As far as fueling, I had a powergel at 30 minutes in, and 1 hour in. I was doing one salt tablet every 30 minutes until I discovered that the sweat had dissolved the last three gelcaps in my pocket. My 45 oz Camelbak reservoir never got empty and travelled well between my shoulder blades, in my Badlands Reactor Pack (now sold as the Hyper Hydro).

On the long single track down hill of the two mile Stump Beach trail, my toe caught a root and I went rolling I scrambled to my feet and looked behind me…No one in sight. Perhaps no one would know I took a tumble.

At the end of a long downhill stretch with 3 miles to go.

When I hit the coast, SueK and the Reeds were on hand to take photos. As our Coach Marc said “When I hit the coast, I was toast” My two mile shuffle along the coast was rewarded with a pleasant breeze, crystal blue water, and sunshine.

Climbing up out of the creekbed was the start of the coast section and a momentum shift after two miles of fast downhill. Zach Rounds, a 70.3 (half-iron) triathlete, passed me at this point.

Soon I was back at the uphill section of our hike the evening before.  I knew the finish of the run was only.8 miles further so I tried to maintain a trot as I jumped over the down logs, crossed Highway One and arrived back at our starting point.  I had covered the 8.79 miles in 1 hour 43 minutes. 

Soon I realized my tumble was not going to go unnoticed.  Although superficial, that little scratch made a dramatic blood trail.  I had to fess up that I had wiped out.   After catching my breath I walked back to our campsite for a nice cooldown.  A quick clean up, and change of clothes and we broke down camp and bid farewell to one another until next week’s long trail run.

This last weekend at the Tejon ranch, a group of California Bowhunters members had three days of bowhunting action before the State Broadhead Championship.  Seven of the twelve hunters killed pigs with archery equipment.  That is better than the rifle average success rate for the state of California.  It really speaks well to the skill and tenacity of California’s bowhunters.  One of those successful hunters was Nate Treadwell, who I shot with over the weekend. 

I saw the head in person. Here is the story straight from Nate…

Finally, with no guests, clients or friends to contend with this weekend I got a little time to hunt myself.

Glassed up a group of pics from an opposing ridge. They looked prettty content to feed there for a little while. There was an access road above them and a recovery road below them so I figured it was a good play.  I Drove around and dropped in from above. No hogs. I stopped and started looking real carefully when I head some pig noises off to my right.

They were making it into a thick, nettle choked cut to bed. Some were already in the nettles as you could see them shaking around. The last hog in the group looked like the best one. I was 37 yards above them. I took a shot and whiffed it right over his back. He never flinched. It was windy so he never heard a thing. I decided to try to get closer since they were still unaware of me. I worked into 24 yards.

The pigs were coming straight up the hill at me, but I knew they would soon turn to follow their buddies into the brush. I hit full draw expecting the big boar in the back to turn. He kept coming. Just as I was about to have to let down, he turned just a bit and exposed his shoulder. I stuck him right down through the on side shoulder blade, and it exited back lung on the off side. He took off running and right as he was about to make it over the crest of the hill and out of sight, I saw grass and dirt fly up in the air.

I made my way to the spot, expecting to find him close by and he was nowhere. Looking downhill, there was a 4′ swath of layed down grass and broken bushes as he crashed down the hill. He rolled 1000+ yards, all the way to the bottom and stopped 15 yards from the road. That would have been great had I had a partner with me. But in this case it meant I hike to hike all the way down to dress and tag him, and then all the way back up to get my truck. Then it took some good old Boy Scout engineering to get him into the back of my truck by myself.

All in all, my goal was to kill a nice boar this year and I’ve got that done. Was probably 220lbs ish and had 2 3/4″ exposed teeth, perfectly matched. Then topped off the weekend with the CBH State Broadhead Shoot. One of the most fun weekends I’ve had in a long while.

The positive confirmed cases are located in the following 12 counties: Amador(1), Colusa(1), Glenn(6), Kern(2), Los Angeles(1), Marin(1), Napa(1), Placer (3), Plumas(1), Shasta(1), Stanislaus(3) and Ventura(1).
Sixteen(16) of the confirmed positive EHV-1/EHM CA cases participated in the National Cutting Horse Association’s Western National Championships in Ogden, Utah.
One (1) of the confirmed positive EHV-1/ EHM CA cases participated only in the Kern County Cutting Horse Event on May 13th in Bakersfield, CA.
Five (5) of the confirmed positive EHV-1/EHM CA cases were exposed horses to an Ogden, UT participant.
Two (2) confirmed positive EHM horses were euthanized after showing severe neurological signs associated with EHM.
Eight (8) confirmed positive horses displayed neurologic signs.
Thirteen (13) confirmed positive horses displayed only a fever.
One (1) confirmed positive horse displayed only a nasal discharge.
On June, 6, 2011, the total number of confirmed cases in California was reduced by one (1). The total number of California confirmed cases went from 22 cases to 21 cases. Initially, the horse in question had a low viral load on nasal swab and using an abundance of caution, was placed under quarantine. This Sacramento County horse did not have any clinical signs nor did any of the horses in the same barn. Due to the lack of clinical signs this horse does not meet the confirmed clinical case definition and was removed from the case count.

( Note: The next update will be Monday June 6, 2011)

California has two (2) new confirmed case of Equine Herpes Myeloencephalopathy (EHM) caused by EHV-1. The total is now 22 confirmed EHV-1/ EHM cases in the state. The two new confirmed positive horses, located on the same premises, were exposed to a previously confirmed positive Ogden, UT participant.

The positive confirmed cases are located in the following 13 counties: Amador(1), Colusa(1), Glenn(5), Kern(2), Los Angeles(1), Marin(1), Napa(1), Placer (3), Plumas(1), Sacramento (1), Shasta(1), Stanislaus(3) and Ventura(1).
Sixteen(16) of the confirmed positive EHV-1/EHM CA cases participated in the National Cutting Horse Association’s Western National Championships in Ogden, Utah.
Two (2) of the confirmed positive EHV-1/ EHM CA cases participated only in the Kern County Cutting Horse Event on May 13th in Bakersfield, CA.
Four (4) of the confirmed positive EHV-1/EHM CA cases were exposed horses to an Ogden, UT participant.
Two (2) confirmed positive EHM horses were euthanized after showing severe neurological signs associated with EHM.
All positive confirmed EHV-1/EHM cases are under a State Quarantine.

From the California Department of Food and Agriculture:

California has no new confirmed case of Equine Herpes Myeloencephalopathy (EHM) caused by EHV-1. There are a total of 20 confirmed EHV-1/ EHM cases in the state. The last confirmed case was on May 31, 2011.

The positive confirmed cases are located in the following 13 counties: Amador(1), Colusa(1), Glenn(3), Kern(2), Los Angeles(1), Marin(1), Napa(1), Placer (3), Plumas(1), Sacramento (1), Shasta(1), Stanislaus(3) and Ventura(1).
Sixteen(16) of the confirmed positive EHV-1/EHM CA cases participated in the National Cutting Horse Association’s Western National Championships in Ogden, Utah.
Two (2) of the confirmed positive EHV-1/ EHM CA cases participated only in the Kern County Cutting Horse Event on May 13th in Bakersfield, CA.
Two (2) of the confirmed positive EHV-1/EHM CA cases were exposed horses to an Ogden, UT participant.
Two (2) confirmed positive EHM horses were euthanized after showing severe neurological signs associated with EHM.
All positive confirmed EHV-1/EHM cases are under a State Quarantine.
Recommendations for EXPOSED HORSES

Disease reports in California continue to be limited to horses exhibited at the National Cutting Horse Association’s Western National Championships (NCHA) held at the Golden Spike Event Center in Ogden, Utah from April 30th to May 8, 2011 and the Kern County Cutting Event in Bakersfield, CA on May 13, 2011 or exposed to horses participating in these events. CDFA has quarantined all infected horses and continues to advise that horses returning from those events and horses that have subsequently come into contact with returning horses avoid moving from their home premises until California has gone 14 days without a new case of EHV-1/EHM.

Recommendations for Horse Show/Event Managers Regarding EHV-1 Biosecurity Procedures

(These biosecurity guidelines have been developed, based on currently available information, by CDFA veterinarians and the faculty at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, to minimize the risk of transmission of infectious diseases at public equestrian events. If the situation changes, these and other guidelines will be modified as appropriate.)
When the current EHV-1 outbreak began, horse owners were initially advised to avoid nonessential transport of their animals to reduce the risk of exposure to, or spread of the virus among, the horse population. Now that we have obtained more information through ongoing testing, reporting and monitoring, we have concluded that the EHV-1 infection outbreak is centered around horses that were present at the National Cutting Horse Association’s Western National Championships (NCHA) held at the Golden Spike Event Center in Ogden, Utah from April 30th to May 8th. and/or the Kern County Cutting Event in Bakersfield, CA on May 13th. This includes cutting horses that did not attend either of the above events but have subsequently come into contact with horses returning from those events.
Based on what is known today, we are suggesting that managers of horse shows or events occurring in California during the coming weeks incorporate the following biosecurity measures to minimize the risk for all participants:

Event managers should create a short document for participants to sign upon arrival at the show grounds to confirm that their horses, mules, and burros attending the show/event have not attended or had prior contact with horses from the NCHA Championships in Ogden, Utah and/or the Kern County Cutting Event in Bakersfield, CA, or been on the same premises with horses that have returned from these events. Horses that have attended, or been exposed to horses returning from either event will not be allowed to enter the show grounds.
Establish a “No Fever” policy for horses attending the event. Give the participants prior notice of the new “No Fever” policy before they arrive at the show grounds. Provide instructions for obtaining the horse’s temperature and an index card on which to record temperature readings for each horse.
a. All horses will have temperatures taken twice daily and results will be posted on front of the stall/pen for inspection.
b. Any horse will be subject to random temperature check by the show veterinarian or designated member of the veterinary staff during the event.
c. Any horse with a fever of 102°F or greater will be removed from the event and premises immediately (i.e. within 2 hours of detection of fever).
d. If the owner cannot move the horse off the premises, a professional horse hauler contracted by the event will remove the horse to a designated isolation area at the owner’s expense.
It is understood that some (most) horses with a fever will not have EHV-1; however, in the interest of conducting a safe event under the current circumstances, the no fever policy will be enforced. If you do not wish to comply with these safety measures please do not attend the event.

Cindy Krug sent me a picture of her friend Brent who connected on a nice wild hog at Tejon Ranch last week. When I met Brent he was still all smiles.

Cindy writes:

Brent works for a local water district outside of Bakersfield, so he was only able to hunt the evenings up at Tejon Ranch for his wild pig. Brent’s goal was to get a hog that would make “book” for CBH. Since Rich and I hunt Tejon on a weekly basis, we felt fairly confident that we could guide Brent in on a nice hog. We told him that boars are not as easy to find or kill, so if he had a chance at a large sow, he’d better take it, and large sows can easily make the CBH minimum of 23″.

Our first hunt was on Tuesday evening. Rich and I took Brent into a nasty canyon that we’d seen pigs in a week before. This canyon has a rough road in the bottom, but no road on top. About half way into the canyon, the brush is impenetrable. That’s why there are pigs there! Well, we first glassed the canyon from the opposite side, and sure enough at about 5:00 p.m., we saw some nice pigs out feeding. We quickly marked the location of the pigs and drove around to the bottom in order to hike up into the canyon. After spending the next 2 hours still hunting through the canyon, we had had several close encounters, but none of the pigs were big enough to shoot, so Brent didn’t fill his tag that night.

The next night was more challenging. Rich had to stay home and help our son out with All Stars practice, so I took Brent up to one of my old haunts, nicknamed “Land of the Giants”. Unfortunately, that name was given about 8 years ago, and it hasn’t lived up to it’s name for quite a few years. When Brent and I got to the spot, we parked the truck and headed out on the route I usually take through some oak trees where the pigs hang out (when they’re in the area). That night however, there were no pigs; not even any sign. I told Brent that before leaving that area, we needed to check a small seep that usually draws in the game. As we were making our way to the water, we finally saw one large boar track in the soft dirt on the road. We also saw a mountain lion track. Other than that, it was just cattle tracks. But we wanted to see if there were any tracks near the pond. As we got close to it, suddenly Brent grabbed my arm and mouthed “pig”. I instantly looked to where he was pointing and could see the back of a black hog heading our way at a pretty quick clip. I believe he was heading straight for the water.

Well, we both squatted down in the knee high oats and grass. Brent whipped out his “Windicator” and checked the wind. In 2 seconds the wind swirled north, south, east and west. It was not a good day for a bowhunter. But, if that pig would just clear the dead oak tree he had walked behind, Brent would have a 25 yard shot. So we waited, praying the wind wouldn’t give us away. But after about a minute, we feared the worst, and when Brent stood up to take a peak, the pig was trotting off in the opposite direction. What a heart breaker! But anybody who bow hunts knows that feeling (all too well sometimes!).

After that we left the “Land of the Giants” (by the way, that pig was a nice sized boar) to try to spot something before the sun set. And we did glass up about 12 other pigs that evening, but they were way across a huge canyon that would have taken us 2 hours to get to. So day two down and no punched tag yet. On day three, Rich was able to hunt with us again. We looked at the pigs we had spotted the night before and because Rich had “Google Earthed” that spot, we found an old dirt road that would get us on top of the ridge from where they were. It was still a huge canyon to contend with, but we wanted to try to get to that area. When we took the dirt road on the ridge, we got to the top of the canyon we wanted to look at. We got out to glass down into the canyon, and suddenly Rich said “There’s a nice pig right down this hill feeding!”.

Brent quickly grabbed his bow and headed down the mountain with Rich. I stayed on top to keep an eye on the rest of the canyon. Well, the wind was again swirling in every direction imaginable, and the pig we’d seen feeding quickly blew out of the canyon, along with about 10 other pigs. None of them were very big though (small consolation I guess). So, we glassed from the ridge we were parked on to the huge (and I mean HUGE) canyon to the west of us, and lo and behold, we spotted a large pig out feeding on a brushy side hill.

We knew it would be no easy feat to find him once we drove around to the other side, but we had to try. So, after about a 20 minute drive, we got onto the side of the canyon that the pig was on, although he was still a few miles further on the road. Suddenly Rich said, “Stop, I see a pig.” So, we stopped and backed up to find an opening in the brush along the road to peak through. And yes, there was a big black pig out feeding in an opening along a small finger ridge. This was a great blessing because the wind wasn’t so bad on this side of the mountain, and that pig was in a nice, easy, stalkable spot.

We got right over to where the finger ridge met up with the dirt road we were on and parked the truck and hustled down toward where the pig was. When we got fairly close, we slowed down and started still hunting the ridge. I knew were were getting close and I suddenly glassed up a pair of gray ears moving through the grass. I got Rich and Brent’s attention and told them I’d seen a pig ahead of us about 80 yards. So, we sent Brent on ahead of us to close in on the pig. As he moved up, we moved up behind him, but we didn’t see the pig for a few minutes.

All of a sudden, I saw the pig (a huge gray and white mottled hog, AKA a “cookies and cream” hog) in the brush to my left, only about 15 yards from me! The pig was looking at me, and I had to try to get Brent’s attention. Well, “psssst” doesn’t work so well in the woods, and the pig took off. I motioned for Brent to move over to the brush line to try to get a look at the pig. As he did that, Rich and I moved forward a bit more. I was thinking to myself, well, that wasn’t the black pig we originally saw, so maybe that one is still out feeding around here. Right then, we saw the black pig coming across the ridge in our direction.

We got Brent’s attention and he got ready. The pig walked by him at 25 yards and Brent put a perfect arrow through it’s heart. We all stood there listening for a few minutes, and Brent said he heard it crashing in the brush about 20 yards from him and thrashing around. We said, good, but let’s wait 10 minutes. So, 4 minutes later we got up to look for the pig. Thankfully it was laying there dead, right where Brent had heard it crash. It turned out to be a really big sow. We were all ecstatic and thankful for such a successful hunt.

The status jumped out at me from the computer screen:

Marc Strozyk

Anyone want to join me tomorrow morning for a 14 or so mile run in Annadel???? Haven’t decided on route yet but I might just meander. Let me know.

After being seatbound in the car after almost 6 hours of driving, I was feeling pretty energetic.  I fired back a response that I would meet my buddy Marc at the Parktrail Drive trailhead, and we would figure out where we were going on the fly. 

I showed up fashionably late told Marc I wanted to see the trails I hadn’t seen before.  He got a mischevious gleam in his eye, and we headed up the Veterans Memorial Trail (in honor of the day).  We were both carrying Camelbak resevoirs and felt we could get back from anywhere a trail might take us in the park.  We hit the Canyon trail and followed it to Marsh where we picked up an unmapped single track that wound its way up through the oaks to an open ridge with a spectacular view of the Santa Rosa Valley. 

Marc’s Garmin told us between gasps we had covered just 3 miles.  Fortunately there were few trails that ventured any higher so we were confident we could withstand the remaining 11 miles to meet our mileage goals for the day.   We continued along the single track along the ridge top with a general feeling for the direction we were headed, but not really knowing like a structured trail run with a mapped out route.  At this point I told Marc I had never seen the Rhyolite Trail so we made that our next destination.

After a brief detour down Lawndale we found the trail we were looking at and found the flagstone quarry at the end of the trail, amongst the redwoods on the North facing slopes.  Another trail checked off my “never seen” list.  At this point we returned to familiar trails with 8 miles of exploring done, and we knew we had about 6 miles back to the car.

Our return route took us to Buick Meadow, up and down South Burma trail to Richardson.  Then the Lake trail took us to the dam at Lake Ilsanjo, and down the treacherous Spring Creek Trail.  With 13.25 miles on our legs I negelected to pick up my feet on the lower part of Spring Creek and skinned up my knee a bit.  It provided some amusment to the two horsewomen that witnessed the event.  I shook it off and we finished the run without any further incident.   

After the run with Marc.

Back at the car we cooled off with a Roscoe’s Amber Ale, and agreed it was an epic adventure.  When Marc uploaded the track from his Garmin, He wrote:

Activity Type: Trail Running | Event Type: Recreation
One of my most fun trail runs of all time! John Martin and I set out to run 14 + miles and we said we would just meander. We went off the beaten path and made our way up to the beautiful Boob. We went down the back side and just picked whichever trail looked cool. We made it all the way out to Lawndale. We checked out Rhyolite trail and then came back via Marsh, South Burma, Richardson and Spring Creek. John bit it on the downhill of Spring Creek but we were both running on some tired legs. We finished and enjoyed an ice cold beer together at the finish. We agreed that we are some bad ass trail runners . BTW – I thought I was immune to poison oak. After today’s run maybe not. This was definitely one of my favorite runs of all time. Thanks John for the awesome company.

Elevation profile for our Run Elevation Gain: 2,295 ft

Mile splits for our run. "long, slow, distance" was our motto

 I headed for the Ranch and got a shower at my folk’s house.  Despite my tired legs, my youngest insisted we catch horses and go for a ride to visit the neighbors.  So we rode and visited with folks along our 4 mile route.  Sydney was a pro handling her mount “Candy” and proudly showed everyone who would watch how she could trot and rein her mount.  It was a great capper to the day.  My Gelding Shorty was full of pee and vinegar and probably should have been on our run route that morning. 

Looking back on the day over a grilled hamburger and cold beer, I felt pretty satisfied with what we had accomplished over 3 days.  Numerically it was 750 miles by car, 84 arrows, 14.25 miles by foot and 4.04 miles by horse.  It was truly an epic few days.

And this is Leg 2….

I headed to bed and decided to sleep in my vehicle to get out of the gusty wind. Little did I know what in impact that would have on my night….(To be Continued)

Sometime after midnight I heard a few pitter-pats as raindrops began to blow against the windows. The sound of the rain faded as I fell into a deep sleep until I awakened with the Greying sky at 6:30 am with a small stream running past me in the middle of the dirt road. Despite the dismal weather, the Boy Scouts had breakfast hot, and I braved the downpour for a Breakfast burrito, coffee and a quick check of the weather on the internet. It looked like the system would pass, and the officials delayed the start until 9:00 am to give it time to clear out. Just as predicted it stopped raining at 8:00 am and we could see the snow on the tops of the ridges around us.

With DJ in the Championship Flight, it was just the 4 of us shooting together. It was as windy as the day before, 20 degrees colder with flurries of rain and sleet. Perfect hunting weather! Apparently the weather agreed with me and I put together a pretty good streak. I finished the day with 347 points, 34 points better than my previous day!

Well that was enough to make me happy with my trip. We celebrated back at Ed Fanchin’s Camp with some venison sausage and cold drinks. As soon as the Stragglers finished, we went out on the course to bring the 3D animals back. Many hands made light work and we unloaded the animals as the awards ceremony went on.

I visited with fellow measurer, bowhunter and Wac'em Pro-Staffer, Roy Grace.

As I shook hands saying good-bye, Craig Fritz tossed me a roll of $1 bills wrapped in a rubber band.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“That’s your winnings from the field judging contest.” He stated. “You were within 1 inch…Well 7/8ths…”

Well that made my day to be sure!

I headed North on I-5 from there elated that I had a chance to spend a couple of days with some great bowhunters and excellent friends. I’m kicking myself I waited this long to shoot this tournament. I won’t make that mistake again.

5 ½ hours later I pulled in to my drive with the suns rays finally fading. After putting my stuff away I checked my Facebook page and one post jumped out at me…

“Anyone want to join me tomorrow morning for a 14 or so mile run in Annadel???? Haven’t decided on route yet but I might just meander. Let me know.”

To Be Continued…..

Now as you know I am a measurer for the California Bowmen Hunters, as well as Pope and Young club. Through that organization I have developed a number of friendships. Among those are people you have seen on these pages before. Hard core, serious, successful Hunters like Cindy and Rich Krug, Ed Fanchin, Nate Treadwell and Doug Rosin. These people were the reason I left Sonoma County at 6:20 pm on a Friday night and drove until midnight to attend the 2011 California State Broadhead Championship at Tejon Ranch in Lebec California.

With Cindy’s superb written directions I found the gate to Tejon Ranch and drove back into Crane Canyon and pulled my car into an open spot to catch a few Z’s before daylight. I set up my cot and my 30 degree sleeping bag for a pretty restful sleep before a full bladder and a 30 mph wind from the North awakened me. As I wandered among the 100 or so campsites and RV’s I heard a shout from one and Cindy and Rich waved at me to come have coffee with them. We caught up since our last visit at the CBH Awards Banquet, then went to sign up for the shoot.

At the center of camp the local Boy Scout troop had a breakfast burrito, hot chocolate and doughnuts awaiting us for a very reasonable price. There 2nd VP of Hunting, Craig Fritz got us lined out, and my previously named buddies found me and let me know I would be shooting with them on Target 33. After a few practice arrows we headed to our target where I met DJ, a fingers shooter from Southern California. Nate, Ed, Doug and I were all shooting in the Release class.

Photo by Nate Treadwell

When the horn blew, we all lined up for our first shot. This tournament was different than any other I’d ever been to before. It was a 1-arrow, at an unmarked distance with an arrow tipped with any legal broadhead (over 7/8th ” diameter fixed or mechanical). In our group we all shot fixed blade broadheads, The brands represented included: Muzzy mx3, VPA Terminators, G5 Montecs, and I shot my tried and True Wac’ems.

Doug Rosin, Myself, Ed Fanchin and DJ grabbing a snack on the range.. Photo by Nate Treadwell

The targets were game animal 3D (three dimensional) targets from 12 to 60 yards away from the shooting stake.  A hit of the center imprinted circle scored 10, while a lung area hit scored 8 and any other body part (except horns or antlers) scored 5. At the end of the day a perfect score on 42 targets would be 420.

Ed Fanchin, and Doug Rosin. Photo by Nate Treadwell.

My distance estimation on this morning was “running hot” and the first 10 targets were not my best performance as I shot high repeatedly, over estimating the distance. The gusty wind didn’t help any either. (hey, I’m just getting’ all the excuses out of the way early.) By 2:00 pm we had shot 42 targets and DJ qualified for the final flight in the Fingers Division. The top score for the day was 385 and I racked up a measly 313 points. However the day was a success from the stand point of visiting with other bowhunters whose ideals aligned with mine. Not what you would expect from a financial advisor, city police officer, police detective, and feed salesman, but the love of pursuing big game with bows kept us in conversation all day.

After the shooting portion of the day, the camp activities began. Freelance cocktail hour was accompanied by a DIY barbecue with the Krug and Meadors family, along with last minute ticket sales for the $10,000 raffle that finances the annual broadhead shoot. As people bought and combined forces to purchase the $100 tickets.

Nate Treadwell held a field judging contest. On the hill side 200 yards away were a set of pronghorn horns, a fork horn buck rack and a 4 point mule deer rack. I paid my $3 and guessed the forky at 50 inches, the Mule deer at 120, and the pronghorn at 78. With so many experienced measurers and seasoned hunters in the crowd I figured I was just “donating” .

Shortly after, the raffle began. In this raffle though, the LAST ticket drawn wins the $10, 000 prize, and the second to last ticket $500. The first, and every 10th , 20th, 30th and so on ticket drawn gets their $100 back. It was interesting as names were called and hopes were dashed one by one. 210 tickets were drawn, and at the end of the night, there were some happy people who I won’t name with some extra cash in their pocket, and next year’s broadhead tournament was financed.

I headed to bed and decided to sleep in my vehicle to get out of the gusty wind. Little did I know what in impact that would have on my night….(To be Continued)