Spring 21 Issue of Backcountry Journal

BACKCOUNTRY

JOURNAL

The Magazine of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers

Spring 2021

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

YOUR NEXT ADVENTURE The dog days of winter are real. Short days, dreary weather, covid-19. I find solace in pulling fish out of holes on hard water, downhill skiing at our local hill and cross-country skiing adventures on national forest lands just five minutes from my house.

While the Tawneys identify more with our Irish roots, we have embraced “hygge,” a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or wellbeing. Hygge is regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish and Norwegian culture. Think candles, fires, sweaters and warm blankets. Think family board games and a good book. These not only help get us through the quiet times; they also help us thrive in them.

What really gives me comfort, though, is plotting and scheming upcoming adventures.

No dice on my Smith River permit, but I’ll soon apply for a paddlefish tag. The June salmon fly hatch will be upon us soon.

I hit eight years with BHA this May and am in the throes of planning celebratory trips into the wild places we all work so hard for: the Bob Marshall with my children, the Boundary Waters with my family, caribou hunting in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge with my best friend, and finally a trip to the marshes of Louisiana in pursuit of teal, redfish and alligators. It’s an embarrassment of riches.

How lucky are we to have a plethora of wild public lands and waters to fill our minds, bodies and souls? Two words: damn lucky!

What’s your next adventure? Are you planning on pursuing wily toms in the turkey woods? Throwing big bugs during the skwala hatch? Are you dreaming of fresh crabs, oysters and clams all gathered from the big blue backcountry? Longing for September and bugling bulls?

Whatever dreams are camped in our brains this time of year, I’m thankful for the wild places that inspire them. Winters are tough anyways, but with covid looming this one seems even tougher. Rejoice in the opportunities to come. I haven’t seen one yet, but the redwing blackbirds have reportedly returned to western Montana, a true sign that spring will soon be upon us.

It’s an annual rejuvenation that feels even more needed this year.

That rejuvenation also comes as we make plans to gather. As restrictions ease I’m looking forward to face-to-face conversations and, eventually, high fives, handshakes and hugs. While there is still much unknown, join me in reveling in the announcement of BHA’s North American Rendezvous June 3, 4 and 5 here in Missoula. We plan to have this year’s gathering in person for those who feel comfortable and are able to join us, as well as a virtual

Ice fishing and sunshine have helped beat the dog days while dreaming of big adventures to come.

gathering so all can attend. We head back to Fort Missoula, the site of our first-ever Rendezvous. We will have camping options available, will hold events outside and will follow all of the CDC and Missoula County guidelines.

We timed the 2021 gathering – our 10th ever – to come on the heels of the Memorial Day weekend, hoping folks will make a long week out of it and enjoy a bear hunting or trout fishing adventure in Montana. The wildflowers and temperatures both are spectacular in the Big Sky State that time of year.

We will be monitoring the virus situation closely and will be holding all activities outside, along with virtual options, so no matter the circumstances, all can participate. When we do get together it will be gasoline on a fire that wants to run. I get excited just thinking about it and hope you do as well!

I look forward to what 2021 will bring – on the policy front (see page 48 for a preview), on putting fuel in this rocket ship that is BHA and from a personal standpoint. I can’t wait to swap stories about upcoming adventures! Until then let our hopes and dreams carry us forward.

Onward and upward,

Land Tawney President and CEO

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“I fish because I love to. Because I love the environs where trout are found, which are invariably beautiful, and hate the environs where crowds of people are found, which are invariably ugly.” -John D. Voelker

THE VOICE FOR OUR WILD PUBLIC LANDS, WATERS AND WILDLIFE NORTH AMERICAN BOARD OF DIRECTORS Ted Koch (Idaho) Chairman J.R. Young (California) Vice Chairman Jeffrey Jones (Alabama) Treasurer T. Edward Nickens (North Carolina) Secretary Dr. Keenan Adams (Puerto Rico)

Ben Bulis (Montana) Ryan Callaghan (Montana) Bill Hanlon (British Columbia) Hilary Hutcheson (Montana) Dr. Christopher L. Jenkins (Georgia)

Heather Kelly (Alaska) Tom McGraw (Michigan) Ben O’Brien (Montana) Michael Beagle (Oregon) President Emeritus

STAFF Land Tawney, President and CEO Grant Alban, Development Coordinator Tim Brass, State Policy and Field Operations Director Walker Conyngham, Communications Coordinator Trey Curtiss, R3 Coordinator Katie DeLorenzo, Western Regional Manager and Southwest Chapter Coordinator Kevin Farron, Montana Chapter Coordinator Britney Fregerio, Controller Caitlin Frisbie, Operations Associate and Assistant to the President John Gale, Conservation Director Chris Hennessey, Regional Manager Ace Hess, Idaho and Nevada Chapter Coordinator Josh Kaywood, Southeast Chapter Coordinator Jacob Mannix, Alaska Chapter Coordinator Morgan Mason, Armed Forces Initiative Coordinator Frankie McBurney Olson, Operations Director

Katie McKalip, Communications Director Jason Meekhof, Upper Great Lakes Chapter Coordinator Josh Mills, Development Coordinator Devin O’Dea, California Chapter Coordinator Rob Parkins, Public Access Coordinator Julia Peebles, Government Relations Manager Jesse Salsberry, Northwest Chapter Coordinator and Video Production Assistant Rachel Schmidt, Innovative Alliances Director Kylie Schumacher, Collegiate Program Coordinator Ryan Silcox, Membership Coordinator Dylan Snyder, Operations and Merchandise Ty Stubblefield, Chapter Coordinator and New Chapter Development Brien Webster, Program Manager and Colorado and Wyoming Chapter Coordinator Zack Williams, Backcountry Journal Editor Rob Yagid, Digital Media Coordinator Interns: Trenton Kriz, Atlas McKinley, Kate Mayfield, Tyler Turco

Contributors in this Issue

BHA HEADQUARTERS

On the Cover: a packraft fishing trip in Eastern Washington, by Ben Herndon Above Image: by Rydell Danzie, from our 2020 Public Lands and Waters Photo Contest

P.O. Box 9257, Missoula, MT 59807 www.backcountryhunters.org admin@backcountryhunters.org (406) 926-1908

Colonel Mike Abell, Cayla Bendel, Alexis Bonogofsky, Todd Bumgardner, Levi Chandler, John Dailey, Matthew Dickerson, Jan Dizard, Joseph Drake, Kari Duffy, Marc Fryt, John Gale, Ace Hess, Trevor Lawson, Jack Lander, Shane P. Mahoney, Tim Mead, Jon Osborn, Kurt Ratzlaff, Phil T. Seng, Elliot Stark, Jeremiah Watt, Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley, Levi Williams-Whitney, Kate Wright

Journal Submissions: williams@backcountryhunters.org Advertising and Partnership Inquiries: grant@backcountryhunters.org General Inquiries: admin@backcountryhunters.org

Backcountry Journal is the quarterly membership publication of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, a North American conservation nonprofit 501(c)(3) with chapters in 48 states and the District of Columbia, two Canadian provinces and one Canadian territory. Become part of the voice for our wild public lands, waters and wildlife. Join us at backcountryhunters.org.

All rights reserved. Content may not be reproduced in any manner without the consent of the publisher.

Published March 2021. Volume XVI, Issue II

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

YOUR BACKCOUNTRY

WILD IS WHERE YOU FIND IT Standing atop the kayak, the murky current moved slowly past while I balance and cast the fly rod towards the next log jam. The river was almost at a standstill, which allowed me to loiter up to any good piece of structure and check it for smallmouth bass. Yet, once the fly hit the water, almost anything could end up hooked: gar, largemouth, carp, panfish or a variety of other species. This particular timber had enough current to hold the promise of having a smallmouth poised in ambush below, and the only concern was not getting the fly snagged on submerged branches.

Hitting the water, the fly sank as I gave it time to reach the muddy bottom. After a few seconds I briefly raised and lowered the rod tip to jig the crawfish pattern, then stripped in some line and repeated. Most smallmouth hits on this day came from twitching the heavy crawfish patterns right against the river bottom. Jigging the fly again, a jolt suddenly shocked through the rod and instinctively I set the hook. The rod curved over and then held its parabolic shape; initially whatever was hooked convincingly sat there like a snagged log.

Turning the rod parallel to the river’s surface, I pulled hard, trying to fight the fish away from the timber. The fly line began turning in the direction I wanted it to go, but it soon met the current and started traveling upstream. The five-weight fly rod wilted under the strain of whatever was hooked while it easily took line from the reel, and soon enough the kayak began traveling upstream with it. Meanwhile, a pair of hikers on a nearby trail stood there watching the scene of a fly fisher on a kayak being dragged all over Ohio.

Eventually, I floated over a shallow gravel bar, jumped off the kayak and anchored myself to the ground. With enough leverage I finally wore the fish out, and as it came closer, I saw it was a hefty channel catfish with the crawfish fly pinned to its jaw.

6 | BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL SPRING 2021

Surprises and excitements like this have highlighted my fishing experiences in central Ohio, unexpected after moving here from the Pacific Northwest.

In Washington I roamed the Cascade and Olympic mountains, only fishing for trout in remote rivers and alpine lakes. Wild land was everywhere, and looking at a stream on a map, all I had to do was find the nearest Forest Service road to get me close enough to hike in. Moving to Columbus after my fiancé was accepted into medical school was an outdoor-lifestyle culture shock. Turn in any direction, hike a couple miles and you could hit a road or town. Instead of alpine lakes and mountain streams, I drove through farmland to fish streams that had been channelized, pacified and occasionally choked with silt from agricultural runoff.

A few stocked trout streams eke out an existence in central Ohio, and I have regularly fished them with success and enjoyment. Yet, amongst farmland and roads, I craved something that was wild and left alone. With time I’d find those wild places and expand my love of angling, looking beyond just fishing for trout.

Floating or wading streams in the middle of the Buckeye state became my backcountry.

On a particular fishing trip along Big Darby Creek, I had hiked and then waded downstream to find carp tailing in the flats early in the morning. Calm wind, clear skies and warmer temps combined to create the ideal conditions to stalk and sight cast.

Beneath my feet, small crawfish scurried between rocks seeking shelter. Five or six carp fed heavily in front, and I crept into casting range of the closest one that was churning mud clouds into the current. Making a cast beyond the carp, I slowly stripped the fly to just in front of its face. Charging out of its mud plume, the carp pounced on the crawfish imitation, and after a brief pause, I set the hook and felt the solid weight of the carp on the line.

Chasing it down the creek, away from the sight and sounds of roads, farmland and development, was an unforgettable experi-

All photos courtesy of Marc Fryt

BY MARC FRYT

ence in the Ohio backcountry.

Niched into central Ohio, the Big Darby clings to its untamed nature and provides a rare wild experience, worthy of its federal and state Wild and Scenic River designations, one of just four such rivers in the state. (The Big Little Darby contains 86 of the 213 federal Wild and Scenic river miles in Ohio – and out of the state’s total of 29,000 river miles.)

Besides one low-head dam, the river runs its entire length as it always has, rich with biodiversity reflecting the conservation efforts of public stewards and state and federal agencies. The fishing may not always be successful, and beyond the riparian zone farmland dominates the landscape, but you can float or wade the river for miles, and you will find nothing like it in Ohio.

Like so many other threatened wild rivers, and being only a 30-minute drive from downtown Columbus, the Big Darby was inevitably listed by American Rivers in 2019 as one of America’s most endangered due to the threat of urban sprawl. Nonetheless, we stewards of the river will continue to fight to protect this rare watershed that has provided so many backcountry fishing adventures for anglers like myself – in an unexpected place.

Marc Fryt is a proud BHA member, fly angler, fly tyer, outdoor writer and photographer currently living in Columbus, Ohio. When not in the Midwest, he is back in the Pacific Northwest fishing and climbing in the backcountry of the Cascade Mountains.

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SPRING 2021 BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL | 7

BACKCOUNTRY

JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE OF BACKCOUNTRY HUNTERS & ANGLERS SPRING 2021 | VOLUME XVI, ISSUE II

FEATURES 12

ARTWORK: CRUELTY IN ALL FORMS

by Ed Anderson

59

SPRING’S SILVER LININGS

by Cayla Bendel

62

A BALM (AND SOME BROOKIES) IN GILEAD

by Matthew Dickerson

66

THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

by Jon Osborn

70

THE MARSH

by Elliot Stark

75

UNPOPULAR OPINIONS

by Amber Leach

8 | BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL SPRING 2021

Milky Way over the Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia PHOTO: Trevor Lawson, from our 2020 Public Lands and Waters Photo Contest

DEPARTMENTS 03

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

33

06

YOUR BACKCOUNTRY Wild is Where You Find It

by Marc Fryt

COLLEGE CLUBS A Freezer Too Full

by Joseph Drake

37

ARMED FORCES INITIATIVE Hunting for Peace

by John Dailey

40

FIELD TO TABLE Venison French Onion Soup

by Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley

10

BHA HEADQUARTERS NEWS

13

FACES OF BHA Kari Duffy, Cranbrook, British Columbia

17

BACKCOUNTRY BOUNTY

19

KIDS’ CORNER Sasquatch Peak

by Levi Chandler

44

INSTRUCTIONAL Knots for Wilderness Campers

by Tim Mead

20

CHAPTER NEWS In Depth: Idaho Chapter Works to Secure Future of State Endowment Lands

by Ace Hess

48

PUBLIC LAND OWNER BHA’s Priority Landscapes

by John Gale

In Depth: Strategic Partnerships Critical to Kansas Chapter’s Success

by Kurt Ratzlaff 29

HUNTING FOR SUSTAINABILITY A Return to the Field

by Todd Bumgardner

Eat Wild, Live Free & Conserve

by Shane P. Mahoney 79

BEYOND FAIR CHASE To Bait, or Not to Bait?

by Jan Dizard and Phil T. Seng

83

END OF THE LINE

SPRING 2021 BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL | 9

Photo by Colonel Mike Abell, from our 2020 Public Lands and Waters Photo Contest.

HEADQUARTERS NEWS

NEW BOARD MEMBERS Dr. Christopher L. Jenkins

2000 MILES FILM TOUR Every waterfowler dreams of following the waterfowl flyway and chasing the winter migration with his or her trusty shotgun and faithful retriever.

The Central Flyway is massive, covering more than one million square miles across North America’s interior. From Canada’s boreal forest, across the Great Plains and Prairie Potholes down to the Texas Gulf Coast, this flyway is home to a large percentage of North America’s ducks and geese.

On the heels of the success of the 20-city #PUBLICGROUSE film tour powered by Project Upland and Backcountry Hunters & Anglers in February 2020, Endless Migration and BHA have teamed up, once again, for an epic follow-up 20-plus-city tour in spring 2021.

Join us as we travel 2000 Miles following the migration from north-central North Dakota down to the Texas Gulf Coast region, utilizing public lands and DIY tactics in pursuit of waterfowl.

2000 Miles film tour is presented by Eukanuba Sporting Dog Food in association with Luck Duck Premium Decoys and Kennels and is proudly supported by Migra Ammunition. Showings and additional information at backcountryhunters. org/2000_miles_film_tour

10 | BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL SPRING 2021

Chris lives in the Nantahala Mountains where he has built a life around conserving wildlife and wild places.

He is the founding chief executive officer of The Orianne Society. He also serves on the board of the Indian Ocean Tortoise Alliance and has served leadership roles in the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Partners for Reptiles and Amphibian Conservation, and Gopher Tortoise Council. During his career, Chris has protected and restored tens of thousands of acres of land. Chris is a sportsman who enjoys both “hunting from home” and going on hunting and fishing adventures around the world. He spends over 150 days a year hunting and fishing on public lands, primarily hunting Appalachian bigwoods whitetails and travelling the continent chasing gobbling turkeys.

His interests in conservation brought him to serve on the board of the Southeast chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and subsequently to create the Georgia chapter.

Chris has also worked with Wildlife Conservation Society, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, University of Massachusetts, University of British Columbia and National Geographic. Chris received a B.S. and M.S. from the University of Massachusetts in wildlife conservation. He received his Ph.D. in biological sciences from Idaho State University.

Dr. Keenan Adams Keenan was a military brat; however, South Carolina is considered home. One of his first memories was fishing with his father at Keesler Air Force Base. He later learned hunting in college and decided to pursue a career in wildlife biology. He has spent the last 15 years working as a land manager and scientist for several agencies in many parts of the country. He is serving on the board in his personal capacity and not a government representative.

After playing college football and finishing a B.S. in biology at Furman University, he attended Clemson University and was awarded his M.S. degree in forest resources (avian and disturbance ecology) and Ph.D. in wildlife biology with a concentration in human dimensions. Adams has become a fanatic for Caribbean fly-fishing and currently resides in Puerto Rico with his wife Delissa and daughter Paola.

WELCOME NEW BHA HIRES! Rachel Schmidt

Innovative Alliances Director Rachel has spent her career roaming the world in organic agriculture and the outdoor recreation industry to include a variety of roles in fly fishing, rafting, ski and firearms.

Rachel created one of the United States’ first offices of outdoor recreation for Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and became the country’s first female director in that office. Her passions that took her to public lands and waters led her to early involvement with and membership in BHA, including a seat on BHA’s North American board of directors. She lives in Montana with her two sons Maclean and Schafer, and when she is not hunting big game, fly fishing or floating a river, she is chasing her German wirehair, Hal, around the prairie of Eastern Montana.

Britney Fregerio Controller

A native Montanan, Britney earned both a B.S. in business administration and master of accountancy degree from the University of Montana and is a certified public accountant.

Prior to joining BHA as controller, Britney was an auditor with Deloitte & Touche in Seattle and an assistant controller with Washington Corporations. Britney and her family feel fortunate to call Montana home and utilize public lands to hunt, fish and hike.

Josh Mills

Development Coordinator After a 17-year career in the advertising industry and years as a BHA volunteer, Josh is proud to join the team as development coordinator. Josh has made conservation a huge part of his life’s work and is excited to dedicate himself to it full time. In additional to BHA duties, Josh serves on the board for the Wild Steelhead Coalition. He’s married to an amazingly supportive wife and raising two young boys. And, according to Josh, he’s “a marginal big game hunter, adequate upland bird and turkey chaser, waterfowl neophyte and obsessed steelhead angler “

HEADQUARTERS NEWS

ANNUAL AWARD NOMINATIONS We are seeking nominations for our annual awards, which recognize outstanding conservation efforts on behalf of North America’s backcountry: • The Jim Posewitz Award for advancing ethical, responsible behavior in the hunting and fishing fields by example, leadership or education • The Rachel L. Carson Award for an outstanding emerging leader • The Aldo Leopold Award for outstanding effort conserving terrestrial wildlife habitat • The Sigurd F. Olson Award for outstanding effort conserving rivers, lakes or wetland habitat • The Ted Trueblood Award for outstanding communication on behalf of backcountry habitat and values • The Larry Fischer Award for outstanding corporate contribution to BHA’s mission • The George Bird Grinnell Award for the outstanding BHA chapter of the year • The Mike Beagle-Chairman’s Award for outstanding effort on behalf of BHA Nominate individuals and chapters at backcountryhunters.org/2021_awards_ nomination_portal. The final deadline for nominations is Friday, April 16.

Awardees will be announced during BHA’s North American Rendezvous.

Devin O’Dea

California Chapter Coordinator Devin grew up backpacking and fishing the Trinity Alps and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges of Northern California. While attending college at UC Santa Barbara, he honed his skills of diving and spearfishing as a way to enjoy the ocean when the surf was flat and to feed himself and other poor college friends. After graduating, Devin moved to San Diego where he started his own business, learned to hunt and even designed arrows for an industry leader. Whether it’s from the backcountry or his backyard garden, Devin enjoys harvesting and cooking wild fish and game with his wife and young daughter.

Jacob Mannix

Alaska Chapter Coordinator Jacob Mannix is a lifelong Alaskan, raised in the small town of Talkeetna, where he grew up fishing the local streams and rivers and hunting the woods. He’s lived and worked in various places around the state from Kodiak to the North Slope and is currently settled in Nome with his wife and two young daughters. Living in Nome has provided plenty of opportunity to get outside and explore, where he and his family enjoy getting out fishing, hiking, camping, floating, hunting and blueberry picking on the tundra.

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KARI DUFFY

FACES OF BHA

CRANBROOK, BRITISH COLUMBIA

BC Chapter Treasurer IS THERE A PARTICULAR ISSUE OR PLACE IN BC THAT YOU ARE PARTICULARLY PASSIONATE ABOUT WORKING ON?

WHAT FIRST ATTRACTED YOU TO BHA? Truthfully, my involvement started mostly as an “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” thing because my husband, Alan, was spending a lot of his spare time volunteering for BHA. I am not actually a hunter myself, but I have grown up in a hunting family and have always been very active in the outdoors. In 2014, Alan got involved as a member of BHA when the British Columbia chapter was forming. I watched him become more involved and more passionate about the ideas BHA stood for, so I started paying attention to the work the BC chapter was doing, and I was really impressed. The chapter treasurer at the time had expressed the desire to step down and had become more involved in other projects, so I saw an area where I could be of use (and OK, maybe I had FOMO). I liked the idea of volunteering without having to be super involved in the major political stuff.

Then came Rendezvous 2019; I had just started in the role of chapter treasurer when Al and I went down to Boise for Rendezvous. My original goal was to attend the one treasurer’s workshop, then hit the stores and see the sights while my hubby did all the work and went to see some “MeatEater guy.” But once I arrived, I was swept up in the energy and the passion of the members. I filled my days with workshops about recipes for wild game, hunting and fishing ethics and outdoor photography. I met so many incredible people, connected with Frankie and Caitlin from headquarters, and just really felt like I found something I could be a part of.

AS THE BC CHAPTER’S TREASURER, YOU DO A LOT OF BEHIND THE SCENES WORK FOR THE ORGANIZATION. WHAT MOTIVATES YOU OR IS MOST REWARDING ABOUT THIS WORK? I really love the behind the scenes type of work, as you put it. I find it fits well with my schedule and routine because I can fit the work in as I want to. I can do 15 minutes, four hours or nothing at all. I was lucky, or unlucky, enough to take on the chapter treasurer role at a very pivotal time for our chapter. We have grown very quickly in the last year and a half, adding representation in many more Regions across BC. This has resulted in some big changes on how we run our finances, and it was very rewarding to be able to help take the chapter to that next level.

Much of the conservation aspect of BHA is new to me. I have always been passionate about environmental issues but wasn’t involved in wilderness conservation in any way before joining BHA. I think every person has something to offer and finding what you are good at is a key aspect in enjoying volunteer experiences. Knowing the ins and outs and the political issues is not my strong suit, so I am really happy to help with the day-to-day business side of BHA, therefore freeing up the time for the volunteers who are better at sharing our ideas.

I am a diehard Kootenay girl, so my passions and focus remain local. Thinking back, my best memories are of big family campouts, hiking, riding horses and camping with our girls. I realize that most of my special moments have happened outdoors, and I am continually in awe of the wild spaces around me. BHA has given me the opportunity to put into practice what I didn’t even realize was so important to me: preserving and cherishing our public wild spaces. As a kid I took wild spaces for granted, and now I realize the importance of having these spaces available for my grandkids and great grandkids. I want to be able to go hiking with my grandkids and see birds and elk or moose tracks and for our children to be able to enjoy wild spaces the same way I did.

WHAT’S YOUR PERFECT DAY LIKE ON PUBLIC LANDS/ WATERS? In true Kootenay fashion, I have a favorite pastime for each of our seasons. In summer, the perfect day finds me on my paddleboard on any inch of water I can find. Spring and fall, the perfect day is hiking behind our horses and exploring the mountains with the hunters in my life.

We have some spectacular bluebird days here in the Kootenays during winter, so the perfect day is skinning up the mountain and skiing down in the winter sun. I have recently started fly fishing and am already dreaming of the rivers and lakes I will go to this summer!

SPRING 2021 BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL | 13

RANDY NEWBERG

PUBLIC LAND OWNER & ADVOCATE

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16 | BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL SPRING 2021

Email your Backcountry Bounty submissions to williams@ backcountryhunters.org or share your photos with us by using #backcountryhuntersandanglers on social media!

BACKCOUNTRY BOUNTY

Hunter: Micah Shinn, BHA member Species: whitetail State: Arkansas Method: rifle Distance from nearest road: one mile Transportation: foot

Angler: Christian Woodward, BHA member Species: cutthroat State: Montana Method: fly Distance from nearest road: seven miles Transportation: Foot Angler: Stella Stack, BHA member Species: cutthroat State: Montana Method: “Frozen” spinning rod Distance from nearest road: one mile Transportation: foot

Anglers: Caleb and Joshua Turner, BHA members Species: grayling State: Wyoming Method: fly Distance from nearest road: 14 miles Transportation: foot

Hunter: Trevor Snyder, BHA member Species: whitetail State: Wisconsin Method: bow Distance from nearest road: one mile Transportation: foot, kayak

Hunter: Jena Lemke, BHA member, and Rogue the WPG Species: partridge State: Oregon Method: shotgun Distance from nearest road: two miles Transportation: foot

Hunter: Matt Little, BHA member Species: Roosevelt elk State: Washington Method: muzzleloader Distance from nearest road: five miles (solo) Transportation: foot

Hunter: Felix Hernandez, BHA member Species: sandhill crane State: New Mexico Method: shotgun Distance from nearestSPRING road: one 2021 mile Transportation: foot JOURNAL | 17 BACKCOUNTRY

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KIDS’ CORNER

SASQUATCH PEAK

BY LEVI CHANDLER

Photo by John Chandler

My dad and I were on the top of Baldy Mountain, planning to climb Sasquatch Peak next. We were in the heaviest layer of fog, so heavy we could barely see five feet in front of us. We were still wondering what we should do, and if we were to trudge on, would we get lost? We were very nervous because of the very heavy fog.

We finally decided to stomp on through the mist because of my eagerness to climb. We were stumbling through the very cliffy landscape wondering if the fog was going to clear, and we still could not see ahead. We had now reached a couple of very big boulders, and when the fog finally cleared a beautiful landscape was revealed.

There was grass, ponds, streams, rocks and elk. There were so many elk! There were some walking across a cliff.

“How do they do that?” my dad asked. I didn’t answer.

“Elk are so cool,” my dad whispered.

We walked across the rugged valley and were looking around in awe of how beautiful Sasquatch Peak was. It was so dignified, so majestic. We had reached a very tall and steep face, and we had to make a hard tromp to the final ridge. I could see a rocky outcropping above me. That must be the summit, I thought. I gave my all into making it to the outcropping, and my legs felt like rocks.

Then, I saw the real summit. Why another false summit?

I thought. I lugged myself to the real summit. Ah, I made it. I had summited another 13-thousand-foot mountain, one of the highest in Colorado. I was more excited than a chimpanzee who just had a gallon of coffee. My dad finally summited as well, and we had a little snack and then we had to leave. After all, the summit is the most exposed part of the mountain. We took one last look around and saw all of the beauty. Baldy was to our right, and Rango Peak was to our left. Baldy was so steep and tall, and Rango was tall and gradual.

We were now descending down the steep slope and we got into a huge snow field. The snow field was big and deep, but solid enough to hold my weight, and it was icy, so we could slide. We were skiing down on our feet whooping with great joy, and I looked back and said: “Until next time, Sasquatch.”

When 11-year-old BHA member Levi Chandler isn’t at the hockey rink, he enjoys exploring the public lands on the western slope of Colorado.

Conservation Crossword!

DOWN

1. BHA is headquartered in this state 2. Fleshy flap that grows above a turkey’s beak 3. Largest ungulate in North America 4. America’s oldest national park 7. Small animal that lives high up in scree fields and is known for having no tail 9. The ______-Robertson Act helps fund conservation through an excise tax 10. You are often required to wear this color when hunting with firearms 11. In which species of the deer family do both males and females have antlers?

ACROSS

5. The president and CEO of BHA is ______Tawney 6. Deepest lake in North America 8. This state has both alligators and crocodiles 9. Scientific name for mountain lion: _____ concolor 11. These aggressive trout have bright orange slashes under their gills 12. Largest bird in North America 13. Tall stately cactus found in Arizona *Crossword also by Levi Chandler. Answers found at: backcountryhunters.org/ spring21crossword

SPRING 2021 BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL | 19

Chapter News & Updates

ALASKA • •

•

We are excited to officially welcome Jacob Mannix as the new BHA Alaska chapter coordinator! @anchoragebrewing released a new beer in January with $1 from every can sold going to support BHA! Photo credit for the beer label goes to Jerry Herrod, @akscenic, and a huge thanks to Gabe Fletcher at Anchorage Brewing for his continued support of the hunting and fishing community in Alaska!

Through concerted efforts by countless individuals and organizations, including the Alaska chapter of BHA, the Pebble Mine has ceased to be the forefront of concern for the conservation community in Alaska.

ALBERTA •

•

We have joined a judicial review, as an intervenor, for the coal plan rescission that was announced in 2020, which asks for a public consultation with stakeholders to be undertaken due to the impact of strip mines within the heart of the Canadian Rockies.

Planning for several boots on the ground projects is underway after raising over $15k from rifle raffles held in the last six months, which were donated by Weatherby, Reliable Guns and Savage. These funds, combined with a donation from Patagonia Elements (Calgary), will

20 | BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL SPRING 2021

•

all be going towards remediating Alberta’s backcountry.

Engagement with the government of Alberta continues, with input provided for the proposed Crown Land Vision, sheep management, the Game Advisory Committee and various land footprint management planning committees, ensuring that BHA’s membership is heard and taken into consideration.

ARIZONA •

•

•

AZ BHA members worked with the Tonto National Forest on January 9 to deposit Christmas trees into Saguaro Lake to help provide structure for the fish in the lake. We are hoping to make this an annual tradition.

We recently started formally engaging the Diablo Trust Partnership to work with ranch owners and help maintain access to public lands through their property, as well as promote responsible OHV use on their lands.

The chapter has started work toward “Hunting 101” classes in partnership with other organizations, or virtually as safety allows.

ARKANSAS •

Our chapter has championed a campaign to keep the Pine Tree WMA in public hands after learning of a potential sale to a private

CHAPTER NEWS

•

party. In January, we lobbied the general assembly to support our efforts to keep Pine Tree public. (See page 29 in the Winter 21 issue for more.)

Our membership had an incredible Public Land Pack Out in September, collecting over 200 bags of trash across five different WMAs, with the help of countless volunteers and partnerships with several state agencies.

• •

We have hosted several small game hunts across the state since November, and the spring schedule is no exception. Check the upcoming events calendar to find the next opportunity near you and RSVP online.

As spring turkey season approaches, keep an eye out for details about the Gobblers and Garbage competition.

BRITISH COLUMBIA

GEORGIA

•

•

•

•

BC started an initiative to partner and collaborate with BC First Nation communities to advance inclusive and enhanced models of fish and wildlife management.

BC and the Montana chapter collaborated on their first cross-border issue, participating in the process to set water quality standards in Lake Koocanusa and the Kootenai River.

Continuing to pressure the government to implement the “Together for Wildlife Strategy” recommendations, including dedicated funding, regional committees and legislation to manage wildlife and habitat.

•

•

CALIFORNIA •

• •

The Pendleton Armed Forces Initiative club continues to grow. With the support of the state chapter, the club conducted a pint night in accordance with state and local guidelines, with special guest speaker Mike Tucker, the chief game warden on Camp Pendleton. He discussed conservation efforts and the two subspecies of mule deer found aboard the base. The event had a great turnout and brought members together from across Southern California.

The chapter and HQ engaged heavily in opposition to HB 252, which would have banned bear hunting in the state. We are happy to say the bill has been withdrawn!

In anticipation of ramping up activities in 2021, the chapter has added five additional board members from across the state.

IDAHO • •

•

CAPITAL REGION •

• •

Successfully partnered with other conservation groups in petitioning the Northern Virginia Parks Authority in issuing an exemption to county level firearms ordinances, allowing for licensed hunters to have access to public boat ramps on park property with firearms.

Orchestrated an action alert for Virginia HB 1799, which would allow Sunday hunting on public land in the state.

Held first ever Cap Chat Chronicles storytelling event. Board members and members of the chapter recounted experiences and adventures from their 2020 hunting seasons.

COLLEGIATE PROGRAM • • •

We welcomed our third club in Vermont (now the most of any state) at the University of Vermont, led by Will Jones, Amos Gilbert, Matt Hill and Ross Buchman and advised by Brittany Mosher.

Mississippi State University club founder and former president Beau Badon was recognized by Land Tawney during the holiday party for his contributions to the collegiate program.

Students put in over 1,200 volunteer hours and 50 lobbying hours in 2020, despite the difficulties of being remote!

COLORADO • • •

We have a new chapter leadership team member: Kellan Johnson volunteered to serve as an assistant regional director for the Denver Metro Area Group.

We were instrumental in lobbying the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to include fish and wildlife friendly provisions in the state’s leasing and permitting processes.

In October, a member witnessed two hunters operating ATVs on a route closed to motorized use. He contacted USFS law enforcement and citations were issued.

FLORIDA •

After three years as part of the Southeast chapter, Florida has officially launched its own BHA chapter!

The Georgia chapter has been busy this past winter. We held our first virtual pint night, which was a huge success with members from across the state joining in.

Another virtual pint night is being planned for this spring. We are planning on having an expert on Georgia bear hunting join us to share some tips and tricks with us.

The chapter launched an awareness campaign about the sale of a piece of public land: Boggs Mountain. Our petition has over 1,000 signatures so far. Our awareness campaign has been featured BHA’s website as well as on TheMeatEater.com. We plan on continuing to raise awareness and help stop the sale of Boggs Mountain.

Provided testimony to the Idaho Land Board on the future management of state endowment lands around Payette Lake.

The Idaho chapter worked with other conservation groups to provide comments and issue action alerts urging the Army Corps of Engineers to deny a proposal to construct a mountain bike trail through critical winter range near Lucky Peak Reservoir.

The Idaho chapter coordinator met with staff from all four members of Idaho’s congressional delegation in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. The staff members were shown how multiple projects over the decades, funded by the Land and Water Conservation Fund, have been used to provide public access, conserve critical pronghorn summer range, restore spawning habitat for salmon and maintain working ranches and open space.

INDIANA • •

•

In December, we held our annual wood duck box build at J.E Roush Lake Fish and Wildlife Area. This is our second year at Roush Lake helping the property with various habitat improvement projects.

In addition to Roush Lake, we were able to add another property to our docket, Yellowwood State Forest near Bloomington, Indiana. This will be our first habitat improvement project held at this property. This was originally scheduled for 2020, but due to weather conditions, the event was postponed to January 2021.

We have added a lot of great additions to our board: Jesse Cano, Jameson Hibbs, Luke Louden, Zachery Moore, Scott Salmon and Tyler Webster. All have been great additions to the board and will continue to move us closer to our goals.

IOWA • • • •

Hosted a virtual deer butchering and cooking event in December.

Hosted the first annual Hardwater Jamboree (ice fishing) on Jan. 30, 2021.

Provided input to the DNR on regulation changes for the 2021 hunting season.

Sent an introductory letter to the incoming congress on BHA’s behalf.

KANSAS •

• •

The Kansas chapter collaborated with chapter sponsor Walton’s Inc. to put together a deer processing video. The video took a deer from field dressed and skinned down to the various cuts of meat. The video is now available at Meatgistics University on the Walton’s Inc. YouTube page.

The Kansas chapter held a successful membership drive in November, where a pair of Vortex binoculars were given away.

On Feb. 6, chapter volunteers improved an area of the Cheney Reservoir Wildlife Area. Volunteers cleared trees, moved brush, picked up trash and improved access to the Cemetery Cove area of the reservoir.

SPRING 2021 BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL | 21

KENTUCKY

NEW ENGLAND

•

•

•

•

On opening day of modern gun season, KY BHA collected 29 whitetail deer heads for CWD sampling from hunters at C&W Meat Packers, which were taken to the Department of Fish and Wildlife for further analysis.

In December, MTN DEW Outdoor Grants awarded KY BHA a $5,000 grant to forward our efforts in preserving wild public lands, waters and wildlife in Kentucky.

At the Dec. 4 Deparment of Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting, recommendations to the commission were made to create a wanton waste regulation in KY for deer, elk, bear and game birds, change two special youth-only waterfowl weekends to a youth and veteran/active-duty military hunt, add a lake in Campbell County to the Fishing in Neighborhoods program, enact size and creek limits on Highsplint Lake and enact a catch and release regulation for the Clear Fork of Gasper River.

MICHIGAN • • •

Ryan Cavanaugh is stepping down from the board after many years of support and leadership. We would not be where we are without him! Thank you, Cav! Looking forward to some amazing policy and access issues: Paradise Point access, natural resources programs to get behind, etc. Access and policy will be a noticeable focus this coming year!

In 2021, MI BHA will again focus on retention and mentorship for fishing and hunting, guiding our future through ethical, knowledgeable outdoorspersonship!

•

•

•

NEW JERSEY •

•

•

In December, longtime board members Mark Norquist, Erik Jensen, Erik Packard and Lukas Leaf stepped down from the board to allow for new members to step into leadership roles. These board members were critical to the formation and success of the Minnesota BHA chapter. We look forward to continuing to work with them and continuing to build BHA and spread our message throughout Minnesota.

We welcomed four new board members – Ryan Heesch, Eli Mansfield, Mark Zschoche, and Jordan Wolf – to the Minnesota chapter board. We look forward to building on the foundation that outgoing board members laid.

MISSOURI •

The Lindenlure public access point along the Finley River in Christian County was illegally closed to the public by local landowners. The Missouri chapter is currently working with the River Access Coalition to restore public access. There is currently a lawsuit in progress to reopen the access point. The Missouri chapter conducted a fundraiser raising thousands of dollars to assist with the legal fees and future access projects.

MONTANA • • •

The USFS released a planned course of action on a proposed Crazy Mountain land swap; this mirrored our requests to keep sections possessing great elk habitat and publicly accessible public lands in public hands.

We supported attempts to ban the use of drones in fishing, citing fair chase.

Our end of year sweepstakes raised nearly $4,000; that, along with our BHA license plate sales, allowed us to hire a government relations specialist for the 2021 legislative session.

NEBRASKA •

•

The Nebraska chapter held its first gear giveaway, which wrapped up in December. Thank you to everyone who purchased entries, and congratulations to the four winners. Proceeds from the giveaway will help this new chapter grow and support public lands and waters in Nebraska.

Virtual pint nights were held covering multiple topics, November through January. The chapter plans to continue these each month in 2021. Topics have included CRP in Nebraska, tree saddles and a backcountry bag dump.

22 | BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL SPRING 2021

Thank you to John Provenzale, chapter board member and secretary, for December’s virtual pint night explaining beginner traditional bow building. Thank you for the great information, conversation and much-needed camaraderie.

The New Jersey chapter looks forward to 2021 and has multiple projects in the works. Stay tuned.

NEW MEXICO •

MINNESOTA •

Several states in the chapter have added new members to their leadership teams. Thanks for stepping up and getting in the arena, Elise, Jeremiah, Adam, and Jill!

Several states participated in ice fishing events to encourage continued access to the outdoors in safe, socially distanced ways.

Legislatively, Vermont members spoke on behalf of a live action trail camera restriction during hunting seasons, and Rhode Island members worked to submit a bill banning captive hunting to the general assembly for consideration during the 2021 session.

Despite the obvious challenges, several states had strong showings in 2020 for mentorship. We plan to ramp that up in 2021; interested members should reach out to their respective states for more information.

•

NM BHA partnered with the Department of Game & Fish for a trailhead diplomacy event in the Albuquerque foothills to educate locals about the longstanding Sandia Mountains archery mule deer hunt. We spoke with nearly 1,000 individuals and, with very few exceptions, got a warm reception.

NM’s private land elk program (EPLUS) allocates half of all tags to a small number of landowners. Because EPLUS takes so many tags out of the public draw, when NMBHA was given an either-sex landowner tag, we held a member drawing to redistribute it to a beginner resident hunter.

The tag went to 10-year-old Liam Howe who is mobility-impaired, and in October he harvested a cow elk, with his proud family at his side.

NEW YORK • • •

The Virtual Learn to Hunt series continues with a list of exciting topics!

VLTH kicks off 2021 with storytelling and lessons learned from the 2020 season, followed by ice fishing, fly tying and more.

We welcomed new board members: Mike Barcone, John Barone, Brian Bird, Kelly Buchta and Christa Whiteman!

Chapter sponsor Denn Knife (dennhandmade.com) donated a beautiful knife set to promote membership renewals. Thank you, Dan Denn, for the knives, and congratulations Nate Kennedy on winning them!

OKLAHOMA •

• •

The Oklahoma chapter participated in the Public Lands Pack Out by hosting pack outs at Blue River Public Fishing and Hunting Area, Beaver River WMA, Lexington WMA, Heyburn WMA and Cross Timbers WMA. We packed a total of 36 bags to include spent shotgun shells, monofilament fishing line, a busted toilet and plenty of empty beer cans.

We also hosted a group dove hunt at Beaver River WMA and filled many limits over opening weekend.

The Oklahoma chapter will also be hosting multiple group deer hunts throughout the season. Reach us on Facebook for more info.

OREGON • • •

In defiance of the immense challenges 2020 brought, perhaps unsurprisingly, Oregon members sought and found solace and joy in wilderness and waters.

Oregonians saw record-breaking recreation, rising violations, a rash of poaching and historic wildfires – all making clear the need for renewed investment in our shared public resources.

Oregon chapter leaders enter 2021 with new resolve to promote policies, projects and processes that will improve opportunities for hunters and anglers and the ecologies we all depend on for food and for fun – from new

CHAPTER NEWS hunting regulations and river access to piloting new travel and resource management plans that will effect landscape-level change for decades to come.

PENNSYLVANIA • • •

The Pennsylvania chapter joined a coalition of hunting and angling groups to speak as one against proposed budget cuts, which would have permanently altered conservation funding in Pennsylvania.

The Take 2 Mentorship Program continues to grow, with over 20 participants in the 2020-21 hunting season.

The chapter added longtime outdoors advocate John Kline, of Kline Associates, Ltd., to its team as it continues to strengthen its voice as a leader for wild public lands, waters and wildlife in the Keystone State.

SOUTH CAROLINA • • •

Our chapter began coordination with our local Trout Unlimited chapters in order to educate each other’s members and to identify opportunities to work together for conservation in South Carolina.

We initiated our journey to bring Sunday hunting to South Carolina. We have a long road ahead, but we believe we understand the path to make it happen.

We are working on a volunteer group to introduce people to fishing public access locations this spring.

SOUTH DAKOTA •

A Total Archery Challenge afterparty is scheduled for June 26.

SOUTHEAST • •

Thanks to everyone who answered our membership survey. We will be using that information to plan 2021 for the Southeast chapter.

We’re proud to announce that Alabama has added more public land through Forever Wild. We can all enjoy these newly acquired lands at the Red Hills complex, as well as Skyline and Cahaba WMAs.

TENNESSEE •

•

• •

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is proposing significant changes to increase and improve access to Tennessee public waterfowl hunting. The TN chapter supports these changes and is working in conjunction with the wildlife commission and other wildlife organizations across the state.

The chapter ran a successful “BHA vs. CWD” contest for the second year this past fall. The contest encouraged hunters to submit their deer for testing to help track the spread of CWD within Tennessee and raise awareness of the issue within the state.

The chapter also hosted a virtual fishing tournament in 2020 to raise awareness of the invasive Asian carp problem.

We welcomed three new board members and two new state captains to the Tennessee chapter board in 2020.

TEXAS • •

•

The Texas BHA board worked through its strategic planning for 2021, which included finalizing a set of priority issues to focus our efforts on for the year.

Priority issues include strengthening relationships with private landowners and public agencies, maintaining and enhancing Texas public lands and waters and cultivating a community of members to expand participation in the outdoors.

We supported initiatives led by partner organizations: helping to remove abandoned crab traps from public waters with Texas Parks & Wildlife and cleaning up Padre Island National Seashore with Friends of Padre.

UTAH • •

We welcomed several qualified new board members to the Utah chapter board.

Through written comment, we opposed the Book Cliffs Highway, a proposal by the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition to construct a high-

•

way, known as the Eastern Utah Regional Connection, through the Book Cliffs.

In February, the UT chapter hosted a virtual event in collaboration with Trout Unlimited to learn about conservation work.

WASHINGTON • • • •

A live BHA Podcast & Blast, episode 96 with Dr. Paul Hessburg, was a huge success in educating all of those who attended. This was a successful segment of our ongoing Embers & Ecology education campaign.

We have welcomed our newest conservation and policy leader, Logan Hope, who brings several new and valuable skill sets to our team.

Our members will soon be given more transparent and structured opportunities to become involved with local conservation items, sparked by the need for more hunting and angling voices in local communities.

The Bigfoot Bulletin is our new quarterly newsletter, and with this we plan to share exclusive material to our Washington members. Please make sure you are opted in to receive these via emails by adding your email address to your BHA profile on the website, and opt in!

WEST VIRGINIA •

• •

S.B. 2555, which changed the New River Gorge from a national river into a national park and preserve, was packaged into the recent pandemic relief bill. Hunters have now lost access to 3,716 acres of beautiful public hunting access. We’re working diligently with the W.V. delegation to acquire 3,700 acres adjacent to the NRG and make it accessible for hunters.

We need help to protect public lands and waters in WV. If you’re interested in helping, please email westvirginia@backcountryhunters.org.

Angler litter is embarrassing! Help us clean it up during Trash & Trout in the month of March. We will be hosting a group cleanup on March 27 at Lower Glady dispersed camping area and running a contest on social media throughout the month of March. Check out our chapter e-newsletter and social media for more details.

WISCONSIN •

•

•

The Wisconsin chapter has been finding ways to engage in R3 efforts during covid-19. We released a series of how-to videos that can be found on the chapter’s YouTube channel. Recently, the chapter partnered with NWTF, Pheasants Forever, Color the Outdoors and Becoming an Outdoors-Woman for a virtual small game panel discussion.

Wisconsin BHA managed a CWD dumpster on their adopted wildlife area, Goose Lake, and donated money to Bayfield and Sauk counties towards CWD dumpsters. The Goose Lake dumpster collected 9.3 tons of deer carcasses that were properly disposed of.

Member Jeff Wishau monitored and emptied trash cans at two different wildlife areas in Racine County, and board member Bryce Schmidt monitored and emptied two trash cans at Goose Lake Wildlife Area in Dane County.

WYOMING •

•

The Wyoming chapter board had a very successful hunting season with many great memories and freezers filled this past fall. We also have a great chapter plan in place that took a lot of effort by the entire board but was well worth it. We’re looking forward to several hands-on work projects in 2021.

Major issues we will continue to work on include: elk feed grounds, CWD, migration, participation in Wyoming’s legislative session.

YUKON • •

•

Yukon has decided to postpone our Annual General Meeting because of covid-19.

Based on feedback from our membership survey, we hosted a sheep hunting panel. Four experienced local hunters talked about techniques and advice for sheep hunting. The event was a success, with over 20 people attending.

YBHA plans to hold more of these small panel sessions before our AGM. The next one will likely be bison hunting sometime in early 2021.

Find a more detailed writeup of your chapter’s news along with events and updates by regularly visiting www.backcountryhunters.org/chapters or contacting them at [your state/province/territory/region]@backcountryhunters.org (e.g. newengland@backcountryhunters.org)

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CHAPTER NEWS

In Depth:

Idaho Chapter Works to Secure Future of State Endowment Lands

BY ACE HESS Before the fertile valleys, endless mountain ranges and towering forests of Idaho were admitted to the union in 1890, this relatively undeveloped wilderness was called the Idaho Territory. The Territorial Act of 1863 granted two sections (16 and 36) of each 36 square mile township to provide funding for public education.

Additional lands were incorporated to support the fledgling state university system and to compensate for sections already in private ownership or forest reserves. By the time of statehood, Idaho had 3.6 million acres of endowment lands in its estate.

The Idaho constitution mandates these lands to be managed to “secure the maximum long-term financial return” for endowment beneficiaries. These beneficiaries include public education, state hospitals, penitentiaries and several other institutions. The idea of land managed in some form of trust to benefit public education dates back to Thomas Jefferson’s commitment to forming an “agrarian democracy.” Jefferson, being a proponent of advancing the nation’s knowledge of the natural world, believed welleducated citizens who worked the land would be the foundation of an independent and productive society.

Idaho’s endowment lands provide revenue to the state through timber harvest, grazing, mineral royalties, commercial leases and other sources. These lands, which are often interconnected with federal, private and municipal properties, also provide Idaho citizens with open space, public access, fish and wildlife habitat, clean water and many other vital ecosystem services. The Idaho Department of Lands is tasked with managing these assets under the direction of the Idaho State Board of Land Commissioners or “Land Board.” The Land Board is comprised of the governor, superintendent of public instruction, attorney general, state controller and the secretary of state.

In the spring of 2020, the Land Board was presented with an informal proposal by a newly formed private investment firm, Trident Holdings LLC, to swap 28,000 acres of endowment lands near McCall for private timber lands in north Idaho. While no proposal has been officially presented to the Land Board by Trident, the vulnerability of this landscape activated citizens from throughout the state to encourage further debate. Some of the land identified for exchange includes incredibly valuable lakefront property on Payette Lake with high potential for development.

These same groves of ponderosa pine, wet meadows, quiet lakeshore and mountainsides have also provided Idahoans with invaluable opportunities for recreation, hunting, fishing, hiking, berry picking and access to adjacent Forest Service lands. As a whole, they also currently provide Idaho endowment beneficiaries with financial returns that are meeting or exceeding revenue from other similar contiguous blocks of endowment lands elsewhere in Idaho.

The Gem State continues to top lists as one of the fastest growing states in the union, along with having the highest growth rate in real estate value. Diverse industries are moving their operations to Idaho, in large part because the abundant access to public lands helps them attract and retain employees.

Gov. Brad Little spoke to a camo-clad crowd of several thousand people at the 2019 BHA Rendezvous in Boise, where he proclaimed May 2 to be “Public Lands Day” in Idaho. Gov. Little stated that “there’s no better bait to keep Idahoans in Idaho than the opportunities that exist in our great outdoors.”

Hunting, angling and trapping on public lands is a large part of the heritage, custom and culture of the state. They’re significant enough for voters to proclaim access to these activities a constitutional right in 2012. These outdoor opportunities are made possible by access to the state’s 20 million acres of Forest Service land, 11 million acres of BLM lands and the 96 percent of state endowment lands, 3.4 million acres, that are also currently available for recreation by foot, watercraft or vehicle.

This access was recently codified by an agreement with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. In many parts of the state, your boots can kick the dirt of all three colors on the map without crossing a fence or seeing a sign.

Access to lands that have been taken for granted by generations of Idahoans is increasingly being commodified by large development interests from out of state. Decisions the Land Board will make around Payette Lake will set a precedent for how endowment lands will be managed for “maximum longterm financial return” in the face of rapidly increasing real estate values and changing land uses. The Idaho Department of Lands recently released the “Payette Lands Strategy,” a management plan for 5,478 acres of endowment land in and adjacent to the city of McCall and Payette Lake. The Idaho chapter is working closely with our conservation partners, the Payette Land Trust and a newly formed citizens group, the Payette Endowment Lands Alliance. This broad stakeholder coalition is providing the Land Board with local input and conservation-focused solutions. The general narrative from these groups is to prioritize sustainable, long-term revenue sources that retain lands in IDL’s portfolio over maximizing short-term revenue generation, which would transfer the rapidly rising equity of these lands into private hands. One of these solutions involves establishing a precedent for market-based conservation easements on endowment lands, which maintain open space and public access, while still allowing for additional revenue streams from traditional uses like logging, grazing or recreational leases.

The Idaho chapter of BHA and our above-mentioned partners recently provided testimony to the Land Board expressing these concerns and solutions. We will also be providing written comments and alerting our members to get engaged. Stay tuned to backcountryhunters.org/idaho for updates and ways to get involved.

Ace Hess is the Idaho and Nevada chapter coordinator for BHA. He lives in the Pahsimeroi Valley with his partner, Tara, and a mess of critters. When he’s not fighting for public lands, you can find him in the remote mountains and canyons of Idaho hunting, fishing, looking for sheds, rowing boats or just trying to see what’s over the next ridge.

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CHAPTER NEWS

In Depth:

Strategic Partnerships Critical to Kansas Chapter’s Success

BY KURT RATZLAFF

Kurt Ratzlaff is an avid upland bird hunter, retired attorney and connoisseur of cheap bourbon. He is currently chair of the Kansas chapter of BHA.

Photo by Kurt Ratzlaff

The Kansas chapter was excited to recently partner with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism to sponsor a photo contest to commemorate the 25th anniversary of KDWPT’s very successful Walk-In Hunting Access program.

WIHA is similar to programs in many other states. Basically, the state acquires public access to hunting rights on privately owned land by leasing those rights from the owner, usually with some conditions. In Kansas, that means hunting access to a million acres that otherwise would not be available. As a state with proportionately little public land, that is a boon to hunters. The photo contest will have winners in several categories, with a grand prize for Kansas residents of a lifetime hunting license! (There were many other prizes for residents and non-residents alike.)

The photo contest is just one aspect of the relationship being built between KDWPT and Kansas BHA. As a new BHA chapter, the vast majority of our time has been spent developing relationships with numerous groups, including KDWPT. But luckily, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is an easy sell to most organizations once they get acquainted with the organization.

Emphasis is placed on our members’ youthfulness and willingness to physically work on projects. Once folks realize BHA members will show up and get our hands dirty and our backs tired, the doors start to open. BHA’s reputation for hard work allows us to expect great things in situations like this.

We’d also previously coordinated our Public Land Pack Out events with KDWPT to make the most of the time we spent on the project. Kansas State Parks had a record setting year in 2020. It was estimated that 30 percent of state park users this year were first time users! It is obviously great to get more members of society to experience the outdoors, but new visitors may not know how to act and what to do and not do in parks, which can lead to more use and abuse of our public lands. The pack out was a perfect opportunity to help clean up the parks after that heavy usage. KDWPT assisted us by providing trailers to haul out bags of trash and pointing us into areas that particularly needed our help. With events set at the two most used parks in the state, there was no shortage of trash to pack out!

Throughout Kansas BHA’s existence, we have made it a point to attend as many KDWPT meetings as possible, without being a nuisance. One of the meetings was with the leader of the WIHA program. We had some ideas and questions about the program, and we asked to sit down and discuss them. We learned more than we helped in that meeting, that’s for sure! One of the things we learned was this is the 25th year of the WIHA program. As we talked about ideas to promote that fact, a photo contest was discussed among other ideas, but nothing was finalized, and the moment might easily have escaped us.

Luckily, one of the Kansas chapter board members, Jeff Hancock, grabbed the bull by the horns. While we were recording an episode of our Kansas BHA Podcast, Jeff announced that he and his wife were donating a $200 prize for a chapter WIHA photo contest. Contact was made with the WIHA director about the contest to make sure they did not object, and it turns out they were trying to put together a contest as well. With some extra effort we were able to work out a few details, and the contest came together. Without Jeff’s willingness to throw a couple hundred dollars into the hat for a contest, that moment would have slipped away.

Our relationship with KDWPT continues to grow. We are looking forward to Kansas being a film stop on this year’s BHA/ Project Upland collaboration, the “2000 Miles Film Tour,” which follows the Central Flyway used by waterfowl as they move across America. KDWPT is working with Kansas BHA to determine filming locations and other necessary information. (More at backcountryhunters.org/2000_miles_film_tour.)

As a part of the film, KDWPT is excited to showcase the next step in the evolution of the WIHA program. Landowners close to large municipalities have been reluctant to open their property to public hunting for fear of being inundated with hunters. The new iWIHA program allows landowners to control the number of hunters per day on the property and what type of hunting can be done. Check in and out is done digitally and tracked closely

by KDWPT personnel. As a result, more hunting opportunities are now available much closer to large urban areas. We also have service projects on the books with KDWPT in the upcoming months to clear paths and trails to make it easier to patrol state park areas.

As the agency that oversees our state-owned public lands, the partnership with KDWPT will remain a cornerstone the Kansas chapter’s efforts to preserve and protect our public lands.

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I grew up a hunter, my father leading me into the woods not long after I could walk. During my childhood, there were cold nights spent sleeping in the back of his Ford Bronco during deer season, bright days walking fence rows for small game and plenty of twilight-accentuated climbs down from a treestand. By the time I hit elementary school, I was hooked on the outdoors.

As I hit my late teens and early 20s, I left hunting for reasons convoluted and personal. It took me years to sort out just why I left and to make my return. But in my late 20s and early 30s, hunting romanced its way back into my life. Now in my mid-30s, I’ve constructed my life so that I can spend as many days afield as possible, spending close to 100 days per year in pursuit of game.

Being that hunting reentered my life so recently, I still have a clear vision of the “why” and “what,” which seduced me back into the mountains and fields. It’s a perspective that could help boost hunter recruitment – bringing new folks into our tribe and bringing back those who were lost – when we need them most.

Below are four simple strategies, based on my experiences, for recruiting new hunters and bringing back the estranged.

Start with Food Food motivated some of my first resurgent thoughts about hunting. Even though I stopped hunting, my closest friends didn’t. And when I’d be around for dinner, I was treated to wild game dishes that were better than anything I’d grown up eating.

My tastebuds were warmed to the idea of hunting again, but it was more than that; it was about ethics.

Like many millennials, I’ve grown more conscious about food sources and sustainability – while also considering the life and plight of the animals whose meat would eventually land on my plate. I grew up around small, family farms in the heart of Central Pennsylvania, so disillusionment to factory farming took a heavy toll on my psyche. Once aware, I knew that I couldn’t just blindly keep buying meat from the grocery store. With the delicious meals I’d eaten at friends’ houses and the memories of venisonfilled freezers fresh on my mind, I decided to take responsibility for the meat I’d consume.

My friend Steve Opat coined the term “Meat Ups” and I’ve been using it ever since – the term and the practice. The gist is that you get people together over game meat, whether to butcher,

Photo: Todd Bumgardner

BY TODD BUMGARDNER

to eat, or to do both. In my version, at least one person has to be someone who doesn’t currently hunt. Each time we have an event at the gym that I own, I make sure to prepare game meat for my clients to sample. I’m also in the habit of taking deer quarters to friends’ houses to teach a little butchering and then cook steaks.

Introducing game meat to broad swaths of people boosts general appeal and support for hunting. Rather than people thinking we’re just bloodthirsty hicks who like sitting in trees, they experience the care that hunters put into food. The butchering and cooking sessions are more calculated.

I butcher and cook with people who are flirting with becoming hunters to boost their feelings of confidence and competence.

Beyond gaining access and knowing how to actually hunt, knowing what to do with an animal after harvesting is a big sticking point for folks. Demonstrating that removing meat from bone isn’t some kind of rocket-surgery goes a long way toward increasing their motivation to hunt. People are less apt to act when they feel inept and the task seems unapproachable; we have to squash that.

Starting with food speaks to potential hunters’ moral and ethical concerns, building a motivational foundation for hunting.

Woo their taste buds and make processing approachable.

Take Them Bird Hunting I was welcomed back to hunting in a Pennsylvania farm field with doves flying about and a borrowed shotgun in my lap. My lifelong friend, Brett Shaffer, of Grumpy Duck Co., arranged the hunt for me after I told him I was interested in hunting again.

That evening we shot enough doves for a meal, enjoyed each other’s company and ensured that I’d be buying a new shotgun.

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Photos by Todd Bumgardner

Bird hunting, in its various forms, is a great entry point for new and returning hunters for several reasons: the ease of access, the action, the social aspect and the lesser moral dilemma of killing.

On any given day in the valley that I grew up hunting, one could drop in on a farm, ask permission to hunt pigeons, and then spend a great few hours shooting delicious birds that most folks see as a pest. Opportunities to chase birds usually far exceed opportunities to hunt other game, save for squirrels and rabbits.

(Both are also great entry point species.)

Likely as important as opportunity, there’s usually action and conversation isn’t stifled.

New hunters often don’t have the accrued discipline, fed by love, that it takes to sit still, be quiet and freeze their butt parts off while hoping that a deer walks by. When people are starting a new thing, they often need more reinforcement and gratification before they’re open to a degree of disciplined suffering. Seeing action and socializing scratch both of those itches. As enjoyment and love grows, the willingness to endure follows. Creating great experiences on the front end is key for getting new hunters to eventually jump in with both feet.

Then there’s the nasty business of killing.

In my experience, the smaller and less human-like the animal, the easier it is for a person to make the firm decision to take its life. As species increase in size and mammalian evolution, the more likely we are to anthropomorphize them, give them human thoughts and feelings, and have a harder time squeezing the trigger. I killed my first deer at eight years old, and I still anthropomorphize them from time to time. So, consider killing through the eyes of someone who’s never taken a life: it’s likely going to be harder for them to not project their human emotions onto a large mammal.

Introducing new hunters to the field via smaller and avian game could lessen the moral quandary of killing, simply because it’s more difficult to see their behavior through our distinctly human lens.

Once the initial game is harvested, and soon after transformed into delicious food, the connections between killing, sustenance, and gastronomical enjoyment are formed and strengthened. It creates a new value for the person. And with that new value, they are primed for the graded exposure of taking larger game – if they want to.

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Form Community Besides food morality, connecting to community was one of the main reasons I started hunting again. For me, as it goes for most hunters, hunting has always been strongly motivated by who I get to do it with, and subsequently, talk about it with.

Creating community isn’t a complicated process; it’s an outcome of persistent care and diligence. It’s the consistent act of connecting people over a common interest. Truly, the only way to get it done is to make bonding with others a personal value. The ways that it can be done are limited only by imagination – send a connecting email, make an introduction via text, the list goes on.

But the two most powerful tactics I’ve witnessed in our arena are taking people hunting and sharing a meal.

It’s no wonder the most powerful tactics are that way; they were literally the first drivers of human connection and survival. Get a few folks together, go hunting, and then go enjoy the bounty of the harvest.

But community connection is more than just being pro-social, it’s about learning.

People need mentorship to make new things approachable. We have an innate desire for competency. And when we don’t feel it, we are often unmotivated to act. Mentors allow us to outsource that competency until we learn enough to own it.

As hunting is innately human, so too is connection and striving to do new things well. Community is the keystone that solidifies the arch of all those essentially human needs.

Introduce Them to Digestible Media When I was growing up, hunting shows were all about “the buck out there in the cut.” And that buck was inevitably some monstrosity raised to be killed in front of a video camera. Even as a kid who was in love with hunting, I hated hunting shows. They didn’t teach anything. They didn’t tell good stories. They were boring compilations of people sitting in trees or blinds, waiting for bucks that I’d never see in the woods of Virginia or Pennsylvania.

Flash forward about three decades and all that’s changed.

The amount of good content produced today is almost an embarrassment of riches. Through streaming services, social media, books, blogs and magazines, we all have access to the

minds and stories of guys like Steven Rinella and Randy Newberg.

Podcasts are so numerous and cover such a breadth and width of information that you could listen to a show on any hunting topic at any time. We need to connect new hunters to this incredible wealth of digestible media. The “whys” are simple – the content boosts the competency of the new hunter while also creating feelings of connection to the hunting community at large. The “whats” and the “hows,” however, should be individualized.

If folks are more philosophically minded and need to figure out their relationship with hunting before all else, I’ll start off by loaning them my copy of Meat Eater, the book, and directing them to different episodes of the show that I think would resonate.

For them, it seems, it’s about the story of being a hunter and their identity as a hunter. So, introducing them via media that is as much about the story as it is anything else gives them a portal through which to view hunting, to view themselves as hunters and to aspire to adventures in beautiful places.

For more tactically oriented people, I often recommend individual podcasts, YouTube videos and articles that answer their questions. (The goal is getting the philosophically minded to this point, others just get there faster.) This often sends them down the proverbial rabbit hole; causing them to look for more answers on the same topic and then branch out to other topics. Soon enough, they’re hooked because they feel as though they can improve their competence in any area of hunting with some good questions, a little research and some effort.

With all of the media that we can get our hands on today, it only takes a little leg work on our part to do that. When we act with consideration and care, we give people the means to connect to the hunting community, even if only through media, while building the competencies that help them believe they can be a successful hunters.

Parting Thought Many new hunters’ initial motivations for joining us in the field are related to food, but they have to come to terms with their morality on killing. If we introduce them to the hunting lifestyle in way that considers them as a person, while connecting them to a community that helps them feel allied and competent, we can help new hunters enjoy the outdoors in pursuit of filling their plates, as well as their memory banks. All the while we’re doing our part to help ensure hunting’s future.

BHA member Todd Bumgardner is a strength and conditioning coach, writer, and outdoorsman. He’s on the human performance team for a federal tactical unit, as well as the founder of Human Predator Pack Mule, providing individualized training programs for backcountry and mountain hunters. You can reach him at humanpredatorpackmule@gmail.com.

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COLLEGE CLUBS

A FREEZER TOO FULL

BY JOSEPH DRAKE I hear my wife begin recording videos for her fourth-grade class, but she is drowned out by the last of our wine deglazing the good bits from the cast iron in front of me. She has not seen her students for over a month, her heart breaking again with every email received. They ask when things will return to normal.

I think of the undergraduate students’ essays I must grade after putting the browned neck roast on to braise the rest of the day.

My freezer is still much fuller than I expected it would be now at nearly the end of the semester for colleges across the country, undergraduates and graduate students alike counting down the days until finals. I had planned family-style meals and a semesterend potluck, full of dishes made from the bounty of my successful fall and winter hunts.

I was not raised a hunter. I became one to take responsibility for the decisions I make in my foodways. I was looking forward to a late afternoon around a grill full of venison burgers, smoked trout and spatchcocked pheasant to share with my friends and finishing off one too many beers around a campfire. Now I just count the days since those plans were disrupted.

When I harvested that deer, watching it die by my hand, I nearly vomited. I fish and hunt, but this was the first large mammal I had shot in over a decade. After a deafening roar of blackpowder and 30 seconds of violence, I was awash in anguish, gratitude and pride. By the time the smoke cleared, I could feel the cold of the

late December evening approach, and it was the responsibility to the animal that came to the forefront. I began processing it in the failing light, wishing I could say I was on autopilot, wishing I was not making mistakes. But it was akin to the first time all over again; I was literally and figuratively flailing about in the dark, covered in steaming blood, hoping I had done the right thing.

I have been thinking about that during the last several weeks.

I tell myself that I and my loved ones will be okay; that people smarter than me know what they are doing. I wish I could say I was on autopilot, coasting along, knowing what to do each day.

There are moments when I feel like I am still flailing about on that cold night, wondering what comes next. I do not know when I will be able to reach into the freezer to cook for my friends again.

So, when I find it time to thaw a piece of deer for our next meal, it is still with mixed emotions. Of thanks. But also, of looking forward for times to come.

I smell the spices in the braise and wonder how long it will be until it is safe to share again.

Joseph Drake is a founder and current president of University of Massachusetts Amherst BHA collegiate club. While he grew up in the Midwest, he’s currently a PhD candidate studying wildlife ecology in Massachusetts and enjoying the pockets of public land hidden throughout the Northeast.

SPRING 2021 BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL | 33

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ARMED FORCES INITIATIVE

HUNTING FOR PEACE

BY JOHN DAILEY Isaac Blunt inspected his gear in the glow of the pickup headlights to make sure he was squared away. He talked through the plan with Brett O’Mara, coordinator of the Camp Pendleton club of the BHA Armed Forces Initiative. Isaac grew up hunting with his father and family in the woods and fields around Shell Lake, Wisconsin, and the preparation ritual was comforting, familiar. Today they were hunting California mule deer, but in 2011 in Afghanistan’s Sangin Valley, Lance Corporal Blunt hunted insurgents with the fabled 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment.

Their motto: “Make peace or die.”

Isaac made up his mind to join the Marines on a fall morning in 2001. A crying teacher burst into his elementary school math class in Medford, Wisconsin, to tell the fifth graders about the 9/11 attacks. He left for boot camp right after graduation, leaving his young, pregnant wife at home. His daughter was born the day he completed his infantry training.

On June 13, 2011, two months into his first deployment, Isaac took point on a foot patrol, slowly sweeping the mine detector in a wide arc ahead of his feet. He was responsible for the men dispersed behind him. His squad leader pointed him down a narrow alley between mudbrick buildings. Isaac’s cover man barricaded himself behind the wall, muzzle pointed into the shadows, protecting Isaac as he worked. The metal in the wires that might have signaled danger was buried deep. The battery that powered the I.E.D. was concealed behind trash down the alley. He stepped on the pressure plate with just enough force to complete the circuit.

Isaac doesn’t remember the blast, which is a blessing, or the men working feverishly to stop the bleeding. He woke once in a field hospital at Bagram Air Base, once in Germany, and then he was at the Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. He lost both legs below the knee, the four fingers on his left hand and his left eye.

Isaac was medically retired from the Marines in 2013, but his marriage couldn’t stand the strain. He found himself alone, cooped up in a small apartment, drinking too much and self-medicating, fueling his anger and helplessness. When a good friend took his own life, Isaac tried to do the same. The failure spurred something in him. He found help and turned to activity to fight the demons.

Isaac Blunt sighting in his crossbow before the hunt, Camp Pendleton, California. Photo courtesy of John Dailey

Mason said. “At BHA, we recognize that members of the North American armed forces are a critical constituency when it comes to the defense of our wild public lands and waters. The men and women who have bravely served are to thank for the freedoms that allow North American sportsmen and women to enjoy our outdoor opportunities and traditions.”

While assisting wounded vets like Isaac is important, it is only a part of the AFI mission. “We’ve built the foundation that will support three separate pillars: actively serving, veterans, and legislation that affects armed forces members and public land and water access,” Morgan said.

Serving in the military presents challenges to hunting and fishing. Being stationed in a new state brings out-of-state regulations, which can be difficult to understand, and each base or station has its own rules. For young soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, living in the barracks makes storage and access to weapons challenging, and often young troops may not have vehicles to get to hunting areas or the ability to transport, process or keep any meat harvested. The AFI seeks to lower the barrier of entry by providing support and mentorship to help service members overcome these challenges and offer active-duty military and veterans the following: •

• •

BHA’s AFI was founded in June 2020, with Morgan Mason at the helm. Mason served in the Army Reserves as an intelligence analyst and crossed the berm into Iraq early in 2003. “Service is and always has been core to BHA’s mission, and the values that guide us are heavily influenced by military personnel,”

•

An opportunity to engage in BHA’s core work to enhance public access and opportunity, conserve public lands, waters and wildlife, and defend fair chase hunting and fishing traditions.

A better quality of life through exposure to backcountry experiences.

The chance to experience and enjoy the mental and physical benefits of backcountry experiences.

The resources to share their backcountry experiences with other servicemen and women.

Even in the time of covid-19, the pilot programs have been a success. The Fort Bragg, North Carolina, club, led by Andrew Ruszkiewicz, boasts over 100 members and took second place in SPRING 2021 BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL | 37

Clockwise from left: bowhunting clinic, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Bragg and Blast event, Ft. Bragg, North Carolina; Public Land Pack Out, Ft. Wainright, Alaska

the Public Land Pack Out, carrying out over 200 bags of trash.

They also held the first AFI event, “Bragg and Blast,” a trap shoot that brought in over 45 shooters.

Fairbanks, Alaska, is home to Fort Wainright, situated in the Tanana Valley at the base of the White Mountains with good access to caribou, moose and Dall sheep. Nate Kittredge serves as the AFI coordinator. AFI Wainwright participated in the PLPO and has hosted a small game hunt. They are looking forward to increasing membership through R3 events (recruitment, retention and reactivation) in 2021.

Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, is home to the newest club. Led by Russell Worth Parker (see “Duk’s Last Hunt” in the Winter 2021 issue of Backcountry Journal), AFI Lejeune’s first event was participation in the Public Land Pack Out, working with base officials to clean a wildlife viewing area aboard the base. A recent bowhunting clinic attracted new members. Parker is focused on growing the chapter and providing hunting and fishing mentors for new members.

Mason added of AFI’s start, “The pilot project on these installations will shape how we craft the process. It’s an exciting time to be in the trenches and figuring this out. We also plan to expand the veteran programming and opportunities in ’21, and we’re looking for veteran leaders who align with the BHA mission to run and support them.” Mason said, “There are a lot of great entities at singular installations. We’re looking to connect the nation of active warfighters who like to hunt and fish on or around military installations.”

38 | BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL SPRING 2021

Brett O’Mara of the Camp Pendleton, California, club jumped at the chance to take Isaac hunting. With help from the base game warden and a crossbow provided by veteran’s outdoor charity, Bravo SoCal, Brett got Isaac sighted in and set in position to await first light.

Isaac got a shot on a “monster buck” at 65 yards. The bolt missed low, but for Isaac, it really wasn’t about harvesting the buck: “For me, mentally, it was awesome. It helps me so much to get out in nature and get out of my own head.” Isaac was grateful to everyone involved in helping set up the hunt. “There’s so much value for guys with injuries, PTSD and traumatic brain injuries, to get outside. It helpful for mind, body and spirit,” he said. “We’ve got to fight to get the bill (HR2435, The Accelerating Veterans Recovery Outdoor Act) signed. It will provide more chances for guys like me to get opportunities to experience the structure and comradery we were used to in the service.”

BHA member John Dailey is a writer, teacher, retired Marine and proud member of the Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, chapter of the Armed Forces Initiative. He takes every opportunity to get out on public lands and waters.

Editor’s Note: With the help of BHA members and the AFI program, the Accelerating Veterans Recovery Act has since been signed into law! For more information on the Armed Forces Initiative, and for ways to get involved: backcountryhunters. org/armed_forces_initiative_get_involved

SPRING 2021 BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL | 39

FIELD TO TABLE

VENISON FRENCH ONION SOUP

All photos by the author.

BY JENNY NGUYEN-WHEATLEY Julia Child’s “The French Chef ”episode on onion soup was the inspiration behind this recipe.

It’s a simple dish if you use store-bought beef stock, but making it from scratch with venison bones can be a labor of love. Plan to set aside a whole day for this recipe or break it down over two days: one to make the stock and the second to prepare the soup.

Editor’s Note: The author’s venison stock recipe used for this soup was featured in the Winter 2021 issue of Backcountry Journal.

Field to Table is presented in partnership with: 40 | BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL SPRING 2021

VENISON FRENCH ONION SOUP SERVINGS: 4-6 PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES COOKING TIME: 90 MINUTES

1. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter and oil and toss with sliced onion.

Cover and sweat onion for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, keep venison stock warm in a stock pot, covered to prevent too much evaporation.

1½ lb. brown/yellow onion, thinly sliced 3 tbsp butter 1 tbsp oil 2 quarts venison stock 1 tsp kosher salt, plus extra ¼ tsp of sugar 3 tbsp flour ½ cup dry vermouth

3 tbsp brandy or cognac 1 to 2 cups mixture shredded Swiss and grated parmesan cheese Freshly cracked pepper (to taste) 6-12 pieces French bread (thickly sliced) Fresh thyme leaves (optional)

Most French onion soups I’ve ordered at restaurants seem to be more cheese than soup.

I personally don’t like so much cheese nor bread over my soup, so prepare as you like.

2. Uncover the onion, turn heat up to medium and add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of sugar. Cook onion until it turns a deep, golden brown, stirring frequently (not constantly) and adjusting heat as needed to slowly caramelize the onion while avoiding burning it. Add splashes of water if onion starts drying out and browning too quickly. This process could take 30 minutes to 1 hour. The onion will reduce by a lot.

3. Once onions have caramelized to your liking, turn heat down to low and stir in flour.

Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Then whisk in two or three ladles of hot venison stock, getting rid of all lumps.

4. Next, whisk the onion “gravy” mixture into the stockpot with the rest of the hot stock.

Add dry vermouth and simmer for 20 minutes, partially covered.

Meanwhile, toast sliced French bread until slices are dry and crispy all the way through – 300° oven for about 15 minutes.

5. Season soup to taste. Before serving, stir in 3 tablespoons of brandy/cognac. Ladle soup into oven-proof soup bowls. Float a slice, or two, of toast on top of the soup, and sprinkle generously with cheese. Place bowls onto a sturdy cookie sheet and broil until cheese melts and becomes toasty. Garnish with fresh thyme leaves and a splash of olive oil, optional.

BHA member Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley is a hunter, writer and editor in Omaha, Nebraska. In addition to her role as full-time associate editor at Nebraskaland Magazine, she runs the wild game cooking blog Food for Hunters and is a regular contributor to BHA’s Field to Table blog.

SPRING 2021 BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL | 41

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INSTRUCTIONAL

KNOTS FOR WILDERNESS CAMPERS

BY TIM MEAD Knots are tools. Some knots work better in some circumstances than others, just as screwdrivers and hammers work for some purposes and not others. For millennia, backcountry folks have secured shelters, equipment and whatever else was nearby with ropes and knots.

A good knot has three qualities: 1) It is easy to tie.

2) It is easy to untie.

3) It is serves as a tool to do a specific thing and do it well.

Here are a few of my favorite knots for camping, how to tie them and the purpose they serve. They are all easy to tie and untie.

Note: The tag end of a rope is the portion toward the end where the rope terminates. The standing portion, also called the bight, is the continuous middle portion of the rope.

BHA member Tim Mead is an outdoor writer with 35 years in the field and is past president of the Outdoor Writers Association of America.

SQUARE KNOT A square knot is an ancient knot, known to the Greeks and Romans. Among the English this is called a reef knot. It is useful to secure two lengths of rope about the same size to one another. If the sizes vary too much, the smaller one will slip.

1

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Step 1 – Put the two ropes parallel to one another.

Step 2 – Tie the two tag ends with an overhand knot.

Step 3 – Here’s where the square knot sometimes goes awry. Take the two ropes and tie another overhand knot, being sure to keep the tag nearest to you nearest to you as you tie the second overhand knot (Mrs. Betz, my fourth grade teacher, taught me that.

Step 4 – Pull tight.

Bonus: the sheet bend. The sheet bend is a variation on the square knot. It’s easy to tie but not as secure as a square knot.

Step 5 – From Step 2 above, tuck one tag end around the other.

Step 6 – Then slip the tag end under the same rope and beyond the standing portion of the same rope.

Step 7 – Pull tight.

44 | BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL SPRING 2021

7 All photos by the author

TAUTLINE HITCH A tautline hitch is a dandy knot for maintaining tension on a line that is likely to sag, for example a tent guy line stretched between a tent and a tent peg or tree (not to mention the camp clothesline), or a tarp line.

The rope used for these photos is orange. Gradually, I am changing all my tent and tarp guy lines to orange for its greater visibility than white or black.

When the line sags, simply slide the tautline hitch closer to the tent or tarp and it will hold. It is a sort of “ratchet” knot – it will slide one way but not the other.

Most of my camping is in the backcountry and I carry the lightest tent pegs. Yet, I also take one or two of the sort of pegs shown in the photos in the event additional security is needed (for example in strong wind as the complex stake is more wind resistant).

Step 1 – Wrap the standing rope around a tree limb, tent peg or other secure structure.

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Step 2 – One half hitch around the standing rope.

Step 3 – Another half hitch around the standing rope.

Step 4 – A third half hitch around the standing rope, farthest from the secure structure.

Step 5 – Pull tight.

CLOVE HITCH A clove hitch is a knot useful for tying a rope to a post, a tree limb, a canoe thwart or other pole-like item. One way of tying a clove hitch is to make two half hitches in a standing line and then slip the half hitches over a pole.

The method shown here is for tying a line to something that lacks an open end where the two half hitches cannot be slipped over the end of the pole.

1

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Step 1 – Lay the standing line over the item to be secured.

Step 2 – Pull the standing line under the item to be secured.

Step 3 – Insert the tag under the standing line over the item to be secured.

Step 4 – Bring the tag end under the item to be secured a second time, and this time slide the tag end under the standing rope where it crosses over the item the second time.

Step 5 – Pull tight.

Note: Learn two more of the author’s knots for the backcountry at backcountryhunters.org/knots_for_ wilderness_campers.

5 SPRING 2021 BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL | 45

FIRE FOOD PUBLIC LANDS Photo by Becca Skinner

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PUBLIC LAND OWNER

BHA’S PRIORITY LANDSCAPES

BY JOHN GALE Every time I peel back the tattered cover on one of Wallace Stegner’s – the Dean of Western Writers – well-worn books or short stories, it makes me feel like I’ve returned somewhere I shouldn’t have left in the first place. Our public lands and waters have the same effect on me, to a much greater and tangible extent of course – but the emotion feels similar in that they both offer us a repeated sense of discovery.

This past year will indelibly mark the history books in ways none of us could have ever imagined. Our lives have shifted through the course of a raging pandemic. A tumultuous U.S. election cycle ignited the vapors of division and disconnect from our common humanity. Unity feels like an abused word as we all search for healing and purpose, but another thing I know about lands and waters beyond repeated discovery is their ability to bring people together – quite literally on common ground. In the U.S., a divided Congress with strained executive branch relations worked 48 | BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL SPRING 2021

together on behalf of our public lands, waters and wildlife just months ago. We continue to laud shared legislative victories for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and the proposed Pebble Mine was dealt a serious blow, illuminating greater promise and certainty for the future of Alaska’s Bristol Bay. Perhaps it’s time we take the year ahead to shift our gaze to the geography of hope, as Stegner would say.

Backcountry Hunters & Anglers was given life around a campfire stoked by a vision to fashion an organization committed to our wild places and outdoor traditions. The embers from that formative fire still fuel the burn that drives us today, and the smoke that hangs in the fiber of our clothing are worn as a badge of honor and pride for the work ahead. While we have much to do together, I’d like to steal another page from Wallace Stegner by directing your attention to the horizon and a few of the wild lands and waters BHA and our chapters are committed to across North America.

ALBERTA’S ROCKY MOUNTAINS Hunters and anglers have a proud history of delivering consequential conservation victories in North America. We are largely responsible for creating a legacy that underpins the very principles of natural resource management across the continent.

Alberta’s Rocky Mountains have their own related story that begins in 1969 when concerned sportsmen and women banded together to prevent strip mining for coal in some of the Eastern Slope’s most pristine areas – habitat for bighorn sheep, elk, grizzly bears and threatened fisheries for westslope cutthroat and bull trout.

For the next seven years, these foresighted outdoorsmen and women banded together with other Alberta citizens to press provincial government leaders to commit to a robust public consultation process. The 1976 Coal Policy emerged from that multi-year stakeholder effort, and balance was struck between industry and the needs of fish and wildlife and local economies.

Fast-forward to May 2020, and Alberta’s Rocky Mountains are once again in the crosshairs of irresponsible coal development. In a surprise announcement, the provincial government rescinded the 1976 Coal Policy and thrust the Eastern Slopes back into uncertainty, with foreign mining companies already engaged in exploration activities that could result in open-pit exploitation of coal resources that have been off limits for over 40 years.

The devastating impacts of mining in sensitive places have been felt too often. British Columbia’s Elk River is a living

example, with a mining practice that removes entire mountain tops to secure metallurgical coal, sending selenium coursing into the Kootenai River and Lake Koocanusa and creating real cross-border pollution issues that threaten numerous fisheries – in addition to the toxicological harm that selenium presents for human consumption of contaminated fish.

Fortunately, hunters and anglers once again rose to the defense of the Eastern Slopes with BHA’s Alberta chapter working with ranchers and other partners to push back – legally challenging the government’s misguided decision and elevating public awareness through calls to action, which had a meaningful impact with Cabinet Ministers. Yielding to overwhelming public opposition and pressure from groups like BHA, the Alberta government announced in February 2021 that the 1976 Coal Policy will be restored.

While public consultations were conspicuously absent in the government’s initial course, the dedicated advocacy of hunters, anglers and other concerned advocates forced the government to admit its mistakes and commit to holding public consultations as the Coal Policy is reviewed and considerations are made for its modernization. Beloved hunting and fishing grounds like the Oldman headwaters, Bob Creek and the Bighorn area are still at serious risk from development, however, and we call on all Albertans to urge their members of the Legislative Assembly and cabinet ministers to remain committed to conservation promises made to the Eastern Slopes in 1976.

Photo: Glassing Alberta’s Rocky Mountains by Levi Williams-Whitney

“THERE IS JUST ONE HOPE OF REPULSING THE TYRANNICAL AMBITION OF CIVILIZATION TO CONQUER EVERY NICHE ON THE WHOLE EARTH. THAT HOPE IS THE ORGANIZATION OF SPIRITED PEOPLE WHO WILL FIGHT FOR THE FREEDOM OF THE WILDERNESS.” -BOB MARSHALL

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Photo: Alexis Bonogofsky

ALASKA’S ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE In 1929, an intrepid young forester decided to spend his summer vacation wandering the wild frontiers of Alaska. Upon his return, Bob Marshall published an essay, “The Problem of the Wilderness,” inspired by what we now know as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. His seminal call to action was motivated not only by the conservation of wild places; it also was driven by the desire to preserve the adventure, solitude and the spirituality that comes through our connections with nature.

Marshall wrote, “There is just one hope of repulsing the tyrannical ambition of civilization to conquer every niche on the whole earth. That hope is the organization of spirited people who will fight for the freedom of the wilderness.”

Located in Alaska’s farthest northeast corner, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1960 by President Eisenhower “for the purpose of preserving unique wildlife, wilderness and recreational values.” Of its 19.5 million acres, only 8 million are federally protected wilderness, leaving vulnerable areas, like the wildlife-rich coastal plain, threatened by oil and gas development.

The coastal plain is a crucial part of the longest land migration on earth and the calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd; a critical subsistence resource for the Alaska Native Gwich’in people – those with the most to lose and the deepest roots in these northern reaches of The Great Land. The Refuge is also home to

iconic game species including grizzly bears, Dall sheep and robust fisheries for Arctic grayling and char.

BHA’s Alaska chapter, perhaps our very first (a friendly, yet perennial debate for that distinction exists with our Colorado chapter), was largely formed to permanently protect all of the Refuge lands and waters, knowing that politicians and energy companies had a different vision for its future. Unfortunately, their worst fears were realized early this January when a lease sale was rushed through in the waning days of the previous administration. While largely regarded as a failure, with no interest from Wall Street or major oil companies, two small companies secured leases, and an entity owned by the state of Alaska picked up the other nine parcels.

Fortunately, the Biden administration has listened to the Gwich’in people and heeded calls from hunters and anglers to reverse course. On his first day in office, the president issued an Executive Order directing his administration to halt all development activities in the Refuge, setting the state for crafting more durable long-term policy solutions.

I’d like to think Bob Marshall is smiling down on us from above right now as we band together and ask President Biden and our members of Congress to do the right thing for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by establishing permanent protections that safeguard what really might be the last, wild, true frontier in the U.S.

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52 | BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL SPRING 2021 istock.com/ Pinderphoto

Photo: Packrafting the BWCAW, by Jeremiah Watt

BOUNDARY WATERS CANOE AREA WILDERNESS As a wilderness advocate and conservation visionary, Sigurd with hunters, anglers and members of Congress to do the right Olson knew wild lands and waters would never be guaranteed thing. It’s also worth noting that legislative proposals acknowledge without the dedication of hunters, anglers and all advocates the need for a commonsense approach by protecting current working together. While the ink has long dried on the following mining activities, existing jobs, and setting rules whereby future words, they seem remarkably relevant today: mining, logging and wilderness travel can coexist. Minnesota’s “Wilderness to the people of America is a spiritual necessity, an Iron Range has a rich history of iron mining – not copperantidote to the high pressure of modern life, a means of regaining nickel mining. BHA has not advocated against iron mining in serenity and equilibrium.”

Minnesota. We advocate for resource development in areas that Under the leadership of our Minnesota chapter, BHA and have low impacts to fish and wildlife habitat and contribute to a our partners that make up Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters robust economy. represent a coalition of hunters, anglers, backcountry advocates In Olson’s book, Open Horizons, he said, “The world needs and businesses united in support of protecting public lands and metals and men need work, but they also must have wilderness waters upstream of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and beauty, and in the years to come will need it even more. I currently threatened by misguided mining proposals. The thought of the broad, beautiful America we had found and our Boundary Waters, America’s most-visited wilderness area, lies dream of freedom and opportunity and wondered. Could man in within the Superior National Forest, first recognized by Theodore his new civilization afford to lose again and again to progress? Did Roosevelt, and contains 20 percent of the fresh water in the entire we have the right to deprive future generations of what we have National Forest System. known? What would the future bring?”

The Boundary Waters and the BHA President and CEO Land contiguous Voyageurs National Tawney was invited to testify before “WILDERNESS TO THE PEOPLE Park are home to almost half of Congress as a witness in support of OF AMERICA IS A SPIRITUAL Minnesota’s native fish species, and vital legislation that would realize NECESSITY, AN ANTIDOTE TO THE Olson’s vision of a future of wilderness lakes in Minnesota contain the United States’ second-largest lake HIGH PRESSURE OF MODERN LIFE, and beauty for the Boundary Waters. trout population. Contamination A MEANS OF REGAINING SERENITY In his testimony, Tawney reinforced, of the South Kawishiwi River and “Perhaps nowhere else in America AND EQUILIBRIUM.” the surrounding area jeopardizes not better represents the idea that some -SIGURD OLSON only the cold, clean water for which places are too important to risk. the area is known but also ongoing … There has never been a copper/ efforts to conserve species iconic to the region. sulfide mine that hasn’t leached contaminants. Never. Mineral Studies show a high likelihood of forest fragmentation from development of this fragile and dynamic landscape doesn’t make mining development, disrupting wildlife migration and habitat sense. Not now. Not ever.” use. The Boundary Waters is mostly made up of forest on thin Join us in protecting America’s most visited wilderness area by soils and granite bedrock; therefore, acid mine drainage, a asking President Biden to stop any mineral leasing and permitting byproduct of copper-nickel mining, would impact lowland forest activity in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness watershed and surrounding rivers, creeks and wetlands. and to work with members of Congress to advance permanent Fortunately, we have an opportunity to ensure that the solutions that enhance the outdoor legacy we leave to those who Boundary Waters stays pristine. The Boundary Waters Wilderness follow us.

Protection and Pollution Prevention Act (H.R. 5598), introduced As Backcountry Hunters & Anglers conservation director, John in the last Congress by Reps. Betty McCollum (D-MN) and Francis Rooney (R-FL), is critical legislation that would create a Gale oversees the organization’s policy and government relations work permanent mineral withdrawal of 234,328 acres of public lands in North America and is committed to defending our wild public in the watershed surrounding the Boundary Waters Canoe Area lands, waters and wildlife for future generations. In his personal time, Wilderness from copper-nickel mining development and mineral John prefers the solitude of lonely backcountry mountains where the leasing. Drafted in response to the outcry from hunters, anglers elk bugle and cold streams run with wild trout. and others over the proposed sulfide-ore copper mine, the bill For more information on all of BHA’s priority landscapes would maintain the pristine ecological quality and unparalleled hunting and fishing opportunities of the Boundary Waters and legislative goals, and to learn how to get involved, visit backcountryhunters.org/2021_priorities. watershed.

While we are now into the 117th Congress, and a new bill has not yet been introduced for the Boundary Waters, the Biden administration has already expressed its commitment to working SPRING 2021 BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL | 53

Photo: Jack Lander

PUBLIC LAND OWNER

Eat Wild, Live Free and Conserve Guiding Principles of the Wild Harvest Initiative

BY SHANE P. MAHONEY We, as backcountry hunters and anglers, know that recreational wild harvests in North America should be viewed as one of the most sustainable, healthy and environmentally friendly food procurement systems in existence. (See “Exploring the Modern Relevance of Natural Foraging” in last issue of Backcountry Journal.) In the past, however, there has been no serious scientific effort to assess the comprehensive value of wild harvest activities, especially recreational hunting and fishing, to modern society.

While we often hear reference to dollars spent and jobs created, when have we ever heard emphasis given to the contribution wild foods – and fish and wildlife in particular – make to food security, family and community cohesion and human health?

Where can we go to find how much wild protein is harvested or what its economic value is or with how many people this wild food is shared? Yet, today, without such information, no effective advocacy effort and no truly successful public communications or outreach campaign in support of the wild harvest community is possible.

Most jurisdictional governments in the U.S. and Canada do collect off-take data on some or most of the species harvested within their boundaries. Harvest statistics are collected to inform quota allocations, set harvest regulations and track population trends and are critical to sound wildlife and fish management.

Researchers and conservation groups also use this data to assess conservation policies and monitor wildlife populations and forecast harvesting opportunities. While these geographically discrete datasets are meaningful to each individual jurisdiction or organization, they have never been aggregated and thus fail to reflect the collective contribution of wild animal harvests on regional, national or continental bases. Furthermore, while this data may be used to inform the hunting and angling audiences, it is not mobilized for wider public consumption. Nor does it 54 | BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL SPRING 2021

communicate fish and wildlife harvests in terms most relevant for securing public support. In the vast majority of cases, harvests are discussed as animal numbers, not food.

The Wild Harvest Initiative is designed to change all this.

Launched by Conservation Visions Inc. in mid-2015 and having wild food assessment as its focus, the Wild Harvest Initiative is the first science-based program to enable a full assessment of the combined economic, conservation and social benefits of recreational wild animal harvests in American and Canadian societies. Its mission is to provide a meaningful evaluation of the biomass, or actual pounds, and economic value of wild food harvested annually by the 45 million or so recreational hunters and anglers in the U.S. and Canada, while simultaneously assessing the wider community of consumers who share in this harvest.

To achieve its mission the Initiative has established six strategic objectives: 1. To quantify the amount of wild meat and fish procured annually by recreational hunters and anglers in each U.S. state and each Canadian province and territory.

2. To determine the economic value of harvested wild game and fish for the U.S. and Canada.

3. To calculate a “sharing index” to estimate the numbers of citizens, both harvesters and non-harvesters, with whom this wild harvest is shared.

4. To estimate the actual costs of replacing the wild harvest of game and fish with domestic equivalents.

5. To provide new evidence as to why hunting and angling remain relevant to citizens’ livelihoods and food security, and to the conservation of wild lands and waters in both countries.

6. To design and implement an effective communications strategy to mobilize findings and advocate for the principles, lifestyles and communities involved.

Smoking salmon bellies and collars on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. Photo by Israel Patterson, from our 2020 Public Lands and Waters Photo Contest.

How Does the Wild Harvest Initiative Work?

To accomplish its objectives, Conservation Visions has, with support from its partners – including BHA – put together a team of staff and contract specialists to conduct this research. A primary focus of the Wild Harvest Initiative is merging the most recent hunting and angling datasets from every reporting U.S. state and Canadian province or territory into one comprehensive database. Dealing with 63 government bureaucracies has been challenging but also highly rewarding. The Wild Harvest Initiative database now contains nearly five years of such records, making it one of the largest compilations of hunting harvest statistics in the temperate world; and we are now closing in on a full compilation for recreationally harvested fish as well.

At the same time, we are researching a vast reservoir of published and grey literature to provide weights and consumable proportions for all recreationally harvested wildlife and fish species. This is a daunting task. Combining this weight data with numbers of each species harvested, the initiative is developing the first assessment of food biomass for total Canada and U.S. recreational harvests. And it is undertaking assessments of the economic value of this biomass by making comparisons with the domestic equivalents’ (think beef or domestic turkey versus elk or wild turkey) retail prices. The next steps will be to work on cost valuations that reflect the unique quality and likely niche market value of wild meat and fish. Armed with these statistics we can move on to evaluate the environmental and economic costs of replacing recreationally harvested wild food through commercial agricultural, aquacultural and livestock processes.

Combining these data will enable a fuller evaluation of the economic benefits of hunting and angling, as well as harvest comparisons between different species, regions, and jurisdictions, and will serve as a benchmark for future evaluations of game and fish management quotas and land use strategies. Jurisdictional

comparisons may also encourage further collaborative, or regional, monitoring of some species to ensure best management practices across political boundaries. This may be especially important for migratory species or those with large home ranges that span multiple jurisdictions.

While these contributions to wildlife economics and landscape management are valuable, we also know that recreational wild harvest plays a significant and positive societal role in terms of food security and the related concerns of human health, nutrition and general wellbeing. From a wild meat perspective, these benefits extend beyond harvesters and their households to many other citizens who, themselves, may or may not hunt or fish. This is because the wild harvest community has a proud tradition of food sharing that facilitates its consumption by family members, friends, neighbors and community groups, as well as individuals in need via donations to food banks/pantries and other charities concerned with social welfare.

The Wild Harvest Initiative has already begun to administer state-wide wild meat harvest and consumption surveys to assess this hunter sharing tradition, and the results of a first survey from Texas are now available at www.thewildharvestinitiative. com. The results are incredibly encouraging, and fully support our predictions that recreational hunters share their harvests with a huge number of people, inside and outside their family circles.

Additional surveys are now being designed for Arizona, Nevada and Alaska.

Knowledge , Mobilization and Communication While research and analysis are clearly essential to the Wild Harvest Initiative’s success, disseminating these results is even more important. We will not produce new insights just to have them sit on a shelf. And we well understand that transforming scientific evidence into knowledge formats for public consumption SPRING 2021 BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL | 55

is neither easy nor straightforward. To address these realities, the Wild Harvest Initiative has from the beginning been strategically focused on communications. Our guiding principle has been to make certain that our findings will not just be interesting and informative but will have immediate and apparent practical use.

The Wild Harvest Initiative is specifically designed to answer real questions that matter to real people. How many pounds of naturally produced, locally sourced meat do we get, on average, from a wild-harvested whitetail deer, elk or antelope? How many pounds come from a limit of mallards, a wild turkey, or a brace of quail? How many healthy meals can be procured from a day spent fishing for trout, bass or salmon? How much of this food is shared with family and friends and with people who do not themselves hunt or fish? Or with disadvantaged members of our society?

What does this mean for our families’, communities’ and nations’ food security? What could this mean for our food insecurity?

How much would it cost to replace this wild food through highly intensive agriculture and aquaculture? How much wildlife habitat would have to be destroyed and how much fuel, irrigation water, fertilizer and pesticide would have to be used? What would the harvesting, processing and transportation costs be? How much more harm would this likely bring to the environment?

To mobilize such information, we have designed an aggressive, ongoing and strategic communications and social-media outreach plan to disseminate program results. These results include publications, including a series of Fact Sheets, addressing major themes related to the use and value of wild meat and fish; peerreviewed, scientific publications in academic journals; strategic communications and outreach efforts to increase public awareness of the importance of fish and wildlife habitat as food reservoirs; building a fully inclusive wild harvest community extending beyond hunters and anglers themselves; launching a series of ongoing, high-profile public events celebrating wild harvests and the wild harvest community; and the formation, maintenance and coordination of the Wild Harvest Initiative partnership alliance.

Indeed, the reach of the Wild Harvest Initiative is already reflected in its diverse and expanding partnership. Today this Wild Harvest Initiative alliance includes 36 supportive members, representing state governments, the outdoor industry, conservation-based NGOs and private individuals; and we continue to attract new partners.

Together, our partners form a uniquely diverse coalition of stakeholders and participants engaged in and supportive of the harvest of wild foods and products and advocating for the conservation of wildlife from wide-ranging perspectives. These include and emphasize human health, well-being, nutrition and food security perspectives – all of which are preoccupations of modern society and all of which were preoccupations of our historic past. It really does seem we are on the right track!

The Road Ahead The Wild Harvest Initiative was conceived as a unifying call to action for preserving a way of life and for conserving nature. It was based on a search for something foundational to our species that might lead us to practically decide to engage in the greatest debate of all: the future of wildlife on this planet. And a practical decision is necessary if it is to withstand the challenges and frustrations 56 | BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL SPRING 2021

that inevitably lie before us. Intellectual commitments are wondrous; but practical realities that tie to our instinctual selves and the irrepressible tendencies of our species will prove essential to tempering our impacts on the natural world. We must find a reason to believe.

So, too, with our ways of life. They must also find resonance in a modern world and find longevity in meaningful expression.

Because we love them is not sufficient. Because they matter just might be.

Looking back, the Wild Harvest Initiative is in some ways such an obvious idea: to harness wild food and conservation and thereby rediscover the power of lifestyles that reengage our evolutionary drives and experiences as foremost advocates for nature. And, yet, no one previously had integrated our efforts, hopes and perspectives in quite this way. The North American Model has always referenced the hunter and angler communities, of course; and it has always worked to recognize their efforts. But finding that one detail that might bridge discourse and alignment amongst a much wider community of nature gatherers and, at the same time, naturally appeal to the wider and disengaged public was missing, though right before our eyes.

Food – searching for it, harvesting it, growing it, touching it, delighting in it – is a medium we all understand, a necessity to which we can all relate. Food is a metaphor and literal reality, all at the same time. Pollinating our thoughts and our lives with sustenance and pleasure, few will argue over food’s relevance in their lives.

After much effort, and with growing momentum and support, the Wild Harvest Initiative continues to build alliances for nature and continues to advocate for sustainable wild harvesting as an authentic way of life. Its profile continues to increase. There is every reason to be confident that the project’s outcomes will contribute meaningfully to conversations about the relevance of wild animal harvest in modern North American society. Our findings are pertinent to people everywhere who are concerned with safe, healthy food. They are significant in terms of wildlife management, cultural expression, traditional activities and human health and fitness; conservation and sustainable resource use; ranching and environmental agriculture; and for public and private land use policies.

We believe, more than ever, that the Wild Harvest Initiative can catalyze real change for the future of our wildlife and our wild spaces. There can be no doubt of its potential to contribute to a normalizing of wild harvest activities, to a renewed and escalated evaluation of wildlife’s value to modern society, to improved efforts for conservation and to encouraging greater participation in the outdoors.

Eat wild and live free.

Shane Mahoney is the president of Conservation Visions and founder of the Wild Harvest Initiative. He is an internationally recognized conservationist and wildlife advocate and a foremost expert on the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.

Editor’s Note: For more information on the Wild Harvest Initiative visit thewildharvestinitiative.com.

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Charismatic Megaspices are back in a big way with some incredible new flavors that will ramp up your game in the kitchen this season. Go with a tried and true classic like Mastodon Hunter Wild Game Rub or shake things up a bit with our new Mermaid’s Trident Seafood Blend. Whether you’re cooking meat, veggies, or even desserts, these seven blends offer an opportunity to take your recipes over the top. Head over to TheMeatEater.com and check them out.

YOUR LINK TO THE FOOD CHAIN 58 | BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL SPRING 2021

SPRING’S SILVER LININGS I HAD NEVER FELT SO ALIVE, SO GRATEFUL AND SO “ME.” THE REASON? PUBLIC LAND. AND, OF COURSE, GOBBLER CHASIN’.

BY CAYLA BENDEL Spring 2020: Stores were looted for, of all things, toilet paper. Grocery store meat aisles were emptied. Millions were unemployed. National parks waived fees to encourage use and then backtracked as people flocked to these spaces for some sense of solace.

“You guys are so lucky you can still do the things you love,” my husband Scott and I heard countless times. We were lucky; we remained healthy, employed, safe and distanced from the madness. Spring 2020 was even one of the happiest times of my life. I had never felt so alive, so grateful and so “me.” The reason?

Public land. And, of course, gobbler chasin’.

In North Dakota, at least, we were still free to travel in-state, to utilize federal lands, disperse camp and recreate responsibly. And with extra time on our hands to do it – between work schedules and all other obligations being cancelled – we picked up leftover tags in addition to our lottery successes and made plans for a spring unplugged.

Opening weekend, we headed west, eager to stretch our legs, minds and souls in the vast and unforgiving Little Missouri National Grasslands of western North Dakota – a landscape that has this mysterious way of pulling you in, convincing you that just over the next ridge lies everything you’ve been looking for.

Of course, somehow when you get there, the cracks, crevices, draws and buttes paint an entirely different picture, leaving you simultaneously both perplexed and intrigued. On that first weekend, amidst frigid temps, sharp winds and accumulating snow, we camped (to our loyal bird dog Finley’s dismay), roamed, consumed approximately two-dozen monster cookies, witnessed sunrises accompanied by an orchestra of sharp-tailed grouse cooing and vibrant turkey gobbles, laughed, got out-smarted and eventually filled my tag on my second-ever turkey – a mature

Merriam-Eastern hybrid tom that offered up a spot-and-stalk opportunity.

As has become tradition in our household, after unpacking everything Sunday, setting the tent up to dry out, doing dishes, starting laundry and vacuum sealing most of the bird, half of a breast was prepared for my world-renowned turkey nuggets. (OK, maybe they’re just famous in our house.)

As we savored them right out of the oil and reflected on what an incredible weekend we’d had, a phone call from one set of parents or another brought us back to reality. “How are you guys doing?

How bad is it there? Have you seen the news? Were you able to find food? Toilet paper?”

I love our parents dearly, and I don’t yet know what it is like to be a parent who lives 450 miles away their kid, but just like that our Sunday evening bliss was exchanged with a host of panic and stress that overflowed into the ensuing week. As a conservation outreach event coordinator, my job duties were upturned and uncertain; should I go virtual? Cancel? Postpone? We learned through virtual happy hours with city-dwelling friends that apartment quarantine life was already beginning to affect them, and most of their city parks were closed.

But as Thursday approached, my mind slipped back to the other world out there and to the weekend ahead: Where should we try? What happens if we tag out in that unit … should we hightail it to our second unit? We should pack an extra blanket. I should make chocolate-chunk cookies instead of monster cookies.

I wonder if the elk have dropped their sheds yet? And before I knew it, the anticipation was over, and we were loaded up and on the road again.

We were lucky enough to fill Scott’s turkey tag Friday afternoon, which left us to decide whether to spend the night in the Grasslands or head to our second turkey unit. We decided to stay and hike and shed hunt. As we summited a ridge and I stood SPRING 2021 BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL | 59

on top of the expansive plateau, the day fading, light glistening off the little bluestem, glassing elk with the Little Missouri flowing slowly below us, I just couldn’t stop smiling. Far from my mind were any thoughts of viruses and violence. I was completely absorbed by the feeling of something historic and so “human.”

Scott found our first elk shed that evening And we celebrated our successes with Backcountry Apple Pies (fried NutriGrain bars) under the stars.

We really got into a routine of packing and unpacking each weekend. We had the tent set up in minutes, the right sleeping bag/blanket configuration to keep us and Finley warm, and my backcountry coffee recipe was nailed down to a T. Fifteen to 20 mile weekends had whipped us into shape post-ice-fishing season, and it was as if this was all there was to life. In the midst of – and even fueled by – a pandemic, we’d had the ability to get lost in the chase six weekends in a row. We had no obligations, and we could spend every weekend exactly how we wanted to: chasing turkeys, taking naps, eating camp food and spending every second outside.

All of this left me with an immense amount of gratitude for my connection to the natural world and how that connection has influenced my life choices and therefore how I experienced the pandemic. Proximity to wild spaces and public lands convinced us to call North Dakota home. A wild pudelpointer, who lives to hunt (and get belly rubs), has quickly formed our love for the uplands. “Backcountry” people have inspired me to go further, test my physical abilities and pursue more big game. As mistakes have piled up, so has knowledge, slowly filling the chest freezer a little more each year.

As the freezer filled, experiments in the kitchen increased,

All photos courtesy of the author

land, I kissed my husband goodbye as we headed our separate ways for the morning. I set up a jake decoy just inside a tree row, with enough of an opening to be seen but not be too obvious and built myself a little blind out of tumbleweeds. I closed my eyes and waited for light to slowly paint the stars away. I scratched the slate call a few times and not 20 minutes into shooting time, a gobbler emerged from the tree line, not so pleased to see competition in his territory. At 10 yards he forcefully kicked the decoy.

I froze, soaking in the spectacle and everything the last few socially distanced weeks had provided me: a chance to watch spring progress on the prairie, a chance to hunt alongside several new people, to find sheds, to spend the best kind of time with my husband, to mentor a new hunter and to learn a lot more about turkeys and even more about life. And it was all coming together in this moment with this self-called bird. I came back to the present, slowly pulled the trigger and ended my turkey season.

You guessed it, we ate fresh wild turkey nuggets when we got home, and I thought to myself, why doesn’t everyone “love doing these things?” finding ways to savor the hunt throughout the year. Compounding effects culminating in a lifestyle built around fresh air, sore legs, genuine people, peeing outside (who needs TP?), beautiful places, sourcing our own food, testing relationships outside the mundane and living, instead of just going through the motions. This lifestyle was almost a treatment in itself, keeping us immune from many of the societal symptoms of a pandemic.

On that last spring weekend, on an oddball piece of federal

BHA member Cayla Bendel is a conservation professional who resides in North Dakota with her husband and pudelpointer, Finley.

Together they enjoy avidly hunting, fishing and otherwise frolicking their way through the seasons.

All photos by the author

A BALM (AND SOME BROOKIES) IN GILEAD Exploring New England’s Androscoggin River, the White Mountain National Forest and the benefits of cold, clean water.

BY MATTHEW DICKERSON My brother Ted and I stand on the brushy shore of a small Maine lake near the village of West Bethel, fly rods in hand. A tiny brook tumbles off the steep, well-forested hillside behind us – a little parcel of the White Mountain National Forest in its northeastern corner. The brook levels out across its own alluvial deposit, now grown up with bushes, and flows into the lake to our right. The ground is soggy beneath our feet, and the shoulderhigh bushes behind and beside us add a significant challenge to casting. But this is where the trout are rising, so we put up with wet feet and the awkward brush-avoiding casting motion, and we work to get our flies out to the dimples on the surface.

Casting little mayfly imitations on the surface just beyond the drop-off where the little tributary trickles into the lake, Ted and I both land a couple fat, brightly colored native brook trout. Then, before the sky can get too dark or the air too mosquito infested, we call it quits.

We hike a short distance back to a primitive cabin belonging to our friend Ian Smith. The cabin sits between two brooks that flow off the steep hillside of the WMNF. One of the brooks tumbles right past the cabin, its babbling easily heard from the steps. In a short while, we will go to sleep to its song filtering in through the screens intermingled with the sough of a cool breeze through treetops only recently opened into leaf. The other brook flows 62 | BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL SPRING 2021

into the small lake a few hundred yards to the south where we had just been fishing and then continues out and down toward the river valley. Below the cabin, the two brooks merge their identities before joining the larger Pleasant River, which in turn flows into the famous Androscoggin River. Maps don’t bother naming these small, short brooks. The Smiths just call them “Cabin Brook” and “Pond Brook.”

As we roll out our sleeping bags, I notice a historic photo from the first half of the 20th century hanging on the cabin wall. In the photo, the cabin sits in the middle of big swath of cleared farmland, with barely a tree in sight. The old picture is quite the contrast to today when the area around the cabin, as well as the hillside above it, is thick with mature trees, and only patches of dappled sunlight manage to reach the forest floor through the canopy. Quite unlike in the photo, Cabin Brook and Pond Brook are now well protected from both erosion and from the heat of the sun, making them good habitat for little resident wild brook trout and also potential spawning habitat for bigger trout moving up from the Pleasant or Androscoggin. The cool, clean water contributes to the quality of the larger rivers into which they flow.

And for that, we have Ian’s father and grandfather to thank, as well as the U.S. Forest Service.

Ian has been researching the history of the property, comparing family folklore to the actual deeds and land records. It was from Ian’s grandfather Edmund that the USFS bought the land on the

hillside above the farm. Edmund had inherited the farm in the late 1920s from his employer, the dean of an Episcopal seminar in New York City. In 1934, the big farmhouse burned as a result of a lightning strike. Likely sometime in 1936 (although the records were not filed until 1937), the USFS purchased 182 acres of the Smith Farm for $7 an acre – a total of $1,274.

A half-dozen years after that sale (in 1942 while World War II raged in Europe), Ian’s father Charles (just 10 years old at the time) helped his father Edmund plant the trees that created the forest now surrounding the cabin, blanketing the hillside above the pond and sheltering the two little brooks. They planted about 120 acres of land in total, taking it out of farm production and restoring it to forest.

Now, nearly 90 years after the sale of land and 80 after the big planting, Ian is able to enjoy the benefits of a forested hillside on land abutting the WMNF – a value he especially came to appreciate recently when a nearby private landowner clear-cut nearly 400 acres just outside the forest on the other side of the hill. Ian has continued the legacy of tree planting and added to the conservation value of the national forest and to the streams and watershed. He and his kids – with the help of his father Charles, who once again got into the tree-planting act – painstakingly planted 40 sugar maples along the banks of the Pleasant River.

And they worked with the current farmer of the old Smith Farm to move his cattle fencing back from the river to allow that riparian buffer to regrow. The buffer, with its canopy and erosion-protecting roots, which begins in the WMNF, extends the full length of the two brooks and some distance down along the Pleasant River.

It’s a year later. Ted and I are together again in western Maine in the foothills of the White Mountains. We rig our fly rods by the car in a dirt pull-off in the little village of Gilead, Maine, near the New Hampshire border, a half dozen miles west of West Bethel and Ian’s cabin. We tug on our waders and wading shoes and hike the half kilometer along the bank of the Wild River to its confluence with the much larger Androscoggin River. It’s the middle of a pandemic. Although social distancing isn’t an issue since Ted and I have been sheltering under the same roof, we nonetheless spread apart 40 yards to keep from spooking each other’s fish, tangling

our lines or hooking each other. (I am particularly wary of the “hooking each other” reason for distancing when I fish with Ted. Many years earlier, fly casting on opposite pontoons of our aunt’s pontoon boat, I once managed the complicated feat of snagging Ted’s Elk Hair Caddis out of mid-air with my bare lips.) Ted takes the downstream side of the confluence pool. I soon move around upstream of him and out toward the swifter, deeper current in the middle, where I think the bigger fish might be.

As I wade further from shore into deeper water, rather than finding colder water as I half-expected, I can feel the river grow noticeably warmer. By the time I reach the far side of the confluence pool and the main current of the Androscoggin, it feels like the water temperature has climbed at least ten degrees.

I turn back toward Ted. He is casting dry flies to fish rising right in front of him, up close to shore where the cold current of the Wild River enters.

The confluence of the two rivers where we are fishing lies just outside the boundaries of the WMNF. From Gorham to West Bethel, the Androscoggin flows eastward along (but just off) the northern edge of national forest. The Wild River, however, tumbles cold and clear out of the well-forested mountains in the heart of the WMNF. Most of its headwaters lie on the New Hampshire side of the border, but five miles before its terminus it crosses into Maine and passes briefly through the Batchhelder Grant. Though the water warms up as it hits the shallower and more open Maine portions, it still carries an influx of noticeably colder water. And that colder current hitting the Androscoggin and hugging its southern shoreline proves to be the story of the day. Soon I am ignoring the deeper but warmer water and casting back toward Ted. Then I just wade back to the south bank. Both of us land numerous brook trout in the colder water. We lose a few more.

In 1972, when I was just beginning to take up trout fishing, the Androscoggin was listed as one of the 10 most polluted rivers in the United States. It was not a river I would have even set foot in, and certainly not a trout fishing attraction anywhere in its Maine portion. Although it didn’t catch on fire like Cleveland’s Cuyahoga did in 1969, the combination of raw sewage and sulfide pulp from numerous paper mills had killed it. Then came

In 1972, when I was just beginning to take up trout fishing, the Androscoggin was listed as one of the ten most polluted rivers in the United States. It was not a river I would have even set foot in, and certainly not a trout fishing attraction anywhere in its Maine portion.

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the 1972 amendment to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Bob Mallard, executive director of the Native Fish Coalition, – known more popularly and elegantly as the Clean Water Act. who is very familiar with the WMNF, notes: “Due to its land The law, drafted by Sen. Edmund Muskie, was partly inspired protections, maturing forest, high elevation, and spring-fed by the horrible condition of the Androscoggin River, which streams, White Mountain National Forest is a stronghold for flowed through the paper mill town of Rumford, Maine, where wild native brook trout. Many headwater streams and a few small Sen. Muskie had grown up. The law made it illegal to dump raw ponds hold healthy populations of fish.” sewage and mill refuse into rivers.

The excellent habitat has potential to support an even healthier, There’s a traditional spiritual that Mahalia Jackson once more abundant population of native fish. The biggest obstacle recorded. It begins, “There is today in rivers like the Wild River a balm in Gilead to make the is not lack of clean cold water or wounded whole. There is a canopy but management of the balm in Gilead to save a sinfisheries. As Mallard notes: “Angler sick soul.” When I think of the exploitation, stocking, nonnative restoration of the Androscoggin trout, and general law management as it flows through the Maine have negatively affected most lakes, village of Gilead, I think of ponds, rivers and large streams, that old hymn: of a wounded, making large fish and natural sin-sick river taking a step abundances exceedingly rare. And toward wholeness: of the Clean many easy access small streams Water Act as a sort of balm to are being exploited and stocked as spur on that healing. It took well, and in many cases, stocked many years for the pollution and nonnative fish are finding to slowly clear. Portions of their way into unstocked waters. the Androscoggin further In a warming climate, headwater downriver from Rumford still streams and high-elevation ponds don’t meet the standards of the will be critical to the survival of Although much of the cleaning and wild native brook trout.”

Clean Water Act. Nonetheless, recovery of the Androscoggin can the act eventually had some of Both Bob and I hope to see Maine its desired impact. By the end of be attributed to the Clean Water Act, and New Hampshire manage the the last century when, inspired when it came to the restoration of the resources for wild native fish – by stories of the river’s recovery, native fish, tremendous importance can perhaps with some pressure from I started fishing in Gilead, it the USFS. also be given to its proximity to the had become a top-notch trout edge of the national forest. fishery.

I was impressed with the river When the day warms up, Ted from my first visit, enough that I began to go back regularly and to bring friends and family. My and I decide we’ve caught our fill of Androscoggin River trout. first few times I landed numerous rainbow trout, brown trout, We eat our lunch in the shade and then drive up along the Wild bass and an occasional stray landlocked salmon. It was when I River into the national forest to the New Hampshire border. I started catching brook trout, however, that I felt like the river was am reminded not only of the tremendous beauty of the White really showing promise. Brook trout, unlike either brown trout or Mountain National Forest but also of the bounty of its waters, and how their impact carries out beyond the borders of the forest, rainbow trout, are native to Maine.

Although much of the cleaning and recovery of the down into the Androscoggin or out to places like Ian Smith’s Androscoggin can be attributed to the Clean Water Act, when it farmstead. I think of what a great resource it is to enjoy those came to the restoration of the native fish, tremendous importance streams. But also, I ponder Mallard’s words and think of how it can also be given to its proximity to the edge of the national could be even better. forest. As the Androscoggin slogs through towns like Gorham and BHA member Matthew Dickerson is the author of The Voices of along the many slow-moving open miles of land from there to the Maine border, it warms considerably. The influx of cold streams Rivers: Reflections on Places Wild and Almost Wild and A Tale of coming off the forested north slope of the WMNF – rivers like Three Rivers: On Wooly Buggers, Bowling Balls, Cigarette Butts, and the Wild River or the two little brooks that flow across Ian Smith’s the Future of Appalachian Brook Trout. He teaches at Middlebury reforested land – provides an important refuge for native cold- College in Vermont and was a 2017 artist-in-residence at Glacier National Park and 2018 artist-in-residence at Acadia National Park. water species.

These smaller rivers and tributary streams also provide critical spawning habitat for native brook trout, particularly in the protected forested portions in the WMNF. The long unfragmented stretches of river and stream, with good canopy, provide habitat for the entire life cycle of the native trout.

64 | BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL SPRING 2021

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THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

BY JON OSBORN Christmas Eve found our extended family gathered around the dining-room table for a traditional holiday supper. As a politically diverse group, we avoid discussing world affairs and elections, which opens the floor to other topics. While the scalloped potatoes were making a second orbit, someone posed the question: “What was your favorite childhood Christmas gift?”

At first, silence filled the room, but eventually my younger brother kicked the ball into motion, reliving his joy as he unwrapped a Millennium Falcon toy during the height of the original Star Wars craze. Inspired by his exuberance, my kids rehashed a more recent Christmas morning when Santa brought scooters, turning our main floor into an impromptu skatepark.

Next came my turn. The question seemed simple enough. A Christmas Story had been playing nonstop the last few days, so the boy-gets-BB-gun plotline was fresh in my mind. I began flipping through a mental Rolodex of gifted rifles and shotguns.

Like Ralphie, an iconic Daisy Red Ryder had come first, followed by a battery of others. But which qualified as the one?

Taking a contemplative sip of Pinot Noir, my mind drifted back to the 1980s. Reagan was president, the space program was in full swing, and movies like Red Dawn, Back to the Future and Karate Kid were playing in theaters. In short, it was a fine time to grow up in middle-class America … except for the fact that my liberal-minded parents and I didn’t see eye-to-eye about guns.

Then again, who could blame them? By the time I was born, they’d only recently retired their bell-bottoms and Birkenstocks.

With world views formed upon a college campus in the late 60s, 66 | BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL SPRING 2021

firearms simply went against their flower-power ethos. Nixon-era politics, war in Southeast Asia and domestic tragedies like Kent State had made them eternally gun shy.

My brother and I, on the other hand, were weaned on episodes of Grizzly Adams and Gunsmoke, so revolvers and lever rifles seemed like standard issue. But Mom and Dad refused to budge.

No child of theirs would own even a cap pistol, never mind what the neighbor kids were doing. A little imagination went a long way in those pre-social media days, however. We secretly fashioned Lugers out of fallen sticks and bolt rifles from old broom handles.

The lingering hippy spirit within my parents’ souls must have breathed a sigh of relief when my brother turned his attention to the wholesome sport of baseball, but I refused to lay down my weapons. Like Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back, I’d sooner cast myself into the abyss than turn to the dark side.

I wanted a gun even more than my parents wanted me not to have one – which was saying an awful lot. After constant begging and pleading, they finally realized they’d lost the war – an ironic concept for these conscientious objectors.

That Christmas, a long, slender box lay beneath the tree. That first Daisy may have offered a quick and easy answer to the “favorite Christmas gift” question, but it wasn’t representative of the broader truth. Doubtless, that spring-action air rifle ferried me over the mountains and into metaphorical Indian Country, but looking back, my experiences outdoors superseded any tangible present. Exploring the outdoors was a gift that would keep on giving long after the Red Ryder had rusted away. ...

My outdoor journey really began back in 1984, when my closest chum was Tim Driscoll. We’d been friends since toddlerhood,

and aside from the vacant field behind his house, our favorite place on earth was his Uncle Tom’s and Aunt Mindy’s 200acre farm. There we learned the finer points of marksmanship, stalking, survival and subsistence hunting.

Tim’s aunt and uncle lived close to the soil and looked a little American Gothic and part Lynyrd Skynyrd; “salt-of-theearth” people, as folks say in the Midwest. Mindy was sturdy and independent, and equally comfortable splitting wood, playing guitar or slinging hay bales. She had a gentle heart and a quick smile but never hesitated to gun down a barn rat with the rusty revolver she kept tucked her belt.

Uncle Tom could have been kin to hairy Esau, of Old Testament fame. A reddish thatch of beard covered his Multiple generations of the Driscoll family, and a bygone era when a ruddy cheeks, and he dressed in motivated trapper could earn an honest living among the river bottoms. threadbare flannel shirts, frayed overalls and worn leather work boots. Unlike Tim and me, Uncle besides, what harm could they do anyway?

As a self-professed, “pistol-packing Presbyterian,” Mindy Tom was strangely immune to biting flies, mosquitoes and poison frequently quoted verses from the Good Book. Psalm 46 says, “Be ivy. What’s more, he earned his living as a professional trapper, still, and know that I am God.” We took everything Aunt Mindy patrolling Allegan County’s lowlands in an era when quality pelts said literally, lying motionless for hours along the riverbank, commanded a princely sum. Legend had it that he could center a developing the monk-like patience required for successful hunting deerfly between the eyes with a wad of Red Man chewing tobacco.

– and fostering quiet hearts as well.

Tom and Mindy’s whitewashed WE ROLLED CANOES IN THE NEARLY In autumn and winter, that farmhouse bordered several FROZEN RIVER, FELL OUT OF TREE hinterland was a hunter’s paradise, rusty-red pig barns. Wind and but whenever the mercury topped sunlight had weathered their STANDS, CRASHED THROUGH SKIM 60 degrees, mosquitoes and deerflies wooden exteriors so severely they ICE AND CONTRACTED CASES OF descended in Biblical plagues.

But looked like molting iguana skin, POISON IVY SO SEVERE WE WISHED discomfort was the price of doing and stench of all those jostling THEY WERE FATAL. business, and our parents allowed us to swine blanketed the countryside discover it on our own from an early for miles around, lending a age. Thanks to their liberal views on signature aroma to the area. Even today, a hint of pig manure on supervision, we earned an advanced degree in outdoor education the wind never fails to conjure memories of that place. through trial and error – lessons carried into adulthood.

Beyond the farmyard, corn and soybean fields stretched to the We rolled canoes in the nearly frozen river, fell out of tree horizon, terminating at a distant tree line where Potawatomi tribe stands, crashed through skim ice and contracted cases of poison had camped centuries before. Their flint arrowheads, spear-points ivy so severe we wished they were fatal.

Our first campfire-cooked and drill bits rose to the surface after spring rains softened the soil. wild game was an utter fiasco – charred on the outside and raw A distant tree line, barely visible from the farmhouse, formed on the inside.

Never mind intestinal worms; we were living off a transition between agriculture and a wilderness, where wood the land by our wits, and no disaster ever tasted so satisfying. ducks nested among sycamores, and the coffee-colored Rabbit Before learning how to build a proper shelter and fire reflector, we River gurgled amid swamp maples. Down there, the night air spent countless nights shivering beneath winter skies, alternately reverberated with the music of coyotes and great-horned owls. freezing and smoking ourselves like human beef jerky.

None of that sprawling countryside or the adjoining fields What neglectful parents would have allowed this? Didn’t were public land, but they might as well have been. Property someone with a conscience call Child Protective Services? lines meant nothing, and we trespassed with impunity. A Fortunately, not. That freedom to explore, to succeed – and yes, couple of wandering kids warranted no cause for concern, and SPRING 2021 BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL | 67

even to fail – was the ultimate present, the gift that kept on giving.

It’s no secret that society takes food for granted and a vast majority of the population has no idea what an empty stomach feels like. Tim and I didn’t either, until we challenged ourselves to a week in the woods with no food.

Our plan was to eat only what we foraged or shot. After days of meager rations, hunger began consuming our thoughts.

One morning, in the midst of a ketosis haze, I set out alone, armed only with an 870 Express and a pocketful of sixes. A few hours later, I strode back into camp, game bag bulging with a grouse (my first), rabbit and two squirrels. Meat filled our bellies, but pride swelled our chests to button-popping proportions.

On inky-black nights when haunting sounds resonated through the timber, we faced down the demons that lurked beyond the firelight. At first, the unknown commotion rattled our nerves and shook our resolve, but eventually we learned a simple truth that remained with us through adulthood: Fear is a mental contrivance that must be overcome.

Outdoor writer Gene Hill once wrote, “Our greatest trophies are not things, but times.” Somehow, my nonhunting parents knew that, too, realizing experiences and hard-won independence would supersede any box beneath the Christmas tree. The best present they bestowed was the freedom to spend a childhood outdoors. Guns provided a catalyst, but where they took us was priceless. Then again, the greatest gifts always are.

When Jon isn’t chasing squirrels, grouse or woodcock on Michigan’s public lands, he can be found fly fishing for trout or smallmouth bass along unnamed streams across the state. Signed copies of books, Flyfisher’s Guide to Michigan, and Northwest of Someplace, are available by contacting him via Facebook or email: ozzy0908@hotmail.com.

68 | BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL SPRING 2021

All photos courtesy of Jon Osborn

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THE MARSH Can the Louisiana marsh and its world-class fishing survive?

BY ELLIOT STARK Picking a discernable favorite thing about Southeast Louisiana is hard to do – inshore or offshore fishing, waterfowl, food – because it’s all great. And most all of it traces directly back to the Mississippi River and its influence.

The Mississippi River runs through New Orleans – a lively, vibrant city with a culinary lineup that rivals most any place in the world – just prior to entering the Gulf of Mexico.

As it enters the Gulf, the river slows and spreads out. In its footprint lies the Mississippi Delta and marsh. The last landward point is the town of Venice, where the marsh extends into the Gulf, bridging the gap between the coast and blue water. While the drive to get to Venice can seem long, the runs to blue water (and blue marlin, yellowfin tuna and wahoo) are short.

The network of wetlands and marshes also creates some of the best backcountry inshore fishing and waterfowl hunting opportunities in the United States. And when it comes to inshore fishing, redfish are the king of the Louisiana marsh. The story goes, you can walk across the backs of redfish without touching the water. And the area provides world class opportunities to catch not only lots of redfish, but big ones as well. More than that, there are a variety of ways to target them.

Sight fishing for tailing redfish is probably the headliner.

Navigating tidally influenced creeks, channels and bayous, 70 | BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL SPRING 2021

captains like Lucas Bissett stalk the marches in search of redfish.

Feeding on crabs, shrimp and other bottom dwelling creatures, schools of redfish produce clouds as they put their faces into the bottom – sometimes sticking their tails out of the water in the process.

Maneuver stealthily into position to cast flies, jigs or bait at the tailing reds. The redfish’s prowess as a gamefish results from its fighting ability. A hooked red runs like a cut snake and is a stubborn, determined fighter. Hooking a big, 30-plus-inch redfish in shallow water on light spinning or fly tackle is one of inshore saltwater fishing’s most spectacular experiences. The marsh is a world class destination to do just this.

Although blessed with natural and cultural abundance, the Mississippi Delta and the coastal wetlands of southeastern Louisiana are also imperiled; the best places always seem to be under threat. Understanding the nature of the issues facing the region requires a background on the river and its scope. Consider the following: Drainage Basin: The Mississippi River’s drainage basin covers some 1.51 million square miles – about 40 percent of the Continental U.S.! This area includes all or part of 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. From the Allegheny Mountains in the East to the Rockies in the West, the basin includes much of America’s breadbasket.

Length: From its headwaters in Minnesota to the Gulf of

Foreground: BHA member and marsh guide Captain Lucas Bissett

Mexico, the Mississippi runs some 2,350 miles in length. If you were to include the lengths of its tributaries, the Mississippi River is the third longest river complex in the world.

Habitation and Commerce: Minnesota’s twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul and St. Louis’ famed Gateway Arch sit on the banks of the Mississippi. So do Memphis, New Orleans and a whole string of other metropolitan areas. Much of the river’s historic flood plain is developed. The themes of agriculture, commerce, transportation, and flood control dictate much of how the Mississippi is managed.

Louisiana’s relationship to the Mississippi River is paradoxical: In some ways it benefits greatly. In others, Louisiana suffers complications and drawbacks from being downstream of so many and so much.

Most anything – be it good, bad, nasty, hazardous or otherwise – that finds its way into the river complex ultimately passes through Louisiana. When you consider the scope of activities that transpire on the floodplain, you begin to get a picture of the magnitude of the problem. Water, fertilizers and soil run off with rain or excess irrigation, along with nutrients and sediment.

Human modification of the Mississippi River exacerbates problems posed by nutrient runoff and the erosion of coastal wetlands, which are magnified by the construction of channels and levees along the river.

Rivers naturally snake and curve, widen and narrow. In places where rivers run rapidly, they pick up sediment – only to deposit it when the river slows and widens.

When rivers are developed, their banks are reinforced – effectively locked in place – which disrupts these natural processes and shifts their effects further downriver. Bulkheads and jetties are created to prevent erosion; levees and dikes are erected to prevent flooding. Dams are then erected to create reservoirs for drinking water, moderate flood risks and generate electricity.

While a river’s natural course involves accreting, eroding and

Louisiana redfish, photo by Elliot Stark

meandering, this does not serve transportation or flood interests.

Channels are created in rivers – not only to make them navigable, but to make it easier to pump flood waters downstream. Such development interrupts the natural cycle of how river systems operate.

Eutrophication occurs when too many nutrients are introduced into a body of water. The same phosphates and nitrates that make soybeans grow on land also make algae bloom in water. When rain washes excess fertilizers into the river basin, many of them are flushed into the Gulf of Mexico.

In a river’s natural state, its meandering creates areas of little current where nutrients and sediment settle. This, in fact, was how the Mississippi Delta was formed. Channelization and flood control measures stop this from happening. Waters carrying fertilizer runoff are effectively fast tracked into the Gulf of Mexico without being given the chance to settle.

Captain Lucas Bissett, an accomplished angler who runs Lowtide Charters – an inshore fly-fishing outfit in Hopedale, Louisiana – is also a champion of the region’s natural resources.

A BHA member and founder of the nonprofit Anglers Bettering Louisiana’s Estuaries, Bissett is a thoughtful man who puts his money where his mouth is.

“The last couple of years we’ve had more water come down the Mississippi River than ever before. We’ve experienced freshwater inundation of the marshes. The runoff creates algal blooms, fish kills and bacterial issues,” Bissett describes. “The freshwater is detrimental to oysters, causes vegetative loss and bait changes.

Not only that, it also causes a dead zone offshore every summer.”

The dead zone is an area in which the bottom water in the Gulf of Mexico has less than two milligrams of dissolved oxygen per liter of water. This lack of oxygen occurs results from heightened nutrient loads. The nutrients provide food for the algae blooms.

When the algae die the process of its decomposition depletes the water of oxygen.

SPRING 2021 BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL | 71

Above: The author with a Gulf swordfish. The offshore fishing around the Delta is some of the most diverse, well rounded and consistent in the United States.

“We’re getting 250,000 cubic feet of water per second flowing down the Mississippi,” Bissett says. These record flows are the result of heavy rainfall in the Midwest, exacerbated by structural changes to the riverbank. “It’s due to channeling and the lack of settling that would naturally occur.”

Beyond water quality issues, structural changes to river flow also cause erosion and subsidence of wetlands. In a natural state, sediment and organic matter washed down from upstream are deposited in the delta as the Mississippi River slows before entering the Gulf.

The construction of channels to increase flow stops this from happening. Channels are created to aid the transport of water – and their sediment and nutrient loads. Not only are the wetlands deprived of replenishment, they are actually sinking (subsiding, if you want to be technical). “Louisiana loses a football field worth of coastal wetlands every 100 minutes. The causes include the leveeing system from the 1920s and the lost sedimentation system. The subsidence of land results from the fact that it isn’t being replenished,” Bissett explained.

Captain Bissett is not only well versed in the issues, he also is dedicated to working on their solutions.

While the scope of the problems here is daunting, there is hope.

Strategies for improvement include mitigation, adaptation and resiliency.

“In the last few years, we are seeing a marked difference in the way that people approach changes in the environment,” Bissett notes. This especially relates to human-induced problems and climate change.

72 | BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL SPRING 2021

“Our adaptation strategies focus on ways to create resiliency, so that fisheries can adapt. These include habitat restoration and protecting nurseries, as well as ways to increase spawning – i.e., improving the age structure of fish populations through management,” he says.

When it comes to water quality, Bissett is similarly insightful.

“An important consideration is education in the Midwest about decreasing fertilizer runoff. A second, related focus, is testing what is in the river to understand what is coming downstream.

Knowing what is coming allows for the creation of mitigation strategies,” Bissett explains. “Mitigation and resiliency strategies are the focus of the state.”

The coastal marshes of Louisiana paint a clear picture of the relationship between great fishing and water quality. The region is a world class inshore fishery. Slinging flies or jigs at tailing fish in true backcountry solitude – and often with double-digit redfish releases – this special part of the world has it all.

As incredible as it all is, it is also under threat. The pressures of development and heightened nutrient loads threaten to undermine the foundation upon which it all depends. Just as there is cause for concern, there is also hope.

BHA member Elliott Stark publishes FishTravelEat.com, a digital platform dedicated to fishing, food and travel. He also operates Starkfish LLC, a consultancy active in sportfishing, conservation and tourism. Instagram: @FishTravelEat.

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All photos courtesy of the author.

BY AMBER LEACH Last October, after no less than two full days of constant hounding, I begrudgingly agreed to a spontaneous fishing trip to the mountains of West Virginia. I couldn’t resist the innocent beckoning of the deep blue eyes belonging to my son and my nephew, and I caved. The idea of leading a wild mountain adventure with two boys, 7 and 12, is both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. Knowing my fear of having my vocabulary reduced to monosyllabic words like no, don’t and stop, my daughter (23) agreed to come along for company. Or the sake of sanity. I’m still not sure which. Little did she know, but this would turn out to be her trip.

We arrived much later than I wanted and settled into our little fisherman’s cabin, which was bursting with chatter about bugs and tippet and knots and lots of words that most of the crew were just learning. We were situated just yards from the Elk River, which sent songs of rushing water through the trees behind us, making the excitement palpable. So, we rigged up a few rods and headed to the water, trying to make use of the little daylight that remained.

Despite the imminent nightfall, we weren’t the only ones out and about. The banks were speckled with a few other hopeful anglers, looking with anticipation for the beauty birthed in a river when fall rolls around. The boys immediately were distracted by sticks and rocks begging to be thrown and a hill that needed climbing, and my daughter and I found ourselves alone on this little jetty. Our fingers were already starting to tingle with numbness as our feeble gloves failed against the strength of the autumn air, and daylight was nearly gone.

At her request, one of her first lessons in fly fishing ensued.

I’m acutely aware of my own strengths, and being an instructor is not one of them. However, after a few example casts, some selective pointers and a bit of limited and top-level advice, I handed over my rig. Though I knew I wasn’t doing the opportunity justice, I had been waiting for this very moment for over a year.

I stood nervously with bated breath as she cast and re-cast, trying to find her rhythm. I knew better than to offer coaching advice from this position because her gaze was fixed, and she was determined that we weren’t leaving that spot until there was a fish in the net. We both struggled to see her fly of choice resting on the water as the moon rose higher and higher and her own impatience grew. Her tiny frame and delicate features would never lend credibility to the fierceness in her soul, and that rainbow trout never saw his fate coming.

No words can describe the beauty of a moment like that, but, just for a second, your heart has wings. There were squeals and high-fives and happy dances, and the boys showed up to help celebrate. Lost in time, we were all oblivious to the audience that had gathered on the opposite side of the river.

Every “first fish” story bears repeating, and hers was no different.

That night we combed the bug selection in the pro-shop. Hearing her retell the details of the event got the attention of one of the guides who said, “Yeah, we had a guy come in earlier talking about how cool it was to watch some girl land her first trout on the river tonight. Said it was like magic. So, that was you, huh?

Good job, sis.”

And, just like that, she was an angler.

The narrative of fly fishing has typically found its home imbedded in stereotypes. Individualism. Exclusivity. Inequality, unfairness and unwelcoming to women. I’ve yet to see that SPRING 2021 BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL | 75

firsthand. And I never had such a conversation with my daughter until that night because, frankly, it feels like a soundtrack that’s gotten stuck on a loop pitting “us” against “them.” And creating for her any preconceived bias or uncertainty would have only served to stack the deck against her.

The world most of us grew up in is burgeoning with change.

Paradigms are shifting. Ideologies are being cast aside. Granted, it isn’t happening with acceptable speed, but it is happening.

While gender inequality is a real thing in many places (women earn $.80 for every $1.00 a man takes home), the river doesn’t discriminate. Trout don’t care. There’s no such thing as a “female fly rod” because it’s just not necessary. I’ll still buy your waders even if you don’t pander to me in pink. Unless trout like pink, then I’ll take two!

Vehement stances on debatable issues are only effective when folks know what you’re for, not what you’re against. Anything else returns void.

To that end, anglers are for clean, mountain air; crisp streams full of life-giving magnificence; fish that fight, early morning wakeups, riverside naps, epic floats and the never-ending challenge of mastering the flies in their box. And, at the end of the day, we’re for each other. The elements binding us together are disproportionately greater than any differences, perceived or real.

Truthfully, we’re all just walking each other home.

The ignorance of a few cannot pave the way for many unless we acquiesce our position as, well, human. To quote Eleanor Roosevelt, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” This is your story. Write a good one and edit it often.

Refuse to hand over the pencil to an unqualified author with nothing to argue but colorful opinions steeped in experiential bias. Because feelings aren’t facts. There’s a difference.

The last time I went car shopping, the very first question out of the salesman’s mouth was, “What color were you thinking about, honey?” Class, unlike a double haul, can’t be taught. There’s always “one bad apple” and some of us seem to be a magnet for the sort. We can’t allow those isolated experiences, or snippets from our past, to cause us to paint wide strokes with a broad brush. Moreover, we can’t let the stories and experiences of others steal from us the opportunity to forge our own opinions. Even if they are unpopular opinions.

76 | BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL SPRING 2021

Curiosity is strength. Only the wise know to ask questions. And you are the same kind of different as me. We all want someplace to fit in. The collective rallying cry among us is a plea for true belonging.

True belonging is a spiritual practice of believing in and belonging to yourself so deeply that you can share your authentic self with the world and find sacredness in both being a part of something and standing alone in the wilderness.

True belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are; it requires you to be who you are.

-Brené Brown, from Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone Just show up. And keep showing up. Don’t wait for an invitation.

Don’t wait for life to be fair because, as my mother always reminds me, “life ain’t fair.” Build your own table if no one saves you a seat at theirs. Hold your ground, and let others see you break a sweat doing it. The purported incongruencies in the fly-fishing industry are, at best, subjective.

My daughter will never have to run interception on a story that doesn’t belong to her. She’ll never wait around for some cameo part in the movie of life because someone with an outdated, grossly ill-constructed and misguided perspective tells her there’s no room for her in the script. She belongs and she knows it. She was born wildly capable (and so were you). I’ve told her that since birth. More importantly, I never told her that others believed her incapable.

I’m an angler. My gender is irrelevant. I need no permission to rise.

BHA member Amber Leach was born and raised in the mountains of West Virginia. After graduate school she relocated to Kentucky, where she fell in love with fly fishing. She is a proud mom, an avid angler, a first-generation conservationist, a writer and a self-proclaimed nerd.

These days, you can find her chasing trout in Colorado, where she now lives with her two children and her dog, Remy.

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SPRING 2021 BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL | 77

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TO BAIT, OR NOT TO BAIT?

BY JAN DIZARD AND PHIL T. SENG Few topics create as much furor around the campfire or the hunt club as the use of baiting in hunting. What’s the big deal? It’s not clear exactly when humans began manipulating the environment in ways that attracted animals, which they were intent on eating.

But it’s clear we are talking about at least thousands of years. In North America, humans began using fire to keep grasslands from becoming forests and to create early successional growth that attracted game. Cultivation of crops to eat lessened their reliance on hunting but also provided more opportunity to lure animals closer for harvest. In short, they baited. This practice was arguably at least as important as any improvement in spears, arrowheads and bows to securing their survival.

Today, baiting is a mixed bag in North America. Laws and norms are very different from province to province and state to state, and even within some states. Currently, 22 states allow the baiting of deer; eight of these states allow baiting in specific areas, not statewide. In Canada, only three provinces ban the use of bait for deer, and one province has restrictions on baiting. Of the 28 states that allow bear hunting in the U.S., 18 ban the use of baits. Federal law prohibits the baiting of migratory birds and most states prohibit the baiting of game birds. Definitions are important, however, and slopes quickly get slippery.

Here’s the crux of the matter: What’s the difference between seasonal burning of the prairie and deliberately planting ground crops that attract deer? An even harder case is to decide the difference between putting out piles of corn or apples at the edge of a field as opposed to hunting the same field’s edge after the harvest. (It would seem easier to criticize putting out buckets of stale jelly donuts to attract bears intent on fattening up before the onset of winter, but philosophically, how different is it, really?)

Clearly, it makes sense to hunt game where game is likely to be found, and that means finding the habitats that provide food and shelter. But how heavy should our hand be? When does manipulating habitat become taking unfair advantage, tilting the “playing field” too dramatically in our favor? Enter an important distinction: Large-scale habitat improvement, whether on private or public lands, improves the prospects for game and for all hunters.

Many Great Plains states, for example, use fire to improve pheasant habitat.

Putting out a pile of apples or any other attractive bait does not improve anything other than the chances of a kill for the individual hunter. Even where it’s legal, it’s ethically challenged, not only because it puts virtually all emphasis on the kill – forget the chase; it is also unfair to other hunters, especially those who, for whatever reasons, choose not to bait.

Baiting also can increase the spread of disease among the animals drawn to the bait. For example, baiting can draw deer into close proximity to one another, accelerating the transmission of chronic wasting disease and bovine tuberculosis. Reducing the spread and

BEYOND FAIR CHASE impact of CWD is one of the top management concerns for wildlife agencies across the continent. Baiting has also been shown to increase reproduction of animals such as feral hogs, who can wreak havoc on the environment.

This is not to say there is no justification for baiting. Indeed, baiting has become an important tool in managing overpopulations of whitetail deer in urban and suburban settings. Baiting bears can also be used effectively for management goals – a bear coming to bait can more easily be determined to be male or female, young or old, and the hunter can more readily determine if killing the bear helps achieve legitimate management goals. But hunters don’t hunt (at least not primarily) to serve management goals, and that does not erase the question of whether baiting is ethical.

A final consideration – and one of growing importance – is perceptions of the non-hunting public. Some hunters are opposed to letting “what other people think” have any bearing on how we hunt. But recalling that hunting is a privilege and not a right, and therefore can be curtailed or lost as soon as the majority no longer supports it, we hunters need to continually assess how our hunting behavior stands up in the court of public opinion. Much is at stake.

Surveys show that a large majority of the public accepts legal hunting (though approval drops off sharply for “sport” hunting and, especially “trophy” hunting). At the same time, approval of hunters lags behind approval of legal hunting. There are many reasons for this disconnect between hunting and hunters. One of the reasons has clearly to do with the methods hunters use to hunt. And at the center of this disconnect is the age-old practice of baiting.

Some hunters are willing to say “if it’s legal, it’s ethical.” But the problem with this is that neither “legal” nor “ethical” are fixed, timeless boundaries. An activity that is an honored tradition in one time and place may be or become anathema just a few miles or years removed. From public perception to concerns with diseases such as CWD, baiting is a practice that sits on this knife edge.

There is, at least for now, no simple answer to the question of baiting, but we are fast moving to a point where saying, “if it’s legal, it’s ethical,” will collide with shifting public sentiments. We hunters have to be ever mindful of how our actions are perceived by the 95 percent of the population that does not hunt, a proportion of which is skeptical not about hunting but about the character of hunters.

Jan Dizard retired from Amherst College, where he taught from 1969 until 2015. He is the author of books and articles on environmental policy and hunting. His forthcoming book (with Mary Stange), The Hunt: A Cultural History, will be out in 2021. He is an avid upland bird hunter and a board member of Orion-The Hunter’s Institute and a life member of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.

BHA member Phil T. Seng is president of DJ Case & Associates, a full-service communications consulting firm that specializes in natural resources conservation issues. Since 1990, he has been working with state and federal natural resources agencies and private conservation organizations to help them communicate with the public and their constituents about hunting and natural resources conservation issues.

Phil has been a member of Orion’s board of directors since 2018.

This department is brought to you by Orion - The Hunter’s Institute, a nonprofit and BHA partner dedicated to advancing hunting ethics and wildlife conservation.

SPRING 2021 BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL | 79

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END OF THE LINE

Patience

There’s a saying among anglers: “Don’t leave fish to find fish.”

That adage can also seemingly be applied to most anything else in life – don’t pass up one good opportunity for another. I passed this along to my wife when she first started fishing, but she’s wiser than me and now the one reminding me of it often.

That’s because I’m really bad at following my own advice, much preferring what’s around the next riverbend to the sure thing.

My wife likes to recount the following story, which exemplifies that tendency of mine: Some years ago in Argentina, we were camping all alone on an idyllic turquoise river beneath a snowcapped volcano in the Andes. It was as perfect a place as can be imagined. And we’re enjoying great fishing, too, sightfishing chunky rainbows on dry flies and catching big browns on streamers to our hearts’ content.

That is until I decided we needed to go to the next river – where we only caught quarter-sized biting flies, crowds of people and zero fish, which then played out over and over again for the next several weeks and scores of locations.

I guess it’s safe to say patience has never been my strong suit.

As a treestand hunter in the Midwest, I always struggled to sit still. I’d try to keep my body motionless, turning only my head to scan ever so slowly from side to side. At this I failed miserably.

Eventually, I’d grow impatient, move too fast and spook a deer.

Or my restlessness would overwhelm me, and I’d climb out of my tree to scope out what I was missing on the other side of the ridge, spooking everything in the process.

Living in the sprawling West now isn’t helping break me of these bad habits. Surrounded by miles upon miles of public ground to explore, how the heck am I supposed to slow down?

Really, the best hope is for me to put so many miles on during the first day of the hunt that I am physically incapable of moving on the following days.

Last fall, with a two-month-old daughter, my exhausted wife generously granted me a pass on opening day of bow season until mid-afternoon. In the first hour, I had somehow slowed down enough to get within 40 yards of a bull. But after he sauntered off without offering a shot, all attempts at patience evaporated. With an opening-day itch to scratch, I kept moving. By 3 p.m. my phone said I’d covered 14 miles, all without seeing another elk.

Above: My wife looking out over trout paradise in the Andes. I was certain the fishing at the next spot would be even better. It wasn’t.

My swift approach doesn’t fool mule deer, either. Inevitably, I round a corner in the trail just a little too fast to find one staring at me. The same buck busted me at least half a dozen times during last bow season, which doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.

As I’ve gotten a little older and maybe a little wiser – but not much more patient – I’ve decided that sometimes it’s best to just embrace who you are.

My new favorite hunting ground seems to suit my curious mind. After gaining a fair bit of elevation from the trailhead, the old logging road more or less levels out, rounding a neverending series of finger ridges in an old burn. Each ridge’s lip offers a brand-new vantage of a different pocket drainage. Even my slim patience grants time enough to glass each ridge for 10 minutes before hoofing it for the next. I only spooked a handful of muleys this way.

Hunting like this, I tend to lose track of where I’m at, distracted by what’s around the next corner. I was under the misguided impression that I was a few miles from the truck when I first spotted the elk last fall. I knew it would make for a long pack out, but future opportunities are never guaranteed. Don’t leave elk to find elk. Maybe in a roundabout way I did learn that lesson? It turned out a few miles was more like seven but embracing my personality flaw more or less worked out, even if it was not the easiest route to a full freezer, and my friends who came out to help weren’t talking to me much by the time we dropped our packs at the truck. (Thanks, by the way, Corey and Julie.)

Of course, being a new father is giving me reason to learn patience. It’s evident that my whims for what’s over the next ridge are no longer top priority. Just arriving at the trailhead seems like a victory, let alone a mile or two down the trail. And a rapidly growing child strapped to my chest has a way of physically slowing me down.

We like to spend more time stopping to inspect tracks, birds and even the bark on the trees. My daughter is seeing everything for the first time and giving me a second opportunity to experience it as well. And I suspect I might just end up a more patient – and better – hunter because of it.

-Zack Williams, editor SPRING 2021 BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL | 83