NEWS/REC REC
3rd Rail Jam makes a return trip to Boise.
RAILS TO RIVERS When people think of Boise, their minds obviously turn toward hip-hop culture ... OK, maybe not, but for at least one day, hip-hop will ring across the Boise Foothills as the 3rd Rail Jam returns to Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area on Saturday, Feb. 4. The event is a mash-up of hip-hop music and a no-holds-barred rail jam for skiers and snowboarders that takes over the hill with a day of music, sports, graffiti art and MC battles. Competitors will battle it out for swag in front of the crowds, while graffiti artists demonstrate their skills, all set to a constant stream of music, including a few live performances. For those who want to show off their prowess on the slopes, sign-ups for the rail jam begin prior to the 9 a.m. competition time in the J.R. Simplot Lodge, and any competitor 17 or younger needs to have a parent on hand to sign a waiver. It will run you $25 to go for the gold— um, swag—but it’s free for the public to watch. Music will play throughout the day. This is the second year the 3rd Rail Jam has hit Boise after starting in New Jersey roughly five years ago. The founders have been expanding the road show since, taking the event to eight stops across the county. For more information, check out bogusbasin.org or 3rdrailjam.com. So, maybe a sick rail jam and hip-hop jamboree isn’t your scene. If you’re more into activities that require a hook and reel, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game is asking for your take on fishing in Idaho. IDFG is conducting an online survey to get a better idea of the habits and preferences of Idaho anglers, with questions ranging from what they like to fish for to where they like to fish to what they think the department’s conservation priorities should be. The survey—done every five years or so—helps the department develop its next statewide fish management plan, which is scheduled to go into effect in 2013. IDFG officials will also host a series of public meetings to review the last plan. The meetings will be held around the state and start later this spring. If you want to offer your comments online, do so at fishandgame.idaho.gov, but you’d better move fast—the last day to participate online is Sunday, Feb. 5.
LESSONS FROM A GOOSE BLIND Learning about life while on the hunt RANDY KING | ILLUSTRATIONS BY ADAM ROSENLUND
“One does not hunt in order to kill; on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted.” —Jose Ortega y Gasset, philosopher The first time I sat in a goose blind, I was about 11 years old. It was a frozen January morning in a cut corn field outside of Greenleaf. We had set out the hollow plastic geese decoys to resemble a flock in the field while it was still dark. The goal was to trick the geese into thinking they could land in the decoys and be safe. Little did they know. After we set out the decoys, we waited.
And waited. Scanning the horizon, we saw one lone honker coming in. My father’s co-worker laid on the call. The goose swung right for the blinds. It circled a few times and then locked its wings to land among the decoys. As soon as the goose was in range, my dad whispered “take ’em” in my ear. I pulled up and blasted. One shot and then another out of my 16 gauge side-by-side shotgun. The goose fell hard and fast to the ground. I ran out to grab the bird and was so alive in the moment, I was shaking. The cold had gone away. The boredom of sitting endlessly was gone. All I could feel was a connection to something in my gut. It was
like my inner cave boy was clawing its way out. That was the only goose to come in that day. Four grown men and a child had spent the better part of a cold morning “hunting” geese with little luck. Yet no one seemed disappointed in the day. I got more pats on the back than I can remember. It was a great lesson for life that I learned from behind a goose blind. It was a lesson in patience, mortality, kindness and support for a younger generation. Knowing that I’m not the only one to have learned a few lessons in a goose blind, I set out to find a few others with stories to tell.
LESSON NO. 1: HUNTING IS HARDWIRED INTO THE HUMAN PSYCHE Dr. James Swan, Snow Goose Productions, author of In Defense of Hunting Every now and then you get a book that just makes you want to wax philosophically about a subject. In downtown Nampa, I found a great little book called In Defense of Hunting by James Swan. It seemed like a book I could get behind. As it turns out, Swan dedicated a whole lot of his book to his “spirit animal,” the snow goose. So I asked him for a lesson that he learned from behind the goose blind. “The hunt has been with us for thousands of years. Hunting is firmly hardwired into the human psyche: an instinct for survival fueled by passion and guided by ethics that locks mankind into a kinship with nature. Honoring the hunting instinct, getting your hands bloody and dirty to put food on the table, naturally inspires one to know what Thanksgiving really means.” Yeah, what he said.
LESSON NO. 2: IN LIFE, IT IS NOT WHAT YOU KNOW, IT IS WHO YOU KNOW Drew Allen, Peppershock Media, goose hunter “I’ve been goose hunting off and on since I was a kid,” said Drew Allen. “I remember getting up early with my dad, heading over to grandma and grandpa’s to meet up with Grandpa and his buddies. Grandma had the coffee and donuts ready. We’d drive one mile down the road, set up in a field right off 12th Avenue and Locust Lane in Nampa and slay geese. ... Those days are long gone. ... Basically, it has become a ‘who you know’ sport. I have a neighbor that would love to go more often, but he doesn’t know where to go. “Don’t get me wrong, though. ... I still love getting up early, brewin’ coffee and freezing my ass off even if we just end up watching a nice sunrise and bullshittin’ the whole time.”
—Deanna Darr
36 | FEBRUARY 1–7, 2012 | BOISEweekly
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