Legendary Hunts II by Boone and Crockett Club

A Boone and Crockett Club Publication

Boone and Mountain Lion, 1976 | Oil on Masonite. 20 x 30 inches by Boone and Crockett Club Member Robert Kuhn (United States, 1920-2007) JKM Collection®, National Museum of Wildlife Art. 1995.061. © Estate of Robert Kuhn.

Legendary Hunts ii More Short Stories from the Boone and Crockett Awards

Presented by the Boone and Crockett Club Publications Committee Chairman â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Howard P. Monsour, Jr.

Stories selected by the following individuals: Jim Arnold Keith Balfourd Mark O. Bara Richard T. Hale Julie T. Houk Kyle C. Krause â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Editor Remo Pizzagalli Jack Reneau Justin E. Spring Mark B. Steffen

Published by the Boone and Crockett Club Missoula, Montana 2011

LEGENDARY HUNTS II More Short Stories from the Boone and Crockett Awards First Edition October 2011 First Printing Copyright ÂŠ 2011 by the Boone and Crockett Club. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Boone and Crockett Club. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2011939192 ISBN Number: 978-0-940864-73-3 Published October 2011 Published in the United States of America by the Boone and Crockett Club 250 Station Drive Missoula, MT 59801 406/542-1888 406/542-0784 (fax) www.booneandcrockettclub.com

THE MISSION of the Boone and Crockett Club It is the mission of the Boone and Crockett Club to promote the guardianship and provident management of big game and associated wildlife in North America and to maintain the highest standards of fair chase and hunter ethics in all aspects of big game hunting, in order that this resource of all the people may survive and prosper in its natural habitats. Consistent with this objective, the Club supports the use and enjoyment of our wildlife heritage to the fullest extent by this and future generations.

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Photo from B&C Archives

Colorado hunter Edison A. Pillmore (pictured above) was given the Sagamore Hill Award at the Clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sixth Competition held at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. His typical mule deer has a final score of 203-7/8 points and was harvested in 1949 near North Park, Colorado.

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Table of Contents Legendary Hunts II

More Short Stories from the Boone and Crockett Awards Programs

Elk & Deer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 The Experience | Degelbeck… page 127 Brothers | Chapman… page 131 Is She the One? | Bucey-Bredehoeft… page 137 Gut Feeling | Lopez… page 141 Perfect Luck | Gisi… page 147 Hunting Partners | Bennett and Duell… page 155

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Photo from B&C Archives

Jack Greenwood and his son Jerry packing out his award-winning bighorn sheep taken in Sanders County, Montana, in 2001 .

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Elk & Deer continued

Trinity Alps | Morish… page 163 Three Dollars | Crayne… page 169 Determination | Jerman… page 175 Pers istence and Patience | Bullock… page 181

Horned Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 Big Buffalo Don’t Come Easy! | Jones… page 247 This Goat was for Pops | Smid… page 253 The Oncoming Beast | Mierzwiak… page 263 Grateful | Greenwood… page 267 New World’s Record | Crousen… page 275 No Fire, No Blanket | Strawson… page 283 Every Sheep Hunter’s Dream | Sannon… page 291 True Connection | Morrical… page 297 A Stone for the Ages | McCombs… page 305

Entering Your Trophy by Jack Reneau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313 Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

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Photo from B&C Archives

Grizzly bear, scoring 27-3/16 points, taken by Rodney W. Debias near Unalakleet River in Alaska, in 2009.

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The Unalakleet Experience R o d ne y W. D ebia s

27t h Bi g G a me Aw a rd s P rog r a m

s the midnight sun inches its way along the horizon, a luminous glow engulfs the tundra, more beautiful than any tropical sunset I have ever seen. A shadow appears, which quickly manifests itself in the shape of a gigantic bruin. I whisper to my guide, “Bear! Don, there is a bear!”

As we quickly move into position, Don ranges it at 385 yards. As I’m tightening my release strap, Don softly states, “It’s the Big Guy.” He’s now at 175 yards. We kneel on the soft, dried grass surrounded by driftwood that had washed deep onto the tundra by storm surges, giving us ample cover. I am in front, and Don is so close behind me I can feel his elbow touching my shoulder. With his right hand he continues to range and with his left hand over my left shoulder, we wind-check with a squeeze bottle of white powder. Don mumbles, “Look at that noggin!” I reply, “Just keep ranging. I’m going to let him walk past us before I draw. If I draw now, he’s going to see me.” The moment is drawing near. The culmination of a lifetime of dreaming and after nearly half dozen other grizzly hunts, I ask myself, Is this finally happening? This saga started when I was a very young boy and my dad gave me his Bear Grizzly recurve. I started shooting it seriously when I [ 71 ]

Bears & Cougar

was 11 years old. After a couple years, the limb split, so I mowed a gentleman’s lawn for a full summer and the man paid me with an old fiberglass Ben Pearson bow, both of which I have today. After that bow came a $99 Bear Whitetail. I was 15, and my best friend Lou Mihalko and I painted his grandmother’s house for—you guessed it—$100 each. I have since been addicted to archery hunting. My goal since childhood was to take a grizzly with a bow. I have been fortunate enough to have taken many nice animals, including a very nice brown bear several years ago. The grizzly, however, eluded me almost to the point of conceding. After months of talking with my booking agent about hunts, the question finally presented itself. Sheep hunt? Moose hunt? Elk hunt? The consultant said, “How about the grizzly. I have an outfitter, Hunt Alaska, owned by Vergil Umpanour and his son Eric. They will not only take bowhunters for grizzly, but they actually want them.” After booking, the game planning was underway. I started to collect my gear. The weather could be 70° F one day and 0° F the next, so my equipment had to be versatile. I scheduled shoulder surgery in September to fix bone spurs that had developed from sports and drawing heavyweight bows. After Christmas, I would start shooting. The cold and windy days were the ones I would shoot on the most to get used to shooting with heavy clothes under all conditions. May soon rolled around, and I found myself on a plane landing in Unalakleet. I couldn’t figure out why anyone would want to live in this barren, unforgiving land. After a short time, we were on a snowmobile headed for camp. The hunters were Jaun, Bruce, Randy, and me. Vergil, Eric, Don, and Shawn were our guides. Also, we had a 14-year-old camp helper named Shiler who had as many outdoor skills as anyone I have ever met. Shiler’s uncle Paul joined us later. [ 72 ]

Debias – The Unalakleet Experience

Camp was set up miles short of the area we wanted to hunt, as weather conditions would not allow passage of boats or snowmobiles. Each of us was assigned a guide and mine was Don Stiles Day 1: As we left camp and Don and I got to know each other, I informed him that I would be the easiest hunter he ever had. “I will not question your ability and you will not need to question my heart. I have done my best to get in shape, and I’ll hunt 24 hours a day if we can.” Believe me when I say that my ability and endurance would both be tested. For two days Don and I pushed further and further from camp. Day 3: 5:30 a.m. Don spotted a bear as we were glassing on high ground while heading back to camp. The bear was 300 yards away, coming right to us. It was almost too easy. The wind was blowing from the east. The bear was coming north. But as the big bruin closed, the wind started moving southeast. Don ranged him at 69 yards, and the wind was now on the right side of my neck blowing right towards the bear—bad news! He stopped, turned, and ran. We watched him, with the grace of a racehorse, run across the same tundra we could barely walk across. We shouldered our heavy packs and headed back to camp. When we crossed the track of the running bear, Don noticed the front right paw had blood on the middle toe and remarked that the bear must have cut it on a rock or another bear bit him. This track would identify him in the days ahead. Upon arriving at camp, we learned the ice blew out and boats were able to make it to the next camp. However, Don and I would stay. We were left a tent, supplies and a Zodiac (a small inflatable boat and motor). After a nap, followed by pancakes and bacon, we inflated the Zodiac and boated up the coast several miles where we eventually beached it on a small stream that emptied into Norton Sound. Day 4: 1:30 a.m. Don spotted a beautiful blonde bear 600 yards away. I noticed another, this one about 100 yards below [ 73 ]

Bears & Cougar

Blondie. Don guessed the blonde to be 7.5 feet, the other one at 7 feet. Either would be a trophy in anybody’s book. As we watched them, a huge chocolate bear appeared and ran between them. He dwarfed them as if they were Honda Civics and he was a Mack truck As all three bears ran off, I said to Don, “If they were 7 and 7.5 feet, how big is he?” Don said, “I don’t know what to say—8 feet, maybe more. I don’t know what to say. I mean, I just never seen anything like him. At any rate, he’s gone now.” Day 5: Brought us to within 100 yards of a huge bear sleeping on the tundra with his squeeze, Blondie. We tried to make a stalk but the wind was not in our favor. At that point, you know how tightly wound your guide is when he doesn’t slide his rifle to you and say, “Take him,” knowing he would have guided a top 10 Boone and Crockett grizzly. We simply slipped out of there. Day 6: As morning came, Don said we better check the sea, as the wind changed and ice may be blowing back in. He was right; the ice was half a mile from us and moving fast. We were out of food and would be unable to make it back to camp. Don said, “let’s pump up the Zodiac and make a run for town.” So, we loaded our gear, pumped, and pushed off into the rough sea. The waves were tossing us left and right, and the crushing icepack was pushing its way closer and closer to the boat. Don said if the ice catches us, it will crush us. But if it doesn’t, the sea is calmer near the ice and he could speed up. I decided to get the life vests ready and only saw one. Don said the other was under his backpack. I tried to pull it out as he grinned and said he did not need it. “Up here, we call those body bags. You’ll freeze to death long before you make the shore. Vests just make it easier for them to find the bodies.” Thankfully, Don proved to be very skilled in reading the waves, and we eventually made our way to Unalakleet. [ 74 ]

Debias – The Unalakleet Experience

Upon arriving, Don used his satellite phone and called his cousin Middy to pick us up. Middy fed us, gave us supplies and drove us to high ground to check the amount of ice that blew into shore. We were iced in as far as the eye could see. Middy suggested taking his and his brother Paul’s snow machines along the coast and then packing our way back to the happy hunting grounds. The days ahead would be very cold, with 25 mph winds to the north and not a single bear track Day 8: 1:00 a.m. Don is so tired, I could have poked him in the eye and he wouldn’t have blinked. After a good bit of convincing, he finally said he would take a nap. As Don slept, I glassed several miles of tundra again and again. At 2:50, I noticed something running towards us. I woke Don and we realized it was two wolves hunting. What a sight. They came to within 25 yards and never knew we were there. After they left, I was thinking, Three days without cutting a track is just too long. We need a new plan. So I suggested to Don we move to another area. Just as Don began to nod his head in agreement, I whispered, “Bear! Don, there’s a bear!” I immediately assumed a shooting position. Don ranged him, saying, “He’s the Big Guy.” As the giant approached, I whispered to Don to range a small stick in front of me. Don Softly replied “17 yards.” I think he’s coming to that stick, but there’s not enough cover to draw. I made the decision to let him pass me, a tough call, but I felt certain he would spot me if I drew. He came closer and closer. When he reached the stick, he was 17 yards away and getting closer. At 10 yards, he suddenly stops. He raises his nose. His nostrils flare, and I can hear him draw a deep breath. He exhales, and I can smell him. He draws another breath, this time curling his lips outward. I’m amazed at his size. He exhales again; I smell him. He knows something is up. With the wind at my nose, I know [ 75 ]

Bears & Cougar

he cannot smell us. It must be a sixth sense. He takes two steps, stands straight up and looks down on us. With my bow on my knee at rest, I think, Shoot him with the gun, Don! Just as quickly as the thought entered my mind, he turns his head and looks the other way. Flabbergasted, relieved, and now determined, I say to myself, He doesn’t know where we are, and I’m going to get him. He drops down on all fours and begins to walk past us. I watch his eye. When I can no longer see his eye, I know he can’t see me. I draw. He pauses, and then continues to walk. For the third and final time in less than a minute he has abandoned that sixth sense, which served him so well for so many years. He stops, perfectly broadside. I’d really like to watch him more, but I don’t know if there’s time. Don whispers, “29 yards.” I center the peep on my outer sight ring and place my 30-yard pin just behind the shadow of his right shoulder. I squeeze my release trigger. The arrow flies true and the arrow penetrates his chest. He growls, bites at the wound, turns and runs. He only makes it a short distance before falling hard. I nock another arrow and ask Don to range him. “Sixty yards.” I adjust my sight and say “Don, brace our binoculars on my shoulder. If he’s breathing, I’m going to shoot again.” Don replied, “He’s already dead Rod, you did it!” While photographing the bear, we noticed a cut on his right paw. Turns out, he was the bear that had busted us on day three. This would be the pinnacle of any hunter’s life. However, it wasn’t the trophy that made this hunt so memorable for me. During the fifth day, on what could be considered the low point of the hunt, I decided this was my favorite adventure because of the other hunters, Vergil and Eric Umpenhour, and Don. My appreciation would continue to grow as I would get to know the people of Unalakleet. William’’’Middy’’ Johnson (whose grandfather was one of the original mushers on the serum run to Nome, [ 76 ]

Debias â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Unalakleet Experience

now known as the Iditarod) who, in his grandfatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s memory, was planning to (and did) complete the 2010 Iditarod (He finished 33rd). His entire family: his wife and children, brother Paul, Shawn, John, and so many others. What they have is so special. When everything has you down, and you think there is no good in the world, buy a plane ticket to Unalakleet and walk down the dirt street lined with humble homes. Strangers will invite you into their homes to enjoy their best fish and share stories of their culture, and expect in return, only that you share stories of your own. The people of Unalakleet are the most wonderful, giving people I have ever met. 3

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Sports & Outdoors

Legendary Hunts ii chronicles the heart of our hunting culture – the accounts of everyday hunters who defied the odds to take exceptional big game trophies. Sportsmen love a good hunting story and Legendary Hunts ii delivers with over 40 unforgettable tales about some of the top trophies taken in our lifetime. Readers will relive the accounts of hunts with rifles, bows, and muzzleloaders from enduring the chill of the North in pursuit of musk ox to surviving the sweltering heat in the Sonoran desert after mule deer, as well as numerous tales throughout the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Share with the authors their adventures through rain, snow, heat and other harsh conditions as they embrace the Fair Chase ethic along with their hunting partners and families who keep our hunting heritage alive. Each story in Legendary Hunts ii captures the essence of the hunting experience including the hunter’s tenacity and respect for the game hunted.

Published by the Boone and Crockett Club 250 Station Drive, Missoula, MT 59801 406/542-1888 ■ 888/840-4868 www.booneandcrockettclub.com Suggested Retail: $19.95 US Funds