Acting like the big buck does the trick

Deer hunters can fritter away October and November without stumbling into a single occasion for celebration or even a raised eyebrow.

Occasionally, however, the late-buck season can come to a heart- pounding climax.

A friend I'll call Dan'l Boone was hunting the thick brush in Pend Oreille County last week when a buck crashed toward him, paused and teased him with a glimpse before sneaking away.

Dan'l had no chance to shoot. Nor did he realize this was just the beginning.

His partner, Adam, who'd already filled his tag, had been walking a logging road nearby looking for grouse when he heard commotion up the slope. Out of the brush crashed a whitetail buck. Bleeding and disoriented, the deer came running right at him, but veered off down the slope just as Adam thought he might have to raise his shotgun in self-defense.

Seconds later, a bigger buck thundered into the open, blood on its face, foaming at the mouth and looking for trouble. That deer bolted toward Dan'l.

Adam related the story to Dan'l, who spiked a fever just realizing that he may have missed a rare opportunity to rattle in a rutting buck.

The Boone gets high marks, however, for recognizing the closest thing to a gimme in deer hunting.

He went back to the same spot a few days later and brought a pair of shed antlers for a game that can deliver enough suspense to rattle any veteran hunter.

"I just tried to act like a buck," he said.

The details are not clear. Perhaps he clacked the antlers together and rattled them to precisely imitate the sound of two bucks in the fever of combat.

Or perhaps he made like a buck by peeing all over himself and flinging the antlers through the brush in a fit of excitement when he heard a buck approach.

Either way, he made the shot.

The meat's in the freezer and the rack's going on the wall.

Animal wrongs: When it comes to shamelessness, a few animal rights groups are second to none.

The latest head scratcher comes from Wildlife Watch, a New York- based group that's trying to use the Sept. 11 attacks as a peg for calling off the state's hunting season.

Wildlife Watch leaders claim there's no clear distinction between sportsmen and terrorists.

"Armed and camouflaged individuals can get close to chemical, agricultural, business facilities, gas pipeline, electrical power lines, substations, transformers and airports," said spokesperson Anne Muller. Hunting "is just a wonderful opportunity for someone who would want to do a terrorist act."

No further comment necessary, I assume, unless someone out there really wants one.

Nonresident tags for sale: Idaho will start selling big-game licenses and tags to non-resident hunters for the 2002 seasons beginning Sunday.

Non-resident hunters, who are limited to 10 percent of Idaho's big- game tags, buy on a first-come, first-served basis.

Details are on the Idaho Department of Fish and Game web site at www2.state.id.us/fishgame or at department offices.

No one's counting: Calls are still coming in to the Good Paper asking why we're not running the fish counts at Snake and Columbia River dams.

The reason: The Corps of Engineers stops counting passage of salmon and steelhead on Nov. 1, when the upstream fish migration naturally stalls for the winter.

The fish move very little in November, December and January. Sometime in February, they'll start moving again to finish their run toward spawning areas and hatcheries.

Most of the summer steelhead that have passed Lower Granite Dam on their journey from the ocean have entered Idaho waters.

Of the record 235,000 steelhead counted over Lower Granite, about 160,000 are hatchery-reared fish headed primarily for the Snake and Salmon rivers.

About 23,000 of the larger hatchery B-run steelhead have crossed Lower Granite, the last dam on the Snake River before the fish enter Idaho. Most of those fish are headed for the Clearwater, although some are bound for the Salmon.

Farm elk cleared: Everyone with a stake in the region's elk herds is breathing easier this week after 37 farm-raised elk, destroyed last month near Salmon, Idaho, tested negative for Chronic Wasting Disease.

State and federal animal health officials ordered the elk to be euthanized after learning the domestic herd had been exposed to CWD while on an elk farm in Colorado.

CWD is a neurological ailment in a family of diseases that include scrapies in sheep, mad cow disease in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.

CWD has been found in wild elk and deer populations in a small area encompassing several game management units in Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska. It's been found in captive elk in Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

Disease symptoms include unsteadiness, excessive slobbering, confusion and death. Elk or deer that contract CWD die within two years.

To determine if an animal has CWD, it must be destroyed so a portion of the brain stem can be tested.

No cases of the disease have been reported in Idaho.

Bike recall: About 500 Diamondback XSL-Race and XSL-Pro Mountain model mountain bikes are being recalled because of a mechanical problem that can cause riders to lose control and crash.

Raleigh America Inc., of Kent, Wash., has received five reports of bottom bracket spindles breaking, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Tuesday. No injuries have been reported on the 2001 model bikes.

The XSL-Race model is white with red and black decals. The XSL- Pro model is yellow with white decals.

Diamondback dealers sold the bicycles nationwide from January through August for between $1,400 and $1,900.

Contact the Diamondback dealer where the bicycle was purchased to arrange for a free repair.

Copyright 2001 Cowles Publishing Company
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