More than 30 years ago, when the North Dakota Game and Fish Department began managing deer in smaller units and issuing a specific number of buck or doe licenses – for example, 38,000 total licenses in 1980 – some “want to be” potential deer hunters actually had to stay home.

Fortunately, that is not the case today. With more than 140,000 licenses available the past few years, just about everyone who wants to hunt deer with a rifle can do so close to home, and often with more than once license in hand if they choose.

While the number of licenses and season structure has changed, hunters really haven’t. Most hunters still prefer a buck license over a doe license, but will take a doe license if it means they otherwise wouldn’t be able to hunt.

In addition, most hunters with buck licenses would prefer to tag a large-antlered deer as opposed to one with small antlers, but will take a small one rather than risk not filling a tag for the season.

We have reached such an era of plenty with our deer population that some hunters are now no longer satisfied with simply an opportunity to hunt deer. They feel that the harvest of a large-antlered or trophy buck is the only desirable outcome, and that state wildlife agencies should implement some type of management scheme that attempts to produce more big bucks than were previously part of a deer population.

There is only one way for a buck, either whitetail or mule deer, to develop large antlers or even reach “trophy” size, and that is for it to live long enough. Having more bucks live longer means not shooting as many when they are young.
Reducing harvest of young deer can be accomplished in several ways, but the two that are promoted most often are antler restrictions such as points on a side or minimum inside spread, or significantly reducing the number of buck licenses, allowing more bucks to survive to an older age because fewer would be harvested in all age classes.
Some state wildlife agencies have tried regulations designed to allow more bucks to mature, with varying degrees of success.

Several western states have tried antler restriction zones,  However, determining antler points is not always so easy, especially during rifle seasons when shots are taken at long distances or at running deer and antler points or spread is not easily determined.

California, Oregon,Nevada,Utah, Colorado and Montana at one time all tried and dropped antler point restrictions in the last couple of decades because studies revealed that illegal kill was from 40 to 100 percent of the legal kill. In other words, for every 100 legal bucks taken, another 40 to 100 were killed and abandoned because they didn’t meet the minimum standards

Some western states still have some type of trophy or quality management zones, but the preferred method is limiting the number of buck licenses, without antler restrictions. This gives hunters the choice of taking the first “forkie” that comes along, or waiting for a chance at a more mature deer.

North Dakota Game and Fish biologists have evaluated many of these programs over the years, and determined that our current system of limited licenses in smaller units is working well. The state’s deer population is balanced and individual harvest success rates are high.

To further improve the odds of seeing more mature bucks in North Dakota, Game and Fish would have to reduce the number of buck licenses from their current level. In coffee cup conversations, take your three card partners and get their response after telling them their odds for drawing a buck tag were just slashed in half.Then share with me how many would prefer half as many buck licenses over the remainder of their hunting days, compared to the current system which actually focuses on providing the opportunity to hunt.

Leier is a biologist with the Game and Fish Department. He can be reached by email:dleier@nd.gov

My guess is whomever was in charge of setting up the 2009 NFL schedule was a deer hunter and a Minnesota Vikings fan. What other alignment of the stars could explain last week’s bye for the Favre n’ Harvin show falling precisely on the opening weekend of deer firearms season in the upper Midwest? The diehard fans of both purple and blaze orange had their choice of garb made for them several months in advance. They also had the good fortune of not to having to worry about the score while out looking for the thirty-pointer.

Perhaps that same providence is the reason why my quarry wandered right up to me, allowing me to fill my tag on the first day of the season and have it processed on the second. Once my card was punched, I had no reason to be on stand any more. My dog, similar to a coyote in both stature and in color, tends to be my reason not to go bird hunting while the increasingly trigger happy still look to fill their tags, or at least fire a shot off at something. With the boat winterized and trout season closed, fishing was out of the question.

The powers that be had effectively granted me a bye week as well, but outside of watching the Wall of America crash down on Matt Stafford and the Motor City Kitties, there wasn’t much time to lounge around. My weekend off was one of neck strain, not from watching the Packers and Cowboys punt the football back and forth, but from glancing back at moments from past seasons and then suddenly looking ahead to get ready for the seasons to come.

As I hauled my portable ice shack out of storage, memories of last winter’s late night crappie runs came flooding back. Beneath the light of a February full moon, my wife and I watched the Vexilar as red lines rocketed off of the bottom of the lake, stopped short of our spoons and then struck. Seven slabs were our reward that night, and fresh fillets singing in hot oil were a welcome wintertime treat. As I applied a second duct-tape patch over the air conditioning hole I accidentally added to the tarp last year, I looked forward chasing those late-night panfish again this winter.

With the shack ready for first ice, I ventured up to my desk in the upstairs office. On the wall next to it, my brother and his two fifty-inch muskies smiled down on me. The fish were both landed this summer on lures I had made over the winter. On the bulletin board behind the desk, a collage of pictures from the north shore of Lake Superior reflected the multiple weekends I spent chasing steelhead – and finally finding success in the chilly spring meltwaters. With the rush of the rocky streams came the memories of running the steeplechase as a silver fish bolted toward the big lake with yards of line in tow, my hand-tied egg fly firmly in its maw.

Short on supplies, and long on time this particular weekend, I began assembling my wish list for lure components and fly tying supplies. Size 12 blades, magnum flashabou, and a new set of 7/0 hooks were in order for the toothy critters, while McFly Foam, egg hooks and fluorescent thread would be the ticket for the trout patterns to be tied up over the off-season.

As I glanced around the room – from the rods tucked into a corner, to the GPS, platbooks and other maps splayed across the small coffee table – I came to and counted the points on the rack of a buck I had taken a few years back. The total was still nine, plus the 7/8-inch tine that he must have broken in a battle late that summer, making his headgear fall just short of a perfect ten. It was a little nick of character in an otherwise uniform rack. It was the biggest buck I had taken and was the hunt that hooked me on whitetails. I immediately began wishing for next fall and another deer season.

As Sunday Night Football on Westwood One buzzed on the radio in the garage, I scraped the last bit of hair from the base of the antlers of this year’s buck and relived the rush of the prior weekend. I placed the velvet cover over the rack and tacked it into place on the plaque mount. Though smaller than the set it now hangs next to on the office wall, the memory of the hunt is as big as any other.

I turned out the lights and clicked off the TV after Peyton Manning’s ice cold connection kept the Colts perfect in a stunning Sunday night comeback. And as I lay in bed, reliving the memories of ice adventures, big water fish and buck fever in that place somewhere between asleep and awake, I bid good bye to the seasons past and began planning the next year of exciting expeditions…in our outdoors.

Find more stories by Nick Simonson on www.nicksimonson.com or become a fan on Facebook by searching “Our Outdoors by Nick Simonson.”

Times are a changin’. Used to be when we went ice fishing, our presentation always included a jig tipped with some type of minnow or hunk of meat, no matter what species of fish we were targeting. As the fishing tackle industry has grown, companies have found ways to make better baits that work in all seasons for all species of fish.

Lifelike soft plastics are the perfect complement to live bait fishing with waxworms and maggots, yielding the fish options.

Today, ice anglers can use a blended approach, combining live bait tactics with artificial applications. Maybe work a soft plastic swimming lure in one hole while monitoring a live minnow and bobber in another. And all this while a nearby tip-up deploys yet another minnow, likely something larger. The options are endless.

The following are a few jigging and rigging techniques using artificial lures that have proved effective used in conjunction with a live bait program.

Dropper Rigging Stocked Trout
Brookies, rainbows, splake and the like are all suckers for aggressive presentations during the ice months. These fish are very inquisitive and can be called in from long distances. The thing is, they can be picky about what they eat so give them a 1-2 punch by using a dropper rig. The rig consists of a spoon with the treble hook removed and in its place a short 3-5 inch section of monofilament is attached leading to a small ice fly, like the feathered Spider Ant or new Scud Bug from Bro’s Bug Collection. When jigged aggressively, the spoon will dance, while the small jig pulsates and beckons these stocked beauties to bite. This rig is especially effective early in the season when these fish are in their most aggressive state.

Bug Up Perch
Our lakes are alive in winter with bottom hugging larvae, bloodworms and crustaceans. All species of fish exploit these tasty offering but none take advantage of the potential feeding frenzy like perch do. Much of this action takes place in the mud-bottomed basins on the lakes we fish and this is the best place to find massive schools of perch. Ice fishing guru, Brian “Bro” Brosdahl has designed a series of specialty jigs and soft plastic tails for Northland Fishing Tackle that are effective on all panfish, perch included. I used some of these jigs last season for perch and lit them up using a technique that Bro taught me. “Bro’s Mud Bug” is a new jig that has a “fat-head” that anglers can shake and bounce in the mud to imitate hatches coming out of the bottom. Tip this jig with one of the new plastic tails – like the Bloodworm, Slug-Bug, or Scud-Bug – and you have an offering that perch flip over.

Metallic Walleyes
Spoons are available in all shapes and sizes from various manufacturers and they catch walleyes throughout the winter. In fact, I fish spoons almost exclusively for walleyes during the winter months. Spoons are good because they have superb attracting abilities and can call fish in from a long range. They can also be shaken lightly to entice “lookers” that are in close range to bite. I just about always fish a Northland Buckshot Rattle Spoon and use a “jerk, jerk, shake” cadence. I’ll jig the spoon more furiously if flasher screen is bare and then begin jigging softer sequences when fish appear. One last “triggering” trick to make lookers turn into biters is to slowly jig your bait and lift your rod at the same time, making the bait rise in the water column. Walleyes are more likely to commit to if they get teased up off the bottom a bit.

Swimbait Lakers
Everybody knows that lake trout are suckers for plastic, minnow imitating baits like tubes and jerk shads. They catch fish on a consistent basis and have for years. A trend for winter trout fishing is working baits that trigger bass during the open water season. One of the hottest new styles of baits in this category are swimbaits. Gaining popularity for largemouth bass in California, they are now being used by bass anglers all over North America. If you haven’t used them for lake trout, you’re missing out. The Slurpies Swim Shiner is a great example, Silver Shiner and Emerald Shiner being a couple of the hottest colors. The key is to keep it moving. I will jig these baits in 3-5 foot lifts and cover the entire water column. You will call in big fish while showing them something they probably haven’t seen before.

The key with artificial baits is to use them to call fish in to your presentation. If you can do this, there is always a high percentage of fish, no matter what species you are targeting, that will bite. Spend some time this winter using artificial baits in tandem with typical live bait techniques and you will see your catches improve. Every time you do something different than the norm, you learn something and in the end this will make you a much better all-round angler.

As my offering drifted around in the pool eddy, I hoped that my brother would see a fish caught – if not by me, then by another angler, or maybe himself – and he would experience the finned allure of the north shore of Lake Superior beyond the lichen-covered bluffs and pine-shaded streams that add to its aesthetics. Being a greenhorn to steelhead fishing myself, I made no promises, other than that we’d try a few rivers, talk to a few people, watch how its done and take some good pictures. The weather was somewhat sketchy, with partly cloudy skies and a northwest wind ripping out onto the water of the big lake, but it was tropical compared to the trout opener two weeks before.

Steelheads are a true prize in the fly circles up north

As we neared the streamside, a dark gray cloud began spitting tiny chunks of ice at us and sleet fell for several minutes. My brother remarked that it must be some sort of sign. We descended down the steep bank to a pool below a small set of ledges and watched for a few moments. I thought at one point I saw a shadow move in and out of the foam line, and then decided to drift my offering through the pool. The rushing of the falls, the squawking of a kingfisher and the rustling branches of an old cedar tree that had grown out from the canyon’s side reminded me that fish would always be a bonus in a place like this. For a few minutes, as the sun peaked back out, I soaked it all in and my mind wandered.

My rod tip bumped once and brought me back to the moment. I pulled up on the slack in the pool. The eight-pound line tightened in the guides of my fly rod as whatever it was on the other end realized there is no such thing as a free lunch. The rod bent into a full arch and the reel spun backward against the palm of my hand as the fish dug for the main current.

‘Fish On!’ I hollered over to my brother, who was just getting his feet wet in terms of north shore fishing. Despite my reminders, he had forgotten to bring waders and was stuck in the shallows in my old calf-high rubber boots. He bounded across the rock ledge to the gravel shore I was standing on and readied himself to grab the fish, whenever it chose to come close enough to land. On the trip over his feet went from being figuratively wet to literally soaked, as his third step put him knee-deep in the chilly meltwater of the stream. It wouldn’t be the only time this fish would baptize him in the waters of spring trout fishing.

My mind began to spin, my voice cracked and I shouted when I talked. I could tell the fish was big, even though I could not see it. My knees began to weaken and each touch of the reel was softened by the anxiety of the fish – potentially my first north shore trout – breaking me off. I let the knob spin around several times as I lost more and more line with each run. Finally the fish turned sideways near the surface, a bright purple streak with a creamy-green back and a clipped adipose fin signaled a large feisty kamlooper – a variety of rainbow trout stocked into the tributaries of Lake Superior to supplement the Steelhead population and for put-and-take fishing. Shortly after being identified, the 25-inch fish ran an end around that would take my brother and I 100 yards downstream.

As I tried to guide the fish into the shallows of the pool where my brother could make a landing attempt, it quickly spun the opposite direction and bolted over the small ledge. I turned and pointed the rod tip downstream as the reel spun out of control. I expected the green backing to follow suit as yards and yards of the clear line peeled off as if I had hooked into the last car on a freight train.

Without instruction, my brother gave chase. Each step into the smaller downstream pools put more icy water in his galoshes. The fish squirted through his hands in the second or third hole down and then made for the lake. My line was wrapped around the buds on the end of a birch branch hanging over the stream, and we struggled to free it, even as the fish took more and more of it down the flow. I thought the ‘looper was lost for sure, but as I reeled up the slack from the tree, I felt the weight of the fish, though it could have just as easily been a rock. As I ran downstream, I found the fish with its nose buried deep behind a small boulder that broke the current in the middle of the riffles.

“He’s right there,” I hollered to my brother, pointing with my arched rod tip at the mid-stream boulder. Ben reached down to grab it, and as he did, the fish darted away. I felt the electricity in my fishing rod falter and heard my brother curse. With a turn revealing a flash of pink, the kamlooper bolted toward the lake, leaving the hook in my brother’s hand and both of us bewildered and out of breath, shaking with the after effects of adrenaline.

After a minute or two, Ben apologized, but I told him it wasn’t necessary. That was the longest I had any fish on the line in my trips to the north shore. I had seen it, felt it and ran the steeplechase after it on the small stream and that was memorable enough. Besides, if that was the first half-hour on the water, I was certain we could find something in the rest of the afternoon which would provide a silver lining on this trip.

-PART II
Having swallowed hard on the agony of defeat after watching my first fish of the day bolt down toward the waters of Gitche Gumee, my brother and I moved up the shore in search of more excitement. His first trip had started off much like my early adventures on the north shore had – full of wind, sleet, and lost fish.

We relocated beneath a set of falls to work a run and a deeper pool. The sun shone more frequently and we approached the area with renewed confidence. I waded to the far side and my brother, with a change of socks and drier boots, worked a drift setup on his spinning rod through the foam line on the near side. I flipped my offering out into the run, guided it behind the red and gray boulders and into the little pockets I hoped would hold fish.

The pines on the bank, some sixty feet in height, swayed with the gusts of wind overhead. Their bases of thick branches spared us the chill and allowed us to soak up the sunlight beaming down from directly overhead. We drifted the run for half an hour with no luck and then moved up toward the deep pool.

Having never used a fly rod, my brother asked if he could try mine. Explaining to him that it wasn’t a typical fly-fishing set up, I showed him how to present the monofilament drift rig. There was no traditional ten-to-two cast, but rather a flip of the rod-tip with a roll cast into the current, and a following of the split shot as it bumped around in the flow. It had taken all of last spring for me to get used to it.

Giving him the rod, I waded back to the far side of the river with the camera to take some pictures. The sun shone down on the clear water and my brother was lost in the observation of his drifting line. I snapped a few photographs of him methodically working the seams as if hexd done it all his life. I closed the camera lens and walked back down the bank. As I did, I saw the rod bounce and bow in my brother’s hands.

“I’ve got one,” he shouted from across the stream.

Of course I should have expected it, knowing my brother’s luck. On his first cast with the fly rod, he had hooked into a north shore trout, which quickly realized it was in trouble and dug deep into the pool. I entered the role of coach and net man, minus the net I had forgotten back home, and began formulating a plan to direct the fish into shallow waters and execute a hand landing. I instructed Ben to back into the shallows, where the fish could be landed with a carefully timed grab. The fish rolled to the surface, beaming silver with the slightest hint of pink and then bulldogged back into the depths.

As the fish made run after run, I instructed my brother to let the old fly reel spin and to keep tension with the palm of his hand. For a novice, he executed the battle perfectly. His rod tip stayed high, as did the tension in the line. After withstanding five minutes of powerful charges, my brother was able to direct the fish toward the pool’s edge. Wetting my hands, I reached down into the shallows and the fish lazily rolled into my grasp. I readied the camera and snapped pictures of the Simonson family’s first steelhead.

High-fiving after a successful release, I pointed out that what he had done was something that still eluded me and seemed that only those with years of experience did regularly. We stood in the trickle of water, replayed the fight and estimated the size of the fish at around 22 inches. Handing over my fly rod, he enlightened me on the finer points of steelhead fishing, laughed, and went back to his spinning rod.

As the afternoon progressed, my brother hooked into three more fish, landing one of them, a 17-inch kamlooper. Not only had he caught his first steelhead, but also his first ‘looper, giving him the two main spring species anglers look for on the north shore. I chalked it up to beginner’s luck combined with my brother’s mojo.

The sun peaked through the pines and leafless spring aspens as it made its trek toward the evening skies. I prepared to end my day fishless on the north shore as usual, but happy that my brother had met with such success. I flipped my offering into the water one final time and traced the movement with my rod tip. Suddenly, I didn’t feel the rig, only the sensation of dead weight.

-I pulled up on the rod and it buckled hard. The knob on the whirring fly reel hit my knuckles as the fish ran. I could tell it was big, and from his vantage point, my brother confirmed it was the biggest trout he had ever seen – even bigger than my lost kamlooper. As the minutes wore on, the fish made countless runs, never tiring, never losing the advantage of the swift river around it. Over and over again, it would come shallow, in a streak of silver and metallic pink, as if to wink at me, and then teasingly charge back into the flow. As the runs subsided, the fish seemed to voluntarily swim to-and-fro just a few feet in front of me, as if to say, “Alright, I’ll let you win this one.”

My brother gently clasped the fish around the tail and under its belly and lifted it to me. And there it was, beaming in the late afternoon sunlight, my first steelhead.

Five trips to these tributaries spread out over two springs filled with snow, wind, rain, sleet, numb toes and frozen fingers culminated in this one fish, born of the very water I stood in. And for the first time in my adventures along the north shore, the sunlit scales of a steelhead became my silver lining’in our outdoors.

Livebait is back, baby. You better believe it. Despite the buzz about plastics, the reality is, walleyes eat live bait. Period. In the end, all artificial lures lack two potent, inimitable ingredients: organic random movement and instinctive flight response. In the presence of predators, live baits like minnows exhibit a set of natural, random escape maneuvers. These moves represent the single most effective strike triggers in existence. Often, walleyes (and other species) simply will not ingest an offering until they’ve examined it for extended periods. Without all the little shakes, twitches and retreat signals performed by live bait, sometimes you simply will not get bit.

Finesse livebait rig fishing caught this lady.

Talk is talk. Yet the truth lives within the boats of master walleye men. Inside the baitwells of anglers the likes of Gary Roach and Bruce “Doc” Samson reside a perpetual, steady supply of fresh live bait. Let’s begin with Mr. Walleye himself.

Roach on Rigging

“When the going gets tough, it’s still tough to beat a Roach (live bait) Rig, even after all these years,” states the venerable Roach. “Quick-Change Walking Sinker, ant swivel, fine-wire VMC cone-cut hook, and Roach Finesse Snell still the deadliest livebait delivery system ever devised.” The real beauty of the rig, Roach says, lies in its simplicity. But it’s a deceptive simplicity, Roach adds.

“This rig didn’t happen overnight. It took years of fishing effort, tweaking and redesigning.” The result, Roach says, is a rig that simply places bait in the walleye’s face, then steps back and allows the tasty morsel to steal the show. “Keep a rig and active live bait in front of a walleye, and eventually, she’ll eat. It’s as close to a sure thing there is.”

Crawler Haulin’ Hawgs

There are times, of course – especially as water warms in summer – when extra speed, bulk and flash trigger big fish. It’s why when Roach finds walleyes on broad flats, he reaches for the bottom bouncer rods. “When walleyes get cranked up in summer, I love running a big spinner rig,” Roach continues. “Flashy Colorado blades, beefed up #6 beads and a 4-foot snell tied with 17-pound test Berkley XT and run behind a bottom bouncer – it’s a package that puts a fat juicy crawler in front of a lot of big ‘eyes.”

Developed on the Great Lakes and windswept western reservoirs, the Crawler Hauler by Northland Fishing Tackle is equally at home on shallow, dark water rivers and lakes. “Lots of times, bulking up your rig is far more effective than the usual tendency to downsize, especially for big fish, and at night,” Roach contends.

Thumper Jigging

Longtime tournament ace and electronics guru, Doc Samson, agrees. “Live bait is simply about confidence,” Samson offers. “Even in the toughest bites, live bait adds the extra dimensions of natural scent and movement. As Gary says, eventually something’s going to eat it.”

For Samson, live bait has been like money in the bank. In 2002, he walked away with a cool $300K, winning the FLW Championship with Roach Rigs and minnows. More recently, he cashed a first place check at a PWT event at Ottertail Lake, Minnesota, rigging a 1/16-ounce Northland Thumper Jig and leech below a slip-float. “I love blade jigs like the Thumper,” Samson reveals.

“Lots of fishermen think they’re for dirty water only. Actually, they shine in clear water; I think the flash of the little spinner better attracts walleyes in clear water, because there’s more light available to reflect off the blades.” Walleyes, Samson believes, detect the subtle baitfish-like flash of the blades flickering near the bottom, and swim over to eat. A vigorous leech seals the deal.

“Rig your float rig so the jig hovers just inches off bottom,” he instructs. “In troughs between waves, the jig dips and the blade just rubs bottom – looks exactly like a silvery-sided baitfish. Tipped with a leech, this is a real go-to method,” he offers, with a grin.

Keeping Your Soldiers Happy

For live bait artists like Roach and Samson, proper bait care is key – but it’s also the one step most anglers fail to execute. “My baits are like my soldiers,” says Samson. “They’re always fresh and ready for combat. I often see guys fishing bait that’s in really sorry shape. I want to tell them they might as well be fishing with an old sock.”

To assure your bait stays healthy and happy, follow a few simple steps:

Minnows – Maintain a steady cool environment in your bait container (under 60-degrees whenever possible), adding non-chlorinated ice to baitwells as water warms. Avoid adding too much ice at once, which can shock and kill baitfish. Keep water infused with a steady stream of oxygen, too. An insulated baitwell, such as a Frabill Aqua-Life Bait Station, provides a cool, aerated baitfish environment. Change water every day in cooler weather; several times on hot summer days.

Little things can affect how your live bait rig runs

Crawlers – The ‘happiest’ environment for crawlers is within an insulated cooler filled with slightly damp (not soggy) worm bedding. Bedding is cleaner and makes for robust crawlers. Frabill offers a great bait care product called the Habitat Deluxe Worm Kit. The kit includes a large insulated ‘Habitat’ cooler, smaller cooler for toting enough bait for a trip, a pack of specially-formulated Super-Gro bedding, and even a jar of crawler food. Here’s an old guide secret: just minutes before fishing, place a crawler into a small cup of cool water. The crawler will swell in size, becoming fat and frisky on the hook. Don’t over soak.

Leeches Like baitfish, leeches require cool, clean water. Most top walleye anglers keep leeches in a container like a Frabill Leech Tote, which fits nicely inside your boat’s aerated livewell. The Tote features a removable bait strainer that lets you hand-select the choicest leeches in the stash.

As long as walleyes swim, livebait will remain a prime presentation. Put a frisky minnow, leech or crawler in a walleye’s face and it’s over. They just can’t help themselves.

Then again, doe hunting doesn’t quite get the credit it deserves. In fact, when stories of deer seasons past bounce around like an empty pop can in the box of a pickup, odds are you won’t hear many recollections about “the time Joe got that doe down in the coulee.”

Buck management starts with regulating does

Seriously, next time the coffee conversation kicks up a deer hunting story and the rest of the crew begin adding their own into the mix, keep a mental count of how many include our antlerless deer. My guess is not too many, but when you really think about it in terms of total licenses, you realize that the majority of the deer hunting effort and harvest is does.
That wasn’t always the case. It wasn’t too long ago that deer numbers were such that some hunters applied a doe license just so they had a reasonable chance of getting to hunt deer at all.

Nowadays, about 90 percent of hunters in North Dakota’s first deer lottery drawing apply for a buck license, knowing there aren’t enough buck licenses to go around, but that antlerless licenses will be available in most units after the first lottery.

Part of the interest in these remaining licenses is that they can be used in their designated unit during the regular deer rifle season with any legal firearm or bow, the archery season with a bow, and also during the muzzleloader season with a legal blackpowder gun.

From a deer management standpoint in North Dakota, does are the key. Game and Fish Department big Bill Jensen relates, “The way you control the deer population is not by shooting bucks, but by shooting does.”

Jensen said each adult doe will, on average, give birth to two fawns in the spring. So, for example, if that adult doe is not bagged this fall, by next November there will be three deer running around instead of just one. “Deer are a pretty forgiving species,” Jensen said, “so if you just allow them to do their thing and reproduce, they are pretty easy to manage.

“But once you’ve hit your goals and you have to start controlling the population, then it becomes much more difficult in balancing the harvest rate. “We need to get a good doe harvest in order to control deer populations …it’s as simple as that,” he said. “And if hunters are not doing that, if they are not helping in the process of harvesting does, they are not fostering sound deer management.”

I’m not exactly sure when or why doe hunting for meat became a stigma for some hunters. But obviously it is not that way for a majority of hunters, who eagerly snap up nearly all of the antlerless licenses the Department makes available.
Jensen partly attributes a societal shift to the change in philosophy of some hunters. “When I was growing up, and maybe this is misperception, but it was nice if you got a big buck,” he said.“But it was more important that you got meat.”

People had more of a tie to the land back then, Jensen said. They grew up on farms and looked at animals as something to garnish the dinner table, not adorn a wall. “Whereas now, there has been a one or two generational shift in families away from the farm, and hunting has become more of a social event, a rekindling of family traditions.”
I totally relate to hunting as a social event … but deer on the table as the ultimate objective. Whether it’s me and my son, or your regular crew, the faces will change, but the passion for deer hunting in North Dakota remains, just like a good story at coffee, it never goes cold.

At a near run, you step over the crest of the small hill to the other side that leads down to the oak bottom and wonder where the deer bounded after it left your sight. With the scent of gunpowder fading, you follow the sign in the brown leaves and dry grass and look ahead, scanning from side to side of the clearing leading down toward the creek bottom. Riding high on the adrenaline rush, you almost miss it, but your senses snap your head back to the twinkling of white bone amidst the twigs and leaf litter.

Some small taxidermy tips can really help preserve your mount - see free taxidermy catalogs for more mounting ideas

A second wave of excitement obliterates the crumbling wall of composure you had left. The biggest buck you’ve ever hunted lays before you, the reward for chilly March days of shed hunting on these hillsides, mosquito-filled scouting missions in July, and October evenings occupied by checking the trail cam. But now what?

For many hunters, harvesting a trophy buck is a once-in-a-lifetime accomplishment, and preserving the memory for years to come most often takes the form of a full chest mount to hang in the den, office or rec room. But most hunters don’t think about caping and caring for their trophy until after the shot has been fired. According to Jamie Risovi, one of the region’s most renowned big game taxidermists, preserving the memory and the animal should be one of the top considerations hunters have when they set out on opening day.

Growing Recognition
Risovi, of New Rockford, ND owns Risovi Taxidermy Studio (www.risovitaxidermystudio.com) and has produced acclaimed fish, bird and big game mounts for the better part of the past decade. In 2008, Risovi’s impressive mount of a massive-racked whitetail deer, preserved as it was taken – in full velvet with just two points poking through – won the Whitetail Deer category in the National Taxidermy Championship in Lubbock, Texas. With multiple first place awards and top three finishes over the past five years in a variety of taxidermy categories in both North Dakota and South Dakota, as well as national and worldwide competitions, Risovi has used his love of hunting, fishing and the outdoors to perfect his art.

His passion for taxidermy began at a young age in the trophy room of his great uncle, Alfred Klumph. Dall sheep, brown bears and a multitude of other game adorned the walls and captivated Risovi’s imagination. He began by doing taxidermy on his own, then with his father for a few years. Eventually, friends took notice of his craft and began asking him to do their mounts.

From that point, and for the past twelve years or so, Risovi has been providing professional taxidermy services for clients from across the country. This has given him insight into the preparation of animals for preservation, and his skill in his trades of both taxidermy and as a sixth-grade teacher allows him to provide outdoorsmen with tips on caring for their big game from the field to his front door.

A Trio of Tips
For the best mounts, Risovi has a number of recommendations that hunters should consider, starting first with the proper skinning and cleaning techniques that can be found on his website. Before the hunt, especially if traveling out-of-state or country, hunters should have the logistics figured out for the transport of their game in accordance with new laws and regulations. For in-state transport to his studio, or to any other taxidermist, he has three primary rules for animals that are to be preserved.

“Keep it clean, keep it dry and keep it cool,” Risovi remarks on caring for a trophy deer cape.
Risovi recommends that hunters do their best to keep the animal’s fur free from excess blood and keep the skin from getting coated with dirt and debris.

“Blood can be washed off, but the cape shouldn’t be hosed down,” Risovi qualifies his advice, stressing his second tip – keep the cape dry – as exposure to water and excess moisture can compromise the quality of a mount.
He suggests that when transporting the animal or the cape, it should be covered while on the road, especially in snow or rain, and that it should be brought to the taxidermist as soon as possible.

Finally, Risovi suggests keeping the cape and head of a deer cool, and while it is best to get the cape to a taxidermist without freezing it, storage for a brief time in a freezer is acceptable. Risovi recommends wrapping the cape and head in a plastic bag, squeezing out all of the air, and tying the bag off. Repeat the process with two more bags, making sure that as much air as possible is removed, preventing circulation and its side-effect, freezer burn.

R&R – Racks and Relaxation
“Most nights in the winter, I’ll work as late as midnight,” says Risovi, “in the summer, when not teaching, I put in 10- to 12-hour days,” he continues, remarking that taxidermy is one of those jobs where if you love what you’re doing, you don’t mind going to work.

“It’s relaxing for me, otherwise I wouldn’t be out there til two in the morning,” he states with a slight chuckle.
If that’s the case, he’s got a lot of relaxation in front of him as the demand for his services rises during and after the deer firearms season. While not everyone can go to Risovi for their taxidermy projects, he has advice for those people looking to preserve their memorable hunt through a quality taxidermist. The first and foremost is: you get what you pay for.

“Quality isn’t expensive,” states Risovi, “it’s priceless.”
If you want a mount that will match the majesty of the animal you’ve hunted, don’t skimp on the expense. Keep your ear to the rail, talk to those people who have used taxidermists in your area with good results and more importantly, visit the studio where your work will be done.

“I invite people to view my website, but they will get a better idea if they can come see the work in person – so go to the showroom,” he stresses.

In relation to quality, Risovi says hunters should expect turn-around times of about a year on their mounts. Anything that takes well over a year, or comes back too quickly raises some serious questions about the quality of work.
“If I think it is going to take more than a year, I generally don’t take the work,” Risovi says, “good taxidermists stay busy,” he continues, stressing that mounts are continuously processed and he has a solid seasonal system of getting hides to the tannery in winter, and set on the mounts in the summer.

When the mounts are returned to his clients after his award-winning touch has been applied, people see that his dedication to provide quality work in a responsive manner all comes together in the final product. Risovi advises his clients that a little bit of maintenance will go a long way. Wipe the mount with a damp cloth from time to time to keep it dust free and mount it in an area of the house where it won’t be exposed to moisture or grease and it will remain in good shape for many years.

With these tips from a veteran taxidermist, from what to do before the hunt on through years of stories told under the antlers, hunters will be ready when the moment arrives to preserve their trophy and the memories made…in our outdoors.

For more information on Jamie Risovi and his tips to prepare your trophy for taxidermy, visit www.risovitaxidermystudio.com or stop by his studio at 1116 3rd Avenue North, New Rockford, ND or call (701)947-2048.

Good news for North Dakota deer hunters this year is that the Sportsmen Against Hunger venison donation program is back in full operation

Last year, the program only accepted deer donated by bowhunters, because of concerns over the possibility of lead particles from bullets remaining in processed venison.

Sportsmen Against Hunger is growing in popularity

In North Dakota, the program works like this. Statewide the North Dakota Community Action Partnership, a nonprofit agency that serves low-income households, raises funds to pay for processing of harvested deer donated by hunters. Hunters take the deer they want to donate to a participating processer, who turns the deer into packages of ground venison.

Local food pantries offer it as an option to people who come in for help in meeting their nutritional needs.

In March 2008 Community Action voluntarily discarded several thousand pounds of donated venison upon recommendations from the state departments of Heath, Agriculture and Game and Fish, after an investigation discovered lead particles in donated venison at three different processing facilities. Lead is a toxic substance that
even at low levels is dangerous to young children as it can inhibit neurological development.

“The venison donation program was growing nicely at that time and it was a big loss to our food pantries and the people who depend on them,” said Ann Pollert, executive director of NDCAP.

In the summer of 2008, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tested blood from more than 700 North Dakotans, most of whom had consumed venison taken with lead bullets, for lead levels. Test results showed that nearly all study participants had some detectable lead in their blood; however, none had a level high enough to require medical evaluation.

In addition, although the study did not include many children, nearly all the children in the study had detectable lead in their blood. The North Dakota Department of Health developed the following recommendations to minimize the risk to people who are most vulnerable to the effects of lead: (1) Pregnant women and children younger than 6 should not eat any venison harvested with lead bullets; and (2) older children and other adults should take steps to minimize their potential exposure to lead, and use their own judgment about consuming game taken with lead-based ammunition.

This year, Pollert said the program has enough funds to handle more than 700 donated deer. Processors will not accept deer shot in the hind quarters for the SAH program. In addition, donated deer will be processed individually, or only with other donated deer.

The list of participating processers is available at the website www.capnd.org. Hunters should contact the processer prior to bringing a deer in, to make sure there is still a slot available, as Sportsmen Against Hunger can only fund a certain number of deer in each local area.

North Dakota Game and Fish Department Director Terry Steinwand said the SAH plan is good news for state deerhunters. “The option for donating a deer means more opportunities for hunters,” Steinwand said. “Sportsmen Against Hunger is an excellent program and we’re glad it’s returning to full operation.”

In addition to accepting deer shot with firearms, SAH strongly encourages bowhunters to continue donating deer as well. “We had great support from bowhunters last year,” Pollert said. “ Thanks to support from nearly two dozen wildlife clubs across the state
we have enough funds to increase the number of deer we can accept this year, and our food pantries tell us they have a demand for all that we can provide them.”

This fall, if you have an interest in donating a deer, check out the CAP website for more information. Sportsmen Against Hunger is a great program and well worth our support.

Leier is a biologist with the Game and Fish Department. He can be reached by email: dleier@nd.gov.

2009 Chevy Silverado

Not only does Silverado offer unsurpassed fuel economy in its class, it offers the lowest cost of ownership of any full-size pickup truck.5 And OnStar’s7 Safe & Sound Plan comes standard for the first year in Silverado and Silverado HD. An OnStar Advisor is always ready to help in a variety of situations, whether you’ve locked your keys in the vehicle,8 you have a flat tire, or the air bags9 have deployed.

When you drive a Silverado, you’re ready to tackle the great outdoors. The only thing you have to worry about is where to have your next adventure. So if you’re on the hunt for America’s best truck, look no further than Silverado.

DISCLAIMERS:

(1) EPA estimated MPG city/highway (2WD): Silverado XFE 15/21 vs. Ford F-150 15/21, and Toyota Tundra with 4.6L V8 15/20.
(2) Based on GM Large Pickup segment and Silverado Crew Cab 4×4 with available 5.3L V8 EPA est. MPG 14 city, 20 hwy.
(3) Based on 2009 GM Large Pickup segment.
(4) Whichever comes first. See dealer for details.
(5) Based on Vincentric’s 2009 Model Level Analysis
(6) Dependability based on longevity: 1981 – July 2008 full-size pickup registrations. Excludes other GM divisions.
(7) Call 1-888-4ONSTAR (1-888-466-7827) or visit onstar.com for details and system limitations.
(8) Capabilities vary by model. Visit onstar.com for details and system limitations.
(9) Always use safety belts and the correct restraint for your child’s age and size. Even in vehicles equipped with the Passenger Sensing System, children are safer when properly secured in a rear seat in the appropriate infant, child, or booster seat. Never place a rear-facing infant restraint in the front seat of any vehicle equipped with a passenger air bag. See the Owner’s Manual and child safety seat instructions for more safety information.

Year after year, the approach of the deer firearms opener causes something to stir in the souls of outdoorsmen. Tags are placed in secure spot, the final preparation of shooting lanes occurs in the woods and walking hunters map out their favorite draws, ravines and creekbottoms for opening day. With all the excitement comes the renewed call for extra caution in the field. Each year, guys like me fill a column like this with the usual “be safe out there” story. We do so not because there’s nothing newsworthy going on but because it is important, year in and year out, to remind everyone of the responsibility that comes with the right and privilege we have to hunt.

Hunting safe should always be a priority

Each year, the responsibility continues. The only way we can come through on behalf of our brothers and sisters in the field is to make sure we conduct our hunts in a safe manner. What follows are some tips to help make this year the safest – if not the best – hunting season ever.

Know Before You Go
Have a plan in place for the opening weekend and beyond. Leave contact and location information regarding your hunt at home with a family member, neighbor or non-hunting friend. Leave directions to the deer camp, locations of stands, and areas you plan to hunt along with that information. Note your departure, return times and check in times with your contact. Have every detail planned out ahead of time and have contingencies in place and noted. Know all aspects of the hunt, and be prepared for the unforeseen. Making a hunting trip safety information sheet will keep vital data handy for your contact. Type one up for yourself and attach maps and routes, or download one here. (Hunter Safety Sheet). A safe hunt begins well before you pick up a firearm.

A Stand for Safety

Recent surveys reveal that over 80 percent of all deer hunters either have been injured in a fall from an elevated hunting stand, or know someone who has been hurt when the unexpected happened. Many of these situations occurred simply because the hunter involved failed to wear a safety harness with proper fall restraint. While a fall from as little as four feet can kill or paralyze a person, most hunters who choose to rise above their quarry hunt at heights of 15 feet or more. From those points, most any fall without a fall restraint means serious injury or death. Wearing a safety harness and proper fall restraint would prevent a majority of those injuries. Inspect safety harnesses and lanyards for fraying or material compromise. Discard damaged harnesses and restraints and replace them with new ones.

Other injuries occur when treestand failure happens. To prevent stands from breaking down, collapsing or becoming detached, stands should be taken down after each hunting season and re-installed the next year. Prior to installation they should be inspected to see that all parts are in working order, that they connect solidly to each other and that the chosen tree is healthy, and of proper size to support the stand and hold it securely.

Do not use tree stands you did not install yourself. Do not use wooden tree stands that have been in the woods for any period of time. Do not use nailed plywood, two-by-fours or other makeshift stands which have been compromised by the elements. They are disasters waiting to happen.

Blinded
A trend on the rise during the firearms deer season is the use of ground blinds made from wood or natural materials, or pop-up style blinds to help hunters conceal their locations. When pursuing deer during the firearms season, blaze orange is a mandatory color for a large part of a hunter’s body. However, this warning to other hunters can’t be seen when its concealed by the materials of a hunting blind.

This season, many agencies throughout the upper Midwest are placing elevated importance on letting hunters know of occupied blinds. Recommendations from the North Dakota Game and Fish Department include placing blaze orange material atop and around the blind to provide more visibility of the hunting station to those who may be hunting nearby. Other suggestions include securing blaze orange materials such as tape or signs to trees, fence posts and other nearby objects letting others know of your presence, should you opt for a blind this season. This new wrinkle on hunting, which is growing in popularity, changes the rules for a safe hunt, but not the ultimate rule.

The Ultimate in Safety
Each year it comes down to knowing where your firearm is pointed, knowing where your target is, and knowing what lies in front of, behind and around your line of fire. Thinking it is a safe shot is not enough – you have to know. The ultimate responsibility lies with the person holding the firearm.

The shot cannot be called back, so take a second look. Do not allow buck fever, adrenaline or excitement to overcome your responsibilities as a hunter. Before you pull the trigger be absolutely certain the shot is safe. Don’t shoot at noise or a concealed target. Know, know, know.

Take to the field with confidence. Be well prepared, be safe, and be certain of every aspect of your hunt before you pull the trigger. It’s not the same old advice from year to year, it’s the same good advice for a safe hunt…in our outdoors.