The Daily News

Last weekend my wife, Patti, and my daughter-in-law, Vicky, and I flew to Snowbird, Utah on a sort of work/vacation and it was a blast. It was my first visit to a big time ski resort, even though it was the off-season, and the view of the mountain from our motel room was spectacular.

I was there “working” as I did some seminars at a big 3-D shoot for an archery group called Bowcast.com. They had hauled 60 heavy, life-sized targets up the mountain and set them up in hunting situations.

The first order of business was getting up the mountain and that provided me with my first trip on a ski lift chair. It was a cool, sunny morning and my feet dangled in mid air as I rode the lift and even spotted a bedded mule deer doe and fawn in the timber below. It was silent, exhilarating and just plain fun getting to the top of the mountain.

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There were three archery courses, intermediate, advanced and elite. Like an idiot I chose to shoot the elite course first. That’s when they pointed up a steep, rock-covered slope and said, “It’s up there.”

So, I got together with a couple other bowhunters and we hiked up the alpine slope to shoot the course. The elite course was set up to test the best archers and you had to be physically fit just to climb up there. The shots were long, very long in some cases. I shot at a mule deer buck set up on the mountain top 104 yards away. Another shot was a Dall sheep in the bottom of a canyon 102 yards away. Because of the extremely steep angle, we had to shoot it for 80 yards. We knew the distance only because we were allowed to use laser rangefinders that compensate for the angle.

If you missed a target, your arrow was either destroyed on the rocks or it flew into nothingness over a cliff, never to be seen again. Surprisingly, I only destroyed three arrows and lost none. In fact, I hit the 102 yard Dall sheep right in the heart! I don’t know what happened.

The point of such a grueling, difficult course became evident when I walked up to a mountain lion target that was 58 yards away. I thought to myself, “Finally - an easy shot!” Practicing at long range makes shorter, real-life hunting shots seem like a gimme.

While I tested my skills on the mountain the womenfolk went shopping in Salt Lake City and in Park City and still got back to Snowbird in time to ride the chair lift to the top of another mountain and go on a two-hour horseback ride in the high country, where there was still snow. We’d already spent all of Friday in Salt Lake City and on Sunday they did more shopping and went to the Cliff Spa to do who knows what.

If you haven’t caught on yet, this was one of those trips designed to “make points” just prior to a long, busy hunting season. I think it might have worked.

NEW SEASONS

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department has set their 2009 small game and furbearer seasons and there doesn’t appear to be any major changes.

The primary hunting seasons will kick off with the mourning dove season on Sept. 1, followed by the grouse and partridge opener on September 12th. Those seasons will run through Jan. 3 and the bag limits remain the same at 3 grouse and 3 partridge daily and the possession limit for both is 12.

The more exotic species such as sandhill crane, snipe and woodcock will open on Sept. 19. Interestingly, you can take 8 snipe per day! I wonder how many small game hunters have actually pulled that off?

Although the federal framework for the waterfowl season has not been finalized the duck and goose season for North Dakota’s resident hunters will open on Sept. 26. Nonresident hunters will have to wait for the weekend of Oct. 3 to start their pursuit of waterfowl.

The season on tundra swans, for those with the special license, will open on Oct. 3 and the pheasant season will begin on October 10. Despite the tough winter and relatively poor nesting conditions the daily limit on pheasants will remain 3 roosters per day and 12 in possession.

The complete waterfowl regulations will be available in late August.

LIONS

Since the mountain lion is considered a furbearer that season is also included in the small game and furbearer proclamation. This year the mountain lion season will open on September 4 and will continue through March 31, 2010. The season format is the same as last year with the western third of the state being in the quota area. That’s Zone 1 and it will close to lion hunting after the quota of 8 lions is filled. The rest of the state, Zone 2, does not have a quota so hunters can take a lion all season long, as long as they hold a furbearer license.

FIREARMS SAFETY

A Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Firearms Safety Class will be held in Breckenridge in just about a week. The first class will be on Aug. 17 and subsequent classes will be held on Aug. 18, 25, 27, 31, Sept. 1 and the range day will be Sept. 2. Class times will be from 6:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. and the location is the Breckenridge Fire Hall.

To sign up, students must be 12 years old by Nov. 1, 2009 and the class it limited to 24 students. Adults are welcome. To register, or if you have questions call Cindie Van Tassel at 218-643-4374.

NOTES

-Just a reminder. If you’re a N.D. resident and want to apply for a prairie chicken license the deadline to apply is Wednesday, Aug. 12.

-The early Canada goose season opens on Saturday, Aug. 15.

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