SapperDawg
04-04-2016, 09:54 AM
A bit of a trip report for you here. JBJones and I attended the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers Rendezvous in Missoula, MT this weekend. Bottom line, what a great weekend in Montana! This was three days of listening to presentations from the best hunters I have ever met, shooting traditional bows, talking hunting and fishing with great people, and working to keep our public lands in the public trust, and not sold to the highest bidder.
After we arrived Friday, we attended a presentation by Bill Hanlin on an ice man he found in the Yukon during a Dall sheep hunt in 1999. Bill may be the toughest, and nicest, guy I have ever met. In order to do this hunt, they drove 2000 miles, then hiked in 25 miles to set their base camp, and then ventured out 5+ miles from base camp to hunt each day. To make it really interesting, he drew this same tag five years later and discovered even more of the ice man. This is an amazing story that I can't do justice, but you can read about it here:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kw?day_D?n_Ts%27?nchi
That evening was also the brewfest, where 28 Montana craft breweries set up for the event. They are definitely making some good brews in MT. I talked until 3 AM with Hank Shaw about wild foods and cooking at the after party?.definitely a highlight for me personally. He has a new book coming out called "Buck, Buck, Moose" that will make a great addition to your wild foods library.
Saturday was the main event, starting with a public land elk hunting seminar by Randy Newburg. He laid out his method of targeting hunting areas, outlining scouting days, timelines and back up planning. This was a superb presentation, and I learned some things that will apply to both my elk and deer hunting adventures.
I attended a llama pack animal hands-on session, only because it was outside on a beautiful day, as I was not really interested in this topic. I was completely wrong. I can totally see how using llamas a pack animal would be totally useful in the backcountry, and Beau and Kirstin Baty are great people. If I decide to hunt Idaho, I will be calling http://www.wildernessridgetrailllamas.com/about-us/ for a rental.
After the llamas, I got to spend some time with an archery instructor shooting a recurve for an hour or so, and made up my mind that I am going to take up traditional archery. The product show associated with this event was great. I enjoyed getting to put hands on and showroom the things that we don't normally see in our stores - high end hunting boots, backpacks, First Lite gear, etc.
There was a wild game cook off between five of the Western BHA chapters, judged by Steven Rinella and the MeatEater crew. There were some great dishes, my favorite was fried quail on a pancake with collard greens and corned elk heart, prepared by JR Young. I will be making corned heart with the next big game heart I get.
At the banquet ending the day, Steve was the keynote speaker, and made some great points about preserving our public areas. He is a great storyteller, and if you get a chance to attend one of his talks, make time to go. Some great auctions were on the tables, and raised a fair amount of funds for the organization. Also watched a short film by Clay Hayes, Untamed, which is worth your time:
http://youtu.be/DwGGyC8XXV8
We ended the trip Sunday morning with a live episode of the MeatEater podcast focused on themes and issues surrounding our public lands. This was an excellent event, and I will definitely be going back next year. BHA is a great organization that is growing by leaps and bounds, and I encourage everyone that loves to hunt and fish to join.
After we arrived Friday, we attended a presentation by Bill Hanlin on an ice man he found in the Yukon during a Dall sheep hunt in 1999. Bill may be the toughest, and nicest, guy I have ever met. In order to do this hunt, they drove 2000 miles, then hiked in 25 miles to set their base camp, and then ventured out 5+ miles from base camp to hunt each day. To make it really interesting, he drew this same tag five years later and discovered even more of the ice man. This is an amazing story that I can't do justice, but you can read about it here:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kw?day_D?n_Ts%27?nchi
That evening was also the brewfest, where 28 Montana craft breweries set up for the event. They are definitely making some good brews in MT. I talked until 3 AM with Hank Shaw about wild foods and cooking at the after party?.definitely a highlight for me personally. He has a new book coming out called "Buck, Buck, Moose" that will make a great addition to your wild foods library.
Saturday was the main event, starting with a public land elk hunting seminar by Randy Newburg. He laid out his method of targeting hunting areas, outlining scouting days, timelines and back up planning. This was a superb presentation, and I learned some things that will apply to both my elk and deer hunting adventures.
I attended a llama pack animal hands-on session, only because it was outside on a beautiful day, as I was not really interested in this topic. I was completely wrong. I can totally see how using llamas a pack animal would be totally useful in the backcountry, and Beau and Kirstin Baty are great people. If I decide to hunt Idaho, I will be calling http://www.wildernessridgetrailllamas.com/about-us/ for a rental.
After the llamas, I got to spend some time with an archery instructor shooting a recurve for an hour or so, and made up my mind that I am going to take up traditional archery. The product show associated with this event was great. I enjoyed getting to put hands on and showroom the things that we don't normally see in our stores - high end hunting boots, backpacks, First Lite gear, etc.
There was a wild game cook off between five of the Western BHA chapters, judged by Steven Rinella and the MeatEater crew. There were some great dishes, my favorite was fried quail on a pancake with collard greens and corned elk heart, prepared by JR Young. I will be making corned heart with the next big game heart I get.
At the banquet ending the day, Steve was the keynote speaker, and made some great points about preserving our public areas. He is a great storyteller, and if you get a chance to attend one of his talks, make time to go. Some great auctions were on the tables, and raised a fair amount of funds for the organization. Also watched a short film by Clay Hayes, Untamed, which is worth your time:
http://youtu.be/DwGGyC8XXV8
We ended the trip Sunday morning with a live episode of the MeatEater podcast focused on themes and issues surrounding our public lands. This was an excellent event, and I will definitely be going back next year. BHA is a great organization that is growing by leaps and bounds, and I encourage everyone that loves to hunt and fish to join.