Western Hunting Journal, Premiere Issue whj001_premiere | Page 64

The authors rifle, a Savage Light-
weight Hunter in 7mm-08, rest on
its perch after shooting a mature
Idaho mule deer.
Below, Notching his tag on mature
mule deer, the author takes the
time to reflect on his hunt.
to lift the three-point restric-
tion for bucks and you can
harvest two deer during the
general season if you wish to
buy a second non-resident tag.
Even when the heavy snow-
storms hit last winter causing
a panic amongst mule deer
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WESTERN HUNTING JOURNAL
hunters throughout the West
and especially Idaho, the deer
of the Middle Fork did very
well. Used to cold temperatures
and thanks to a very late winter
arrival the deer made it into
January with good fat reserves.
Idaho Fish and Game prepared
hunters for a possible disas-
ter but once the spring thaw
came the deer surveys showed
that most of the younger class
animals did suffer drastically
but the healthy middle-aged
and even older, mature-aged
deer survived with normal loss
rates. This next year the hunt-
ing should be good, though
you will find fewer younger
bucks and does and that might
be a concern for the following
years. It all depends on this
past spring’s fawn recruitment
and how this next winter fares.
For now, IDFG is optimistic for
the Middle Fork mule deer.
A mile from the airstrip is
one of the many homestead
ranches. The homesteads were
part of the great American
West and settlers came from
the east to find riches and a
new life. This life was simple,
and hard, with the flood plains
created eons ago as water
eroded the steep mountains
into fertile soils for alfalfa,
corn, beans and other crops.
Cattle, sheep, and horses were
raised at the settlements.
Still today, while hiking the
creek drainages, you find many
large flat openings and if you
take a good look around you
will often find the remains of
a rock pile where the land was
cleared, or a rough-cut fence,
the foundation of a house, and
even a metal plow that once
toiled the land. The ranch that
is near the airstrip where I hunt
is still a working lodge with a
large grass field where younger
deer are spotted feeding in the
fields each evening. The ranch
was first established over a
hundred years ago by two fur
trappers named Voller and Mc-
Nerney, and later a local Ida-
hoan named Tom McCall ran
a fishing and hunting camp as
well as a small sawmill at the
site. Eventually the ranch was
sold and a large lodge was built
with a swimming pool heat-
ed by natural hot springs and
used as a retreat for presidents