| FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2016
8A |
Hunters
anxious
to take
bobcats
ILLINOIS DNR:
Only 500 permits
will be issued for
November season
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SPRINGFIELD, Ill.
New numbers from the
Illinois Department of
Natural Resources show
that the number of people
applying for the states first
legal bobcat hunt was 13
times more than the num-
ber of available permits.
The Southern Illinoisan
reported that nearly 6,500
hunters applied for 500
permits.
The recipients will be
chosen through a lottery in
about two weeks and noti-
fied by mail. Permits cant
be transferred to other
people once theyre award-
ed.
Gov. Bruce Rauner
signed a law last year al-
lowing bobcat hunting
after the department de-
termined the current
population of about 5,000
bobcats is stable. The ani-
mal was removed from the
states threatened species
list in 1999 and being put
on the list in 1977.
The recovery of the bob-
cat population in Illinois
is a conservation success
story for everyone, Illinois
Department of Natural Re-
sources spokesman Chris
Young said.
Management of bobcats
through a regulated hunt-
ing and trapping season
is the next step in its long-
term conservation.
Animal welfare groups
opposed the plan because
they argue the hunting
could harm the still-recov-
ering population.
Illinois Bobcat Conser-
vation encouraged their
members to apply for per-
mits to keep them away
from those who would use
them to hunt or trap bob-
cats.
I decided to enter the
lottery for a hunting permit
because I felt that was the
only way for me to exercise
my right to continue to op-
pose this legislation, stat-
ed Illinois Bobcat Conser-
vation founder Jen Kuroda
in an email.
Spokesman Harmon
said he will decide during
the General Assemblys fall
veto session if he will move
the bill or wait for a future
opportunity.
Im committed to revis-
iting the issue, Harmon
said Monday.
Each of the 500 permit
holders will be allowed to
take one bobcat, either by
hunting, trapping or sal-
vaging roadkill, during the
season, which runs from
Nov. 10 to Jan. 31.
Illinois outlawed bobcat
hunting in 1972
Wisconsin duck hunters enjoying early start to waterfowl season
By PAUL A. SMITH
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
GRANTSBURG, Wis. The
2016 Wisconsin waterfowl hunt-
ing season was off to a fine start
in Jim Bennetts duck camp.
And the first shotgun had yet to
sound.
How are we doing? asked
Ben Elfelt of Stacy, Minn., to the
group early last Saturday. His
words were as much a greeting as
a question.
But Dave Kell of Hudson, Wis.,
FYI OUTDOORS
Taking the time to teach a young hunter the simpliest tasks, such as tying snaps and strings onto duck decoys, helps create the knowledge and know-how that
A grandfathers gift
becomes part of the hunting heritage. | H-W File Photo
Teaching how to tie snaps for duck decoys helps link generations of outdoorsmen
MATT SCHUCKMAN
C
Senior Writer | mschuckman@whig.com
harlie Wear pushes
two stools close to his
work bench, knowing
his 9-year-old grand-
sons feet will dangle
above the floor because of the
height of those stools.
But he has no other choice.
The abundance of space the
work bench offers provides an
ideal spot to lay out everything
they need spools of string,
brass snaps and a dozen mallard
decoys. Plus, its the ideal time to
teach his grandson, Wyatt, how
to prep for waterfowl season,
especially if the youngster intends
to spend weekend mornings in a
duck blind with his grandpa.
I dont know if he will still
be hunting when hes 15, 20, 25
years old, Wear said. But if he
is, I want him to have the knowl-
edge of how to do things right.
My wife might tell you Im not
all that wise, but what wisdom I
have, I want to make sure I pass
it along.
So the two sit together, one
with his feet planted firmly on the
ground and the other swinging
his legs about a foot off the floor.
They are separated by nearly
70 years in age, but not a day in
spirit.
Wyatt, the only son of Wears
seized the moment like a thor-
oughbred with an opening on the
rail.
Got my limit, Kell replied.
Show me your spot, Elfelt
said.
Kell pointed to his tent.
You probably heard the duck
calls, Kell said, imitating the
snoring of a contented camper.
You cant blame a hunter for
dreaming big, especially on the
eve of the opener.
The size of the imaginations
varied, but high excitement was
daughter, Michelle, picks up a
drake decoy, runs his small hands
over the beak and the head and
turns and points the decoy at his
grandpa.
Quack, quack, he says with
the typical high pitch of a 9-year-
olds voice.
The 76-year-old Wear picks
up a hen decoy and points it in
Wyatts direction.
Quack, quack, he bellows
with a gravely, deep voice of man
who has worked outdoors most of
his life.
Back and forth they went, car-
rying on a conversation of that
might seem like silly jibberish
to most. It was a connection for
these two, young and old showing
you can have fun no matter youre
age.
After the playfulness subsided,
Wear pulled a pocket knife out
of his pocket and asked Wyatt
to help him measure lengths of
string they would use to connect
decoys to their weights. There
was no ruler to measure with
and no defined length needed,
so Wear taught Wyatt how to use
his arm to get roughly the right
length for each piece of string.
Wyatt would measure. Wear
would cut.
My arms pretty long, isnt it?
Wyatt said. These are big pieces
of string.
They were just the right size.
You cant grow any bigger,
Wear told Wyatt, or I wont know
how to measure my strings any
longer.
At that moment, Wyatt slid off
the stool, raised his arms as high
as he could and told his grandpa
shared by all 13 members of the
group assembled for the Sept. 24
start of Wisconsins north zone
duck season.
The 2016 gathering marked
the 42nd annual duck camp for
Bennett. We slept in tents, ate
around a campfire and hunted
in the marshes of northwestern
Wisconsin.
If its not heaven, its close,
said Bennett, 65, of New Rich-
mond, Wis.
I hunted last Saturday and
Sunday with Bennett and Elfelt
I want
him to
have
the
knowledge of how
to do things right.
My wife might tell
you Im not all that
wise, but what
wisdom I have, I
want to make sure
I pass it along.
Charlie Wear
he was going to grow to be this
big.
Wear just laughed.
Youre going to get bigger than
that, he said.
Wyatt climbed back to the top
of the stool and began asking
questions about the snaps.
What do they do? Why do we
need them? Theyre awfully shiny,
arent they? Wont the ducks see
them?
He asks a thousand questions,
Wear said. When you answer
those, hell ask a thousand more.
These were good questions,
ones Wear had an answer for
that allowed him to impart some
knowledge and know-how on his
grandson.
Wear took a piece of string in
his caloused hands, picked up a
snap and laced the string through
the loop. At the same time, Wyatt
fumbled with a snap in his left
hand, loosely held a string in his
and their Labradingers (cross of
Labrador retriever and springer
spaniel). Bennett is a breeder of
the sporting dogs.
Saturday dawned gray and
warm with a light southeast wind.
Leopard frogs jumped across the
wet roads outside Grantsburg as
our caravan of vehicles ventured
from campsite to hunting spots.
Bennett started the duck camp
tradition as a way to share his
reverence for waterfowl hunting
with friends and family.
Members have come and gone,
right hand and tried to mimic
everyone of his grandpas move-
ments.
It wasnt so easy, but he wasnt
willing to give up.
I can do it, Grandpa, he said.
Ill show you.
It took a couple of tries, but Wy-
att pushed the string through the
loop without letting it slip back
out and followed every instruc-
tion Wear gave in order to tie it
tight. By the fourth or fifth string
he picked up, Wyatt had figured
out how to hold both pieces and
not fumble either away.
It didnt take long to tie off
a dozen snaps and then tie the
other end to the decoys. Within
an hour, everything was done.
Making homemade weights
would wait for another day, but
Wyatt didnt want to wait that
long to see the snaps and the
strings in action. So Wear found a
couple of old crusty weights, snap
them on the string and loaded a
handful of decoys into the back of
his truck.
They drove out a farm where
Wear had access to a pond that
wasnt too wide and not too deep
and tossed the decoys into the
water. The weights sank, the
decoys rolled from their side to
sitting straight up and Wyatt
enjoyed knowing he had a part in
making that possible.
We did that, Grandpa, he said
running around the pond. We
did that.
Indeed, they did. But what
Wear did that afternoon will have
a more lasting impact.
He linked generations and cre-
ated a hunting heritage.
but the principles have remained
the same.
For Bennett and the group, the
opening of duck season is every
bit as significant if not more so
as the start of deer season.
Weather is nicer, too, Bennett
said.
The group places a premium on
camaraderie. It also prides itself
on hunting in wild, remote spots
not easily accessed if at all
by motorboats.
Killing lots of ducks is not a pri-
ority.