Though we didn't realize it at the time, my brother John and I entered our final season of trapping together my freshman year of college. He was a sophomore, and both of us were attending Rochester Community College. We bought a 1961 Plymouth Valiant with a push-button transmission for $50 to use as our trapping car. We both had 8 AM classes, so we would split up in the morning and run our traplin...  Read More

Games were played on Friday night under the lights, so one Friday after school John decided that we should run out to a spot we knew on the Zumbro River where we might jump some wood ducks. John was an excellent shot, but I couldn't hit the side of a barn with a shotgun unless I was shooting from inside the barn. For that reason, John always let me shoot first. We did find ducks, and as I pulled t...  Read More

Having the right equipment changed everything. For the first time we had everything that we needed to be successful. Winning the prize drawing at the trappers' convention paid off big time, as we were now thoroughly equipped and catching fur almost every day. Professional athletes prepare for years- decades- to be the very best that they can be. God calls us to this same level of commitment. 2 Tim...  Read More

While we were busy year round, fall became the time of year we most looked forward to. We fell into a rhythm that included wading the Zumbro River in the dark before school, checking our muskrat, mink and beaver sets. Then we were walking woodlines and windrows checking sets for fox, racoon and badger. Then we would race home, take a shower, eat breakfast, and head to school. After school, we had ...  Read More

Just a year older, my brother John was the 'Daniel Boone' in the family. Knife throwing, axe throwing, slingshot, BB gun and arrow shooting, raft building, crayfish spearing, gopher trapping and fishing were all on his resume before junior high. As his trusty sidekick, they were on my resume too. About junior high age, we decided that we were going to earn money trapping fur. We had no idea what w...  Read More

I was accustomed to marching long distances with a heavy pack from my infantry days, but this was different. We weren't starting fresh. We were both young and strong, but we had 14 miles on our feet before starting this last eight mile push. The footing was exceptional- some of the best I've ever had. Even the valley floor had a hard packed game trail. Even so, the weight of our packs and the grav...  Read More

By the time Tim and I got back to our camp we already had 14 miles on sore feet. We broke down our tents and gear and carried everything down to the ice patch. I was already bleeding just above both hips. Carrying my Dall sheep and camp off the mountain, my pack was so heavy that I rubbed through the skin a patch about the size of a golf ball on each side. Once we added our meat the packs were so ...  Read More

We woke up to beautiful clear skies. This was 4 days of sunshine and perfect weather in a row. Tim kept saying to me, "This isn't sheep hunting." In a lifetime of Dall sheep hunting, I have never again had such perfect weather. This was good news for Larry, because he had spent the night somewhere in the mountains lying on the ground. We had to repack our meat in new ice because the large chunks t...  Read More

Leaving our meat packed beneath snow and ice, we filled our water bottles, shouldered our packs, and they led me up onto small bench where they had camped. By now it was late afternoon. Larry said, "I'm going to walk 7 miles to the head of this drainage to snoop around. Don't worry about me, I'll spend the night up there." Larry had a sleeping bag, but no tent or sleeping pad. He had no cook stove...  Read More

As I laid sleeping on the ice, Tim and Larry had been stalking a ram. They got close enough for a shot and then settled in to wait for me. Tim and I had taken turns packing a large Sony video camera in a waterproof case. Our hope was to get a great hunting video of one of us getting a Dall sheep. When we split up the day before they took the camera because I was by myself. They finally decided tha...  Read More

Tim and Larry Hand also had a great story. When they got up that morning and saw that the 7 rams we intended to stalk were gone, they decided to head up the valley. After I shot my ram, the other 7 headed deeper into the mountains. They didn't hear my shot, couldn't find me anywhere, but eventually came upon those same rams. They were experienced sheep hunters and between them had killed many rams...  Read More

Larry asked, "Where did you go? When we got up in the morning the sheep were gone, so we waited for you but you never came." I said, "I shot one too."He asked, "Where did you find him? There was only one legal ram in that bunch of seven."I said, "Another ram must have joined them overnight. When I found them this morning there were eight in the bunch with two legal rams. After I cut mine up I brou...  Read More