With ice fishing season here with us I can't help looking back on my last ice fishing season. That was almost thirty years ago.

  I was going to fish a pond in Merrillville, Indiana that was reputed to be bottomless having supplied much of the sand used in constructing Interstate 65. The weather had been near zero for weeks and the ice was about six-inches thick. Shrugging aside the near-blizzard conditions that were going on that day I had heard the fish were biting and I was going.

  I'd been fishing for about an hour and stood up to stretch my legs when I heard what sounded like a rifle shot. Crouching down and looking around I saw a crack in the ice headed my way. About the time I got the words "Oh S**t" out of my mouth the ice gave way and I went through. Luckily I managed to come back up through the hole I had gone through. I pulled my Buck knife out of its belt sheath and used it to get me out by jamming it into the ice and pulling until I was out of the water.

  Back on top of the ice I rolled free of the hole and headed for shore. By the time I reached my 1964 VW beetle my pants legs were frozen solid. I had to drive the mile and a half home through the blizzard standing up with my upper body extended out of the sunroof. Keep in mind these beetles had very little heat.

  I drove without using the clutch or brakes, just the gas peddle, steering with one hand and using the other to keep my glasses clear of the rapidly accumulating ice and snow. I jammed the little car into gears one and two without using the clutch. There was more than enough snow on the ground that I didn't need the brakes.

  I got home and waddled into the house. When I took my pants off, the legs snapped like dry twigs. By the time I got in the shower my entire body, arms and legs were blue. I was lucky to have survived at all! - Mike Truax, Hobart, Indiana.

   As you may recall from Part One of this latest chapter my 2007 hunting season hadn’t been going good up to this point. I had failed to score in my early bow hunting adventures and had come up empty muzzleloader hunting in Oklahoma. Any new-comers to this story can learn all of the forlorn details by reading the February 2007 issue of The Bullet. As for now we’ll continue on.

  Arriving home with my tail between my legs from Oklahoma, I set my hopes, dreams and aspirations on the coming Illinois firearm season. I went about checking, restocking and repacking my supplies. Dumping the muzzleloader stuff for now I got the ol’ Remington 1100 ready for the hunt. My mind had quickly switched gears and all thoughts of the past miserable month of hunting faded to the recesses of my mind. Like a kid anticipating the arrival of Christmas, I eagerly awaited the start of gun season and with it, the rut.

  As it turned out the whole season was pretty much of a downer for everyone but my brother-in-law Tommy. It started with my nephew Tim losing his permits and having to take opening morning to drive several hours to get them replaced. That morning Kenny missed a doe at sixty yards and my son Josh saw several deer and could have taken a doe if they weren’t being chased by dogs. I never saw a thing.

  This pattern continued for us the whole season. Tim did take a fawn doe opening day late in the afternoon. We speculated its momma probably got shot that morning and it was wondering around lost. Kenny took a fawn doe Saturday evening of the second season. It was coming out to one of my food plots. Josh came up empty as did I.

  We didn’t see as many deer as in years past. There was plenty of sign around. Tracks were everywhere as were scraps and rubs. Though the IL DNR denied it, we think the outbreak of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD), incorrectly called “Blue Tongue” by some, affected local deer herds a lot. I heard from several guys that hunt the southern part of the state that they too experienced poor hunting conditions. The most deer I saw at one time were eight does that came within range one morning but I couldn’t get a clear shot through the trees and brush. I also saw a 4 point the last weekend during muzzleloader season. That was pretty much it.

  As I mentioned earlier, Tommy was the only one to have a great season. He took a button buck opening morning and then a real nice 9 pointer on Sunday morning of the first season. He saw a lot of deer and managed to wound a few in the process. Seems my method of hunting is spreading.

  There was one episode that stood out during the whole season. It was one of those times when you wish you had a video camera. So I’ll end this chapter with that little ditty.

  I was able to go a few days before the gun opener to try my luck with the bow one more time. The first morning had resulted in no deer seen so I switched locations to another ground blind on a field edge hoping things would improve.

  I had bought a Renzo buck decoy, there’s their plug, for my trip to Oklahoma and having had a small level of, for the lack of a better word, success with it when a button buck came in close to investigate it. This time I staked it out twenty yards in front of my blind.

  As it approached evening a buck entered the other end of the field and started across. As he made it about half-way across he turned and noticed the decoy staring at him a hundred and fifty yards away. As I fumbled for my grunt call he continued on across the field, crossed a ditch and entered another field.

  Thinking he was going to go on about his business, I grunted at him a few times to try and bring him back. It must have worked as he started down the edge of the field stopping now and then to check out who was issuing a challenge.

  He would walk a little bit then stop. I eventually got a good look at him through the trees and brush. He was a great 8 pointer with at least a sixteen inch inside spread. Definitely a shooter!

  I kept up the grunting and threw in some doe in heat bleats from my Primos Can call, there’s their plug, for good measure. He was very interested in what was going on and kept getting closer. He was slowly working his way around the decoy to my right.

  When he got parallel to the decoy he snorted, jumped back and ran back a few steps in the direction he had came. I thought he had busted me but then I realized what had happened. For those not familiar with the Renzo decoys they are made from corrugated plastic similar to cardboard and they fold flat. The buck had gotten to the point where he was looking straight at the back of it and to him it looked as if it had disappeared. By running back a few steps the decoy appeared again.

  He kept this up for the better part of ten minutes. Walking "behind" the decoy, seeing it disappear, snort, jump and run back only to see it reappear. I kept up with the occasional calling. He never got closer than seventy yards though and if this episode had happened a few days later it would have been a good shot with the slug gun. But I could only watch as he grew tired of this game and wondered off. I even tried rattling to try and coax him back but he didn’t bite.

  There you have it, some of the highs and the lows of my 2007 deer season. One thing’s for sure. The decoy will be back next season and so will I with another chapter in My Series of Unfortunate Hunts. For now the guns are put away and my fishing rods are out. See you in October. Smell ya’ later - Jim Bob.

  The Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission allotted 400 elk hunting permits at its December meeting for the 2008 elk season, and it’s time to get your applications in. The deadline to apply is April 30, three months sooner than in previous years.

  Four hundred elk hunting opportunities in Kentucky? It’s been only a decade since seven wild elk from Kansas leapt from a truck onto a reclaimed Perry County strip mining operation and signaled the start of one of the nation’s largest wildlife restoration efforts. Larger truck loads followed a month later, giving Kentucky its first free-ranging elk herd since before the Civil War.

  In the next few years, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, with partners the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, National Wild Turkey Federation, and a number of volunteers, trapped about 1,500 wild elk from western herds and trucked them to several release sites in southeast Kentucky.

  They became the nucleus of a herd nearing 7,300 animals today and are well on the way to a target of 10,000. Department Big Game Program Coordinator Dr. Tina Brunjes is looking forward to some tremendous elk hunting in the not-to-distant future.

  "I predict we’ll be issuing many more permits someday soon," said Brunjes. "Our herd is growing quickly and it’s a high quality herd too. We have a good number of record book quality elk here now."

  While hunters clearly benefit, as they should since they paid millions through their license purchases and support of conservation organizations involved in the restoration, others have benefited as well.

  Wildlife watchers flock to the elk zone year-round to see and hear the majestic animals, spending their tourism dollars at hotels and restaurants in a part of the state almost barren of watchable wildlife only a few generations ago.

  Businesses offering elk tours capitalize on their magnetism.

  But despite their tremendous popularity and the attention focused on Kentucky’s elk zone by enthusiasts from across the country, elk sometimes get into trouble. They’re attracted to lush golf course fairways, backyard gardens and landscaping, well-kept yards and family cemeteries. Their size and weight can leave deep hoof prints; destroy fences, golf course greens and grave stones.

  Kentucky Fish and Wildlife biologists, technicians and conservation officers will help minimize their impacts. They employ hazing devices and other methods to deter offending animals.

  "The positive impact elk have had on the communities of east Kentucky exceeded our predictions," said Dr. Jon Gassett, commissioner of the department. "We know that they sometimes cause a bit of trouble, but we hope people who are experiencing problems with a nuisance elk will give us a call and let us address the issue."

  "It is not legal for people to just simply kill elk in Kentucky," said Gassett. "There are a number of ways to change their behavior without resorting to lethal means. Our professionals have a lot of experience and understand the elk and have a whole playbook on how to deal with them."

  Persons experiencing issues with nuisance elk may call Kentucky Fish and Wildlife at 1-800-858-1549 for assistance.

  For more information on the great hunting and fishing opportunities available in Kentucky, visit the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources web site at www.kdfwr.state.ky.us/.

  I was driving out to the local fishing hole, sun just coming up over the horizon...a beautiful day! All of a sudden a very large jack rabbit ran right in front of my truck. I swerved to miss it but I wasn’t quick enough and I hit it. I pulled over to the side of the road and walked back a ways, and sure enough, I got him.

  As I was contemplating dinner, a nice looking blond girl pulled up in her car and seeing the big rabbit, asked what was up? I explained the situation and what had happened. Not missing a beat, she jumped out of her car and she said "I can take care of this". From her purse she pulled out an aerosol can. She then proceeded to spray the rabbit up and down, back and forth.

  All of the sudden, the rabbit jumped up, ran 20 feet, turned around and waved his front foot at us. He ran another 20 feet, turned around, and waved at us again! He repeated this until he was out of site and back into the woods.

  I was amazed. I had to ask the girl what was in that can! She showed it to me. On the label it said, "Hare Spray. Gives instant life to dead hare. Adds permanent wave".