Hunting Season Is Right Around the Corner: Captain’s Column (7.30.15)
By angelamontana

Posted: July 30, 2015

It may July and you probably have not had enough of summer but hunting season is right around the corner. This is worth mentioning because there are couple of events that are on tap this weekend that hunters will want to take in. The 12th annual Shooters weekend begins Saturday, August 1st where the shoot will be held in the Missoula area at Deer Creek Shooting Center. On Sunday, August 2nd, the shoot moves to the Butte area and will be held at the Rocker Gun Range. Times for both events are 10am – 3pm. There is no charge for spectators, but there is a charge to demo guns and shoot. Proceeds from shooting tickets in the past have been donated by Bob Ward’s to various outdoor and sporting related causes. Bob Ward’s has selected the Special Forces Association “Devil’s Brigade Chapter” to be this year’s non-profit partner. Bob Ward’s has teamed up with several of the top brands in hunting and shooting to raise funds for the Special Force Association. Their mission is: to maintain and give the Major General Fredrick Leadership Award to a worthy ROTC graduates at several Universities, including both state universities of Montana; maintain an endowment scholarship for the children and grandchildren of soldiers; and orchestrate events for and/or involving Special Forces members in Montana and the Northwest. “This year there will be plenty of ammo so come and shoot as much as you would like”, said Ryan Corwin marketing manager for Bob Wards. Call 406-728-3220 for more information

Archery hunters will also have a chance to draw their bows in an archery shoot during the Elk Bow-Nanza this Saturday August 1st. The archery shoot will take place from 9am-12pm followed by seminars from 1pm till 5pm featuring Elk Calling by Glen Berry, a trapping seminar by Montana Trappers, and Archery 101 put on by Bitterroot Valley Archery. The event is being held at Bitterroot Valley Archery and they are located at 16670 Old US Highway 93 south of Lolo. “If you love the sport of archery then you will want to attend this event”, said BV Archery owner Jamie VanBlaricom. They are also feature an Outdoor Swap Meet and pig roast. Call 406-241-4176 for more information

On the fishing side of things Don Beardsley from Missoula, Dick Zimmer from Pablo and I fished Flathead Lake for whitefish last Sunday. The bite was on! That was the good news. The bad news is we only had one bite all day. All of the handful of anglers we spoke with on the water that day had a similar whitefish experience. It was surprising to Zimmer because earlier in the week he had heard of anglers filling their coolers full of fish. We fished in the Big Arm and Elmo bay area with no luck and the single whitefish we caught was in the Rollins area in 50 feet of water.

If you want to catch some perch then making a trip to Holter Reservoir might be worth your while. Here is the latest report from Troy Humphrey of FWP, “Abundant perch are being caught on jigs and worms in 10 to 15 feet of water around weed beds and in bays. Walleye fishing is good around the clay banks in Lower Holter, Cottonwood Creek and mixed in with the schools of perch.  Jigs and bottom bouncers seem to be working equally well for walleye”.

(Written by the Captain – aka Mark Ward)

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