Posted: Friday, October 30, 2009

Every five years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service counts how many Americans hunt. That number has fallen steadily since the 1970s, even in the rural West. Some of the decline is due to demographics; more people live in cities and they’re less likely to hunt. But while the number is going down, the hunting tradition remains strong in rural states like Idaho. Recently, Inland Northwest Correspondent Doug Nadvornick spent a day in the field with a fourth-generation Idaho hunter.

It’s a chilly morning in the mountains east of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Todd Hoffman has willed his Jeep up a steep, twisty road. He’s dressed in gray woolen pants and a hunter green flannel shirt. His rifle is ready. Now, he’s grabbing his other gear.

Hoffman: “I carry a meat saw. This is a Knapp sports saw. It’s made in Boise. It’s kind of a traditional type saw here. If you were a really old-time, old school hunter, you’d carry a hatchet, instead of a saw. And if you were really, really old school, you’d carry two hatchets and use them to butcher your animal that way.”

SOUND: Hoffman fiddling with his map

The animal that Hoffman is tracking today is elk.

Todd Hoffman: “So here’s kind of a map of the area we’ll be hunting. This is a pretty complicated piece of terrain…”

But Hoffman knows it well. He grew up nearby and learned to hunt from his father and grandfather. Now Hoffman lives 50 miles away in Post Falls. His high tech job takes him on the road more than half the time. When he’s home…and it’s hunting season…he’s out here looking for elk.

Hoffman: “You know, to me, it’s just a real connection to home, to this place. I’ve lived all over the country and I’m just sort of like a salmon, always swimming back to this place and I feel most connected to it when I’m here.”

SOUND: footsteps

After an hour of traversing hills, we stop for a short rest. And then suddenly, Hoffman whispers that we’ve just spooked some elk down below us.

Hoffman: “We’re just going to work very slowly, kind of zig-zagging back and forth. This is fairly open and there’s a chance we can see them.”

We inch downhill as quietly as we can. We stop and listen. Hoffman puts his hands to his mouth.

SOUND: two elk calls

But, after awhile, Hoffman leans over and concedes that the elk have won this round.

Hoffman: “Moved into this brush pit down here and there’s not really much we can do to go after them. It’s just too thick.”

As we hike back uphill, our conversation turns to wolves. Hoffman says, even though they were formally reintroduced into Idaho nearly 20 years ago, he believes wolves never left the state. He says he’s disappointed by the polarized public debate about them. He doesn’t agree with those who want to drive the animal back out of Idaho.

Hoffman: “I don’t think you could exterminate them if you wanted to. I think they’re that ingrained into the ecosystem now. They have their place in the circle of things and I think the key is just to manage them just the way we manage the rest of our game populations.”

Hoffman wonders about the future of hunting and not just because of vocal opposition by animal rights activists.

Hoffman: “I think the people here don’t realize how fast the rest of civilization is encroaching on them. They’re pretty well insulated from it, but they don’t realize how rare the kind of wild places are that we take for granted here.”

We’re just a few hundred yards from Hoffman’s Jeep. We’re tired after four hours of tromping through the hills and it looks like he’ll go home with nothing.

And then he notices several grouse in a tree. He slowly raises his rifle.

SOUND: gunshot

Doug Nadvornick: “You got him.”

Hoffman: “Yep. We won’t go back empty handed.”

Hoffman tromps downhill to fetch his dinner. He shows off the little bird with its brown and white feathers and a red spot where the bullet entered.

Hoffman: “We kind of lost a little bit of the meat there, but a .300 magnum is not the best tool for killing grouse.”

Nadvornick: “So you know what’s for dinner tonight.”

Hoffman: “Yep. I shot one yesterday too so we’ve got a nice meal to cook.”

For Hoffman, hunting is all about filling the freezer. Next time, he hopes to bring home something a little bigger than a grouse.

Copyright 2009 Spokane Public Radio

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