Hunters look forward to general season
For many residents of Lincoln County, today is a day of anticipation greater than Christmas Eve. Saturday marks the opening of general hunting season, a day to celebrate Montana tradition.
Andy Michalkiewicz, 35, can only hope his day will go similarly to the opening of bow hunting season four years ago. For 20 years, Michalkiewicz had hunted Lincoln County in search of a bull elk. Out with his lifelong friends Brian LeCount and Matt Roberts, Michalkiewicz told his family he was willing to mount a 2X2 — heck, a spike would do — after years of killing cows.
Trekking in north Lincoln County, the group of friends noticed a 6X7 elk, a herd bull, with a few cows. The hunters successfully drew the bull away from the herd, but a chance for a shot eluded them when the herd became spooked.
Determined to claim his bull, Michalkiewicz returned the next day with his friends. Again, the men drew the bull from the herd. This time, Michalkiewicz had his chance. At 42 yards, he fired his bow and downed the bull.
“It was one of the best experiences of my life,” Michalkiewicz said. “It was very rewarding and very cool. I’d had a few shots in the past and had a few misses, but hey, that’s hunting. That meat went in the freezer and lasted us the year.”
The 282-pound bull was mounted and now gazes at visitors in Michalkiewicz’s living room. He did not go for any special tags this year, but Michalkiewicz said he plans to be in a hunting camp somewhere out of town come Saturday.
While Michalkiewicz still feels the thrill of fulfilling a lifelong dream, a new generation of hunter will continue to conjure his own. Tim Paulsen, 34, said he looks forward to taking his 10-year-old son, Parker, out deer hunting for the fifth year. Tim thinks Parker is starting to catch the family bug.
October has been a good month for the Paulsens. For the first time, Parker Paulsen watched his father take an elk. Tradition carried on Oct. 4 when son watched father unleash an elk call, stalk within 15 feet of the animal and fire a fatal bow.
“He said he was kind of scared afterwards,” Tim Paulsen said. “He almost yelled because he thought the animal was going to charge me. I told him, ‘I’m glad you didn’t.’ He worked hard that day helping me quarter it up and pack it out. We got back exhausted, and he asked if we could go again tomorrow.”
Tim Paulsen, a self-described hunting addict, said he never had a better day hunting than when he and his son took their first elk together. Thinking to his own childhood, Paulsen said his first memories with his father, Tom, involve hunting. The Paulsens plan to wait until the rut before going deer hunting. Should things go according to plan, Parker will watch his father take a big buck for the first time.
As younger men prepare to execute plans sometimes months in the making, Ove Larson, 98, will take it easy. He can think back to 30 good years of hunting in Lincoln County.
“Before opening day you would make every effort to have everything in order,” Larson said. “I’d take a week off with my buddies, and we set up camp for good hunting.”
Larson recalls an opening weekend when he shot a large cow elk on the run with a stripped down, World War I-era .30-06. The cow was too large to haul to camp by himself, so he dressed out the animal and carried the heart to camp where he hung the bloody organ by a string of twine — a universal sign of a successful hunt.
“We didn’t worry about cougars or bears back then,” Larson said. “I let it air out and we each packed a quarter back to camp.”
His hunting days are far behind him, but Larson is a man with many hunting stories. Whether the first weekend is a windfall or little more than a walk in the woods, hunters can learn from Larson. The guns, the meat, the tools come and go, but the stories can last a lifetime.