By Kyle Durgin

All across the U.S. there are thousands of people who enjoy hunting. A higher percentage of these people live in places where game is abundant. Iowa is one of these places, it is one of the best hunting states in the world and a lot of Iowans that take part. Mount Vernon is in eastern Iowa, a region known for big deer, countless turkey, lots of waterfowl, and a wide assortment of other game. The fact that our high school is set in a place like this makes it possible for us to get out and hunt at a young age. There are quite a few students who enjoy this sport, including myself. Anybody who hunts knows that one of the best things about the sport is the stories that come from it and being able to share them. Some are funny, some are sad, and some are very sentimental but according to sophomore Jake Durgin, “there ain’t’ nothin’ like a good huntin’ tale!”

Full Moon Coyote
Senior Cole Ehresman thought that his night hunt last winter would go as usual, unsuccessful, but little did he know it would be one of his favorite hunts to date. Cole was helping his science teacher Charlie Gardner skin a coyote one night, and when finished, decided to go call coyotes in the river bottom at the family farm in Olin. Cole, Mr. Gardner and Cole’s little brother Cody, a sophomore, drove out to the Olin farm. When they arrived it was about 10:30 p.m. but they had plenty of light due to a full moon. They walked into the edge of the timber and set up. After 10 minutes of calling, the coyotes started howling. In Cole’s words, “They lit up all around us, howling and barking like crazy.” Shortly after this howling began it got quiet and two coyotes came running across the field. They crossed a creek bottom and Cole let out a loud “WHOOP” to get them stopped. Cole lined one up and made the shot at 75 yards, dropping the coyote in its tracks. While Cole and Mr. Gardner headed for the truck, Cody was left to drag the coyote out of the woods on a bet that they wouldn’t get one. This quick night hunt that Cole expected nothing out of turned into the best coyote hunt he has had. “It was the most fun that I have ever had coyote hunting,” said Cole.

One Tough Turkey
Cody Ehresman, a sophomore, was excited to take his younger brother Levi (8) turkey hunting with his bow for the first time until a few things didn’t go their way. “I thought it would be awesome to help him get one, but it turned out being a day of work, not fun,” says Cody. Cody and Levi headed out to the woods at 4:30 a.m. on opening day of youth turkey season in Iowa. After a long walk in the pair set up decoys and sat until light. At sunrise three toms gobbled 300 yards away in the timber. The toms kept getting closer and closer until finally they were in the decoys. Levi shot at the closest tom missing it by an inch. Scared the turkey would spook Cody told his younger brother to move quickly. Levi nocked another arrow, drew back his bow and let an arrow fly hitting the tom in the butt. The pair walked out to look for blood finding little to none. They proceeded to the fence where they thought the turkey ran. The turkey jumped up and flew back the way it came from, the chase was now on. Cody found the turkey lying in a waterway and Levi shot again, hitting it in the butt. The Tom ran 100 yards over a hill. The brothers looked for twenty minutes, gave up, and headed for the truck. On the way to the truck they spot the tom in a fenceline. Levi took his time, lined the turkey up, and shot, hitting it in the butt yet again. Cody had enough of chasing this turkey so he ran after it through the thick timber for 80 yards. Cody caught the turkey and pounced on him quickly putting him out of his misery. To Levi the hunt was a great success. To Cody the hunt was a horrible one until he remembered he had been filming all of this. Now after watching the footage multiple times Cody realizes that this was one of the most memorable hunts he has ever had because he can watch all of the funny things that happened.

What Hunting is All About
A person’s favorite hunting story doesn’t always have to be about their most exciting or funniest hunt. Sometimes what makes it good is the sentimental value. This is the case for Mount Vernon High School senior Luke Hansen. When Luke was 12 years old he hit the road to Iowa Falls for family Thanksgiving. Luke, his dad (Boots), his older brother Tyler (19) and his younger brother Jake, a freshman, went to the farm a few days earlier than the rest of the family to do some deer hunting. The first morning in Iowa Falls Luke and his dad sat in a two man ladder stand on a very cool, frost-covered morning. Luke and his dad watched some deer work their way towards the timber through a cornfield as the sun rose. The deer walked into the timber about 100 yards from the stand and vanished. All of a sudden Luke heard something unusual. “I heard some whistling and looked up and four wood ducks landed in the creek behind us, It was so cool and I remember the beautiful colors of the ducks,” said Luke. After watching the ducks for a while Luke’s Dad tapped him on the shoulder and let him know that three does were coming. Luke looked to his right and saw a doe at 40 yards. “I stood up slowly and grabbed my bow, it seemed like it took forever for the does to get into range, I was shaking so bad,” says Luke. One of the fawns eventually broke off to the left into the cornfield giving Luke an opportunity to draw back his bow. Luke put his 20 yard pin right on the doe’s back and let go. “I didn’t see the shot that well but I remember my dad said nice shot as the deer ran off into the corn,” said Luke on how his shot was. The doe laid down in the corn and eventually died. This is Luke’s most memorable hunt because of the sentimental value of harvesting his first deer with his Dad. In Luke’s words “I will remember that day for the rest of my life, that is what hunting is all about.”

Fourth Time’s a Charm?
After a long week of walking and pushing deer out of timber all over Cedar County, Lisbon High School senior Hunter Hutchinson decided to slow it down a bit and sit in a blind. Hunter decided to stop trying to go to the deer and let the deer come to him during Late Muzzleloader Season with his friend and hunting buddy, me (a senior at Mount Vernon). We went out on the night of December 23, 2012 to set up a blind on my property southeast of Lisbon. We set up the blind and placed two chairs and a heater inside. After adding some natural vegetation and covering the blind in snow we headed home to prepare for the next morning’s hunt. Hunter and I sat in the dark hugging the heater waiting for sunrise on Christmas Eve morning. A few hours passed and the hunt was very slow minus the occasional squirrel. Suddenly Hunter spotted two does coming down the trail. The doe worked her way in front of the blind giving Hunter a 50 yard broadside shot. Hunter took the shot not knowing if it was good or not. “The smoke cleared and I didn’t know if I hit her or not until Durgin told me I missed her clean,” said Hunter. While Hunter worked to get his gun reloaded I lined up a big doe at 75 yards dropping her where she once stood. After the two shot’s we thought that the deer would all be gone, but we were happily wrong. The deer kept coming one after one down the trail. Hunter lined up another mature doe and fired his muzzleloader missing yet again. Working together with frozen hands we reloaded Hunter’s gun. Shaking from the cold and the adrenaline Hunter missed again. “I was ready to give up, I couldn’t feel my hands, I was disappointed in missing, and most of all I had no confidence in my shot,” said Hunter when recalling the misses. With my help Hunter gets his muzzleloader reloaded for the last time. Hunter found another doe in his crosshairs and exhaled slowly pulling the trigger. This time he hit the doe right in the heart gladly ending the hunt. Working together throughout hunting season we were both overjoyed when the doe dropped. The 2012 hunting season brought us much closer together than before and made us great friends. Both Hunter and I agree that this was the most nerve racking and exciting hunt we have ever been a part of.

These stories are just a select few of the hundreds that many students at our high school have to offer. In Cole’s story we see how fun and exciting a hunt can be. In Cody’s story we see how hunting can turn into a day of exhaustion and hard work. In Luke’s story we see how hunting can be very sentimental. Finally in Hunter’s story we see how hunting can bring two people together and is a great way to make good friends.

In many people’s opinions hunting is one of the most well rounded sports that exists. Hunting requires you to be mentally and physically tough and the average person can’t do it without years of practice. Hunting teaches many lessons such as patience, hard work, and thankfulness. Hunting is very fun, can be rewarding, and is a great thing to do with friends and family. My life would be a lot different if I had never hunted, that is why I encourage you to get out and make your own “huntin’ tales!”