June 20th- Catalina

June – 20^th  

Carolyn (my daughter) on the left and Laura Beth on the right...this was Laura's first hunt on her own without her father.

Every so often being at the right place at the right time pays dividends.  Usually…sadly… this does not apply to me.  Occasionally the stars align and things do work out though.

This story starts in tragedy.  But first a prelude:

Catalina island is a small chunk of real estate twenty six miles off the Southern California coast.  It has a small city on the southern end called Avalon that pretty much exists for weekend tourists.  Beyond a couple of tiny settlements to the north, the island exists as a place for boy scouts to camp and wealthy boat owners to use as an excuse for an overnight destination. 

It was not always like this though.  The Wrigleys (yeah the gum people) once owned the island and used its lack of fauna as a fertile ground for some bio experimentation.  They imported white tail and mule deer as well as bison to the island and let them run wild.   The bison kept to themselves, but the deer inter-bred and created a unique hybrid. 

Bison on the hill side.

With no natural predators on the island the Wrigleys offered hunts to keep the deer numbers in check.

The state of California got control of the place a number of years ago and continued the tradition of game management through carefully controlled, and down right expensive hunts on the island.

Now to the tragedy…

A few years back a wild fire decimated the island.  From the mainland we could see the smoke plumes and most of us hunters wondered about the impact on the deer and bison population.

Well…the bison were basically rounded up like cattle and were ok.  The deer did not fare so well.  About three quarters of their habitat was destroyed and there were serious questions as to whether or not their numbers would survive the winter.

Our hunting club was contacted and an offer was made that we just couldn’t refuse.  If we were willing to fill our tags on does…and the first doe we saw…no “trophy” hunting.  The Catalina Conservancy would house us, feed us and guide us for a weekend…FOR FREE!

Since at the time this hunt normally went for around five grand this was a deal that just couldn’t be passed up.

My daughter and I signed up on the spot, and we “recruited” a couple of other hunters as well.  The icing on the cake was that Laura Beth Buck, the daughter of a friend of mine, and a gal about seven years older than my daughter Carolyn would be coming along on her first “solo” hunt without her father.

We all met up at our house and headed off to the boat dock in Long Beach to head over to the island on the commuter ferry. 

Carolyn found an instant comrade in Laura Beth, and Laura was thrilled to now be the teacher and no longer the student.  The two of them hunted together, each taking two nice does. 

I just dig this picture...so I figured I'd post it again!

I was the first hunter to connect…actually spotting a  doe, (it would turn out to be the largest of the weekend) on our way to the make shift range to site in our rifles.  A quick neck shot at seventy five yards filled 50% of my bag limit and we really hadn’t even started hunting.

The terrain was varied.  Rugged chaparral hills. Some in good condition…others blackened with soot.  The deer ranged from small, but healthy…to flat out emaciated and on the verge of starvation. 

We did our job, along with a handful of other hunters and brought the deer numbers down.  Within two years the herd was healthy again and (unfortunately) the price of hunting the island has returned to the pre-fire levels.

Sitting around the campfire and watching Laura Beth and Carolyn inter-act told me something: The era of hunters being exclusively men was over (as if it ever really existed at all).  These two ladies of two different generations were passionate about hunting and protecting and conserving our environment.  These huntresses were and are the future of our sport.

I'm the one in the foreground...looking the wrong way...