I love bow hunting the Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge of North-East Becker County here in Minnesota. As a boy and teen, I spent many hours tromping these roads and wood-lands while spending summers at our lake cabin on Round Lake which borders this Preserve. For me it is home. I am so thankful for those adventurous summers, and equally thankful to be hunting this area with my friends and enjoying the lands of my youth.
Today I saw a fantastic film on you-tube produced by Gritty Bowman titled, ‘Trophy Places’. It is all about being connected to your hunting area in a way that puts the land you hunt on, at an equal value as the animal you are hunting, and so the title ‘Trophy Places’. My friend Bill calls it the, ‘Aesthetic Value’, of your hunting spot. That’s how I feel about Tamarac Refuge and Round Lake, they are my ‘Trophy Places’.
The land surrounding the pristine Pine Lake on the Tamarac Refuge offers a beautiful variety of deep woods, open natural meadows, and the always present Minnesota sloughs and Tamarac Bogs. These forests and grass lands are connected by several X-C Skiing trails, and the North Country Hiking Trail which provides quick access to deep Whitetail cover. If you are ever in my neck of the woods, try and get out to Pine Lake for a hike, X-C ski outing, or possibly even a bow hunting excursion. You will be glad you did.
I hope you can find your ‘Trophy Places’ to hunt, I hope you can learn to enjoy the ‘Aesthetic Value’ of your hunting spot like I have. When you do, every hunt is a trophy experience.
Peace
