| 2006 - Year In Review |
By Kurt Fetzer, Life Member #249
The year 2006 started out with a trip to the Record Book Ranch in Hondo, Texas. A buddy of mine in
Texas who has guided by friends and I on numerous occasions, Wayne Boyce, asked if we would be
interested in coming down in February to help the ranch cull the hog population which had not been
managed for a number of years. My daughter Brittney, son Kyle, my self and seven other friends left the
New Castle County Airport in Delaware and flew directly into Hondo, Texas. Over the next three days we
were able to harvest over a hundred hogs while enjoying warm weather and wonderful hospitality.
In March I spent four days at Martz’ Game Farm in central Pennsylvania for my annual hunt that I enjoy
with a dozen or so hunting buddies.
During the family vacation to Jackson Hole, Wyoming in July, my son and I spent time fly fishing for
cutthroat while floating the Snake River.
My hunting schedule got considerably more hectic come the fall season. Early October found me and
some clients in South Dakota hunting pheasants at E Circle E Hunting Lodge. All aspects of this hunt were
first class.
Late in October I returned to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and then onto Idaho for some sharptail and blue
grouse hunting in both states with my good friend Bill D’Alonzo. Bill and I then left from Jackson Hole and
flew to California to begin our hunt on Santa Rosa Island for trophy mule deer during the rut. This was my
third trip to the island and Bill’s second trip.
Wayne Long, the owner of Multiple Use Managers who has had the lease on the island since the 1970’s,
was our guide. No amount of words can describe the quantity and quality of game on the 54,000 acre Santa
Rosa Island. There is no other place in North American that even come close to it. You see numerous
trophy-quality animals each and every day. On my two previous trips to the island I had killed exceptional
mule deer and Roosevelt elk, so I was looking for a world-class trophy mule deer on this trip. I had decided
before I left for this trip I either was going to connect on a massive non-typical deer or come home empty-
handed. My hunting partner killed a beautiful, symmetrical 4 by 4 which scored in the mid-190’s. Despite
seeing many 190 to 200 plus class mule deer, I ended up never pulling the trigger and left the island without
a deer. In hindsight, I probably was a little too selective. I know of three bucks for sure that I passed up on
my hunt that other hunters in camp decided to go after and killed which scored 196, 201 and 232,
respectively. Oh, well, that’s trophy hunting. When I return in 2011 for what will be the last hunt to be held on
Santa Rosa Island, I hopefully will connect on my dream buck.
While en route traveling back from my trip our west, my wife informed me that booking agent Canada
North Outfitting had been in contact with her and they informed her that they wanted me on a plane two days
after my return from Santa Rosa to depart for my polar bear hunt in the Canadian artic. The details of this
hunt are summarized in the following hunting report.
After returning from my successful polar bear hunt, a week later I left for Maryland deer season. The first
week the deer activity was almost non-existent because of the unusually warm weather. However, the
second week I connected on a 21-inch-wide, heavy eight pointer. This was a nice finish to a great year of
hunting in 2006.
Texas who has guided by friends and I on numerous occasions, Wayne Boyce, asked if we would be
interested in coming down in February to help the ranch cull the hog population which had not been
managed for a number of years. My daughter Brittney, son Kyle, my self and seven other friends left the
New Castle County Airport in Delaware and flew directly into Hondo, Texas. Over the next three days we
were able to harvest over a hundred hogs while enjoying warm weather and wonderful hospitality.
In March I spent four days at Martz’ Game Farm in central Pennsylvania for my annual hunt that I enjoy
with a dozen or so hunting buddies.
During the family vacation to Jackson Hole, Wyoming in July, my son and I spent time fly fishing for
cutthroat while floating the Snake River.
My hunting schedule got considerably more hectic come the fall season. Early October found me and
some clients in South Dakota hunting pheasants at E Circle E Hunting Lodge. All aspects of this hunt were
first class.
Late in October I returned to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and then onto Idaho for some sharptail and blue
grouse hunting in both states with my good friend Bill D’Alonzo. Bill and I then left from Jackson Hole and
flew to California to begin our hunt on Santa Rosa Island for trophy mule deer during the rut. This was my
third trip to the island and Bill’s second trip.
Wayne Long, the owner of Multiple Use Managers who has had the lease on the island since the 1970’s,
was our guide. No amount of words can describe the quantity and quality of game on the 54,000 acre Santa
Rosa Island. There is no other place in North American that even come close to it. You see numerous
trophy-quality animals each and every day. On my two previous trips to the island I had killed exceptional
mule deer and Roosevelt elk, so I was looking for a world-class trophy mule deer on this trip. I had decided
before I left for this trip I either was going to connect on a massive non-typical deer or come home empty-
handed. My hunting partner killed a beautiful, symmetrical 4 by 4 which scored in the mid-190’s. Despite
seeing many 190 to 200 plus class mule deer, I ended up never pulling the trigger and left the island without
a deer. In hindsight, I probably was a little too selective. I know of three bucks for sure that I passed up on
my hunt that other hunters in camp decided to go after and killed which scored 196, 201 and 232,
respectively. Oh, well, that’s trophy hunting. When I return in 2011 for what will be the last hunt to be held on
Santa Rosa Island, I hopefully will connect on my dream buck.
While en route traveling back from my trip our west, my wife informed me that booking agent Canada
North Outfitting had been in contact with her and they informed her that they wanted me on a plane two days
after my return from Santa Rosa to depart for my polar bear hunt in the Canadian artic. The details of this
hunt are summarized in the following hunting report.
After returning from my successful polar bear hunt, a week later I left for Maryland deer season. The first
week the deer activity was almost non-existent because of the unusually warm weather. However, the
second week I connected on a 21-inch-wide, heavy eight pointer. This was a nice finish to a great year of
hunting in 2006.
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