Sometimes an idea grows about like a dandelion. It’s not always a flash of light, and poof your suddenly thunderstruck with, ah ha -I got it.

Dandelion seeds if you’ve never seen them are very small, and can lay dormant if I recall for up to seven years. But given some fertile soil, ample moisture and enough time and that seed will sprout and grow to end up in your salad, wine or lawn.

I was living in Montrose Minnesota, year of our lord, 1984. I was seated on a large self propelled riding lawn mower. In front of me darted stripped ground squirrels as I lowered there grassy cover with each swipe of the mower deck shearing the yard. The local sheriff pulled in the yard one night and asked who did all the clay pigeon shooting around this old farm. I answered, and he invited me, to shoot on his trap team. I forgot about the ground squirrels. The idea of predator hunting or varmint shooting was probably in the thatch area of the lawn at this point in my life.

I was transferred by my Uncle Sam to a military base in Oklahoma in 1986. On days I was off duty I would head to small stock ponds and fish for brim. Many times driving back to the base in the late evening I would hear coyotes howling and I would pull my car over just to listen. Buying a non resident fishing license and a rod and reel was an affordable purchase. Buying predator calls or a scoped 223 rifle at that time in my life was out of the question financially. My next stop militarily was downtown Germany.

I let the coyotes run out of memory for several years.

When my Uncle Samster finally stopped sending me around the United States I started to get my mail more often in central Minnesota, just south of the tree line but not quite in the prairie grass region of the state. I heard coyotes howl at night and the ground was alive with small rodents. This is where some of that fertile soil was lying untilled above my shoulders but just below my hair line.

The first year I attended the Minnesota Trappers Association annual smell the skunk scent get together I met a coyote hunter that really talked the talk. He spoke about being able to hit what he was aiming at by target practicing on small ground squirrels that farmers and ranchers out west hated because of there little burrows that broke livestock legs or ankles be it horse or cattle. He also mentioned that some guys in southern South Dakota paid him a bounty for shooting and reimbursed his shell expenses. This is the first time in my life I wanted shell expenses.

Germination in my little head allowed for a sprout to grow.

It’s hard to imagine how many times you can miss with all that scurrying ground activity. But if you want a fast course on estimating range thrown in with heated ground source parallax to mirage your vision, try pocket gophers in South Dakota In the spring. South Dakota is the reason shells are sold in boxes that start with a twenty count.

When you get to the fifty count boxes you will be stationed somewhere close to the high altitude desert in Idaho. This predator hunter’s paradise is just outside Gowen field. The ground has myriad dusty swirls (off post and on) and each swirl has a critter (or a tank on post). The only drawback here was a snake that rattled. I only hunted there once. I'm not a snake guy. Now days I like the fox and coyote calling. I am no expert. I just keep trying and sometimes great wondrous furry things magically appear.

No snakes in northern Minnesota rattle. The only heat that makes our eyes water is next to our smoky fireplaces in winter. And I can get boxes of shells to match my single shot successes. My long mental processes to get the light bulb idea of varmint shooting or putting fur up via rifles proves I will never be a rocket scientist. But the at least the light finally went on.

The trout whisperer

Karl "Trout Whisperer" Seckinger is a respected JustNorth author and outdoor adventurer. His guide service, DuNord Guide Service, and the trout waters that he fishes in the Superior National Forest, are some of the most tightly guarded secrets among Trout enthusiasts in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Contact Karl at 218 - 525 - 0442 or write to him at:

DuNord Guide Service - 6999 Culbertson Road, Two Harbors, Minnesota 55616