Sport shooting and spring fishing

I have neglected to mention some local goings on over the past couple of weeks because I was focused on discussing Mother’s Day one week and the passing of my college friend and former hunting buddy the other week. Now we need to get caught up on stuff around here.

I was told that Farley Dean, the owner of the Willow Creek Resort, was retiring and was closing the resort. You should be able to read that story in the Frontiersman. With the resort closing, I was asked to find out where folks could park to launch their rafts or canoes to float down Willow Creek once the ice goes away.

I called over to the Palmer Fish and Game office and asked that very question. I learned that across the Parks Highway from Willow Creek Resort is the Pioneer Lodge and Campground. I also learned that the Pioneer lodge had burned down a few years ago, but that the campground and their launch facility was still open.

Depending on when Dean closes the resort and whether he might sell the Willow Resort to a new owner who reopens it for public access remains to be seen. In the interim, if you’re planning to float the Willow, you should be able to park and launch across the highway at the Pioneer facility.

I would suggest that if you are planning a float down Willow Creek after the ice goes out, that you call the Pioneer Campground facility to confirm about parking, launching your watercraft, and checking on pricing.

Now that summer is almost here, the pace of activities is definitely picking up. This past weekend, for instance, saw the May Bang and Clang shoot happen at the Birchwood Shooting facility on Saturday. That same Saturday and the following Sunday saw the Mt. McKinley Mountainmen club’s sponsored 1000-point blackpowder handgun shooting match held at the Palmer shooting range south of Palmer on the Glenn Highway.

I’m not competitive with a handgun. I enjoy shooting the muzzleloading pistols and the blackpowder revolvers, but I couldn’t see spending money to shoot when I knew I would never place in the matches. As a result, I opted to attend the Bang and Clang match. The only problem was that the match was scheduled to begin an hour earlier than normal, and I overslept. So much for shooting on Saturday!

Speaking of shooting, I’ve decided to start selling some of the firearms I’ve accumulated over the years which I am not shooting much, if at all, anymore. I was able to sell a shotgun at one recent gun show and a rifle at the next show. I hadn’t fired the shotgun in a decade or more and the guy who bought it wanted to use it for waterfowl hunting. The gun is a “plain jane” Turkish over-and-under with fixed chokes. It’s a good gun, but I have a couple of other over-and-under shotguns which I prefer to use.

The rifle is a genuine Winchester lever action, model 94 AE in 7-30 Waters caliber, which I bought new about 40 years ago to hunt for deer on Afognak Island when I lived there. I hunted with it a few times, but never shot anything with it. I don’t think I’ve fired the rifle since we moved to the Valley in 1990. I figured if someone else could get some use from it, then I would pass it along.

Part of my thinking in selling these guns was to “thin the ranks” a bit. However, shortly after I sold the shotgun, I found a little single-shot rifle in 17 HMR caliber which I thought would be fun to work with. So much for opening a slot in the gun safe! I’ve also learned about a pistol being introduced which has caught my interest. The handgun isn’t readily available yet and I would want to look it over before buying, but I’ll probably end up with it eventually. Again. So much for reducing the gun count in the safe!

I follow the Facebook postings about surf fishing down on the Kenai Peninsula. From what I’ve seen, the month of May marks the beginning of some good surf fishing. There have been several posts already showing halibut, dogfish, and skate being caught this season. I was hoping to already be fishing, but until repairs are made on my small motorhome, I probably won’t be making the trip. Luckily, the fishing is supposed to be good again in the fall.