Ways to help the outdoorsman brave the long winter months

Well, at least the days are starting to get longer. This is the time of winter I most dislike. The days are still relatively short on daylight and the temperatures are among the coldest we’ll see during the winter. The college football season is over, including the bowl games.

And the NFL regular season is also over and, as usual, my favorite team didn’t make the playoffs. Golf and basketball highlight televised sporting activities.

Yuk.

Sound familiar?

There are still plenty of outdoor activities to enjoy between the cold snaps. Icefishing has become quite popular in the last ten to fifteen years here in the valley. Snowmachining is a staple winter activity as are cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. However, until I figure out what’s causing the pinched nerve in my left arm, my participation in extremely active outdoor activities like snowmachining in the pucker-brush will just have to wait.

Something I know I can do is walk around a gun show. And speaking of gun shows, the Wasilla High School Hockey Booster Club is once again sponsoring the Wasilla Gun and Outdoor Show this Jan. 16-17 at Wasilla High School. The hours for both Saturday and Sunday are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Kevin Keene is this year’s show coordinator and if you would like more information about the show or want to sign up for a vender’s table, you can contact Keene at 376-4247. You can also e-mail him at WHSGunShow@gmail.com.

This show has been popular with valley gun owners for years. I’ve attended almost every show since moving here in 1990. I look forward to getting out of the house in the dead of winter to go look at all the different firearms, ammunition, reloading supplies and equipment and related outdoor items folks from all over the state bring to the show. I’ve even been known to buy stuff there, including a handgun, a rifle, and a shotgun over the years. They have lunch and snack foods available at the show and there are usually several raffles or “split-the-pot” activities going on as well. Plenty of parking is available. Consider bringing the family, seeing your neighbors, and enjoying the day at the gun show.

While we’re talking gun shows, here’s another one to mark down on your calendar. The Anchorage Gun Collectors’ Association (AGCA) show will be held at Raven Hall on the Palmer fairgrounds on March 27 & 28. I haven’t seen much publicity on this show yet, but I’m sure you will soon. I don’t have the hours or table costs but you can contact Sandy Snovel at (907) 746-2138 for more information.

For those of you who prefer to shoot sticks rather than bullets, I have some good news. For years, Jerry and Barb Fletcher operated Fletcher’s Archery in Wasilla. They moved once that I know of, but whatever store they were in had an indoor archery range, so winter practice was a regular item on many folks’ weekly activity lists, including mine on occasion.

In addition to the full-service archery shop, Jerry and Barb ran winter shooting leagues oriented toward hunters, target archers, and kids with a Saturday morning youth league. I actually joined one fall hunter-oriented league which shot at 3-D targets set up on the indoor range. I finished first in my classification and was quite proud of the trophy I received during the awards ceremony held at the Christmas party that year. I took some kidding, however, because of the fact that I was the only one in my “geezer” classification. I personally don’t feel that that small fact in any way diminishes the importance of my trophy.

Jerry decided a few years ago that he wanted to retire. The Fletcher’s sold the business and rented the building to the new owner, Scott Crinklaw. The business continued for about a year, if my memory serves, before it closed. The valley has been without a stand-alone archery pro shop since then (Sportsmen’s Warehouse has an archery section).

I received a postcard a couple of weeks ago announcing the reopening of Crinklaw’s business, Bearpaw Archery. They are located at 1451 Melaine Lane, off Lucas in Wasilla and just reopened their doors this past Saturday. Their phone number is (907) 373-7770 if you need to call for directions or to find out hours. They are closed on Mondays.

Bearpaw Archery is offering all the amenities you would normally find at an archery pro shop: an indoor range, shooting leagues, archery lessons, a full compliment of archery supplies, and, I suspect, some bow brands only available from pro shop dealers.

I haven’t been in to visit the shop yet but I plan to. I’m still holding an unfilled archery brown bear drawing permit for the Eklutna area and I need some practice for the hunts I plan to make starting in late March or early April.

I might also find the perfect piece of equipment in the shop to compliment my style of archery hunting.

Now if I can just get this pesky nerve in my left arm to cooperate, I can start practicing even if it is 20 below outside.

Howard Delo is a retired fisheries biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. You can leave him a message by e-mailing sports@frontiersman.com.