Moscow local knows the art of safari
By Elaine Donohue Argonaut Staff Writer
Once again its time for getting up at the crack of dawn to go shoot your favorite fauna, so seize the moment: dig out that cammo, slap on some face paint, and clean your gun.
In the quest for what is in season, make a visit to the hunting
store where you will learn that grouse season is open for any
weapon, while bow hunters have the first crack at bagging deer
and elk.
Owned by Darrell Honn, world traveler and hunter, Husky Sport
Shop is jam-packed with ingenious taxidermy. Bobcats snarl down
from their perches, cape buffalo, elk, deer, caribou, mountain
goat, moose gaze down at bears and two squirrels are eternally
at play. Geese frozen in flight hover at intervals forming the
ceilings. The most majestic display, however, is the lion which
stands over a fallen antelope, flanked by its native vegetation.
Honn said he was 4 or 5 years old when he was "unleashed
in the wild with a weapon of some sort: a rock or a slingshot."
From then on he was hooked, especially with travelling the world
for different types of game.
"I use hunting for an excuse to see neat places," he
said.
He enjoys going on safari as opposed to being a tourist and being
guided around on a bus. Honn has traveled all around North America,
Russia, Africa, New Zealand, and Argentina.
The owner of over 500 guns, Honn claims the most reliable to
be the bolt-action rifle.
"It's the standard the world over," he said.
Honn prefers custom rifles with high-grade wood and fine workmanship,
and has an adamant dislike for plastic stocks and stainless steel.
In regards to price, he said, "Nothing starts less that
$350 to $400." Honn emphasized that as long as the game
is hunted with a weapon that is sure to be lethal and is sighted
in, the only problems come from the hunter's aim.
"You owe it to the animals, as well as yourself, to make
that first shot count," he said. "There have been some
close calls, it's when you shoot badly and they charge, but if
you shoot well and carry a big gun, generally we have a big advantage
over animals."
Matthew Bennett, a senior from Coeur d'Alene, said that if pawn
shops are scoured properly, it's possible to pick up a good shotgun
for around $300. "It all comes down to how much you want
to spend and what works." Bennett said. He insists that
success is all about preparation.
"Be prepared and have a game plan. Think in advance where
you're going to go. Make sure all your tags are ready, you guns
sighted in and your knife is sharp, so when you do shoot something,
you don't ruin the meat. Do your pre-season homework; it's all
about getting out there before hunting begins. You need to have
a clue of what's happening out in the woods and not so much,
'This is where I've always gone, this is where I'll always be.'"
Rules and regulations on the many specific dates, as well as
for controlled hunts, are available at most sporting goods shops.
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