Why You Should Always Talk to the Game Warden, According to Ted Trueblood

With just two days left in our mule deer hunt, we finally get advice on where to find deer. We’re just not sure whether to take it

By Ted Trueblood – Outdoor Life

This story, “The Game Warden’s Deer,” originally ran in the April 1944 issue of Outdoor Life.

WE HAD FOUR DAYS TO HUNT. Just four fleeting days. In jail, I suppose, they’d have seemed pretty long. But if you’re a deer hunter, you know how short they were.

Every trick we knew failed. Hunting conditions were terrible. It was so dry that Idaho dust squirted up with every step and you could hear a grasshopper gnawing on a leaf half a mile away. 

We were dog tired and as discouraged as a Republican in Georgia when we staggered into camp on the evening of the third day. The prospect of going home meatless next evening was about as cheering as running a spike through your best tire. 

I was splitting wood and Burtt was peeling potatoes for supper when a pick-up truck pulled up beside our camp. A man stepped out and started to walk over toward me. I drove the ax into a log and straightened up, yanking out my handkerchief to wipe the sweat off my face. 

Suddenly I recognized him in the dusk. It was John Smith, southwestern Idaho district conservation officer. I called Burtt and we shook hands all around. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL STORY