HEMINGWAY, TRUEBLOOD, AMERICAN SPORTSMEN IN IDAHO

Birdman first heard about the hunting and fishing in the mysterious state of Idaho, reading Ted Trueblood’s column in Field and stream magazine. Trueblood lived in Nampa Idaho, and hunted and fished southern Idaho and southeastern Oregon for ducks, geese elk and chukar partridge and wrote about the adventures in his monthly column. He lived the life of the true outdoorsman, and his motto was “Do it now.” He told the story of easterners who spend their entire lives in a city office, dream about retiring in the west, eventually head that way after 50 years, and drop dead of a heart attack, before they ever get there. Ernest Hemingway, hunted ducks on Silver Creek below Sun Valley, with Gary Cooper, and pheasants in the Hagerman Valley. He lived in Ketchum for years, as well as his son Jack, and grandchildren. His writing romanced Sun valley as the place to go for the American Sportsman life, at its best. Jack O’Connor wrote about hunting mountain sheep in Idaho, in his Outdoor life column as the gun editor. He lived in Lewiston Idaho, another center of hunting and fishing. Mike Carroll, professional hunter for years in Kenya, told stories to Birdman, about the Palouse country on the border of Washington and Idaho, near the town of Pullman. This country was a rare spot in the U.S., loaded with pheasants. Hundreds of stories were told in outdoor magazines about the great trout fishing in Silver creek, below Sun Valley, a slow, English style chalk stream, with large rainbow trout. Birdman had a dream about going to Idaho for 12 years, as he hunted and fished western Colorado, near Norwood and Montrose. It became an obsession with him. When his first marriage vanished he headed to Oregon to fish the Rogue river, made famous by Zane Gray, for steelhead trout. His goal was to get to Idaho, and see if it was real. He had in mind to fish Brownlee reservoir, part of the Snake River, before Hells Canyon. He stopped at a tackle shop and met a game warden, who told him about the jigs to use and where to fish. He drove out of Weiser to Brownlee, and remembered that Trueblood had hunted chukars in that canyon. A man at a store told him that steelhead used to come up the creek from the Columbia River behind his store, before all the dams were built. At the rocky point at Brownlee, Birdman caught and released 47 smallmouth bass, an amazing day. In the afternoon, Birdman caught 30 more and released them all. Years later Birdman spent a summer in Sun Valley, and fished Silver Creek. The fishing was difficult. The large rainbows could be seen, in the spring fed creek, but were not taking dry flies. A fisherman came along and told him that some days the fish will take anything. He also heard the story about the fisherman in chest waders who was caught in quick sand and taken under a deep stretch of water. His black labrador went out to rescue him, but could do nothing, his body became a submarine. Too many duck hunters have met their demise in chest waders that fill with water. Idaho was better than the dream, the southern foothills were green and reminded Birdman of the scenery in Spain where he ran the bulls at Pamplona when he was 19. Idaho, what a mystical place, full of wild hot springs, majestic mountain scenery, outdoor adventure, and green foothills that look like Spain. It is still there, and the spirit of legendary sportsman still haunts the place.