An Outdoorsman’s Journal

By: Mark Walters 2022 The Best of Times/The Worst of Times

Hello friends: This is my annual summing up of the last year’s experiences in the outdoors, which in reality I have been writing for 33 years and with the love I have for my job and with the current, steadily fading numbers on my retirement I will be writing for another 33. One other thing, thank the folks who run this column in the newspaper that you are reading it in and shop local.

Let’s skip the 8-ice fishing, winter camping trips that I went on and just say that they were all fun and I am looking forward to lots of them between now and ice out.

It’s April 1st, I am in Canada and my girlfriend Michelle Chiaro, her 16-year-old daughter Kylie and my daughter Selina are overseeing the Ruby having pups project. One of the pups became stuck in the birth canal and these three ladies saved the day and long story short, Ruby gave birth to “Red” who would become my 8th golden retriever.

It was mid-April when I was on my annual turkey hunt with Selina. She just finished her 7th semester at UWSP with a double major, a minor, Vice President of the Fisheries Society and a job in the Aquatic Biomonitoring Lab. About all I can say is this girl knows how to take care of a full schedule and put an annual hurting on the local turkey flock and what’s crazy is she always whacks big birds.

It was also in mid-April that Michelle and I started our annual pilgrimage of baiting bear in the forests and marshes of northern Juneau County. Michelle loved baiting bear as I do and it was always because of the outdoor adventure. Also in April, Michelle and I began planting our gardens which were designed to feed 6 people with a host of veggies to feed us year round in several ways. On June 12th Michelle became ill, several people in the medical field who loved her thought it was something like a virus, as did Michelle who was a 26-year ICU nurse. On June 14th, Michelle’s conditioned worsened and I called an ambulance that took her to Hess Memorial Hospital in Mauston. I was told Michelle was very ill and she was immediately put into a coma and that moment I was told there was a strong possibility that she would not come out of it. No matter how I triumph or how many years pass, I will never get over the loss of Michelle Chiaro. July 2022. Family, friends, neighbors, readers of this column and people in the newspaper industry, literally at least 500-different people did their best to comfort me and I am thankful for that. Though to this day I am a wreck, I will heal as that is the only option. My main cure other than what I just mentioned was to immerse myself into bear baiting and hobby farming. Until 3-months after Michelle passed all I could do was move my body or sit by my campfire. If I sat in my house, I lost it.

Our gardens were planted for six with the plan of four workers, I lost all workers as Michelle’s children went to Arkansas and then California to be with her family.

Though I was not going to do it, three influential people in my life talked me into going on our annual fly in fishing trip to Shultz Lake near Red Lake, Ontario. That trip also would help with the healing.

The bear baiting was probably my biggest soul saver and I know she was with me. Hard work and hard thinking got me into the best physical shape I have been in, in at least 20-years.

September, I am in my bear stand, it is my 12th afternoon in a row of sitting in a tree. I think it was Michelle who helped, a large boar had crossed a swamp behind me and was about to enter a willow thicket 100-yards away. My shot hit its mark and I had a downed 310-pound, “dressed” boar.

My other big challenge of the year was a solo elk hunt near Bozeman, Montana. This would be a public land hunt and I did it before I was too old to do it. I arrived three days before the season, scouted, built a very comfortable base camp down low and a very basic camp up high. I found elk two days before the season opened and slept in major grizzly bear country up high.

On opening day, a blizzard hit my camp just as I was heading up to my stand in the darkness. As night became day, I saw three elk but could not determine if one had big enough antlers to be a legal shooter. An hour later four cows came through and behind them was a beautiful 6x6 with a huge body. I put three rounds from my 300 BAR in his chest and I had my bull.

Once again and a hundred times since June 15th, I know Michelle was with me.

I am not exceptionally happy anymore but I am rebounding and working hard in KAMO and also helping to start an Outdoor Youth Club in Necedah. We just had our 3rd meeting and this kids/adults organization is going to do good things.

I will get my laugh back and someday I will see Michelle Chiaro again!

Sunset

Good friends Jeff and Dick (left to right) after a great day of fishing last summer on their annual fly in fishing trip to Shultz

Michelle Chiaro was an incredible mother, nurse and soulmate.

Selina Walters harvested her 9th turkey last spring.