Student hunters face dilemmas

With hunting season now in full swing, some University of Montana students are finding that being a hunter and living on campus can be quite a mess.

UM freshman Lorenzo Sartini said that juggling academics and the pursuit of outdoor game could eventually become a hassle. 

“The main challenge is trying to find time (to hunt) because obviously you gotta go to class and work,” Sartini said. “It’s also hard to find time to go out in the morning and hunt if you’re staying up late studying and doing the ‘college thing.’”

Another, and perhaps larger, issue facing hunters on campus is the University’s lack of storage facilities for hunting game.

“It’s extremely hard to do what you want with your kills and to find space and time to put everything where you want,” Sartini said.

UM provides no facilities for students to clean out or store their trophies. Students living on campus who might consider taking their game home to their dorm to dress out could find themselves incurring the wrath of their Residence Assistants.

“Not only do we not have a place in the dorms to take your animals, but we would probably do a student conduct violation against someone if they started dressing out their animals in the bathrooms or laundry rooms because it would be a huge mess,” said Rita Tucker, the administrative associate manager of Residence Life.

UM freshman Jon Wanderass, who said he intends to go duck hunting on property owned by his friends and relatives, plans to leave his kill there.

“We’re just going to give them the game. We’ll definitely breast the birds out and clean them all up though,” Wanderass said.

He also mentioned that they may just cook and eat whatever they end up shooting right on the spot as he typically has done in the past.

“One time at a buddy’s house we had some fresh duck that we had just killed earlier and we just cooked it up and had a little feast,” Wanderass said.

If the worst comes to worst for Wanderass and his excess game, he says he will most likely end up cramming as much meat as he can into his dorm fridge.

“I’ll probably try to sweet-talk a buddy into letting me store it in his freezer,” Wanderass said.

Hunters living on campus have other options besides mooching their friend’s fridge space for their kills, however.

H&H Meats in Missoula processes game animals with assorted varieties of preparation, including jerky for long-term dry storage.

Students also have the option of donating their game meat to local food banks through the Montana Food Bank Network, which accepts either donations of full animals or processed meat.

“We can have animal donations processed up at the Montana State Prison or through other local processors,” Michael Gardner of Food Resources at the Montana Food Bank Network said.

Those who wish to donate their game can contact Gardner at the Montana Food Bank Network at 721-3825.