October 11, 2011 • Page 21 shop online at www.missourivalleyshopper.com Local Hunter Finds Enjoyment In The Adventure BY HEIDI HENSON heidi.henson@yankton.net Yankton resident Eric Moore may have started out hunting pheasant but over the past several years he has gone on to hunt some of the biggest game on the planet. Having not really grown up in a hunting family, Eric says he really took to pheasant hunting and archery after his family moved to Yankton in 1981. “Not a lot of pheasants where we lived in Iowa,” he says. “So my humble beginnings began with pheasants, ducks and geese.” His interests and passion for archery grew after Dakota Archery moved to Yankton. On one of his first big hunts, Eric says he shot a black bear in Ontario, Canada. “It wasn’t a trophy, but it’s how I got started.” One of the things that spurred his later adventures was elk hunting. Eric traveled to Colorado four or five times and always “came out empty handed.” “But in 2002 I went on an elk hunt in Colorado, and shot a beautiful big bull elk. From there I wanted to go somewhere and do something every year.” But before his elk hunting adventures Eric first traveled to Africa in 1999 with Scott Aase from Dakota Archery. Since then he has been back four times, as well as traveled to New Zealand and Australia. “I enjoy traveling along with my hunting,” he adds. And when he gets the chance on his hunts, Eric likes taking wildlife pictures, says wife Chris Moore. His photography talents paid off during one trip to Africa in 2007. Eric had taken some pictures of a bull elephant that, as Chris describes, were beautiful. During this trip Eric also was able to take down an elephant with his rifle. Rather than bring back the entire elephant, Eric hired an artist in Africa to paint an elephant that he photographed onto one of the ears of the one he killed. “It’s my favorite item,” says Chris. Chris also really admires the elephant feet they had made into stools and a small table with the other ear. “You can really tell what an elephant feels like,” she said. The majority of Eric’s kills are on display in his trophy room at their home — a room that had to be added onto the house because there was so many displays. To date, Eric says he has 28 different species — everything from 13 strip ground squirrels to antelope and a lion. Still waiting to arrive are two bears he killed in 2010. “It’s a very modest trophy room as trophy rooms go. But I’m proud of it.” “At first it bothered me, “ adds Chris, “but now I’ve gotten used to these things looking at me.” Typically, Eric says, he has his taxidermy done at Lewon’s Taxidermy in Nebraska, but the animals from Africa are done in Africa and shipped to the United States. The two bears he took last year earned him recognition by the Boone & Crocket Club and Pope & Young Club. In Saskatchewan he took a Chocolate Black Bear with his bow, and then in Alaska he shot a massive Brown bear with a rifle — the animal was only 11 yards away. “I wasn’t nervous until I realized just how big the (brown) bear was,” said Eric. The crowning achieve- ment thus far for Eric is the Mountain Goat he killed recently in British Columbia. “It was steep mountains, tough terrain — almost impossible type circumstance, but I managed to get a mountain goat with my bow.” One of his most controversial hunts came a couple years ago when he was in Africa and took down a giraffe. “I wasn’t in Africa to shoot a giraffe. Apparently he was raising havoc with power lines or phone lines that came into camp, and his fate was fixed.” The hunters in camp were given the opportunity to hunt the animal because the repair guys wouldn’t come in until he was gone. Eric was the lucky shot with his bow. During the same trip in 2007, when he got his elephant, Eric also claimed a lion. “I didn’t get nervous (when he saw the lion). I was just in awe. That was an incredible experience.” Chris has gone on one hunt with Eric. Not long ago they took a trip to Florida to hunt alligators. He got one, and the next day Chris got to enjoy the beach, he says. Eric is a huge supporter of hunting and in particular archery. He supports many organizations like Pheasants Forever, the National Turkey Federation and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. But Chris says he is also about giving back to the communities where he hunts in Africa by giving them the meat as well as money. “It helps them to keep the animals under control and to take care of the animals there,” she said. ? HUNT, Page x Pre-Owned Specials  3 ?????3???????3??3????  3 ??????3???????3??3????  3 ?????3???????3??3???? BROWNING • REMINGTON • TRISTAR MOSSBERG • WINCHESTER • STOEGER A-1 Pawn 515 E. 4th • Yankton 605-665-3182 T WO R IVERS T AXIDERMY LLP “Your Trophy Is Our Trophy” Wayde Jensen 605-857-0114 Yankton, SD Licensed & Insured Member of the National Taxidermy Association 3609 West 8th • Yankton Ph. (605) 665-7433 • (866) 293-7433 3.99% Financing for 36 months www.allseasonspowersportsinc.com