Larry Mathews grew up in Riverton and hunted since he was 10- or 11-years old. “I was fortunate to have a dad who liked to hunt. My son loves to hunt and my grandsons like to hunt so it is a family thing,” Larry said.

Last fall, Larry got a nice whitetail buck deer in Ocean Lake and Bass Lake area. “It was a Sunday. I was lucky enough to have my son Mark who was home from Alaska. Two of my grandsons, Randy Kusel and Tyler Rice came with me, so it was a fun trip—me being the grandpa,” Larry said. One young hunter graduated from high school last spring and the other just entered high school as a freshman.
“This time I was the only one with a license. They tagged along with me and we found a nice buck and shot him. They helped me drag it back to the pickup. It was a fun experience. One shot, dropped him in his tracks and he tasted very good—he still does,” Larry said.
“I prefer the whitetail deer over the mule deer,” Larry said. “I think it has a lot to do with the habitat you find them in. Whitetail deer like the river bottoms, willow patches and bushes, so they hang around agricultural lands. They feed on alfalfa, corn and all the best stuff. They eat crops, so farmers like to have people come and harvest a few deer. Out in the hills, the mule deer don’t get that kind of feed.”
“The whitetail deer are a little different creature [than the mule deer]. They are a little sneakier, maybe a little smarter. They are fun to hunt and are good eating.”

Larry hunted bighorn sheep, elk, mule deer, antelope, whitetail deer—and enjoyed every minute of it. He claimed that all his hunts were exciting, but nothing fantastic or unusual. “Each species is a different type of a hunt and I enjoy them all. I have taken antelope out on the prairie with archery equipment. That was a blast, because you have to be up close and you have to be extremely sneaky to do that. I’ve gotten sneaky enough to take three of them with a bow and arrow.” He shot the bighorn up near Dubois.

“I haven’t received a permit for a moose or a mountain goat,” Larry said. “We hunt ducks, geese, pheasants, chuckers and things like that.”

Larry does not have any favorite spots but looks for “wherever it seems like a good place to hunt. I enjoy hunting public lands were it is fair chase and wild animals.”

Larry visited his son Mark in Anchorage. They went salmon fishing in late June and in August. “Alaska salmon fishing is a blast. In just about any stream during the salmon runs, you will find salmon—from the first of June to August or September. I got a lot of nice salmon but I haven’t been up there hunting,” Larry said.

Hunting has changed in Wyoming Larry said. “When I was a kid growing up around here, there was no such thing as a special permit. You went down to the sporting goods store and you bought an antelope license or one for a deer or an elk. Then you went hunting. Now, because of the increased hunting pressure and demand—especially by out-of-state hunters coming into Wyoming—most all of the areas need a special permit. There are still a few deer and elk areas where you can buy a license over-the-counter. Most of the areas are special permit.”

Larry wistfully added, “This year, I didn’t draw any permits so I won’t be doing much big game hunting this year. Darn it.” As far as exciting stories, each of the hunts was exciting to be on, he said.

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