Home away from home

Curl's Barn - Where Arnie and the guys sleep 6 nights a year. (photo by Dave Reising)

Two times a year, Arnie travels to Crawford County for a camping trip with the guys - once in the spring for spring gobblers, and the other time when they go for their annual fall trip (turkeys, squirrels, deer, and sometimes pine martens).

He has hunted this property for 30 years. He has better hunting at home, but goes there for the fantastic scenery and for old times' sake. He has hunted there with his dad, best man (Dave Sorensen), neighbor (Bill Chapman), and many more friends and co-workers.

Back in 1979, when he first explored the caves and cliffs with Roger, there were no turkeys in Curl's Holler. There were no gobbles to be heard . You could hear the sound of Dallas's tractor hauling hay up the hill to the hill cattle, though - and that happened at precisely sun-up every day until about four years ago when his family talked him into giving it up. You could set your watch by it (if you knew what time sun-up was that day.)

Arnie used to set up his primitive tent in the barnyard. Sometimes he just slept under outcroppings, in caves, or even under the stars. Now, even though the barn is said to be haunted by pine martens, he and the guys sleep in the barn. They just have to make sure they sleep under the new tin.