Dennis Howell was honored to be nominated for the Bowhunter of the Year award. But when he found out his family wasn’t coming to the Colorado Bowhunters Association’s annual banquet, that was a giveaway.
“I knew I didn’t get it,” Howell said.
But a few minutes before the award was to be handed out March 15 at the Ramada Plaza North in Denver, he saw his daughter near the bathrooms.
“Dad, you’re not supposed to see me here,” Kassi, age 35, told him sheepishly.
His wife, Kryn, had pulled “a fast one,” telling him that she, Kassi and their other daughter, Kakki, 31, would be hanging out with a relative instead of attending the banquet. Soon Howell was up on stage, accepting the fancy plaque and knife given to one person each year.
“I was very proud to get it. It’s quite an honor. ... Pretty humbling,” said Howell, 57. “I shed a few tears, I can tell you that.”
Howell has been a bow hunter for 37 years, since before he and the family moved from Texas to Marvel in 1990. For the last couple of decades he’s been involved with the Colorado Bowhunters Association, serving as a director and twice helping to hold state banquets in Durango.
No doubt he’s an accomplished bow hunter. With his skill as an elk caller, he’s closing in on an elite hunting accomplishment. He’s taken nine of Colorado’s “big 10” big-game species with a bow, an achievement accomplished by only 29 others. Only two people are known to have taken the big 10; the last on Howell’s list is the desert bighorn sheep.
The “big 8” are mule deer, whitetail deer, elk, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, mountain goat, bear and mountain lion. The final two of the big 10 are Shiras’ moose and the desert bighorn.
The Bowhunter of the Year is chosen by past winners, of which there are about 20.
Howell was nominated by Todd Brickel, a Colorado bow-hunting record-keeper and currently a director of a national bow hunting advocacy group, the Minnesota-based Pope and Young Club.
Doug Hutchison of Missouri, Howell’s friend and hunting partner for seven years, posted on the bowsite.com website: “Congrats to my hunting partner and best friend Dennis Howell for receiving the Bowhunter of the Year award. I know how much it means to you. The (association) would be hard-pressed to find a more deserving or appreciative person.”
Through the state association Howell is partnering with Colorado Parks and Wildlife on a new program to help people learn the art of bow hunting. After learning safety and the fine points of shooting, the program takes women, children or men on hunts. Howell will certify that they’re indeed ready to go out on their own.
“It’s a great opportunity for everybody,” Howell said.
johnp@durangoherald.com
