Upcoming Exhibitions

Sign of the Times
May 13 - August 20, 2013

Other Exhibits

Artifact of the Month

Past Exhibition

Fishin', Huntin' & Braggin'

January 4 - March 26, 2010

With every excursion out to the woods, lake or river, there is bound to be a story to tell. The practice of tracking prey is as old as time, and its history is deep and diverse. West Central Illinois has its own unique tale to tell. Fishin’, Huntin’ & Braggin’ is an exhibit that explores the tradition of gathering resources from the land and creates a place for the good ol’ stories to be told, yet again.

The exhibit included artifacts from the museum’s collection as well asother items from the community, including duck decoys, fishing lures, outboardmotors, and animal mounts. These and other artifacts in the exhibit arevisually intriguing while at the same time demonstrate the history of huntingand fishing in the region. Early settlers of the region experienced a back-and-forthrelationship with their environment and wildlife, and the exhibit looks at howthis led to the realization that management of the land and wildlife was necessary.

A selection from the museum’s extensive trap and pelt collection werefeatured in the trapping section of the exhibit. The traps on display providedan excellent survey of the innovations in the field. The collection of over 250 traps was donated by Ed Whittier from Bushnell in 1979. Mr. Whittier was well known for his knowledge of trapping, and work in the fur trade. He was also a founding member of the Illinois Fur Trapping Association along with Irwin Cox and Jim Roberts, also local trappers. This section of the exhibit told of Mr. Whittier’s and the others’ stories of their involvement in the fur trade in the West Central Illinois region.

Another section of the exhibit told the stories of some of the biggest bucks in the region. On view was one of the six copies of the record buck shot in McDonough County by Scott Dexter in 2004. For that year it held the second place record in the world in the muzzleloader category as well as the second place spot for white-tail deer in Illinois. On Saturday, February 5th the museum will hosted a Big Buck contest from 10:00 – 4:00. Official scores from Boone and Crockett and the Illinois Recognition Program were available to measure bucks hunted in the state of Illinois. The winners in four categories were invited to display their buck as part of the exhibit with photos and the stories of the hunt.

The exhibit also featured a braggin’ wall where visitors displayed photos of their catch or hunt.

The exhibit research was been provided by museum interns and WIU graduate students Kelsea Armstrong, Mark Schoeberlein, and Dirk Yarker and museum volunteer John Cox. Installation assistance was provided by Gill Belles, Lowell Lueck and Andy Newman. Artifacts have been lent by Leon Clements, Dee Kruzan, Dan Morgan and Kate Nettles, Rick Severs and Farm King.

The exhibit was on view January 4th through March 26th, 2011.