The winner’s circle might be the only place IndyCar racer Johnny Unser would rather be than atop a piney ridge with bow in hand, elk coming into sight. Racing courses through Unser’s veins. His father Jerry was the first Unser to race in the Indianapolis 500, followed by Johnny’s uncles Bobby Sr. and Al Sr. Johnny himself raced a variety of cars during his career and in 1989 won the 12 Hours of Sebring. He also had top finishes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Daytona, along with five appearances at the Indy 500. Above all, though, he is an outdoorsman. He and his family live near Hailey, Idaho, where he runs a small hay operation on the Camas Prairie. He is a proud Elk Foundation member who will appear on RMEF’s TV show, Team Elk.
Bugle: How did you get into hunting?
Johnny: I grew up in a little town of 1,500 people in the foothills of northern California. I was only a year old when my dad was killed racing at Indianapolis back in 1959, so basically my mom raised my brother and me. When I was 8, I got my first .22 rifle. I always loved being outside, and I always loved shooting. Mom put me in touch with some friends who hunted, and I went with them. I shot my first deer when I was 13.
Bugle: Who took you out on the hunt when you got your first deer?
Johnny: I was with a friend, and it was just the two of us. I’ll never forget it. I had a shoulder injury, so my arm was in a sling. And how they hunted deer in northern California at that time was they got all these guys and they lined up and made drives through the brush. They’d have people set up at the perimeter so when the deer came out they might get a shot at them. The deer came right to us. I put my rifle up on a fence post, because I couldn’t hold the gun up, and shot a nice blacktailed deer. It was pretty cool.
Bugle: What’s it like to grow up in a famous racing family? Did you just know you were going to race cars?
Johnny: No, I didn’t, because my mom raised my brother and me away from racing. I didn’t get into racing until I was in high school. It was toward the end of high school and beginning of college when I decided that was what I wanted to do. My mom wanted my brother and me to get our college education. Once we did that, she supported [my racing] knowing that I always had an education to fall back on. So I started my racing career a little later.
Bugle: How have your ideas about conservation changed over the years since you first started hunting?
Johnny: Well, when I first started hunting I didn’t really care about it or think much about it, to be honest. That was a long time ago, and there were lots of places to hunt. But as I’ve grown older, conservation has made a big difference to me. We need to try hard to preserve habitat for all wildlife, and especially for elk.
Bugle: How did you start elk hunting?
Johnny: I first hunted elk on my uncles’ ranches in New Mexico. I would go out there when I was in high school every year. I just really fell in love with it. I’ve lived in Idaho the last 30 years and have elk hunted ever since.
Bugle: What’s the allure of elk hunting for you?
Johnny: A lot of it is being able to hike in the mountains, outside in the middle of nature. Oftentimes I get out there and hike an hour or two before daylight. I try to be at the top of a mountain or at least a ridge. I think the most special time for me is when the sun first starts to come up in the morning and daylight first starts to shine. If you can be into elk at that time and watch them as it starts to get light and hear them bugle—to me, there’s no experience like that. It’s just like a little piece of heaven.
Bugle: Moving forward, what do you think conservation groups should be doing?
Johnny: They have to lobby, and they have to have people in the right places. And they have to raise money. Buying a membership to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is huge. That $35 is money well spent. Hunters are not afraid to buy a new rifle, a new bow, or a new pair of boots. I think every hunter, every hunter, everybody who gets out there in the woods for any reason, ought to support the hunter’s cause of their choice—be it ducks, elk or deer.