All tagged Montana
The early fall season is an active time for wildlife in this part of Montana. The moose are in full rut, and the elk are bugling, while working out a hierarchy of the biggest and baddest bulls. Bighorn sheep and mule deer are still in bachelor groups during the truce time before their own annual wars of dominance.
One of the side effects of the Covid-19 pandemic is that domestic travel skyrocketed in 2021. After staying home during all of 2020, people wanted to get out. For the most part, international trips were off the table. So finding campsites on Saturday and Sunday was a never-ending chore for us, one that was often unsuccessful.
One fine September day a few years back, I was fishing along a small stream in northwestern Montana’s Yaak River drainage. It was sunny, warm, and the fishing was good. I had already worked my way about a mile upstream from where I had parked the truck, and I continued northward, almost on automatic pilot, casting a gray hackle peacock wet fly from small pool to small pool as I moved.
Last Wednesday, I was working on a tool shed at our cabin in the Yaak in northwestern Montana. The light was fading, and I was getting a bit tired, so I turned around and headed back toward the cabin, hammer still in hand. I froze.
