Don't Put Away the Fly Rods Yet...

...November is prime time for hooking into the fattest trout of the season. As these photos show...

Fall brown trout are fat, happy and hungry...

So too brook trout; as both are fall spawners and need major calories to survive the rigorous event...

Rainbows spawn in spring but cooling water temperatures trigger the instinct to put on as much weight as possible to fend off the harsh, lean winter just around the corner...

The old adage big fish/big fly certainly applies most any season...

...But come November you can hardly go wrong pitchin' the biggest, nastiest, meatiest lookin' ties in the box...

Norhwest Montana...

...features one eye-popping scenic after another...Here are a few we captured on the aborted ruffed grouse hunt I posted previously...Not so hot eatin' wise but a for sure eye feast....

Swan Lake Fishing Access Site

Mission Mountain Wilderness

Placid Lake State Park

And before you sharp-eyed viewers scream foul...I must confess to fiddling with these a bit in Lightroom 3.5 which I am at the moment trying my damnedest to master...These were tweaked using the presets in the Develop Module...Not much to master there since all that is necessary is a mouse click and deciding whether or not you like what you see or...next preset...Oh well, to my eye these turned out pretty damn nifty...Right? Right...

Snakebite Victim Update...

This picture had become all too familiar up until yesterday that is....

...finally after countless water baths, wet towel treatments, pill battles (Annie does not do pills period, end of discussion) several injections (not havin' needles either)...not drinking, eating little, hopping around on three legs...as I say finally yesterday she put foot down (for the most part), drank some and ate pretty good...Hooray!

Ten long pain filled (for Annie), fretful, frustrating, fearful (for us) days since a rattler nailed her in the foot. Up until yesterday the hoped for, though highly unlikely, quick healing process seemed to us negligible at best and two three days ago seemed to take several steps backward--dead in the water actually.

Gale and me already stressed by a string of events that included constant worry, no sleep, unanswered questions, vet visits which by then had become almost a daily occurrence; to say nothing of shattered nerves which led to ridiculous shouting matches--admittedly foolish and certainly doing nothing for Annie's equally stressed out condition--well, as I say two, three days ago we had all just about had IT...

Then yesterday morning, the threat looming of a whole day in the vet's office administering intravenous fluids due to Annie's baffling refusal to drink or for that matter eat much of anything...suddenly a breakthrough she ate pretty good, drank some and wonder of wonders actually walked on all four feet...

Actually the swelling has all but disappeared from her lower leg and foot and except for up under in the groin area the only redness is where some "superficial dead skin" has sloughed off..."Looks pretty good according to vet" which as you might imagine sounds pretty sweet at this point...So there you have it, perhaps not quite out the woods yet but damn close...With any luck at all the next update will include a shot similar to this one...

Feels Like Fall Today...

...As the temperature barely made it out the 30s...And while I would not bet the farm on such a fickle sister as Montana weather I am pretty sure we've seen the last of Indian Summer...The leaves, really colorful just a day or so ago have suddenly tinted toward brown and in the backyard already a couple aspens are bare. Won't be long until all the leaves are gone and we all know what that means...Yikes, hard to imagine another winter lies just around the corner...

While we haven't seen the last of the honey bees no doubt their visits will be few and far between in the upcoming weeks...

From the sound of it the last of the sandhill cranes boogied this morning...Already a week or so ago we noticed their numbers out on the East Bench (staging area) had thinned considerably...Always sort of sad to see these beautiful birds go but then again if they stayed around all winter what would we have to look forward to come early spring...

Tis a shame we don't have bracken fern here in southwest Montana to color up the fall woods; always makes me a little envious of the folks in northwest Montana...but on second thought we got way more trout and way fewer folks so...Ah, forget it...

How's this for proof the fall so far has been warmer than usual...this poppy bloomed next to deck two days ago and last night Jack Frost killed it but still...

On another way more serious track Annie is still hurtin'. And today especially has not been one of her best...she was putting weight on her foot yesterday but since this morning has been reluctant to put any weight on it. Plus the bruising and discoloration is all the way up her leg and looks much more sore than it did a couple days ago...Add to that the dead skin is starting to slough (something we all hoped would not happen) and...Well, I'm afraid she is in for not only a long painful haul but a serious one besides...Yeah, we got our fingers and toes crossed on this one and trust me, I would gladly eat all the crow the healing gods care to serve up...

Rattlesnake Bite Brings Our Bird Hunting to a Sudden Halt...

...hopefully not permanent but I must say right now this ol' boy's heart just ain't in it...For some I suppose such incidents are but a bump in the road for us it's a nightmare we hoped would never happen...But when you think about it 50 plus years of runnin' bird dogs in snake country I suppose it's a nightmare just waiting to happen. But the way this wreck occurred makes you wonder just what the hell I did to anger the hunting gods...Thursday morning dawned cold, around 20 degrees in Dillon...up Freezeout Lake who knows but the forecast for later was for cloudy skies, chilly north wind and temps in the low to mid 50s...Not exactly the sort of weather one would expect to run into a rattler, at least not one warm enough to do much harm. But 10 minutes into the hunt and no more than 40 yards from open water not at all the sort of place one expects to run into rattlers especially in late October given no rattler in its right mind would den that close to lake in low grass, not a rock in sight...Damn what the hell was it doin' there in the first beginning is a mystery I will no doubt never know the answer and will probably take to my grave wondering...Anyway Annie was hot on the trail of rooster, apparently passed too close and came out of it on three legs in great pain and no doubt wondering as I what the hell...since there was no warning buzz, nothing just a hurt for certain dog and a goddamn worried pair geezers...

The snake hit her with just one fang between the toes. At first there was no swelling, as I say no indication what the hell, but by the time we got her to a vet (in Choteau 12 miles up the road) the foot and leg were swollen big time and poor Annie was by then really hurtin' Because we could not be certain what had happened (no snake in hand) the vet put her on a powerful pain killer and two antibiotics...And hoping for the best as you can imagine we spent a restless night in the camper but come morning the swelling and bruising was much worse so on her advice we headed to Dillon hoping our vet would know and...She took one look and said nothing else but so here we are...

As you can see the damage is extensive, the worry of course is should the skin crack the healing process will no doubt be long and painful...Hoping to nix that we are bathing the leg in warm water every couple hours doing our damnedest to keep her from standing around (apparently the pain is such she is reluctant to sit or lay down) and instead lying down...so far we have not been all that successful. Another worry is the venom could destroy the coagulation properties in her blood and what that means is more than I can say but am sure it ain't good...Vet is supposed to let us know anytime so...Whatever I'd be surprised if we do any more bird hunting this season...But if all turns out OK then of course would be a small price to pay and one we'll gladly ante up...

In the Seeley Swan We Found Ruffed Grouse...

...few and far between. That it rained almost constantly the entire week did not help but we persevered as best we could, got a good deal of work done on our forthcoming book, Bird Trails Montana; discovered some pretty nifty spots, tramped a bunch of good country, did a wee bit of fishing, enjoyed a good camp--actually except for one evening we had an entire USFS campground all to our ownselves, hard to top that eh? In case you have never been the Seeley Swan woods are dark, bushy as hell and full of mystery--not the least of which is the very real possibility of meeting up Mr., or perish the thought, Mrs. Griz and youngins round just about any bend. That is if bear scat everywhere is any indication...Yes, I know most of the scat belongs or belonged to one the many and much more likely to encounter black bears roaming twixt the Mission Mountain Wilderness to the west and the Bob Marshall to the east...but still being reminded in some spots every few steps does tend make one a bit goosey...I have a long and some might say downright careless relationship with black bears but second day out I did dig around and pull out our one and only and very ancient can bear spray...I don't think Gale was comforted in the least and I know she weren't impressed...hey, I tried. Anyway here a few keeper shots randomly drawn as always from our wanderings...Enjoy.

American dipper aka water ouzel...never guess which handle I prefer...

Signs such as this were everywhere...just in case you forget?

Grand National Champion Larch is 153 feet tall, 24 feet around, 1000 years old, a damned impressive specimen if I do say so me self...

Bark beetles, nature's master engravers....

Wolf Video Opens A Large Can of Worms And...

...And gets me a few hate mails and one ugly comment from "Anonymous" who apparently lacks the IF to sign it...So be it, as someone once mentioned, "we all have our opinions and the right to speak 'em...But to all you "Chuck" haters let me point out:

• "I" DID NOT produce or have a thing to do with the video.
• "I" of course DID draw my own conclusions and posted the video so faithful followers of this blog could in fact draw theirs.
• No one, especially you "haters," have a clue where I stand on the wolf issue, in whole or in part.

So in the interest of enlightenment...

• Fact is I happen to like wolves--i.e. wolves managed biologically NOT politically.
• I DO NOT like it that the Greater Yellowstone wolf population has been allowed to grow to what most biologists consider way over the top numbers; for all the wrong reasons I might add.
• I DO NOT appreciate the politics which allow folks from around the globe to dictate policy which should be solely left to the biologists, the folks left to deal with wolves and those most affected by them; that judges, who have NO biology credentials whatsoever are allowed to have the final say.
• I DO NOT cotton to the idea, once the moose are all but gone, the elk have disappeared and/or fled to safer pastures hard working ranchers are left to "supply" cows to feed the hungry wolves; a deal which of course they DID NOT sign on in the first beginning.
• And I could go on and on enlightening but then like I said, we all have our opinions, these are just a few of mine...PS keep on sending the hate messages but please do let me know just who the hell you are..over and out...Chuck

To view the video AND DRAW YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS please click on http://cryingwolfmovie.com/or check it out on You Tube...