Poking About Beaverhead County the Past Couple Days...

...yielded a few keeper photos. An all day tour out Blacktail, over the Clover Divide, on to Lakeview (Red Rock Lakes NWR headquarters) and then out to the highway at Monida provided us a pretty impressive bird list (for us, admittedly no expert birders by a long shot). All told we checked-off 40 for sure species while giving it our best shot to ID many others (mostly small sparrow-like birds) that just would not hold still long enough...oh well, good practice anyways...  High on Taylor Mountain we spotted two goats making their way across the shear cliffs...always a highlight for us even though no way to get even a lousy photo...

Grizz claw marks on this aspen tree in Bean Crick (noted hangout)...no, not smokin' but plenty fresh enough to get our attention...

Pair mule deer bucks gamboling about the Matador haystacks got the tour off to a fine start....

An-tee-lopes, this bunch all does and fawns, are almost cliche in the Blacktails...

...As are mule deer, especially does with fat, healthy fawns in tow...

...Sort of sad to see the once sagging roof of this old landmark barn at Monida finally give up the ghost...But as the man often noted..."to all things there must be a beginning and an end"...like ashes to ashes, dust to dust...or somethin' like that, eh?

Hunting Season Officially Arrives Tomorrow and...

...as usual I can hardly get my head around the idea of big game hunting in mid-August. But yes, it's true with a 900 antelope archery tag in hand come dawn Sunday morning you are good to go. Most years the season opener dawns way more summer-like than fall-like but if yesterday is any indication this year could be different...like 180 different as the temperature struggled to climb even into the 60s and as mentioned previously snow in the high country was the prediction...don't know if that really materialized but mid-60s in mid-August...well as I said felt pretty much like mid-October is supposed to feel.

Alas this time around I won't be participating, having somehow totally forgot to apply for any big game tags...that's right none, nada...thank goodness Montana law allows me to buy a deer/elk tag over the counter or for the first time since I turned 12 many, many moons ago, no big game hunting for this lad. Scary as hell, you got it but hopefully not terminal.

Taking advantage of the chilly day we took the sisters to the woods hoping they might get into a blue grouse or two...did not happen but they did uncover a roost site in a bunch of pines...several days (weeks) old but still...we declared the mission a success of sorts and after all we did get a little workout and the heady smells in the damp pines did get our juices flowing for what surely will turn out a fine fall bird season...don't they all?who needs a moldy ol' elk or deer anyways...right? Right.

Sage Hen Alley, Antelope and Rabbit Trails

Sage Hen Alley lived up to its handle big time today as the Pointer Sisters pointed an estimated 40 or so during a couple hour loop through the snow-covered sage. While we only saw two antelope you could not take a step and not trample a track; ditto rabbit tracks(jack, cottontail,pygmy). Sage hen sign, tracks and droppings everywhere. Yesterday we saw far more rabbit sign and way less sage hen and antelope sign, no sage hens or antelope sighted and just two rabbits, a whitetail jack and a pygmy. Curious since today we were actually just over the ridge from yesterdays hike. Good thing our goal wasn't to shoot sage hens since they were about as wild as sage hens get...several times the Sisters locked up long range and each time the birds boogied, like right now. I saw one big cock stretched to full height gawking our approach; watching cautiously he stood his ground until we closed to about 75 yards. When he flushed so did 4 of his buddies and as they flapped to put distance between another single flushed wild, at least 200 yards off. All in all I would have been lucky to kill even one bird...so much for the piece of cake reputation you so often hear bantied about, eh? Believe it or not but if there are any other critter tracks in the above rabbit thorofare I could not identify any.

Mule Deer Buck_Robbins

Well yet another Montana big game season is history. Alas, once again, I have managed to add nothing to the larder. Failed miserably fulfilling my preseason promise "to fill all my tags this season come hell or high water." For shame...but what can I say other than I hardly tried...I think I hunted deer all of about 9 hours and elk a big fat zero...even my self-professed first love, decoying antelope during the September rut, turned out mostly a farce. As I might have mentioned in a previous rant the why of this is something of mystery but the grim result sure ain't...Perhaps it's high time to just admit the truth...Chuck my man you just ain't got it in your sorry ass anymore...Best let it go, stick to chasin' ugly dogs...now there's a pleasant thought.