Guide Wars Come To An End...At Long Last

Yesterday I promised myself and the girls would be my last guide trip of the season...one promise I plan to keep by the way. The season to say the least was a bit on the strange side. Only a handful of trips through April, May and June led to a busy...often too busy...July and August. Other years I sort of put an end to the madness come September but, hell, the outfitters kept calling and I somehow, for reasons still not entirely clear to me, kept saying "yes." Oh well, we need the moolah so...

As usual the season had its share of high and low lights...good news is the good mostly outweighed the bad...and except for the day the raft sunk and finding that at some point I'd punched a hole in the floor of the hard boat nothing really ugly for a change. Oh I guess you could say my recent shunning by an outfitter I thought we had a good working relationship at long last after several rocky seasons wasn't all that great...For whatever reason when we ended up at the same launch point (I was working for Al not him) the other day he chose not to talk actually would not even look my way...who the hell knows?...Although I'm sure at some point over the next few months he'll clue me in so we both know...Anyway I don't plan to lose sleep over it so...

I never did get a chance to look for the steel whatever poked a hole in the raft but I did learn patching one up is not all that big a deal...I think it took all of 20 minutes or so...As for the hole in the hard boat apparently it had been there for awhile, at least long enough to weaken the plywood beneath the several layers of fiberglass for rot to set in...my guess is with the wood weakened by the rot I hit a rock just so and ended up with a couple inches water in the bottom by the time we reached the take-out that day. Anyway I had just enough epoxy and a piece of heavy fiberglass to patch it (temporarily at least). Yesterday not a drop seeped in...

As usual the fishing and the fishermen yo-yoed between awful and pretty damn good. While I can't prove it my guess is I had more really good fishermen in the boat this time around than normal...my friends Doug and Steve, the guy from Texas (sorry) and Joe from Spokane and Steve who grew up in central PA where I spent most of my adult life stand out but...appologies to you other guys who could really pitch 'em as well...you know senior moment, loss of memory, ad nauseum.

So we come to yesterday's swan song...good outfitter, great lunch (never saw such a spread actually not ever close), good guys, decent weather, no wrecks, hardly any competition, decent fishing...all good. FYI the lunch spread included bar-b-que pork and cabbage, chunky potato salad, homemade chocolate chip cookies, homemade rolls/real butter even, homemade desert rolls/apricot/date filling and watermelon... OK a veritable FEAST! What can I say... 

Till next time...  

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.

Global Warming? What Global Warming...

On the heels of one of the wimpiest, at least snow-wise, winters ever this spring is fast becoming one to "really" remember. Ever since winter was declared "officially" dead it seems every time you turn around more snow, yet another winter storm warning, is in the forecast. Two days ago it snowed here in Dillon where it hardly ever snows much more than a dusting, ALL DAY!!! True here in the valley the white stuff melted almost as fast as it hit the ground but it came down hard and the storm hung around just about dawn to dark.

Now today here we go again. Another winter storm warning, this time forecast to stay mostly in the mountains but it's been raining since daylight and the temperature is hovering in the mid-30s and...And well, like I said, here we go again...at least the potential is out there for another snow day.

I shot these mountain blue bells (I think?) up on Badger Pass yesterday afternoon where there was still a few inches left over from the storm day before. Yes, it sure is pretty all that snow hanging on the trees and spring wildflowers and green grass poking thru the white blanket here and there but enough, it is after all nearly the end of May and high time to get on with it... 

It's deja vue all over again.

In a couple days we plan to hit the road again, hopefully gather a few more shots such as above Gale shot a couple seasons back. A day that dawned calm and sunny in downtown Malta--thankgoodness since the bank thermometer hovered at minus 28 as the gal on the radio issued dire warnings of imminent frostbite and should you dare to poke nose outside the afternoon high figured to top out around minus 10.

You sure know how to pick 'em, Gale smirked, while munching down a scrambled egg, bacon and cheese breakfast sandwich in the toasty dining room of the Great Northern Hotel.

You mean my choice breakfast spots or my brilliant idea of chasing rooster chickens about a landscape might make the Arctic tundra blush?

Have another snort of coffee, dear, it might very well be your last!!!

And so it went; as turned out not such a bad hunt after all though, don't spread it around, but I did vow afterward, if ever so softly, never, ever again. But as Yogi would say, It's deja vue all over again.

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.