Montana Duck Hunters Rejoice....

...season opens tomorrow. But with temperatures expected to soar well into the 80s it might not be too ducky a day, eh? No dedicated ducker by any stretch, I decided to fore-go getting baked and instead open the season early...And while we won't be dining duck anytime soon I did manage to nab a couple keepers...as always click pix for a larger view...

These blue-winged teal don't know how lucky they are...cuz presented a set-up like this well hell even I could hardly miss...right? Right!!!

Ain't never et a goldeneye...anyways no regrets this time around; actually damn glad to have the camera in hand instead...pretty nifty shot if I don't say so myownself...

Took some doing to finally get this guy to hold still long nuff to press the shutter and...well as you can see the pose could have been a lot better but as someone once mentioned an eye is an eye or...perhaps more to the point you can't win 'em all...

Then too someone once mentioned "even a blind hog finds a acorn once in awhile" To whit...sort of standin' on my head trying to focus on the wild licorice failed to note the two spiders...as I say...well hell...

 Like the bugs, not much a do 'bout duckin', just another nifty shot...'specially when you add in holdin' back Kate one hand workin' camera tother...I say way ta go Gale!

Big Hole Cast 'N Blast....

was, well, a blast. First cast in No Name Creek a real lunker brookie ate the Orange Stimulator I had tied on in deference to Gale--like the Orange beauty has been a favorite, actually her go-to fly for decades--who was herself tied up at the moment tending to Kate who was at the moment engaged in ferreting out yet another interesting scent...Anyway no boots, no camera handy, standing on a high bank, no way to get down to land the beast (in one piece anyhow) I did the next best thing and tried to lead it downstream--no dice, no witnesses except for Annie of course so there you have it. How big? Well pretty big especially considering the crick's rather tight living quarters but in actuality...like the man often points out this one we will just never know. I know, I know the beeg ones always somehow get away...what can I say.

Here are a few keepers of another sort...hope you enjoy 'em even half as much as we enjoyed living 'em...

24 chilly degrees this mornin'...

Nothin' I know gets the blood runnin' quicker than crawlin' into frozen wading socks and boots...

Not a bad way to end a long day of adventurin, eh?

Mule Ranch/Pintlar  Range is perhaps our favorite Montana vista...

Big wind set the Stewart Mountain Fire (a few days ago officially declared DIW) to smokin' big time...so much for 100% contained, eh?

Fly Fishing: Guide Wars Officially...

...kaput. I know, I know said that awhile ago but...A couple of days ago I did the last trips on the books and since it is already way beyond my usual Labor Day shut down...as someone once noted NO MAS!!! Or put another way I have netted my last trout for the season unless of course tis one of Gale's or mine...Nuff said on that, eh?

Summer also officially comes to a close on Friday and while I know won't last the past few days have really felt like fall. Fact is the past two mornings we had hard frosts, hard enough to effectively kill off most of Gale's vegetables and even most of her flowers. I hadn't planned on mowing the yard anymore this fall but thanks anyway. Tomorrow we are planning a short R&D camping trip into the Pioneers and if all goes well with Kate (she had trouble adjusting to camper life down on the Madison over Labor Day) we will head east to kick start the real bird hunting in a week or so. 

First stop will be somewhere in the Sweet Grass Hills where word on the streets indicate the prairie birds might have weathered last winter a bit better than further east..hopefully we shall soon see.

Wilson's phalarope, one of many shorebird species found in Montana

We also need to ramp up production efforts for our upcoming book "Birding Trails Montana" of which the first installment is due end of November...Yikes! Seeing as I've hardly made a dent so far now there is a really scary thought...But we should be able to knock out a bunch of included sites in between bird hunts so maybe just maybe will be able to get enough done to at least satisfy contractual obligations...sort of anyway.

Baneberry is just one of many, many fruits and wildflowers flourished from all that moisture this spring...should make for some fat, tasty bird dishes this fall, eh?