Actually it was only the third time this summer and the first time up the North Fork as I prefer not fighting the sleeping masses of tourists when I wish to relax.
In the early afternoon, the sun was sitting in just the right position to shine down full force and light up all those various shades of gold, yellow and russet red enough so that they literally shimmered with colour. If only every day could be so outstanding and beautiful, but then we’d have all of those flat-land liberals and their politics moving in on us at an even higher rate. That, in and of itself, is a good reason for enjoying our nastiest weather tantrums each year. Those storms help keep the pilgrims in check.
Regardless, I have one hole on the North Fork where I can park the truck about 50 yards away and there’s a good path down to the water. This has become more important as my life progresses, as it’s now a major chore to pack my ornery carcass up or down anything resembling an incline. Knees and arches just won’t take it. Heck, I had to stop to rest and recover my breath four times on the trip out when I decided to leave, but I was packing out a 22-inch rainbow and a two-pound whitefish with me. Not bad for an hour’s fishing.
That rainbow, cut in halves and smeared with mayonnaise and liberally peppered and salted, then baked in a covered dish for a couple of hours, was the best tasting fish, wild or store bought, I’ve eaten in years. Dang near founded myself as Sandi doesn’t eat trout. Her loss.
Sandi was concerned when I belted on my short barreled .45 Colts Ruger Redhawk. That was more for the effect it has on any nosy, inconsiderate pilgrim who trots over to share the water than the old bull “Buff” that shares the willows behind me. We go back a few years and we have an agreement. I give him his space and he just watches me. However, there’s no telling whether or not some idiot from Iowa has pissed him off a couple of hours prior to my arrival by trying to pet him after taking his picture.
This old boy is pretty tolerant, seems like he has a personal space of about 25 feet before he starts twitching his tail. Don’t ask me how I know that.
In my humble opinion, and yes, I know everyone has one, most citizens, and especially townies, underestimate the problems wild critters can cause. Too much exposure to the “feel good” movies by the Disney folks over the years I suppose. Fantasy, not gospel.
A recent example of town folks, including the “powers that be,” ignorance of wild critters’ behavior would be the 2- or 3-year-old bull moose recently running loose in urban Billings. The local idiots in charge, including the Montana Fish and Wildlife hot shots, simply let it roam around the neighbourhoods. The authorities told the TV folks that they thought eventually he’d find his way out of the city. Is that before or after it stomps somebody’s Kia into assorted-sized cup holders? Or after someone’s brave but stupid pit bull tries to take it out and winds up being stomped into toe jam?
What if some sunny afternoon someone’s wife is taking the trash out and startles the critter in her backyard and her little barking fuzzy whatsit rages out from between her feet and goes for the moose? Any bets on the outcome of the resulting debacle or the resulting lawsuit?
Regardless, after nearly a week of K-2’s news anchors laughing at its escapades as it tried to figure out town life, we lost contact with the big booger, but only after it nearly collided with some elderly citizen innocently waiting for the downtown bus. Did the civic “powers that be” suddenly understand that an 800-pound wild critter with antlers could cause a public safety issue and have it anesthetized and removed? Or did it get on the bus and de-bus at some less troublesome area on its own? Who knows?
Then there are the black bears and the grizzly bears that seem to be a constant summer in all of our towns. Our Wyoming Red Shirts go after them fairly quickly. Not so in Montana, according to the TV news folks who report that F&W folks in Montana apparently aren’t overly concerned as real damage hasn’t occurred yet. In other words, to their knowledge no one’s been killed yet, not officially. I actually know of a case that occurred a few years back during bear season when a large boar blackie took up residence in a large tree overlooking a rural school bus stop.
The wardens wouldn’t remove it, so a concerned local parent bought a bear license, took his rifle out and eliminated the problem of perhaps a child or even several children being mauled by the bruin. Yep, you guessed it, the wardens issued our nitwit parent a ticket for shooting the bear on some BS pretext or other. Do they think these things are just oversized raccoons? And not to knock raccoons. A rabid raccoon is something to stay away from when it’s angry or scared. They can raise all sorts of merry hell in a short time, like about the time it takes you to swallow your chew.
In case you think your dog will protect you, I’ve seen half-grown raccoons kill dogs in a fight. No guff. And the coon was on a chain in a garage. They can be a bad act. And yes, if I see one in town, I’ll defer to our Red Shirts or the local cops, but if it’s in my own backyard, I’ll shoot it and happily pay the dang fine. Just like I would an out-of-control dog in my fenced backyard giving my wife grief. Some things are moral and righteous, but they ain’t legal, and some things are legal, but they just ain’t right. Go figure!
One final thought. What happens when an 80-year-old woman with a bad heart takes her trash out to the alley container and bumps into a foraging black bear, surprising it? Or opens her back door some winter night and a mountain lion spits and grows at her while crouching across the fresh-killed carcass of one of Cody’s prized wild mule deer? What if it attacks defending its kill? Stranger things have happened.
What if that bear or cat was previously reported to the authorities and its immediate removal was ignored? Can G&F afford that lawsuit or would they just pay out damages from those ever-available Pittman-Robinson funds? Rather than hold local city authorities responsible, would hiring a high paid executive public relations hot shot be able to explain that one away?
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