Montana's big game general rifle season is winding down. Less than two weeks remain for hunters to put meat in the freezer before the season ends on Nov. 25.As you might have guessed from a guy who is counting the days before the season ends, I have yet to bag that elusive elk. I will tell you this, however, it is not for lack of trying.
I have devoted three days in each of the last two weeks to walking the mountains in southwest Montana.
You can experience the great solitude and scenery our wilderness areas offer. Exercising from sunrise to sunset gets your body in great physical shape and that helps my attitude to remain positive.
But for me, and I think many hunters, the main objective is to put some meat in the freezer. Wild game recipe books from my friend Chef Vince will have to remain closed until I bring an elk home.
With each passing day of not bagging an elk, it gets harder and harder to answer the inevitable question I always get when I come back home after a few days hunting. Those questions even change in context and feeling as the season wears on.
The question after the first fruitless hunting trip is, “How big is it?” After you return the second time without an elk they ask, “Did you see anything?” This last week it was, “Well - ” and before they can finish the question I respond with a quick, “No.”
By now, most of the people you know are pulling for you to be successful, especially your family. The only thing you know is that you have a chance every time you venture out to get the opportunity to be successful.
There are, of course, many factors that are out of your control, such as the weather being to mild. So I try and concentrate on the things that I can control.
All I can tell you now is I feel fortunate that I have the opportunity to hunt for elk as much as I do and I will be out there every chance I get until I am successful or it is the last minute of the last day of the season.
Across the state
Elsewhere in Montana, as of last week, there were signs that the deer rut may be beginning and the big bucks will start coming out of hiding and showing themselves.
Like here, there isn't snow and cold to help the hunters along, but the rut takes place no matter what the weather. Hunters are also reporting big numbers of does and fawns as antlerless tags are being filled and helping to reduce the overall deer population, which is high this year.
A new state record fish.
Last month, Walt Goodman from Helena was fishing Hauser Reservoir, north of Helena, mainly for rainbow trout. But Goodman is now the proud owner of a new state record fish.
Goodman caught a mountain whitefish that weighed 5.11 pounds and was 23 inches long with a 12.5-inch girth. It barely outweighed the old state record fish that was caught in the Kootenai River below the dam by Mervin Fenimore 20 years ago.
Fenimore's fish weighed 5.09 pounds and was 21.14 inches in length.
Mark Ward's statewide Montana Outdoor Radio Show airs Saturdays from 6 to 8 a.m. in Missoula on KGVO 1290 AM. E-mail Ward at captain@montanaoutdoor.com.
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