and one really pissed off bull....
I awoke ready to hit the Yellowstone again and repeat the previous days performance in waders and boots; but as my mind works; I instead thumbed thru a magazine (while on the pot) and found an interesting article on the Firehole in West Yellowstone and well...you know the rest...
The above pics of course are NOT the Firehole or even the Madison, but of the Gallatin which runs along the near entire length of the roadway upriver from my home toward the western half of the park. Its a scenic drive I never get tired of in any season and though its full of big fish I was determined to seekout new water for the sheer thrill of doing something different.
I will say this part was tempting (the rivers hidden behind the bushes). Its a long serpintile stretch I've yet to explore, but have passed many a day going to-and-from hunting or fishing spots elsewhere. Its in the park (road winds a bit into Wyoming), but without a definitive gate-entrance its really just out there and open. Your required to have barbless hooks and a Park Fishing Pass (both I have); but for simple lack of time to fish all the water I want this year; I just put it on next years' list and stepped on the gas.
After a quick bite to eat in West Yellowstone and a stop into Blue Ribbon for some flies and advice; I was soon inside the park entering from the western side for the first time (and using my new Annual Pass; avoiding any wait in traffic).
As I've posted before, bison are common sites in Montana along the roadway, but they still deserve our respect and attention when we see them; especially when there's no garuntee they (now standing streamside) wont kill you with your back turned while landing a pretty 10" rainbow on a Millers white caddis imitation...
.........
Funny, with bison I'm aware of the dangers; but elk hand't previously worried me much...
"Ah, what a pretty elk, just standing out there getting a little sip of water..how cool..."
I'm sure that was the thought of the dozen other people standing beside me taking his picture. And several looked quite serious about it with monster zoom lenses and shutters ripping off frames; though most were using flash (which probably didn't help)..
Me I just stood there dripping wet after fishing a section along the way; stopping to take a few shots with my consumer Nikon and 70-300, not even changing out of my waders and felt bottom boots...which I would later regret..
The herd of roughly 20 seemed content to just do their thing; while letting us tourists do ours; but what we didn't factor in was it being peak rut..
Soon enough the 'sweet little bull drinking water' was one really agitated dude and he put on quite a show to prove it too...
He wasn't happy thats for sure and began pissing on humself and raking his antlers in the sand...
Still, the closer he got the better pictures I was getting so I didn't even think about budging...
"Wow look at that, he has sand on his face...'old sandy face' thats what we should call him.." I told the guy next to me (sounding like a dork probably, but I was excited to be getting such nice pictures I let my touristy-voice surface for a few minutes)...
I'm pretty sure when he started swishing his rack around violently I should have detected this was not the place to be, but somewhat stupid it never dawned on me what was to come....
"What a show!" I said aloud...
"Awesome..!!"
I was shooting roughly 5 frames per second to get this sequence and I'm not sure but I think he could probably hear it we were so close...
"%#@*"
"Dude.."
At this point I zoomed-out and this put him at under 30 yards..I also finally lifted my face from my camera for the first time in over a minute and noticed I was all alone. Everyone around me had by now evaporated into their cars and no one bothered to suggest I do the same..
"Bastards!"
This is the best picture I took and its quite amazing as I was running behind a blue minivan at the time and holding the camera out, not even looking thru the viewfinder....
Unbeknownst to me a cow had slipped across the street behind me and was standing no less than 10 steps when he made his charge... Whether he mistook me for another elk (I am kinda tall and fat); I'll never know, but his intentions were clear and he won this draw by taking his gal away, before I even laid eyes on her.
Once his girls were safe; he finally seemed content.
Though just in case I "didnt get the message" he was kind enough to tell me one last time: ...I was too close for comfort, and its his' domain I'm in now...!?
...
And so I went on...'the Firehole' being the original destination.
No shortage of elk here either, though this area wasn't really the Firehole either ( a mile short of the junction and true head of the Madison); it did provide some nice 10 to 12" fish and the hatch was pretty insane.
Destination reached; the Firehole....
An otherworldly place to wet a line...geothermal gases bubbling up all around, several buffalo keeping an equally watchful eye, and a full moon overhead to illuminate the rising heads of a hundred hungry trout.
...All of it, including the elk close-encounter, provided a nice ending to another perfect day in Montana. And to think I almost just went and fished below the highway on the Yellowstone again...
Moe
