To Big Sky and Back.....

..The Girls were as happy as I was to get outa the house and go...


Neither seemed content to just sleep thru another 3 day hiatus from work; though I dont have near the trouble with such things. Still, I felt I owed it to them to at least take advantage of this rare window of sunshine we were having and loaded them up for the drive..

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(With exception of the above two images; taken last week, all of the following were taken on todays trip - as with all my presvious photo essays)..


And a picturesque trip it turned out to be...


On the way down the sun came out and went back behind clouds and mounatins so many times I wasn't encouraged to stop till we reach Big Sky, but given once we arrived and the bighorn sheep (our intended species today) was so far up high; I instead just let the girls "run"...


Unfortunately the place I chose was far too deep and crusty which concerned me Mocha might just break a leg; so I put a "whoa" to the mischeif as soon as I could.


Suzie however would have none of it, she'd been patient for the past halfhour in the truck and was determined to run herself ragged no matter how many times I said no. Still, I have to laugh at her snow shoe hare-like abilities and cant stop taking pics while she doesnt listen to me...



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Considering the bighorn sheep were a bust, we tried for even bigger game and weren't dissapointed...


These pics were taken on the road into Spanish Creek which runs right thru Ted Turners place south of Bozeman. For those that dont know or realize - 'his place' encompasses something along the lines of 180,000+ acres if I'm not mistaken, but in a bit of hilarity does not preclude anyone on earth from driving right thru the middle of the damned place;(much like the frustrations I had with the old plantation and county roads)..


But now as you can see, with me being the guy on the otherside of the fence, I have little concern for his minions tailing me in black dualeys and instead of waving I'm fond of flicking the bird.


The bonus for the public road as you can see, is it allows for an awful lot of wonderful wildlife viewing and "up close" too - if you dare.


Recalling the sign I saw on the way in though; I decided it was best I adhere to the rules of ettiqutte amongst giants that would crush me like rag doll if I took another frame and backed off..


Out here, when it comes to bison or "buffalo" whichever you prefer; its not so much Ted's ranch bitches doggin you that ya gotta be worried about - as much as the game itself and how much they're willing to put up with (think bears too)..


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And so we moved along..


..And onto the exact highway we'd took in...and unbelievably there were about 50 head of elk that weren't there an hour before...?



This all caught me by surprise and with the light fading, I made the best of it along the side of the busy road..

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As cool as it was to seen them, the lighting was bad; so we moved ona bit further to a great place I like to fish, but its name will remain unknown for the time being...


Problem is its already 'a hot spot'; no need to make it any worse..


On from there we ran into even more game...


And the sun came out again to help guide us on the way home..(.Aargh..!!.this dang horse refused to run around no matter how many times I whistled)..

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Right after this we came upon a hundred head of young bison, all tagged, and being well fed; who curiously seemed as intrigued (..as much as Mocha and Suzie) as to why we stopped without 'giving chase..?!'


Me thinks some of these critters are 'destined for greatness' -- on a dinner plate --at the local Main Street restaraunt which serves my favorite dish.

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On the way back we dodged our fare amount of whitetail as usual..


..And even a few young muleys appeared at last light...for good measure..

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All in all, it was another wonderful way to spend a day here in Montana..



Moe

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