Grizzly gets the better part of an ATV

I

t is almost like fall is over. My golden larch trees have shed over half of their needles so that now the ground is golden and the trees are looking more like winter, skeletons with bare limbs reaching for the sky. This is not really too early — we have had many years when the first sticking snow fell in mid-October. It is just that as I age I like fall better and better and winter less and less.

County graders did the whole road from Canyon Creek to the International Border and now hunters and snowplows should have an easier time driving the road.

Speaking of hunters, they seem to be off to a successful start. In the Trail Creek area I have heard or seen one deer, one black bear and one elk taken in the first week along with one wolf and a moose taken around Polebridge.

The wolf, I am told, was a black male that was in a pack with other black wolves and two that were grey in color. In past years the North Fork quota of two wolves has never been filled. Each year since wolf hunting has been allowed, one wolf has been taken legally. I don’t have a clue how many may have been killed illegally, but the wolf folks say that the North Fork wolf population seems to be fairly stable.

Contacts with grizzly bears is up but only a little bit. There has been an increase in sightings in the last month, (more people in the woods) but only two more incidents with no injuries to humans or bears. In one, a group of hikers left an area to a mother with two cubs and went hiking somewhere else. In the second incident,a hunter left his ATV parked in the woods overnight. When he returned the next morning, tracks indicated one or more grizzlies had eaten the seat and destroyed the foam cushion.

I am waiting for snow before I get serious about getting my winter’s meat but I have sighted in my rifle, dusted off my hunter orange gear, and sharpened my knife. An optimistic outlook often translates into success. I’ll let you know how it turns out since I will not shoot a deer with less than four points (on each side) and the law only allows brow-tined bulls to be taken. In elk I really prefer a cow or young bull for eating. The horns of big bulls are as inedible as track soup and the meat is more likely to be tougher although still tasty.

I have not heard of any hunting accidents or vehicle accidents since hunting season started and I hope it stays that way. Be careful in the woods and while driving to and from. As usual, booze and driving or hunting don’t mix and remember, you are responsible for anything your bullet hits.