Category: Hunting
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Flathead Rivers management plan, this time for real
Back in 2019 I beat the drum for packrafters to comment on the Flathead Rivers management plan update. 5.5 years later, we’re at the same place, due to staffing, COVID, and one imagines political foot dragging, but during a noteably different time. It would be difficult to convey the change in mood the pandemic brought…
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Thruhunting
Generally speaking, hunting and hiking are not compatible. Speaking here of big game hunting mostly, and understanding that species distributed far across the landscape often require extensive hiking to find. But, it is always better to selectively walk, and know enough to head straight for those modest pockets on the landscape which a given species…
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The dad pack
Over the years I’ve made, and used, many very large backpacks; and while being a firm believer in having huge capacity and moderating packing choices rather than enforcing discipline with a crammed pack, have still occasionally found the fleet coming up short. Our family Isle Royale trip two years ago was the best example; with…
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South Fork November debrief
I’ve long wanted to float the South Fork of the Flathead in all 9 months I reckon it is ever floatable, read not frozen, those being March through November, with both March and November not providing good conditions every year. This year was obviously a good year for November, and November was the last month…
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Smith River alone
The Smith is, for the time being, the only river in Montana which requires a permit. This has been the case since 1989, and the 59 mile “scenic” and mostly roadless stretch is now a state park, with a lottery for the probable floating season of April through early July, and fairly long odds (less…
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Fashion and the delams
Challenge’s Ultraweave fabrics have seen impressively broad acceptance this winter, with companies as diverse as Pa’lante and Stone Glacier using it, and companies like MLD and Seek Outside moving to make it a core part of their pack line ups. As I found out this past summer, the specs are impressive, and the marketing equally…
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Things from 2021
Astute readers may have noticed that, back in mid spring, photo quality here took a turn. The previous fall my long standing iPhone 5se took a dive (literally, on main stream in Escalante) and after 4 months of tape holding chunks of the screen in, reliability mandated a new phone. I’d spent the winter putting…
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Montana’s early rifle
We’re in the second half of September, which means that in three Montana hunting districts, rifle season has started for deer and elk. This is, I believe, the earliest season anywhere in North America for these animals, aside from special tags. The mystique, or more accurately malarkey, surrounding these three districts is considerable, and the…
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Bark River Micro Canadian re-scale
For the past four years my Micro Canadian has always been one of my very favorite objects. It blends practicality and elegance in a way which few other categories of things can. Restlessness, and extreme specialization (river rescue), are the only real reasons I’ve used anything else. To address the former I bought a Bark…
Bedrock & Paradox 
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