Day 5
We woke to yet another beautiful morning
and set off upstream beside the mirrored mountains on the rivers surface. A
little bit of rain fell today and the temperature dropped another notch with
the blackening sky. Scanning the river and its banks revealed no movement and a
long day was only passed by a passion for hunting and the outdoors, time passed
in footsteps as we hiked to new grounds and glassed every nook and cranny of
viewable land.
The Black Bear appeared up above camp
mountain again today. Id looked back over that mountain a lot of times since
first seeing the bear. Fresh snow made glassing easier for the bear and after
some watching through the scope it proved that it was not a shooter. It was a
sow and her cubs out soaking up the sun when it shined, great to see all the
same.
Determined to make it happen we continued
to glass but spotted only Dall Sheep rams and ewes on the higher reaches.
Another day had almost passed with us yet
again crossing untold amounts of prime country. It seemed like we had crossed a
thousand streams today and Byrons throat must be killing him from calling, I
know mine did. The Moose shoulder blade rake used as a paddle call was wearing
down and cracking, which shows the extent of its use.
We even toyed with the idea of moving areas,
as our minds conjured up the idea that it would be greener on the other side.
But truth be told that we had already put a lot of time and effort in on this
river, the valley and the mountains that surrounded it and wed stay put. Time
was the key and I just hoped our time was right, as we were going past half way
through the trip and as yet we hadnt glassed a Bull, let alone been able to
stalk, call and get to within bow range to make a kill.
It seemed like all too big of an ask, but
then again Im not planning on asking, just doing. So we kept on keeping on,
hunting right up till the very last light of day, positive that with time comes
opportunity and with effort comes reward.
"BULL!" I whispered as I turned to Byron. Out
across the river rutted an old bull. What a show, as he followed up a single
cow. The Bull was an old animal going back in the antler department, but who
cared. It was great to see a truly elusive game animal, especially in rut,
putting on an aggressive performance. A remarkable beast, bigger than I had imagined
and with an attitude to suit.
If hopes were down from a very hard five
days, they were now sky high as we watched the bull and cow perform in rut.
Hopefully tomorrow a light switch gets turned on and the rut goes into full
swing. This was a great sign that faded only under the night sky as the bull
disappeared in the dark.
