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Now riding a horse 15 miles into the wilderness may not be a big
deal to a lot of folks but to all of us it was a big deal and a little scary
too. My horse experience was limited to a few ponies we had on the
farm when I was less than 14 years old and most of my rides ended
up with me on the ground and the saddle hanging upside down. Me
and horse don't mix well. Mike's experience was fairly limited and
Tim Tonkin's was a little more up to date as he has an Aunt who raises
horses and gets the chance to ride every once in a while.
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Being as it was mid-day and the hoppers were making so much noise
in the meadow I tied on a Chernobyl Hopper. My first cast was a little
off the mark but the second brought a strike. Having forgotten the
lesson with The Guide from last year, I set the hook too soon and
missed the fish. It was like Christmas when you were a kid coming
into the living room to look at all the booty Santa had left. You know
the feeling, you get a little nervous, a little excited and shake a little
from the anticipation. So I told myself to relax and wait until I felt the
tug when the fish hit. These Cutthroats are very deliberate when they
commit to the fly. They've seen more than their share. But the chance
to eat a number 6 Hopper is too good a meal for most
of these to pass up considering the numbers of fish competing for food here.
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Mike had been catching them right and left and Tonkin was having
a fine day himself. Our friend Rick Greene was struggling a bit and
had not landed one fish. After several more C's & R's It was time to
head up to camp and we went back to the spot the horses were
congregated. While I was fishing, the relief wrangler from the base
camp had ridden down to take charge of us sports for the remainder
of the sojourn to camp. Tim Bowers went back home until time to
bring in the next group and take us out.
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To our utter surprise and amazement it looked like the Seventh Cavalry had set up here and we were to be their honored guest. The camp was perfect. There were six high walled canvas tents with indoor-out door carpeting, little wood stoves and cots with big foam mattresses. Each tent could sleep four very comfortably. There was a main dining tent with a long table and a big pot bellied stove. The kitchen tent was right next to the dining tent and Phil's wife was busy making hors d'oeuvres and dinner. It was unreal.
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Phil got back in time for dinner and we all sat down to a great meal.
We filled up on some sumptuous ranch-style cooking and had a
great time getting to know each other and measuring each others
tolerance for nasty jokes. There was no limit. We passed the snake
bite medicine and after everyone was properly medicated we
turned into bed.
Rick stopped at a likely looking spot and started to flail the water. Mike took up the next station, I pulled up at a small run between a ripple and a 50 yard long, shallow, flat and Tonkin moseyed on downstream and around the next bend. I was into fish immediately. C&R'd six as fast as I've caught bluegills on a farm pond. This doesn't happen to me normally.
The deer moved into cover maybe 25 yards below us and disappeared. We took some pictures but those disposables and automatic 35 mm cameras we had didn't demonstrate just how close this thing walked up on us. We watched Greene land another fish, gave some advise as to proper C&R techniques and started across to the other bank. Just as our boots hit dry ground the buck raised up from under a fallen tree, almost at eye level, and maybe 15 feet away. Scared the hell out of us. We jumped, threw our arms in the air, almost fell back in the water and the deer slowly turned and disappeared again. Now we're all sure it was an 18 pointer.
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Both me and the horses were shocked to see each other right then
and there. They must have been more scared of me standing there
buck naked, looking like a big wet turkey that had been freshly plucked.
Goose bumps are bigger in Montana like everything else. The horses
detoured around me and went on with their business but I think a couple
of them looked back several times and I'm sure I heard some horse laughs.
I dried off, dressed quickly and headed back to camp for a dose of
snake bite medicine and dinner.
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Reservation Links for Yellowstone Country!
Spring Season: Late May to June 20th
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Slough Creek Pack Trip
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