OT*****Re: Hello, it's me..

[Ronnie Gauthier]

On Sun, 10 Sep 2006 15:09:29 -0700
Tony Alfrey <tonyalfrey at earthlink.net> wrote:

> Ric Moore wrote:
> > On Sat, 2006-09-09 at 19:52 -0700, Tony Alfrey wrote:
> >> Ric Moore wrote:
> > 
> 
> <snip>

> > Got a great story about a family of New Yorkers visiting Montana too,
> > but I'll save that one for another day! Montana'ns are just Texans
> <snip>
> 

I used to work for the Forest Circus on a wilderness trial crew. Mainly stayed 
in Hellroaring and Slough Creek drainages just north of Yellowstone. Towards 
the end of the season after the back country closes up we worked closer 
to home doing hunter patrol. We were working outside of Gardiner up the hills
during the early elk season. Many hunters from out of state trailer their 
horses to hunt with. This guy from kentucky took up a nice chestnut blooded
horse, more like a pet than a working animal. He left camp and went aways up
a little box canyon and tied the horse and walked a bit. After a while he saw 
a nice cow elk about 150 yards through a blowdown ad some brush and dropped her.

We met the gent on his way back down, he was walking and sniffling a bit, he
straighten a when he saw us and tried to look like a man but could not
hide that something was wrong. We inquired as to his troubles and he told 
us the above story, finishing with some humor. "When I walked up to that elk 
the damn thing was wearing my saddle."

Most people not used to the woods dont know that if left to your own
druthers you will walk in a circle, which way depends on your handed-ness,
and end up within spitting distance(given no forced terrain detours) of 
your starting point.

There was an upside to the story though. A good friend got a grizzly permit that 
year and I told him about the horse. He dropped a beautiful 3-4 year old male that 
year over the carcas.

Good hunting,
Ronnie