Watching elk , deer, and big horns
February 15th, 2010We had a fantastic couple from Tennessee staying at the lodge over the weekend. They had never been to Montana and were very excited to see some wildlife, especially bighorn sheep. One afternoon I asked if they would like to take a short drive to look for some wildlife. I planned to take them to a nearby area where deer and elk winter and I was confident that we would see them. They enthusiastically agreed, so for the last couple of hours of daylight we drove and searched for critters.
We were just getting to the area where I expected to see elk on the wide open hills when I spotted three large stout bodied animals on a hilltop about a half mile away. I grabbed the binoculars and was dumbfounded when I saw 3 bighorn rams grazing on the hillside. This is an area that is a couple of miles from the nearest bighorn sign I had seen, and even there they are rarely seen. In fact over the last 5 years I have never seen anything other than the occasional bighorn track in that area which again was a couple of miles away. Well the folks were tickled to see the sheep and we were able to get a few pictures in which the sheep were at least identifiable as sheep. It was such a surprise to see the sheep there, and even more ironic that this couple had just expressed a specific interest in seeing sheep. I guess the Lord works in mysterious ways.
We did see some whitetails, mule deer, and a coyote too. It was fun to share the first taste of Montana with some special people.