Things Are About to Change

The final holiday weekend of the summer has arrived. Vacations are concluding, kids are going back to school and many are storing their camping equipment until next year.

The activities of those who live in the mountains are changing as well. Businesses will begin winding down next week. Summer cabins will be shuttered for the winter. Residents will prepare for the snow to come; urgently completing repairs to their cabins that were postponed during the busy summer season. Firewood will be cut and stored and hunting season will begin this week with the bow hunt.

It is time to break out the camouflage, check gear and search for that once-a-year successful encounter with an elk. Anticipating the hunt with the hopes and dreams of a child’s Christmas, the mind sorts through the scenarios and reactions that may be experienced in the forest.

The cow calls and bugles are rehearsed. The bow string is waxed and the arrows are fitted with broadheads. The camo is laundered in scent-free soap and hung on a line to air dry. The bathroom is stocked with scent-free shower soap and deodorant.

The day pack is stocked with the essential items that have not congregated together for the past year. A compass, water bottles, GPS, knives, rope, bear spray, pistol, ammo, light, matches, Allen wrenches, Leatherman, folding saw, binoculars and a camera are all packed in anticipation the adventure to come.

Optimism is high for a successful hunt but fall in Yellowstone country brings its own anticipation. September is the most beautiful month in mountain country. The leaves change to their brilliant colors; the aspen are shrouded in bright yellow and the scrub maple in orange and red. As the temperature cools, the animals prepare for the coming winter with their own sense of urgency. The stillness of the forest will be interrupted by the constant thud of pine cones on the forest floor as the squirrels release them from pine boughs, soon to be stockpiled.  The bull elk will bugle, their primeval cry for a mate echoing through the pines.

It is an exciting time to be in the forest as a participant and an observer. Things are about to change.