Bison Hunt and Smoke

Before going to work yesterday afternoon we wanted to see where the bison were gathering in the Elk Refuge in town - according to a local newspaper article. The article stated that they were arriving in the Refuge earlier than normal this year. What we didn't realize was the 15th - yesterday - was the opening of the bison hunting season.

As we drove onto the road around 11:30 that goes along the back (or eastern) side of the Refuge, we came across a pickup truck on the side of the road. There was a lot of activity around the truck and we noticed that the people were wearing hunters orange. They were hunters that had taken the first bison of the hunting season, right there on the open range of the refuge. We stopped to take a look and to talk to these hunters:

The hunter on the right above is the hunter that took the animal with one shot from his 30-06. He said it had taken him 5 years to draw a bison tag and he had this herd staked out so that at first light he could snag one. The state issues about 200 tags per year. We felt that it was a shame that this herd is the one we had seen on several occasions in this area - crossing the street to stop traffic. That's the nature of hunting. Once he fired the shot, the rest of the herd disappeared and we will probably not see any more bison while we are here. We're sure the rest of them are hiding out in the hills where they will remain until the hunting season ends, which is after we leave.

The rest of our drive was pretty much uneventful. The smoke from neighboring fires was so bad that we couldn't even see the outline of the majestic Tetons for the first time. Here is an example of the effects of this lingering smoke in the area:

That would normally be a beautiful shot of the countryside on a clear day.

As bad as the smoke was, it didn't stop Josie from getting some shots of these Lupines that were growing wild in the fields:

                                                      
It was a very different kind of drive for us. We returned home early and put in our final work day for the week.

This morning we leave for Montana where we will drive north through Idaho to Bozeman where we will spend the night. Our plan is to return home tomorrow while driving through Yellowstone from the northern entrance - the only one of the 5 entrances that we have not yet experienced...