Yellowstone River Utah
11-11-11 another funky date came and went and the earth
is still revolving, the sun still shining and living things are still going
about their business. Johnny and I decided to work on one more of the South Slope
rivers of the Uintahs, either Lake Fork or the Yellowstone. We both know this
area really well, mostly at the Granddaddy area. We used to hunt there a lot
when Johnny was knee high to a hopper, with his dad Joe. One day I may be brave
enough to write about my misadventures with Joe, but it would turn into a book,
and I’m having a hard enough time writing in this little blog of mine.
We did not go into the Yellowstone area back then,
because you can’t hunt it-- due to the fact that its mostly Indian land and the
Ute tribe don’t allow hunting. They may sell some special permits, but the area
is off limits to state deer tag hunters. Deer are oozing out of hills like rats
in a nest. The area is beautiful. It combines the arid desert Duchesne look
meeting the alpine, pine and quacking aspens look of the Uintahs. Also as you round the
corner coming from Duchesne into the Talmage/Altamont Valley, the whole basin
is calming. It turns more green and lush with endless rolling hills. It has
that old school ranch/farm look.
Not a sole is in
site for miles of paved road, turning to dirt road for
about 15 to 20 miles to get up to the dam at Yellowstone. The road to Lake
Fork River is paved the whole way. Doe’s are grouped up like you normally see 5
to 10 or so in a small herd. 100 yards
or so ahead of the truck we see a big deer, and I get the feel it’s a buck—it’s
a striking four point.
A few weeks ago I
spotted some doe’s feeding with some cows, and we drove along side them taking
pictures. Some story with this buck, he stayed right next to the road, allowing
me to get off about 20 shots. This part was hilarious, I’m driving while trying
to shoot this guy with a 300 millimeter lens, Johnny takes the wheel, at one
point the deer looks like he’s going to cut across the road right in front of
us, “oh my God, don’t hit him,” Johnny yells out. For a minute we were Bubba
and Cletis, just blending right into the environment. Honestly, shooting with a
camera instead of a gun was fun, and the buck got to walk off to show all those
doe’s his genes need to be passed on. Of course it would have to wait at least
until he got his tongue back into his mouth, we ran him pretty hard. However,
there is something about being on the hunt—literally on the hunt. I think it’s
a primal aspect of man, bring home the bacon, being the top of the food chain,
just being primal; I don’t know what it is but its inside us. It reminds me of
Jack London’s Call of the Wild; the
wild that exists inside the domesticated dog Buck. Once Buck goes feral, he
becomes amazing.
But then maybe
those animal rights activists are correct, maybe humanity has evolved to the point
that we no longer need to be hunters. Perhaps we no longer need to kill animals
to feed ourselves. Or, if we do kill animals, it is done by a machine in some
huge CAFO in the Midwest, and we never have to see blood guts or death as long
as we live and eat. Screw that; I may not hunt anymore, but I did love the
chase. Ask yourself this question, do you really want to remove all the primeval
from your inner self?
Anyhow enough rambling, about that, back to the
discussion about the Yellowstone and Lake Fork. We decided not to fish Lake
Fork, and voted instead to turn our attention to the Yellowstone. It was cold,
cold enough to ice over a fair amount of the river. We screened the river, and
found no bugs. We found no fish for that matter. I don’t want to make excuses
for us, but in all honesty, we worked some holes hard, like fishing poets, and
got no love in return. No matter, it’s not always about catching, it’s about
fishing. This is what I tell myself when I get my ass kicked, especially by a
river that most beginners catch a lot fish on.
We now have White Rocks, and the Uintah River and we have
fished the whole South Slope of the Uintahs. I think we will have to wait until
spring, things are starting to freeze over—stay tuned blog fans—all 4 of you.
