Yellowstone River

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.