Thirty-five years ago...
Thursday, November 10, 1988
New Outdoors Program
Hundreds of youth are exploring nature and firearm safety through new 4-H wildlife and shooting programs.
There are wildlife programs in about half of Montana’s counties now according to Mike Cavey, Montana State University Extension Service project coordinator. They plan the programs in all of Montana’s counties as soon as there are enough volunteer leaders. As long as there is a group of 10 or more people, the project will go anywhere in the state to train them.
The 4-H Shooting Sports Program fits a niche between the State Fish, Wildlife and Park’s Hunter Safety Classes and competitive shooting opportunities that might be provided by groups like the National Rifle Association.
The 4-H shooting sports program gives youngsters safe firearms experiences and is a program encouraged by the FWP because it offers hands-on practice where the Hunter Safety Program is often classroom experience.
The 4-H program emphasizes getting that experience under the guidance of trained adult volunteers. The wildlife programs appeal to an even broader spectrum of youth, using project materials which were developed by naturalists.
“With all the natural beauty and wildlife Montana has, an interest in nature develops very early. This program teaches a lot about ecology and both game and non-game animals. It takes the study of the outdoors to kids at a level they’re fascinated with.” said Cavey.
Read about this and more at https://www.seeleylake.com/home/customer_files/article_documents/1988-11-10.pdf
Twenty years ago...
Thursday, November 13, 2003
Elk migrating in fits and starts this fall
By Mike Thompson
Stand back. Elk migration is underway.
Our local elk migrations pale in comparison to annual movements of 3,159 miles that have been documented for barren-ground caribou.
Still, the 15-25 mile journey that most Blackfoot-Clearwater elk undertake every fall and spring inspires our imaginations. Elk trailing over mountain passes through belly deep snow. A winding river of frozen elk breath flowing under a full moon. Clods of snow and mud kicked up from dozens of thundering hooves. The squealing of cows and calves as they fan out into the open from the confines of a long trail through deep forest, high-stepping and wheeling like horses turned out of the corral.
For me, the evidence of elk migration is in the success of hunters on the Game Range. There are always a few, maybe 50-100, elk on the Game Range, or at least in the near vicinity. Usually, the opening shots of the general hunting season drive these local elk to the comparative safety of the Game Range, and hunters with special licenses kill 10 or so during this period.
That’s about where we stood on Halloween this year.
But, it takes a migration of elk from the high country —Shanley Creek, Dunham, Morrell Mountain, Pyramid Pass, Youngs Creek, Lake Dinah —to fuel much more harvest on the Game Range. And, when elk are moving from the high country to the Game Range winter range, they’re passing through the favorite hunting areas of hundreds of hunters in between.
So, what do 1,200 elk look like in migration? In the Blackfoot-Clearwater, they look like 15 here and 30 there. There’ll be no running naked with the thousands, like the man among the caribou in Never Cry Wolf (the movie). No, in these parts it’s more like ghosts of light hair patches and dark legs moving so silently and quickly through the thick timber that you can’t really remember what made you turn abruptly to look in the first place. Followed by a crack or two of brush in the distance. Then dead silence.
Especially in a year like this one, when so far there’s been no great event to move most elk all at once, the migration comes in fits and starts. This year, a second bunch of a hundred or more came to the Game Range on about the first of November. What moved them is anyone’s guess!
You can read the rest of this story at https://www.seeleylake.com/home/customer_files/article_documents/2003-11-13.pdf
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