Sports
Tales from Afield: Brow tines in the timber
Published
4 years agoon
Posted By
Outlaw PartnersBy Ryan Castle EBS CONTRIBUTOR
As I push open the flap of the wall tent I embrace the crisp, cold early morning air against my face. I walk across frozen crunchy snow, my headlamp beam casting shadows off the trees in the dark as I stumble through a small willow patch into a meadow. I look upon the silhouettes of our horses and mules awaiting me after having grazed all night. They stand still in a calm silence, and I try not to shine my light directly in their eyes as I greet them.
Frozen leather is thrown upon warm horses’ backs and I take one last sip of coffee. I turn off the white gas lantern and notice that sweet smell of the leftover gas looming in the air for a moment. I get on my buckskin horse and look behind me at my friends Tom and Singeli. We shut off our headlamps and stride out across the meadow and up the mountain.
Tom and I have been guiding mountain goat and elk hunts together all season long. We had one camp that needed to be packed out and not having had much of a chance to hunt for ourselves, we took advantage of the one day we had to try and successfully take a bull elk, then pack out our camp. Singeli, a videographer who had been traveling all over the West to capture the true meaning of why people hunt, needed a horseback wilderness elk hunt to go with her film. Tom and I were the ones for the job.
At the break of daylight, we tie our horses in a patch of scraggly Douglas fir and crawl onto a nob. Fighting my binoculars as they fogged, I look out at a mountain side with long sweeping finger meadows divided by dark streaks of timber.
The first thing I see is tracks, a lot of tracks. Elk were here last night. It was confirmed when we spotted a small bull elk cross a sliver of open field. Tom and I decide to get a closer look at this hillside.
We tie our horses in another spot and walk in elk tracks on and off, skirting the tops of meadows and weaving back and forth ever so quiet. It became disorientating walking through that country. As we break out into one meadow after another, they all start to look the same. We aren’t exactly sure where on the mountain we are.
As we walk, we smell the musky odor of elk—a scent I have oddly learned to love. Singeli bounces around stealthy and swift bearing her camera to capture every moment. We walk out into the top of a large snow-covered meadow. I recognize it—we ‘re just above where we saw the bull this morning.
The day growing warmer, the snow begins to soften. We sit down, eat a snack and whisper about our next move. Tom suggests I walk over a rise and make a loop to see what tracks I cut while he stays put in case I bump something into the meadow we’re looking at. Singeli decides to stay with Tom for the sake of not having to lug her camera equipment around further than necessary. I take off.
I barely get out of sight of my companions when I notice the tan backend of a cow elk in the dark timber. I slither quick and quiet down the hill to get closer. I sit in the wet snow, put my rifle up and peer through my scope. One by one, cow elk walk through an opening in the trees well in range. I watch as cow after cow walks through my shooting lane.
When the brow tines of a bull enter the opening and stop, I take a deep breath, knowing I only have a split second. I steady my crosshairs in the opening and wait. My shooting lane is only big enough for about one step of an elk.
As the bull elk’s shoulder passes through my scope and my crosshairs center behind the shoulder, I pull the trigger. Smiling ear to ear, I walk back to my wide-eyed friends.
The horses and mules, with feet sprawled out slipping and sliding, head down the muddy narrow trail, loaded with elk. Back at camp that evening, we retell the story as our tired stock grazes in the dark meadow. Tomorrow, we go back to work, saddle up, tear down camp and pull our pack string down the trail to home.
Ryan Castle resides in the Shields Valley and has spent his life as both a local outdoorsman and professional hunting guide.
The Outlaw Partners is a creative marketing, media and events company based in Big Sky, Montana.
Upcoming Events
april, 2024
Event Type :
All
All
Arts
Education
Music
Other
Sports
Event Details
Children turning 5 on or before 9/10/2024:
more
Event Details
Children turning 5 on or before
9/10/2024: Kindergarten
enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year can be completed by following the
registration process now.
Children
born on or after September 11, 2019: 4K enrollment is now open for
families that have a 4-year-old they would like to enroll in our program for
the 2023-2024 school year. Please complete the 4K Interest Form to
express your interest. Completing this form does not guarantee enrollment into
the 4K program. Enrollment is capped at twenty 4-year-olds currently
residing within Big Sky School District boundary full time and will be
determined by birth date in calendar order of those born on or after September
11, 2018. Interest form closes on May 30th.
Enrollment now is critical for fall preparations. Thank you!
Time
February 26 (Monday) - April 21 (Sunday)
Event Details
Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm We will combine the heart-opening powers of cacao with the transcendental powers of breathwork and sound. Together, these practices will give us the opportunity for a deep
more
Event Details
Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm
Time
March 23 (Saturday) 6:00 pm - April 23 (Tuesday) 8:00 pm
Location
Santosha Wellness Center
169 Snowy Mountain Circle
Event Details
We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a
more
Event Details
We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a limited palette to create different color combinations? Are you tired of carrying around 15-20 different tubes when you paint plein air? Have you ever wanted to create a certain “mood” in a painting but failed? Do you create a lot of mud? Do you struggle to achieve color harmony? All these problems are addressed in John’s workbook in clear and concise language!
Based on the bestselling “Limited Palatte, Unlimited Color” workbook written by John Pototschnik, the workshop is run by Maggie Shane and Annie McCoy, accomplished landscape (acrylic) and plein air (oil) artists,exhibitors at the Big Sky Artists’ Studio & Gallery and members of the Big Sky Artists Collective.
Each student will receive a copy of “Limited Palette, Unlimited Color” to keep and take home to continue your limited palette journey. We will show you how to use the color wheel and mix your own clean mixtures to successfully create a mood for your paintings.
Each day, we will create a different limited palette color chart and paint a version of a simple landscape using John’s directives. You will then be able to go home and paint more schemes using the book for guidance.
Workshop is open to painters (oil or acrylic) of any level although students must have some basic knowledge of the medium he or she uses. Students will be provided the book ($92 value), color wheel, value scale and canvas papers to complete the daily exercises.
Sundays, April 14, 21 and 28, 2024
Noon until 6PM.
$170.
Time
14 (Sunday) 12:00 pm - 28 (Sunday) 6:00 pm
Event Details
Everyone is invited to join us in celebrating 2 years of arts education in the BASE Art Studio with us! Take a tour
Event Details
Everyone is invited to join us in celebrating 2 years of arts education in the BASE Art Studio with us! Take a tour of the studio, meet our instructors, and meet other artists of all levels in our community. We’ll be getting creative and you’ll have the chance to make your very own artful button pin.
Stick around for our Volunteer Appreciation and Social beginning at 6:30 p.m.!
Time
(Thursday) 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Location
BASE
285 Simkins Dr