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Outdoors
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Smallness Counts
Eric Tullett of Kalispell will now share the Montana angling state record for the diminutive pygmy whitefish with two other anglers, both of whom turned in their record fish in February 2005.Tullett caught the .23-pound (that's 3.7 ounces) pygmy on a glow hook and maggot while ice fishing on Bitterroot Lake on March 17. He hooked the fish at 80 feet below the surface and reeled it in."My arm... |
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Building a better breed of horse: the Travler
In Billings, Montana, as a child, L. Tom Eaton snuggled in his ten-cent theater seat while the big screen flashed images of Tom Mix riding his trusty horse Tony through harrowing adventures. Tom Eaton loved horses. When at home, he watched his parents found the Billings Polytechnic Institute. Through his parents example of investing their lives in others, Tom decided to devote himself to the philosophy that man should commit their lives to serving humanity through their works. Indeed he succeeded. Tom left behind shoes of extraordinary size. He taught school, coached, worked as a high school educator, saw that students—who wouldn’t otherwise have a chance at college—received scholarships, developed physical therapy programs and therapy machines for returning disabled WWII veterans, and founded a legacy that exhibits his spirit and captures the heart of Montana—the Montana Travler breed of horses. |
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Grubbing for Gems
There is a good reason that over 12,000 people travel to the West Fork of Rock Creek every year.And in this case, it isn't for the fishing. The attraction is the sapphire gemstone, and here at Gem Mountain it's one of a few places in Montana where you can find your own precious gems.Grubbing around for sapphires is at the very least, fun, and for some people, highly addictive. It... |
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Getting their Licks
Editor/Montana LivingTheir noses down, a mountain goat nanny and her kid sniffed around the grey cliff wall for some unseen object.Below them swirled a deep, swift pool of the Middle Fork of the Flathead River. The goats followed a dark, moist seam in the river bank wall toward a spot where water trickled out of a crevice. There they stopped.For mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) th... |
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Wild Things: Bird Watching in Montana
Walking through the tall sagebrush toward a prairie pothole lake, a sharp-tailed grouse springs up under foot. As it flies over the small pond, the elegant heads of western grebes turn upwards to the rushing grouse. In the distance, a lone lark sparrow sings from a weathered fencepost. The wind sends waves of motion across the plains. |
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Answering the Call: Bailey Ortley is one of state's top waterfowl callers
There was no applause to follow, just the rampant wildness of his Chesapeake retriever, Buck, which tore through the mud and cattails near McWennegar Slough with abandon. For Bailey Ortley, 16, this performance - designed to coax and entice Canada geese to within gun range - was just a dress rehearsal, but Saturday is the real performance, when the curtain will rise with the sun on the opening day of waterfowl hunting season. |
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Junior golf program at Whitefish Lake Golf Club swinging strong
Other teaching professionals broke the group of about 60 8-year-olds and 9-year-olds into groups and started the children on the long, long road to learning the sport of golf. And so began the 28th year of junior golf clinics at Whitefish Lake Golf Club. The free clinics are offered twice a week during July. Head PGA professional Tim Olson and three of the club's other PGA pros - Dane Thorman, Chris Newton and Micklewright - teach the clinics for over 150 kids between the ages of 5 and 18. The children learn golf etiquette, the rules of golf, chipping, putting, the full golf swing - and something else that's very important: |
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Untamed Spirits: the wild horses of the Pryor Mountains
The Pryor Mountain National Wild Horse refuge is unique because it became a preserve in 1968, as a result of a grassroots effort by individuals and groups concerned with the long-term welfare of the wild Pryor horses. The range borders Wyoming and Montana, the bulk of it in the latter. It even extends to the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area where raptors and bighorn sheep abound. Access to the horse range is available via Bridger or Lovell, Wyo., which gives easy access to Burnt Timber Ridge, Sykes Ridge or the Dry Head, the three sections that comprise the range. |
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