Happy Hunting Along A Trail Of Joy, Not Blood
It’s morning, spring has turned to summer and I start reminiscing, while I sip my coffee, of the many back roads we have traveled in beautiful Shoshone County. The variety of wild game we have been so lucky to catch sight of.
Our adventures to the back roads always include our faithful dog, Cooky. Her enthusiasm for any car ride and the prospects of exploring a primitive road is beyond her composure. She is a joy to have in our travels and a pointer of wild game.
We always take binoculars, camera, a Thermos of coffee and some homemade cookies for the three of us.
Our car is not designed for the rough dirt roads. We really should have a Jeep. Quite often, we have driven past logging operations deep in mud. The men have often stopped and asked us what’s a sporty car doing in a place like this. We agree, laugh and continue on our carefree adventure in hopes of seeing and capturing with our camera some of God’s beautiful wild creatures.
We drive slowly and try not to startle the animals as they graze or cross our path. The whiteness of our car seems not to frighten the animals. I believe they associate it with snow. They watch us but do not run off.
We once caught sight of a grown black bear some 10 feet from our car. He climbed about two feet up a tree, stopped and looked at us with curiosity, then dropped back down and just gazed in wonder at us for a few minutes. In my excitement, I misfocused and took a blurry picture.
About then, a pickup came barreling around a turn behind us. The startled bear got down on all fours and galloped across a shallow creek and into the dense, dark forest. We were saddened.
It was bear hunting season and the hunters with rifles and dogs were arriving. We hoped they wouldn’t find and kill this one. We don’t care for any kind of hunting with weapons.
On another day, on a primitive road, we came upon 20 or so elk, all looking healthy and magnificent. The herd was as surprised as we were. We were breathless with amazement of this sight not 15 feet from us.
One elk, apparently frightened by the sudden sight of our car so close, lost control of its bladder on the road. The elk quickly composed themselves and made their way down a ravine, across a shallow creek and into the woods.
It all happened so fast that the encounter with such a precious sight left us astounded. I didn’t take what would have been an incredible picture. We can’t understand how anyone can unnecessarily kill such a graceful and harmless animal.
One other cold morning, we were lucky to catch sight of a doe licking a cake of salt while her two fawns frolicked in the meadow around her. A horse in the field looked on from the side of an old red barn. A house cat sat on an old fencepost, watching. The doe gathered her frolicking fawns and hurried to the high bushes of the opposite field and safety.
Along the edge of a rambling stream we find hundreds of the most beautiful and delicate violets. Thousands of white daisies and a variety of exquisite wild flowers cover the fields.
Now and then a deer or two will appear and, in their graceful elegance, stroll by and glance our way. I sense the innocence of the deer yearlings on their faces. They haven’t experienced the dangers that men and beast are to them.
The North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River is so scenic that its beauty and serenity would soothe any mind and body. While driving along it one afternoon, we saw a deer swimming toward our bank. Only its head was visible. We didn’t want to frighten it, so we didn’t stop to take pictures.
On another occasion, a magnificent osprey perched on a tree branch directly above us. I took my picture and asked my wife, “How lucky can we be? We have all this in our back yard.”
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