Watching that video reminds me of the story of that day and I'd like to share some more of it with you...
Not long after we took that video I caught some movement downstream out of the corner of my eye. The riffle I was fishing there was making a good deal of white noise so it wasn't exactly easy to hear everything going on nearby. Sure if a Kingfisher sang out as he was passing by I'd notice, but other sounds were not as easy to pick up on. None-the-less you'd think I'd be able to hear a buffalo herd crossing the river just 75 yards downstream, but they must have been buffalo ninjas. As I turned toward the movement out of the corner of my eye I was surprised to see that very thing; about 80 buffalo crossing the river in absolute silence. It was a wonderful sight; all the activity and no sound. The feeling reminded me of what it was like seeing an owl in flight for the first time soaring through the forest. The scene stays with me to this day but what happened next I wont ever forget.
I finished watching the herd cross the river and was making my first casts back into the spot where I had just caught that nice cutthroat when a huge commotion started to break through my peaceful white noise. The herd began to stampede! Water and buffalo were moving everywhere and what was once a silent scene before me became an explosive roar of excitement!
The river bank was elevated on the far side of the river so from where I was standing you couldn't see much past the river's edge. I had no idea what was spooking the bison. My first thought was a grizzly. Racing through my mind was that at any moment a huge bear was going to appear 75 yards down stream and then what! Quickly I got my spray ready. I'll admit my nerves were running full speed at this point. Not knowing what was coming made time freeze and then, there it was... I could see some movement through the brush... It was a WOLF! Wow! Not just one, but two! They came right down into the water. All the buffalo made it back across the river and were headed back the other way. The wolves just stood there at the river's edge and watched them retreat.
The pair of wolves hung around only for a few minutes. I was pumped! After sitting on the couch and being on the mend all summer; what a great first fall outing we were having, and it wasn't over yet....
More to follow next time. Hope to see you below the green boxes this week.
-Link
