How January got by without my going skiing is unclear. Although that’s not really true, there just was always something more pressing, or it was a below-zero whiteout, or one thing or another. Most recently I was severely tested, though, and demonstrated either resolve or blatant stupidity, I’m still not sure.
A local radio station, the Moose hosts occasional “I Ski With the Moose Days”, which include free lift tickets to Bridger Bowl or Big Sky if you can show up at a previously unannounced and random location on short notice and claim a ticket. You have to use it yourself, no scalping allowed, on the appointed day, usually the following one.
I was heading into town and heard notice of impending announcement of one of these Moose meetings, which turned out to be at the Blue Basket, a convenience store I’d just gone by! And they were going to Big Sky!! Gah….!!!
I had buffalo clients to load out the next morning, and a simultaneous pickup out at the harvest pasture. My son offered to cover, but these activities were occurring simultaneously, and he’s not twins (gads, what a thought). You can’t in good conscience tell people standing next to a recently deceased buffalo “sorry man, something’s come up”, although when Saturday dawned sunny and gorgeous, with still yet more fresh snow…

We skinned buffalo.
And didn’t even mind it that much, much less feel in need of counseling. Maybe, though, ski conditions are the best in years, and I’ll make it out one of these days. Besides, I now recall I did go cross-countrying in the Bridgers once during January. At that point snow cover here on the west slope was still not surplus, but it’s about time to go check again. Not to mention break out the Alpine Touring gear, and get in some turns.
So while January’s left me a bit short personally on gossip, news, & hot tips, the Moccasin Telegraph continues to morph. Not this column, I mean its namesake, which has taken to the internet in a big way.
I started participating in internet bulletin boards and discussion groups in… maybe not their infancy but certainly early childhood, barely out of the DOS days. Mostly hunting boards, and at risk of sounding like a fogey, one of the first, the sadly long-defunct All Outdoors Coffee Shop remains one of the most enjoyable I’ve seen. I dunno, manners were better, or trolls hadn’t fully evolved yet, or something.
Those initially few rapidly morphed into an endless diversity of boards, on every taste and tangent known. I finally kind of burned out on hunting boards, as you can only discuss whether 30-06’s or 270’s are better so many times. I’ll still drop in on a few hunting and music boards, but don’t participate too much anymore.

But then more recently, blogs appeared on the scene, where anyone can host a discussion. Well, it helps if they can produce fresh material daily, not to mention deal with an endless variety of comments, and as I’ve mentioned before the opinions of those who can withstand such scrutiny should not be taken lightly.
And now, the more recent development is that many news sources now allow comments, which bloggers will annoyedly point out are distinctly different from blogs.
Allowing anyone (unless they’re proved themselves an insufferable troublemaker) to comment on the issues of the day is really a mind-boggling development in my opinion, and more power to media sources who embrace it. In fact, I’d predict incorporating these new developments will prove vital to their long term survival. I know the comments are often more interesting than the articles themselves, although I have to say journalists like Mark Henckel and Brett French with the Billings Gazette stand above and beyond, and more than hold their own with the “experts”.
In fact, the Gazette has been doing an outstanding job lately, and the recent series of articles on proposed changes in the hunting regulations has provoked intense discussion. The Gazette is demonstrating some cojones by hosting this often rancorous public debate, and more power to them.
As usual, it’s about way more than it might seem on the surface, and these recent changes in the regs are really about some significant underlying conflicts between hunters, landowners, agencies, outfitters, not to mention the sub-factions of each. Perhaps unfortunately, it appears to me we’re in the mid-stages of discussion development. Having watched and participated in internet discussions and seen several incarnations develop, I’ve noticed a pattern.
Initially, the participants are a fairly small group, before too long they pretty well “know” each other, and things are fairly civil. But then, at the risk of sounding judgemental, the next influx of folks includes a higher percentage of, shall we say, less considered opinions. The internet is a great equalizer, though, far better than tavern barstools, and reason generally prevails. Especially as discussion groups mature and once again the participants get to know each other, idiocy just doesn’t fit in, which even the vast majority of idiots seem to realize, although a certain percentage is essential for entertainment!
So although I run the risk of demonstrating idiocy myself for making my opinions known on this public wildlife/private land issue…
Wildlife is a publicly owned resource in this country, I don’t think there’s any legal doubt of that. Coming from an ag background, I lean a little more toward the private property rights school of thought when we’re talking wildlife on private land, though. Demanding that someone HAS to let you onto their place just doesn’t fly, not to mention if we flung open all the gates, the hunting soon wouldn’t be any better than it often is on many public lands.
We mostly hunt those public lands, though. If you want quality, there has to be some limit to numbers. On private lands you might write a big check for the best. On public, in theory, you either have a limited draw, or as I vastly prefer myself you hunt places limited by difficulty of access. And yes, not everyone can do that, but that’s how it’s always been. And besides, I know guys like Joe Gutkoski, who is still hunting the tops of the mountains in his eighties. I frankly can’t wait to get back into some of my spots, and may have finally figured out a way into the Heart of the Inner Sanctum.
Oddly enough, we never run into people who holler about no access back in places like that.