This is a time of year that turns even the most seasoned outdoorsmen into drooling infants: a transitional crossroads where many minds turn from spotting trout feeding on caddis and hoppers to spotting game feeding in alfalfa plots. A mental tug as fly rods are hung up in favour of bows. We take to the ground instead of the water.
Many “flick the switch”, but for me it’s not that easy. There’s no way that I can walk down a deer trail lining a river bank and not look for fish.
Nor can I walk a river bank spotting trout without scanning the bushes for fallen antlers or deer sign.
Impossible.
I used to fight this urge, thinking that one would adversely affect the other, that my focus must solely be on one outcome. However, there’s no need for such single-mindedness.
Is there any finer point during the year where you can actively pursue both a love for trout, and a love for big game? The culmination of season, conditions, and opportunity blends to perfection on stunning, fall, Alberta days.
A growing crispness in the air, the changing colors of fall, the bugles of bull elk, the crunching of hooves on the leaves below, the gin clear waters, and fat trout feasting aggressively.
It is, simply, the finality of a blending pot where everything you’ve dreamed of for nine months is before you.
The hunt is on!