IT PAYS TO BE ALERT!

There’s nothing like the golden hues of the Aspens, Poplars, and Cottonwoods of Wyoming and Montana in the Fall. The winds rustling through the leaves play a harmony that is music to an outdoorsman’s ears. Fly fishing is drawing to a close for the season. Deer and elk season are around the corner. The rut will have animals on the move like they haven’t been in months. Trigger fingers begin to twitch. The fashion for clothes becomes camo. And Scent Loc doesn’t have anything to do with a security device on a door.

That is where I found myself recently outside of Cody, Wyoming. The colors were the most vibrant I had seen them in years. I felt I was walking through a Terry Redkin painting. The mountains sat a purple velvet draped panoramic backdrop to a wonderland I too often am able to only dream about.

We had ridden through the mountains setting on the vistas with a 360 degree view of “forever.” The horses had labored getting up some of the inclines…but the view at the top was worth it all. At least for us. But it sure made me glad that I wasn’t horse!

But there is one thing that can significantly disrupt the idyllic aura of the mighty Rockies—Grizzlies! They had spotted them in the pasture a few days before I arrived. A mother and her cubs. The fur thick. The silver coloring tipping the hair glistening in the rays of the sun. Powerfully striding through the field she left little doubt of who ruled the roost.

And when grizzlies are on the prowl you had better keep your senses keen, a gun or bear spray close and your feet ready to move quickly. But they can take even the most experienced off guard in a hurry.

Larry Ellis is the seasoned ranch manager on the beautiful spread onwhich I was spending several days. He had told me to be careful and alert, taken a gun and spray as we had ridden both the ranch and national forest, and had watched the mamouth animal…now joined by a male…through glasses. A bear can outrun a horse in a 100 yards or less so knowing their whereabouts at all times when outside is vital.

I had gone up to a higher point on the ranch and had no idea of the crisis developing below. Larry and his wife Melanie, along with their four year old son Colter, had been pacing off the area of their new ranch home to be built in the coming months. Squatting down on the ground they were focused on the drawings and schematics, discussing the pros and cons of various alternatives for the place that would be their “refuge” from the demanding responsibilities of ranch life.

Suddenly, Melanie noticed a movement in her perifphial vision. Probably one of the horses. But something deep in that woman’s intuition told her differently. Glancing up with a foreboding inner sense, she froze as she looked into the face of the mother grizzly, accompanied by her cubs…30 feet away!

“Grrriiizzzlly,” she stammered, grabbing Colter and backing away. Stunned, Larry reached for his .44 magnum. And time seemed to stand still…or at least move in slow motion.

You’re never supposed to look a grizzly in the eye…but Melanie would later say she inadvertently did that day. Two mothers, each with their kids, facing off. Melanie wondering if she could get Colter away fast enough. Larry trying to assure safety in a terrorizing moment. And a grizzley sow, determining whether to attack or retreat, while simultaneously scuttling her cubs away to safety.

With tension crackling in the air, everything seemed to move in slow motion. The sow stuck her neck forward, sniffing the air and shaking her head slowly, debating the charge. Suddenly…thankfully…she rolled her head to the side, turned and trotted after her cubs as Melanie swept Colter to the house, and the men let out an audible gasp of relief from held breath’s that burst out in released tension.

We would all do we to be reminded that while it is easy to get distracted daily in our normal activities, there is always an Adversary on the prowl close by waiting for his opportunity to pounce. Rather than a bear, Scripture describes Satan as a “roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). His desire is not to merely trip us up, but to destroy us and our testimony.

So, heads up! Be on the alert! Be ready to resist…and stand firm! You never when he’ll show up.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 25th, 2006 at 9:19 am and is filed under Christian Sportsman. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.