Hilary Hutcheson may be small in stature, but she has the energy and drive of a Class V rapid. Owner of Lary’s Fly & Supply in Columbia Falls, Montana, the town in which she grew up, Hutcheson, 42, started guiding at age 18. She still...
While tinkering around in his shop, Andy Toohey, a master carpenter and an avid Colorado-based angler, started pondering the history of wood boat building and designs, experimenting with different materials and styles. He found that building a hull out of polymer could provide the look...
As I age, a disturbing development is emerging: I take more chances. Why? I want to catch bigger trout. Bigger trout live in nasty, unpredictable places. They hide under ledges, in deep holes, in whitewater, or at the base of waterfalls that are choked with...
June 4 – 6, 2020 North American Rendezvous Backcountry Hunters & Anglers invites sportsmen and women to unite in Missoula, Montana, in support of the backcountry. The 2020 Rendezvous features a lineup of speakers, skills seminars, and social activities, including a wild game cook-off, hands-on demonstrations, raffles,...
With a laid-back vibe and the outdoor recreation that abounds in this Western Montana mountain town, Whitefish is a sure bet for families. “It’s a great community with a small-town feel,” says architect Robert Gilbert of the Boulder, Colorado-based Stillwater Architecture. “Everyone knows everyone; on...
One thing is for certain: Fly fishing guides, when presented with a day off, often elect to fish. That means the dirty interior of the guide rig will go another day without vacuuming, and the dozens of circular plastic boxes full of flies — likely...
I recently saw a sign that read: “If you choose not to take joy in the snow, you will have less joy in your life, but still the same amount of snow.” That sentiment can apply to a lot of things really, but for those...
Last night, snow swathed the meadow. This morning we scroll the window shades and trace nature’s busy history of trails, hooves and clawed footfalls crisscrossing acres blanketed white. Such complicated comings and goings, traversing so nearby while we slumbered unsuspectingly. Deer, elk, rabbit, squirrel, raccoon, milling about the moonless overcast midnight. Even now, invisible birds...
A Million Acres: Montana Writers Reflect on Land and Open Space (Riverbend Press, $34.95), edited by Keir Graff and featuring stunning photos by Alexis Bonogofsky, includes essays, short stories, excerpts from fiction, and even a song that explore ideas around open lands and the writers’...
Late one night in 1894, two men stopped outside a shack behind the old Grey Mule Saloon in Miles City, Montana. A middle-aged woman came out of the shack with a cheap suitcase and a “war bag,” a sack containing the remainder of her meager...