Spring firewood gathering

Spring is here in the Flathead with its ever-expanding variety of outdoor activities. Last weekend was just too nice to stay indoors, so I had to do a little hiking just to get out and soak up some spring sunshine. Most of our lower elevation forest lands are snow free. If you want to take a little drive in the hills, I would recommend taking a snow shovel in case you encounter some remaining deep snow drifts on a shaded north or east facing slope.

My wife and I always enjoy a spring drive around the Lower Valley with its numerous wetlands to watch an amazing variety of waterfowl. Ducks, especially the male ducks, are decked out in their bright spring colors as they try to romance the lady ducks. A good starting place to watch waterfowl is Church Slough on the Lower Valley Road. Don’t forget to bring your binoculars.  Also be aware that some state and federal wildlife lands are off-limit to hiking in order not to bother breeding wildlife. Let me give you an example.

A few years ago, I decided to do some spring turkey hunting in the valley. I had never hunted the Kuhns Wildlife Management Area, located just northwest of Kalispell. So early one spring morning I took myself, my shotgun and turkey call to hunt this area. I hunted for a couple hours, blew my turkey call several times, but I couldn’t raise a turkey. I was surprised that no other hunter was hunting this local public land.