Jerry's Hunt Recap - Final Post

Dad summarized the hunt quite well, thus, instead of summarizing, I thought I would share a brief “feel-good” story that I will remember from the trip….

One of the fascinating things to me about the trip was the little bit I learned about the ranches of the area. They are beef cattle ranches in this part of the world. The two main ranches in Grasshopper Valley are the Tash and Harrison. Each family has been ranching in this area for over 100 years, and the area land features reflect their heritage. Tash Mountain and Tash Scenic Overlook, Harrison Creek and Harrison Lake are just a few examples.

These ranches are BIG! Both the Tash and Harrison families run their cattle on over 10,000 acres, and have access to nearly 15,000. Conversely, in Wisconsin, a 400 acre farm is considered big. Finally, if one gal I met is any indication, their family businesses will continue for years to come. I shot my elk on a part of the Harrison Ranch, where Russ Kipp has permission to hunt. Shortly after I shot the elk, PJ (guide) and I saw a couple people heading up the hill toward my elk. We decided we better get down there. As we approached, PJ noted that one of the two was Melissa Harrison, daughter of the owner the ranch.

After sharing the story of our hunt with them, we learned that Melissa and her boyfriend had just parked their truck 500 yards down the hill. They offered to drive up to haul my elk out. I rode out with them, and on the way thanked Melissa for allowing us to hunt on their family ranch. She thanked me, and went on to explain how she had gone to college, knew she could go out into the world and get a better paying job…but she had seen enough and knew that she wanted to stay on the ranch the rest of her life. Her older brother, who we had met earlier in the week, was also going to carry on the tradition. And Tyler Tash (Dad's guide on Monday during the week) is also taking over his Dad's ranch.

Property values of ranch land in Montana and other western mountain states continues to demand higher and higher prices, even during these times of depressed real estate prices. I am sure that the temptation for many ranch owners is to take the money and run. But these three 20-something kids have decided they ain’t sellin’, and they are staying on to run the Ranch. I was glad to hear that the Tash and Harrison ranches of southwest Montana's Grasshopper Valley will carry-on for at least another generation.

Thanks for all your well-wishes and comments….and Happy Hunting!