Washington

Hunting upland birds on the Yakama Reservation in Eastern Washington.

As the sun backlit the eastern horizon, we slipped into the blind and listened for the beat of wings. All around us we could hear quail calling and now and then, the cluck of a rooster pheasant.

Black bears occupy all the forest habitats of western Washington, the Cascade Mountains, the Okanogan, the Selkirk and Blue Mountain ranges. For management purposes, biologists divide the state into nine black bear management units (BBMUs). Based on computer modeling and reconstruction studies, the statewide population is thought to number between 25,000 and 30,000 animals.

Alaska is a land of big rivers and big fish. So why would anyone bother to chase grayling in the spring when there are salmon in the river all summer? Because grayling are silver-sided denizens of deepest Alaska, with tall, sail-like dorsal fins and a propensity for popping dry flies. To me, they are the…