Another day of check station, waiting for hunters to bring their antelope to town. Lots of rain in the morning, and some hail. Cold, as in high around 47 degrees. Hunters coming out of the high country were hunting in snow.

First animal out was an elk. A spike, taken by an archer. A hardy fellow, he got himself out of his camp and into the rain to make his kill. Most the other archers who came out slept in and stayed dry.

And got no elk. There's a lesson there, somewhere.

As usual, it's too late and I'm too tired to relate all the interesting things from the day. Like the hunter who forgot to buy a required $10 conservation stamp. When I offered him the option of running into town to buy one and bringing it out to show me, rather than calling a game warden and him probably receiving the subsequent $60 ticket, he of course accepted.

Upon his return (with stamp), he was surprised I had trusted him not to just run off.

This wasn't the first time I'd given a hunter this second chance. Only been disappointed once (and she got caught at the border, and had even worse legal problems by then).

But the neat thing about the whole situation?

As punishment to himself, he bought two.

We solved a moose poaching incident that two other game wardens had been hauling ass across the countryside to solve late Saturday night. An investigation I had listened to from beginning to almost the end during my hour and ten minute drive home. Wardens investigating a report of three trucks gathered around a dead moose just off a county road.

And the hustling game wardens arrived minutes too late, only to find a clean "crime" scene, and then began trying to hunt down the vehicles, with the assistance of the highway patrol. Unsuccessfully.

Well, turns out one of the men in one of those three trucks came out through my station this afternoon. And was eager to share the details about the incident.

Turns out the three trucks that had been reportedly seen around a dead moose had actually just rescued said moose from being entangled in a fence. When it finally got up and left, so did they. And went back to camp, never knowing they were being hunted by the law.

I suppose we should tell those two wardens, huh?

As the man related his story about extracting a moose from a fence, we became aware we were being watched. A pronghorn buck, walking down our shoulder of the highway, not 30 meters off, wondering what in the heck these people were doing in his neighborhood.

Disgruntled, he crossed the highway, and continued leisurely along his way. Marking bushes as he went.

Hours later, he came back, on our side of the highway again. This time making a mad dash as he passed between our trucks and the highway fence, then just as leisurely continuing north. Marking one last bush before leaping the cattleguard to get back into the open country.

The bad news of the day?

Wife got the little maskless heeler in to see the vet. Weeks ago the heeler got jerked out the truck window by a tree branch she had bit, and injured and favored her right hind leg for a day or two. But was soon racing with her sister again, and leaping around as normal.

Friday, when I stopped to set up the first wing barrel, she and her sister bailed out to race as is their routine. And the little one immediately yiped as she hit the ground, and came back on only three legs.

All weekend she has kept the right hind leg completely off the ground, racing with her sister and running up steps like she'd been three-legged her whole life.

Getting into trucks or onto the bed, she could not do.

So, the vet's prognosis?

She tore one of the cross tendens in what would be the knee on a human. Won't heal on its own, she needs to have surgery.

So, tomorrow AM she goes in. And sometime Wednesday afternoon we should be able to bring her home. With the same restrictions her sister had after her accident. Always on leash when outside to prevent getting too wild, being kenneled up in the house to prevent her from jumping up or down on anything.

For three weeks.

Too late to cancel the Yellowstone reservations. We'll wait until we get her home on Wednesday to see if we're comfortable being gone for a few days (eldest son will be home to tend to the heelers).