Now might be the chance for you to visit Yellowstone National Park, as its peak visitor season begins to wind down.

Fall colors are making an appearance on the thousands of trees in the park, the wildlife is still out roaming and the crowds are starting to thin at some of its major attractions.

The average visitation numbers from 2012 to 2017 show that at its peak month in July there are approximately 922,000 people roaming the park. In fall, when the average temperature still hovers around the 50-degree mark, visitation is still rather high but is on the decline for the year.

Driving through the park’s West Yellowstone entrance was a breeze recently as most entrance lanes were stacked one-car deep. The trend continued throughout the park with little to no traffic on the roads, with the exception of some packed parking lots at the park’s bigger attractions like the Grand Prismatic Springs.

There were few Montana license plates circling the park, most of which were from Oregon, Colorado and other states. However, the few that were in the park were enjoying the open space that usually doesn’t happen during the park’s busier months.

Rachel Barnett of Livingston, Montana, was driving through the park with two other friends celebrating their birthdays, an annual commitment her and her friends have with each other. Barnett stopped at the Fountain Paint Pot area to walk around and was getting ready to move to the next attraction in her red Chevrolet pickup truck with Montana license plates indicating she had donated to the park when registering her vehicle.

She said she lived in Utah but moved to Livingston about six years ago to be closer and plan longer trips to the park. Barnett said she’s had the ritual of visiting it at the same time every year, around the end of August to mid-September. She said she wasn’t very fond of large crowds of people and that it was the best time for her.

“I’d rather see it by myself,” Barnett said. “The people who do come around this time of year take their time.”

Barnett offered advice to people thinking about visiting the park — take your time and don’t make any plans.

At the Old Faithful Geyser, Douglas Olinger Jr. of Big Sky, Montana, waited for the spring to shoot up in the air away from other spectators.

Olinger said it was the third time he had been in the park this summer, noting that he was a tour guide for a lot of guests staying at his place during the warmer months of the year.

Olinger’s first trip to the park was in June and he said traffic put a damper on the trip, adding that it took hours to get from each destination. However, he said his fall trip has been much more relaxing without the stress of so many cars and still being able to see wildlife before it got too cold.

“We’ve actually been able to enjoy it,” Olinger said.

This summer from June to August the park saw a total of roughly 2.5 million visitors, according to totals provided by the park. But the park’s visitation tends to be slower in fall because students are typically back in class and parents are less likely to take a vacation without the rest of their families.

If you want to see the park before it mostly closes for the winter, you only have a couple more weeks. All roads close at 8 a.m. Nov. 5 except the road between the North Entrance and the Northeast Entrance.

One of northern Utah’s hidden gems is Bear Lake State Park. Located on the border of Idaho and Utah, Bear Lake offers a variety of activities and brilliant blue water, earning it the nickname, “Caribbean of the Rockies.”

Bear Lake State Park officially opened in 1962, according to park manager Richard Droesbeke. The park consists mostly of marinas and beaches that promote the bright, blue waters of Bear Lake.

“The lake is what attracts most people up here,” Droesbeke said.

He said the lake is 20 miles long and 8 miles wide, making watersports very popular at the park. The marinas even have rental shops available for those who want to ride waverunners or paddleboard along the shoreline.

Droesebeke also mentioned that the lake is great for fishing, even during the colder months. Bear Lake is filled with cutthroat and lake trout.

“Bear Lake’s actually a cold water fishery,” he said. “So when the lake warms up, the fish tend to go deeper. Now that the lake’s cooling down, they’re easier to catch.”

A well-known aspect of Bear Lake State Park is the beautiful and uncommon blue color of the water. The color is because of limestone particles of calcium carbonate that are suspended in the water, according to Droesebeke. He said the particles reflect the blue sky back into the water, giving the lake a “nice Caribbean, azure blue color.”

For those looking to have a beach day in land-locked Utah, this is the park for you. Droesebeke recommends Rendezvous Beach and said the sand in Bear Lake is very fine and soft, perfect for lying in the sun or playing in the water.

Even out of the water, Bear Lake State Park has much to offer. There are numerous trails for riding ATVs and off-highway vehicles. If you don’t have one of your own, the park has shops that offer day-long or hourly rentals. You can find more information about riding trails and rentals at BearLake.org.

Bear Lake State Park is also home to eight different campgrounds, according to Droesebeke. Each campsite has something different to offer such as electrical hookups for RVs, primitive camping spots or running water.

A full list of campsites and their amenities can be found on the Utah state parks website.

The park is open year-round, but some campsites start to close as winter approaches. Rendezvous Beach, for example, closes for the season on Oct. 23, according to the Bear Lake State Park website.

Even though it’s starting to get a little chilly in northern Utah, Droesebeke said that it’s the perfect time to visit Bear Lake State Park and see the beautiful fall colors.

With the first day of deer season starting in Southeast Idaho on Wednesday, frigid wintery precipitation wasn’t all that was falling to the ground.

At least a dozen fallen deer, shot by Southeast Idaho hunters, passed through the Idaho Fish and Game’s checkpoint at the weigh station along Interstate 15 just north of Inkom on Wednesday, according to Zach Lockyer, a wildlife manager for Idaho Fish and Game.

“About 50 people and about a dozen animals or so, including a moose, passed through the checkpoint today,” Lockyer said just after 1 p.m on Wednesday. “This morning has been a little interesting with the rain and snow. It was a little different of an opening day than in past years where it’s been 70 degrees and warm.”

Lockyer said the Southeast division of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game establishes a checkpoint at the weigh station near Inkom every opening day and for the following two weekends to get a better understanding of deer herd populations and to receive feedback from Southeast Idaho hunters.

“We always have our check station here to give us the first glimpse of what the hunting season is going to be like,” Lockyer said. “It also gives us some face time with hunters to understand what they are dealing with and to receive any ideas they may have for potential changes.”

In addition to meeting with hunters for a sense of what the season may hold, Lockyer said officials also look at the health and quality of the deer population.

Lockyer added that Fish and Game officials at the checkpoint make an incision on the neck of many of the deer to collect lymph nodes that will later be tested for chronic wasting disease, a neurological condition that affects deer, elk, reindeer, sika deer and moose.

Moreover, Lockyer said Fish and Game officials host the checkpoint to get a better sense of the success rate for hunters going out on opening day.

“We keep track of the people who didn’t get an animal and the ones who did,” Lockyer said. “We also get a sense for the quality of deer that people are seeing and harvesting. We look to see if it’s a bunch of young, skinny deer or if it’s larger bucks. The checkpoint gives us that first pulse on how the deer herds are doing and how the hunters are faring.”

One hunter who had success on opening day, Annie Mowrey, of Pocatello, said she had expected to stay out all weekend in search of her deer. But with a little luck and the right conditions, she was able to fill her tag before 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Mowrey only recently took up the sport of hunting after she learned from her doctor that she needed to remove beef from her diet for medical reasons.

“I am not supposed to eat beef anymore, but we raise our beef on our ranch and farm in Pocatello,” Mowrey said. “(My husband) always hunted and so I said, ‘Well if I can’t eat beef, then maybe I’ll go get a deer.’”

Mowrey is two for two in her deer hunting adventures, landing one last year in addition to the three-point buck she got on Wednesday.

“He’ll be dinner tonight,” Mowrey said. “Now the hard work is about to start.”

Unlike many who hang harvested animals for seven to 10 days before butchering, Mowrey said it’s her family’s preference to butcher right away, as it keeps the meat from tasting super gamy.

Mowrey shot the buck near Downey, staying with relatives overnight on Tuesday night and hitting the hillsides early Wednesday morning. She said the inclement weather definitely played a significant role in her hunting strategy.

“With the weather this morning we didn’t know if it was going to force them down into the lower country or if we should head into the high country,” Mowrey said. “We decided to try the low-country with as much snow and rain that we got last night.”

Mowrey said she worked some of the smaller draws in the Downey area and just happened to come across a small herd.

“We were able to come up the draw and they didn’t realize we were there, of course,” Mowrey said. “We got on top of the hill country that we were in. I got set up, waited for him to turn broadside and got blessed this morning.”

Compared with beef, Mowrey said deer meat is much leaner and has no hormones, chemicals or antibiotics that can oftentimes be found in store-bought beef products.

“No nothing,” she said. “They don’t have any saturated fats. It’s a much healthier red meat, which is nice, because I wasn’t willing to give up the red meat.”

Mowrey used a 6.5 Creedmoor rifle — a gun she said is the perfect midsize firearm.

“It’s a good female gun,” she said. “They’ve got decent knockdown power. You can take down a deer or an elk with that gun and it doesn’t clobber your shoulder.”

Lockyer told the Journal that one moose, in addition to the dozen or so deer, passed through the checkpoint on Wednesday, adding that a limited number of moose and elk tags were issued in the region.

“But the majority of hunters out today are deer hunters,” Lockyer said. “Most hunts in this region in the southeast part of the state are buck only. After that bad winter we had two years ago, we closed some of our doe hunting to give them a chance to rebound, so there are very few doe tags out there.”

Mowrey said her next hunt is to fill an elk tag that opens on Oct. 25. Her husband, Jim Mowrey, is planning for an archery hunt that starts Nov. 16. Though they both have their sights set on future harvests, Annie Mowrey spent the rest of Wednesday soaking up the opening day success.

“It’s been a great morning,” she said. “We’ll have meat for quite a while, which is pretty cool.”

She continued, “It’s quite a blessing. There have been times where you’ll search for an an animal to harvest all season and not get the opportunity. So to get him on opening day is just a blessing. I’m super stoked.”

Last week my buddy Fredy Riehl, the editor of Ammoland.com, and his daughter came out to visit me to go on a 4-wheeling trip. He lives in New Jersey so he has to come out to Idaho to get in touch with reality every once in a while. This trip, he wanted to bring his daughter Carly with him. I have all daughters, so I told him sure. Turned out she was a great kid to have along and we all had a blast. (OK, she’s actually a young lady, but everyone is a kid when you get to my age.)

Fredy and I have gone backpacking, fly fishing, etc., the last couple of years and this year I thought it’d be fun to take him 4-wheeling. There are literally thousands if not millions of acres you can 4-wheel on, much less if you throw in the big outfit that I used to work for. I don’t know how many acres they own. They have 32,000 cow/calf pairs so it takes a lot of pasture for that many cows.

Fredy and Carly flew in, and I picked them up at the airport. We had to run pick up the Can-Am Defender MAX side-by-side four-seater and trailer. Wow! Compared to my 4-wheeler, this was a Cadillac.

Next, we ran by a local outdoor store and they stocked up on a few last-minute items. PahaQue had supplied us with a couple of tents to test out and Camp Chef had sent us one of its cool little backpacking stoves. There had been a fire ban so I was scared that we might not be able to even build a fire, which was a major bummer because a roaring fire is a big part of camping.

CRKT Knives had supplied us with some of its sweet little Mossback bird and trout knives. I love those little knives. At first glance, you may discount them for being too petite, but think again. They’re great. They’re lightweight and handy.

I also packed along my Riton binoculars. We were going to be in some good elk, deer and antelope country, so I wanted to be able to let them see some nice bulls. You wouldn’t believe the huge herds of elk I see down in that country — sometimes herds of up to 500.

Then like mentioned above, we had some PahaQue tents and a cool GCI cooking station. The PahaQue tents are great. Instead of the tent poles slipping into a solid sleeve, they also have plastic clips that clip onto the poles. I have grown quite fond of this type of tent. For this excursion, we tested the Rendezvous and the Basecamp tents. The Basecamp, you basically just shake and it pops into a huge tent.

So, into the trip. I love 4wheeling in the Owyhees. I always find old cabins. I love looking around them. At one old homestead, Carly found an old buckboard wagon in perfect shape. It had been parked off to the side and was overgrown with bushes. The wheels were gone but other than that it was in perfect shape.

You can only imagine the history behind that old wagon and homestead. That country still gets snowed in bad.

There are some super rough canyons down there. I had one that I found a couple of years ago while elk hunting that I really wanted to show them. I finally found it the day that we were leaving but we came in on the upstream side of it so they didn’t get to see the coolest part of it but it was still cool. We also found some eggs. I don’t know the official name, but they are some rocks that are as big as ostrich eggs. You can cut them in half or we found plenty that were broke in half. They’re like a big softball cut in half, which has a concave area in it with quartz inside. They’re kinda cool.

We got to see a lot of cool country and the Can-Am really impressed me. We had no trouble getting around everywhere we wanted to go. Coming out of camp, we loaded it down and it carried all of our gear out in one trip. Impressive!

Well, things finally came to an end but we had barely gotten started exploring. There may be a part two next summer.

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana. He also writes for various outdoors magazines and teaches outdoors seminars at stores like Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bass Pro Shop.

Pomerelle Mountain Resort near Malta received 13 inches of snow sure the weather system that passed through Idaho this week.To celebrate, the resort will have its Winter Welcome Weekend on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. There will…

With many hunters heading outdoors with firearms, it is a good time to think about gun safety.

Some people have the mistaken impression that because firearms are used, hunting is a dangerous activity. While there is always the potential that a hunter will be involved in a firearm accident, statistics show that a hunter is far more likely to be seriously injured while driving to a hunting location than while actively hunting.

More than 200,000 people hunt in Idaho each year. Even with that many people in the field, there are typically very few, if any, hunting accidents involving firearms. Fortunately, the rare hunting accident is usually non-fatal. But even one accident is too many because every hunting accident can be prevented. Human error or inattention is what leads to firearm accidents.

In the hope that there are no firearm accidents this fall, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game offers these gun safety tips:

Treat every firearm as if it is loaded. When another person hands you a firearm, assume it is loaded even if you are told it is not. Ask anyone handing you a firearm to open the action before they hand it to you.

Always control the muzzle of your firearm. As long as the muzzle is pointed in a safe direction, nobody is likely to get hurt even if the firearm discharges unexpectedly. A safety is a mechanical device which can fail, so there is no instance where you can disregard where the muzzle is pointing simply because the safety is on.

Never touch the trigger until you are ready to shoot. Keep your fingers away from the trigger while loading or unloading. Never pull the trigger on any firearm with the safety on or anywhere in between “safe” and “fire.” Again, the gun’s safety serves as a supplement to proper gun handling but cannot serve as a substitute for common sense.

Never point a firearm at anything you do not intend to shoot. Carry and use binoculars to check out the hillside. Never look through your scope at something you cannot identify.

Be certain of your target and what is beyond it. A safe hunter never shoots at sound or movement. A safe hunter makes certain that movement or sound is a game animal that is in season before pointing a muzzle. Prior to taking a shot, a hunter must check the background for other people, livestock, buildings, equipment or roads to make sure there is a safe backstop.

Mistaking a person for game is one of the most common causes of hunting accidents in Idaho, often serious or fatal. One way to make sure every other person in the field can clearly identify you is by wearing hunter orange. While recommended for safety for those on both sides of the gun, Idaho is one of few states where hunter orange is not required, except for hunters on wildlife management areas where pheasants are stocked during the pheasant season. A hunter orange hat meets this requirement.

Be sure the barrel is clear of obstructions before shooting. Make a habit to check your barrel often. Even a small bit of mud, snow, excess lubricating oil or grease in the bore can cause the barrel to bulge or worse — explode.

The same can happen by placing a smaller gauge or caliber cartridge into a gun, such as a 20-gauge shell in a 12-gauge shotgun. This can result in the smaller cartridge acting as an obstruction when a cartridge of proper size is fired. Always pay close attention to each cartridge you insert into your firearm and only carry the correct ammunition for the gun you’re carrying.

Never cross a fence, climb a tree or perform any awkward action with a loaded gun. There will be times when common sense and the basic rules of firearms safety will require you to unload your gun for maximum safety. Never pull or push a loaded firearm toward yourself or another person.

Store firearms and ammunition separately. While most gun owners consider this most of the year, many leave guns and ammunition in their vehicles during the hunting season. It goes without saying firearms should be unloaded for safety when in the vehicle. Ammunition should always be inaccessible to children.

Alcohol and guns don’t mix. If there is alcohol in your hunting camp, make certain all firearms are put away before the alcohol comes out. Showing your hunting partner grandpa’s old rifle after you have a few beers can lead to a tragic mistake.

Don’t be timid when it comes to gun safety. Don’t hesitate to let your hunting partners know when you think they are putting themselves or others at risk. Gun safety starts with you.

Idaho Fish and Game recently reached an agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to assume operations of the Hagerman National Fish Hatchery, which raises about 1.6 million juvenile steelhead for release in the Upper Salmon River Basin.

Fish and Game’s Fisheries Bureau Chief Jim Fredericks said benefits of the transfer include greater efficiency and better integration with fisheries management and research programs. Fish and Game currently owns and operates an adjacent trout hatchery in Hagerman, which is about 35 miles northwest of Twin Falls.

Fredericks also noted that Idaho’s steelhead angling opportunities are directly affected by the hatchery’s ability to achieve adult return objectives.

“As the principal manager of Idaho fisheries supported by this hatchery, we are directly accountable to anglers. We feel this agreement allows us to better serve the people of Idaho,” Fredericks said.

The Hagerman hatchery is one of 10 salmon and steelhead hatcheries operating under the congressionally authorized Lower Snake River Compensation Plan, which is a mitigation program funded by Bonneville Power Administration for lost natural fish production and harvest opportunity caused by hydropower development.

No spawning or adult holding occurs at the Hagerman national hatchery, instead, eggs are collected at adult trapping facilities operated by Fish and Game staff in the Salmon River Basin and delivered to the hatchery.

With this new agreement, Fish and Game will operate five of the 10 Lower Snake River compensation hatcheries. Three others are operated by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and two are operated by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

As with the nine other compensation hatcheries, Hagerman will remain property of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The transfer to Fish and Game is only for operations, and funding for hatchery operations will continue to be paid by the Bonneville Power Administration.

Fredericks is confident the transition will be smooth as Fish and Game takes over operational responsibilities at the hatchery starting in October.

“We have tremendously competent and dedicated staff, and we know the business of raising fish,” he said.

With center fire rifle hunting season just days away, many hunters are trying to get their essential gear together so they will be ready on opening day. Hopefully you haven’t waited until now to look at your gear to see if any thing needs to be replaced or you are missing some items after being stored after last year’s hunt.

I’m pretty sure that what is most important to me in terms of essential gear will not necessarily be the same in every respect as others. I will simply cover what I like to have ready to go so I can just have it where I can throw it in the pickup and go.

The first item I think of is my rifle and I have been shooting it regularly and have made sure it is sighted in to hit point of aim at 250 yards. That makes it easy enough to just aim at the center of the games vital zone out to about 325 yards or slightly less and still deliver a lethal hit. Beyond that range, if I decide I can make the shot, I can raise the cross hairs in my scope as much as the top of the game’s withers if necessary, and still hit the vital zone while still being able to see the game in my scope. If I think I need to raise the cross hairs higher than the game’s withers, I probably won’t take the shot.

My rifle has now been cleaned, lightly oiled, and I will remove any excess oil just prior to leaving for the hunt.

The next item I check and secure is my telescopic sight. I use a 4-12 x 40 variable scope. After sighting at 12 power, I turn the power down to 4 so that my sight picture will be clear, and I can see the whole animal at closer distances out to 200 yards. If I have to shoot at 300 or more yards, I can dial the power back up as far as 12 power if necessary.

A good pair of binoculars are the next thing on my list of items to check. Clear, crisp, quality binoculars will allow one to glass for hours and find more deer, elk, and pronghorn without eye fatigue or getting a headache.

It is absolutely imperative to have a good pair of boots and to break them in before the season starts. There are a lot of good high-quality boots at most sporting goods stores, but most of them need a break-in period. Walk around your neighbor hood or take them on short hikes at first, so you won’t develop blisters during your hunting trip. I like my boots to give really good support to my ankles and I like them to be water proof with rugged lug soles for travel on uneven terrain.

Quality clothing is the next thing I check. Quality clothing doesn’t have to be the most expensive Gore Tex, or camouflage clothing on your sporting goods store’s racks, but you want to be able to use the layering system to adjust to different Weather and temperatures through out the day. Several of the people I have hunted with wear long underwear under pretty ordinary Levi jeans and long sleeve shirts and a winter jacket, with a stocking hat for early morning and a ball cap for late morning or afternoon. They then would take off the winter jacket and stocking hat, switching to a light pull over jacket and a ball cap for late morning and afternoon. They also bring along light rain gear in case the weather turns wet.

Last year at my son’s urging, I finally invested in high quality water proof camouflage Pants, T-shirt, Pullover jacket with hood, and heavy winter jacket. I still kept both my stocking cap and ball cap in the day pack I carry each day. However some of my friends have been kidding me that I spent so much on new gear. I don’t care though, I was a lot warmer than they were from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. every morning we were out in the field last year.

If you plan on staying overnight in the field, you will appreciate a quality shelter, sleeping pad and sleeping bag. There are no cabins in the three areas I hunt in each year, so I bought a very nice four-season tent, sleeping pad,and down-filled sleeping bag when I returned to Idaho in the fall of 2000.

I had one heavy zipper replaced about four years ago and that tent is still a great place to spend the night on hunting or camping trips. The only problem has been coaxing me to climb out of my sleeping bag early enough on a cold morning to get to where we wait on a game trail for day light from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m.

I also like to carry extra layers of clothing, water, energy bars, and a couple of knives in a light day pack so I can have lunch, adapt to changes in the weather and do some preliminary processing of any game before moving it back to camp.

So, that’s my list of hunting gear I want to have ready to go. Look at your own list and make sure you are ready, so you don’t forget anything that is important to you.

Smokey Merkley was raised in Idaho and has been hunting since he was 10 years old. He can be contacted at mokeydo41245@hotmail.com.