Strike challenge at Silver Creek. Whether fish, fowl or game, the measure of man versus nature remains an ego’s scorecard.

It’s said the cold crisp days with their solitude were his favorite. Walking the same steps as Papa along the creek never felt so good; winter’s bite holding a brook babbling through time. Jumping birds one moment and pulling a mouse through the current the next. And when the bell tolls, a giant post-spawn brown pulls against the drag of the Lamson…nothing feels so good. Except the same moment broken by a jumping pheasant, cackling from the cattails. That startle snaps off the fish and a partner’s terrible shooting lets the bird slide away into the desert. But we are thankful to Picabo Angler and Silver Peak Ranch for the opportunity. A cigar and whiskey alongside Hemmingway’s legacy numb any disappointment.