I pulled into the first turnout on Moose Wilson Road.
It was a normal morning. The kind where you are just hoping something shows up. Maybe a moose. Maybe an owl working the pond down below. Nothing unusual. Just getting out, seeing what is there.
I stepped out, took a look around, and settled in.
Then something moved behind me.
I turned, and there he was. A red fox. Maybe fifteen feet away. Just standing there.
It felt like he had been watching me for a while.
It caught me off guard more than I would like to admit.
I got the camera up quick, expecting him to bolt.
He did not.
He just started walking. Calm, steady, like I was not even there. Nose down, following some scent in the snow like he had a job to do and this was it.
I got one decent shot as he passed.
Then he crested a small hill and disappeared.
Just like that.
I stood there for a second, looking at where he had been, like maybe he would come back over.
He did not.
I never did see the moose.
But it did not feel like I missed anything.