Quote Of The Day

 "You are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that, I commend you, and I thank you again."

-  U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff praising Russian President Vladimir Putin

Coup de Grâce

In the unlikely event that you missed the news, last week President Trump canceled the planned livestream of the Fort Hood shooter's execution.  Previously, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan would be executed by a firing squad, at Fort Hood, broadcast for all the world to see and that "It would be awesome."

 

As easy as it is to speculate over what testosterone-fed and media-infused nonsense is rolling-around in the Secretary's head; sometimes the president requires further reflection.  And a wee bit of polling.

If anyone would have asked me, my response would be to tell Mr. Trump that live streaming the execution by firing squad of a paralyzed, wheelchair-bound murderer would simply grant him his last wish - namely martyrdom.  As a consequence, Secretary Hegseth would be handing jihadists across the world a novel recruiting tool on a silver platter.  

As per usual nobody called.

We'll never know if the president's main concern was if the Secretary's broadcasting of the execution would have a deterrent effect or make a better tool for attracting apprentice terrorists.  Personally, I vote for the latter, not the former.  

In case you might be thinking about all of what goes into the procedural details of an execution under the military's Uniform Code of Military Justice - including the rare firing squad - Ward Carroll does a very good job of explaining it.  If you can spare less than eight minutes and the bandwidth you can watch it here. 

The execution, if it goes through, is scheduled for the same week as the National Christmas Tree Lighting.  

Meanwhile, I have a pool going if Pete Hegseth is the first Cabinet Secretary to be fired immediately following the midterm elections.

Felize Navidad! 

Pre-Rut

Sunday afternoon, Braumeister and I had our first sit for the season.  It was a beautiful fall day, and until sunset pleasant enough to hunt in a double layer of long sleeve underwear and a t-shirt.  Not a mosquito to be seen. 

I took a roundabout walk to my chosen stand in order to scout for evidence of the whitetail rut.  And evidence there was.  I counted seven scrapes in the process of establishment and a couple of rubs.

What are these you ask?

If you encounter a whiff of deer pee redolent in the autumn air look carefully beneath any shoulder height tree branches that are close by.  You may locate a bare patch of dirt in the turf that is trampled with deer hoof prints.  This is called a scrape.  Bucks create scrapes by using their hoofs to dig at the ground.   Once the soil is stirred up they urinate on the scrape.

Bucks don’t pee the way those of us males of the human species do.  We try to keep it off of our legs and boots.  Whitetail bucks actually try to pee on their own legs.  The object is to hit their tarsal glands in an effort to leave their scent on the scrape.  Every deer has its own unique scent. The tarsal glands hold concentrated amounts of that scent.  

Another thing scrapes have is a licking branch - a tree branch will hang above the cleared out soil. Bucks will rub their forehead glands on the stick and will also lick it with their tongue.  

 

 

Scrapes serve much the same function in the whitetail world as a mailbox post or a fire hydrant does for dogs.  Scrapes are meant to show dominance over a territory but are normally used by more than one buck.   

 

These early scrapes are a bit different.  Few and far between they are mainly used to communicate as bucks begin to leave their bachelor groups and stake out their territory.  It is akin to posting a no trespassing sign on a property line.  Later in the season an active scrape will be used to communicate breeding readiness.

 

Finally, there are these beginning to appear on the landscape – buck rubs.   

 

 

Around these parts it is typically a tamarack sapling sacrificed to the cause.   

 

It is a common misconception that deer rubs on trees are caused by male whitetails attempting to rub the velvet from their antlers.  While it would not be unusual for a velvet-antlered deer to rub against a tree the rubbing seen at this time of year is a consequence of deer that have long-ago shed the velvet from their antlers.  The rub in the photo was made by a dominant buck.  Consider it both a visual and a sensory calling card brought on by an increase in testosterone levels.   

It isn't unusual for other bucks to add their contribution to the rub but it's more to do with establishing the pecking order.   

 

The term dominant buck is apropos given that one of the reasons for this behavior is to mark their territory and curb the lesser bucks both psychologically and hormonally.  This suppresses testosterone levels in the smaller bucks allowing the Big Guy to exert his influence and create the circumstances for successfully spreading his seed during the breeding season.  

 

The glands located in the forehead of the dominant male send a signal that this is my turf.  It also signals to the ladies of the male's readiness to mate.  Consider it the whitetail equivalent of passing-along your name and phone number to someone you might wish to meet again. 

 

Stay-tuned for additional updates from whitetail romance land.

October Night Skies

The Orionid meteor shower featured in this post originates in the debris left behind by Halley's Comet.  Halley completes a circumnavigation of our sun every 76 years or thereabouts.  It last visited us in 1986 and will return in 2061.  Nevertheless, the dust trail left behind in its path does not disappear and is intercepted every year in late October.

As particulate matter from the debris trail enters our atmosphere it burns-up producing the Orionid meteor shower.  The orbit of the earth is opposite that of the debris (Retrograde is the Word Of The Day) resulting in fast-moving shooting stars.  We also collide with the debris once-again in May which results in the Eta Aquariids meteor show.  Halley is responsible for two meteor shows a year.

The overall duration of this shower is from September 26 to November 22 and is scheduled to peak on the evenings of October 20 and 21 with the best opportunities after midnight and before dawn.

The radiant for the Orionids originates from the constellation Orion the Hunter so fix yourself a cuppa hot cocoa or a glass of Merlot and keep your fingers-crossed for good viewing conditions.

Orion September 15 - click on image to enlarge

The Bee

If your a fan of satirical publications s such as the Onion or the Merrill Daily Harold you'll like the Babylon Bee.  Like the other two satirical publications most of my consumption of their material is on Face Book.  It lightens the load.  I've reposted a piece from the Bee only once prior.  But this is pretty close to home, so I can't resist.

Go Brewers! 

 

Even More Fall Colors

A couple of weeks ago I finally got around to replacing my device and have been waiting for an opportunity to test the camera on an iPhone 17 Pro.

 

On my drive to Sturgeon Bay earlier last week it was gloomy and overcast. And I thought to myself,  “Geeze, it's too bad it's dark, cloudy and dank. The trees are putting on a real fall show and there's no sunshine to show it off."

 

Driving home after class things had certainly changed. The rains abated, the skies cleared and the sun came out; a bright late afternoon sun lower on the horizon.  So I hopped-off the four lane and did a brief detour to checkout the fall colors at some of my favorite locations in Southern Door.

 

Thursday there was rain all day and awaking Friday there was more of the same.  Nevertheless, I left for Group with fingers-crossed for clear skies and sunshine; hopeful the wind and the rain wouldn’t spoil it.  

 

Sure as shooting by late afternoon the skies cleared, the sun came out; a bright, low on the horizon sun.

 

I left the house around 3:30 to fetch Ruby from the boarding kennel where she had been enjoying a spa visit while we were on a road trip to Minneapolis to see Sting in concert.  After picking her up, natural light conditions were becoming pretty much optimal for some fall color photography.  And more experimentation with my new iPhone 17 Pro.  So as we crossed over the border into Door County we navigated the back roads home and collected these images between 4 and 4:30 PM.

 

Click on any image for a closer look. 

 

 

 

  

 

This weekend might just be peak fall colors here.  Enjoy it while you can wherever you live.

And how about them Brewers.

Restaurant Review

In the event you find yourself hungry anywhere between Chippewa Falls and Wausau, Wisconsin I have a recommendation.

A couple of days ago we were returning from our road trip to Minneapolis to see Sting in concert and hunger called around 12 PM.  Needing gas we took the first Abbotsford exit indicating a BP station in town.  Immediately next door was La Takeria El Nopal. 

We like Mexican fare and our traveling companions do too; so having topped-off the tank we pulled-around the corner, parked the car, went inside and grabbed a table to study a menu.

You select your drinks from the cooler and place your order at the counter.  Seating ourselves the host brought us set-ups, a basket of tortilla chips, salsa along with a bottle each of red and green sauces.  All homemade.

In short order our entrees arrived.  I ordered the special that day - a quesadilla al pastor combining a savory marinated pork with melted cheese between a folded and grilled flour tortilla; served with rice and beans and fresh toppings.  The rice was average and, being a bean snob, I found the frijoles to be lovely.  Overall, an excellent lunch; and I had enough quesadilla leftover to take home for a late night snack watching the Milwaukee Brewers sweep the Dodgers.

Major credit cards accepted, cash discount and tips are cash only ¡Por favor!

If you're in the neighborhood or passing thru, I recommend it.