Bow Hunting

Smokey Joe and Braumeister spent a weekend at The Platz to do some hunting.

Saw plenty deer.

Nothing hanging yet.

Caught On Camera

The girls and I were out swapping memory cards on the trail cameras a couple of weeks ago. By the time you are reading this we'll be doing it again. Even though it's beautiful hiking weather the dang hip has forced me to use the four wheeler.

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More Deer

Amazing.

Put the trail cameras out, move them around from time-to-time.  Replace the memory cards every couple  of weeks or so.

In the intervening time there will be hundreds of pictures taken.

No bait - no nothing.

I might want to start puting some scents out to see what  happens.

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Demographic Shifts

Seniors now comprise 23 percent of the peninsula's population (give or take).

According to Jeff Sachse, labor force analyst  for Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development the trend will be for this to climb to 33 percent by 2010.  Aging baby boomers are staying and younger people are leaving.

Additionally, the peninsula has the highest concentration of wealth of any non-metropolitan county in the state.

Per capita income of $40,124 is behind only Dane, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties.

Not bad for a relatively sparse population of 28,000 residents.

Learn more about it here.

Nobody Here But Us Turkeys

While the Frau and I haven' been seeing many turkeys in person the local flock seems to be in mighty good shape going into the fall and winter.

Here's bachelor flock.

Until spring breeding begins males tend to move in their own group.

Females have their brood flocks.

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Mama and the Twins

The picture on the left appears to be a doe with twin fawns.

However, if you look closely of the two fawns one is larger than the other.

I wonder what the explanation might be?

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Scouting

With all of the deer movement along this trail the dogs and I moved this bow blind to a spot where a patient hunter might just be able to arrow a deer.

We'll let it set for a spell and give the critters sometime to get used to it.

Deer Trail

Deer moving along the trail.  Same camera - two pictures taken four minutes apart.  Same deer?

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Man vs. Mouse

The other day Lawyer commented upon how nice the machine shed smelled.  It smells of dryer sheets.

In my continuing battle with the mice that infest my boat every winter I'm trying out an idea I heard from someone else.

I scattered some very pungent dryer sheets all throughout the boat along with some mouse traps for good measure.

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I'm told that mice don't like the smell and will not take up residence in a vessel filled with them.

The Frau thinks they're simply going to use them to build elaborate nests.

We'll see.

For sure I'll have the best smelling boat on the water.

Young Buck

Two and a half year old buck I figure.

First time I've seen this guy?

The rut should be kicking-in soon and more males will be dispersing.

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Smile For TheTrail Camera

Plenty deer stopping to have their picture taken.

Is there something about the infrared flash that has caught the  attention of this doe and fawn?

I wonder.

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Coy Doe

Little Miss elusive...


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Fall Color

The recent wind storm did a  pretty good job of knocking many of the leaves from the trees just about when the colors were looking good.

Here's a large splotch of orange  in the woodlot to the north that persists.

The tamaracks should be turning their beautiful fall gold soon. 

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Trail Blazing

Lawyer was up to the farm this past weekend to help repair the deer stands that were damaged in the recent wind storms.

One stand is totaled and is in need of replacement.  That can wait until next year.

We also had to clear the fallen trees that blocked the trails.

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Wisconsin's Deer Trustee

I heard recently that Governor Walker appointed a Deer Trustee.  It is actually been some time in coming.  I hear the Trustee is going to take the politics out of the woods and put the deer back in.

Deer are not distributed uniformly over Wisconsin's landscape and in farmland country we have too many deer.

It's a complicated issue for sure.  I hope the Trustee is smart enough to not take a one-size-fits-all approach to deer management.

Dog Duty

Yesterday the  blonde dog manifested a nice case of diarrhea.

Blech.

As near as we can figure she dined upon something very rotten and disgusting in the woods.

This is the way life goes with hunting dogs.

So last night I made a batch of the universal cure for Labrador retriever diarrhea.

Chow made from boiled rice mixed with boiled chicken.  Chopped and diced.  Seriously, we keep the ingredients on-hand.

Oddly enough - the dogs love this stuff.  More than their kibble.

I wonder if they plan their episodes of stomach upset?

Nah...

Whitail Snobbery

This is a whitetail snob.


Turning her head-up at the rest of us

Rainbow Deluxe

Very cool rainbow display.

It's not often you get a complete rainbow with a doubler.

Fair Weather Fans

The kids were at the Packer game the other night and I received an email with some pix.

They pointed out a curious phenomena.

The Georgia Dome has a "Defend the Dome" theme.

It was pure hell in there for the first half - Atlanta fans talking smack.  

Until the start of the second half when The Pack stuck to their game plan and began to dominate their foe.

The the end of the 3rd quarter their fans started to leave in droves.

The Packer fans were quick to ask - why aren't you staying to defend the dome.

Trail Maintenance

The Frau was quite grateful of last month's ritual mowing of about 3+ miles of trails.

I would agree that it is easier to take Girlfriend and Sister on their morning walks and not have to stumble through wet or frosty tall stuff.

If you have been paying attention to the trail camera pictures the critters also like nicely groomed trails.

It's like a freeway after all.

Weekend Grilling Results

How about those Brewers and Packers!? (Badgers had the weekend off).


The Frau and I have been performing fall chores today and I grilled chicken wings for the Brewers game (buffalo sauce and teriyaki) followed by seared venison kabobs (teriyaki-style), medium rare, over a brown rice pilaf.

 Excellent half-time fare.

Garden onions and peppers used throughout - including the pilaf. Pimentos from a small jar in the pilaf.

Nobody Here But Us Turkeys

The resident turkeys have certainly been discreet lately.

Sure, I see them crossing the road when I go to town.  And I hear them making a terrific racket when they fly up to their roost a sundown when I am bow hunting.  But the big field across the road that has been planted in freshly greening hay is devoid of birds.

What gives?

The trail camera doesn't lie.

There are turkeys about - they're just being shy.

Caught some nice shots of a bachelor group of gobblers sashaying through and a boss hen with her brood flock...

Consider the Potato

Consider the humble potato.

It doesn't take much to grow a pile of potatoes.  A bag of seed potatoes from Fleet Farm might set you back a few bucks - but two rows of carefully-tended spuds will yield about three bushels of bakers.

These are Kennebec potatoes.  The Red Pontiacs and Yukon Golds have already been harvesed.

Redundancy Redux

Same deer as yesterday's post.

Only he's lost his velvet in the intervening couple of weeks.

Redundancy

Same buck visiting this camera two days in a row.

A word to the wise for this young male whitetail.  Establishing predictable patterns may lead to a premature loss of life.

What I cannot figure out is why these deer focus on the camera if there is no visible flash?

How To Make Pickled Red Cabbage

Start with a about four large, garden red cabbages.  Peel-away the outer leaves, slice in-half and cut-out the core.  Chop cabbage into coarse slices.


Layer chopped cabbage into a stone crock and sprinkle with kosher salt.  Alternate cabbage, salt, cabbage, salt. Repeat until you reach the top of the crock.

Install the lid, fill the moat with water and allow your cabbage to set overnight.


The following day, remove the cabbage from the crock and allow it to drain in the sink.  Do not rinse.


While your cabbage is draining prepare the brine.

Combine equal parts of red wine and apple cider vinegar with about four cups of dark brown sugar.  Throw some whole mustard seed into the pot. Cut the toe-end from an old sweat sock, fill with a bottle of pickling spice, tie it-off with kitchen string and toss it into the pot.  Bring to a boil and simmer for about five minutes.  Remove from heat, fetch the spice sock from the pot and set-aside.  This was a big batch so we doubled the vinegar you see in the picture.


Pack pint jars very tightly with the cabbage leaving a half-inch of head space.  Top-off with the brine, add lids and rings and process in the canner for 20 minutes. 

Udderly Breakfast

It's been awhile since I posted any trail cam pictures.

Yesterday's morning walk allowed an opportunity to fetch the memory cards from the cameras and see what we got.

How about a couple of does and a fawn grabbing some breakfast.

The End of the Line

For the tomatoes anyway.

We had a hard frost Saturday night - but not before Japh picked enough tomatoes to make another couple of gallons of salsa and can more for tomato juice.

Guy's Weekend

I've been hanging with my brother-in-law for the weekend. 

The dogs - Girlfriend, Sister and Gilligan are hanging out with us too. 

We've gotten some nice walks in.  A little hunting. Some fishing too.  On top of  that we put-up a big pile of pickled red cabbage, another couple of gallons of  kick-ass salsa and reveled in the Badgers, Packers and Brewers.

One more thing.  We dined like kings.  For instance last night's grilled venison steaks, baked garden potatoes and sautéed red cabbage.