Ringneck

What a pleasant surprise. 

A rooster pheasant.  Sans his tail.

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Sure hope some ladies made it thru the winter.  

Talking Turkey - Sid

After a day and a half of hunting Sid bagged a big old gobbler.  The bird snuck-up on him silently while in full strut.

click on the black Lab to enlarge

That makes four gobblers taken in nine days.

A new turkey camp record.

Talking Turkey - Lawyer

Fascinating trail camera chronology of Lawyer's hunt the other day.  As you can see from that dates and time stamps on the camera photos it was a real 'marathon'.  What nerve!


Arrival at 9:44 AM

Departure at 12:33 PM (bird in hand)

At 11:52 a gobbler heading west in his direction at a distance of roughly 50-60 yards.

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Two birds came-in to his calling in full strut.  This might have been the bird that approached on the mowed trail.  The other bird came into his decoy set from behind him.

Gotta love this technology.  Three birds is a new turkey camp record.  Streak!

Talking Turkey - Swamp

First day of a four day hunt - hiking out to my spot...

After four solid days of calling - hiking home with gear and my dead gobbler...

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Chores

Cleared debris from the two gardens.

Chopped-back the hops vine on the rock wall (I'm contemplating committing herbicide).

6 bales of organic peat moss.

400 pounds (yes - 400 freak'n pounds) of composted cow manure.

One rototiller.

Rock wall garden is good to go. Main garden will get one additional tilling next weekend.

Boat goes in for a tune-up tomorrow?

Feeling accomplished and a wee bit tired...

Silver Award

The highest award that the Girl Scouts of America will award to a Cadette Scout is the Silver Award.

Granddaughter (on the left in the photo) was a recipient this last weekend.

Congratulations, Logan Jane!

 click on image to enlage

 

Talking Turkey - Braumeister

Interesting trail camera chronology of Braumeister's turkey hunt.  After a four-year long drought he killed a gobbler in one day in a matter of a few hours.

Arrival at 7:11 AM...

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A hen turkey passes through at 8:15 AM...

Departure at 1:30 PM with bird in-hand...

Talking Turkey

One more gobbler down.  That's three in a the last week.

Braumeister?  Yup.

Swamp Gas?  Yup.

Lawyer?  Yup.

Lawyer even had the temerity to sashay into camp yesterday morning and get set-up in a blind by 10 AM.  He had his gobbler down by early afternoon.

As the story goes he had two come into his set from different directions.  One from the fireroad and a second from behind.  Both in full strut.  And moving quickly.  He killed the larger of the two.  

Twenty-four pounds - nice bird!

 click on image to enlarge

This is turning-out to be the best turkey season I can recall...
 

Truth In advertising

I am not suggesting anyone is being untruthful.  Truth be told the disclosure on this bottle of refreshing Harp Lager Irish beer is exceedingly and honestly clear.

What I would like to know is did Canada annex Ireland?  Is Harp Irish Lager now brewed under a Guinness license by Molson?  If there a genuine, bonafide, Guinness brewery in Canada should the beer be called Harp Canadian lager?

It tastes a lot like a product from north of the border that has a blue label...

Crime Scene Investigation

Found this the other day while performing corrective pruning.  A complete and articulated deer skeleton.  A buck too.

click on the bones to enlarge

Had to be a spring death from a year ago as the animal had already shed its antlers.  Which would also make it impossible to be a wounded deer from the hunting season.

It was found within a couple hundred yards of the edge of the road however.  Likely scenario is that the whitetail was struck by a vehicle and made it this far before expiring.  But I'm not excavating it for a forensic exam to look for broken bones.

Meatball Taxidermy

My pal Braumeister bagged a really nice gobbler last Friday  and we prepped the tail fan and the beard for a mount that he can put on the wall of his Man Room

First step is prepping the tail and the end of the beard by removing every last vestige of red flesh and fat as possible.

click on images to enlarge

Then wrap the items in with a 50/50 combo of canning salt and borax.  Pin the tail in the proper position and let it set in the coolness of the cellar to cure.

I'll post a pic of the finished product later this summer after it's affixed to a respectable walnut plaque.

Talking Turkey

Here's my bird from last Saturday.

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1 1/4 inch spurs, 9 1/2 inch beard.  Didn't weigh it because the bathroom scale is kaput.

Four days of solid hunting and with the bird and the good news about the pooch a terrific experience all around.

Talking Turkey

Crisis averted.

Had a scare with the blonde Lab.  Poor girl started puking and didn't improve.  The Frau bundled her off to the Vet on Saturday.  Initial diagnosis was a bowel obstruction.  By Saturday evening - pending a second set of X-rays - we had authorized a surgical procedure.

The new this morning was the surgeon took that second look and kept the pooch on an IV with some meds overnight.  Discharged today and sentenced to a bland diet through Wednesday.

There's a lesson here.  Do not eat dead birds.  

Success!

Four solid days of hunting and success at the end of today.

In the midst of a family emergency so the details will have to wait. More later...

 click on the graybeard to enlarge

Talking Turkey

OK.

Yesterday's hunt included an extended chat with a chatty hen. Called her in. We clucked it up. She left. So I called her back.  Like I said yesterday.

It's always good to be fluent in a second  - or third - language.  Who can ID the bird calling in the background?

Talking turkey with one of the ladies...

Talking Turkey

Interesting day turkey hunting.

On a positive note I had an extended chat with a chatty hen. Called her in. We clucked it up. She left. So I called her back. We clucked it up some more. Nice to know another language. (Will post a short video later).

On a negative note my neighbor decided today was the day he was going to do deer stand repairs. As soon as he started-up with the hammering the gobbling stopped. Birds beat it out of Dodge.

On an awesome note Braumeister sashayed in last evening and was hunting way up on the north end of the property today - far from the anvil chorus I had to put-up with.

After a four year drought - he bagged a nice gobbler.

After a break I'm heading back out.  Hopefully the racket that scared all the birds away will have ceased.  Sheesh.

Bearded Lady

Spent a day in the glorious outdoors and all I saw was a bearded lady.

Yup.  Some hens grow beards.  Rare.  But it happens.

Back at it tomorrow...

Talking Turkey

Opening day first season hunt today was in the mid 60 degree temps.  Nice enough to hunt in a long sleeve cammo t-shirt.  That's a big change from last year's blowing wind and snow.

Saw birds too.  A couple of hens cruised thru to check-out my set-up and a big gang of seven jakes hung around for a bit.

 click on image to enlarge

No gobblers and definitely no gobbling.  It's early and I know there are some big gobblers out there.  So I'm holding out for one of the big boys.

Stay tuned...

 

Talking Turkey

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By the time this post is published I will be concealed in a turkey blind and crooning the wild turkey love call.

First day of first season.


Stay tuned...

Home Sweet Home

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Old house for sale.  One room, no bath, no roof.  Great view.  Too large for finches and too small for robins.  Too well built to be doves.  It's a mystery to me.

Seems like every day brings more birds.

Lots of courting and nest-building on tap...

Labs

If you are a Labrador retriever there is nothing better than spring time.

Ponds filled to the brim, creek running, dead deer to be discovered, mice to catch and mud everywhere.

Blonde dog has got a a whitetail shin bone to gnaw-on and black dog is taking a swim in the creek.

click on the pooches to enlarge

Spring Peepers

Just let the big dog out for a potty call and the peepers are peeping!

They're just beginning and before too long they'll hit their stride. The creshendo is only beginning to build...

Smile for the Trail Camera

From today.

click on the happy couple to enlarge

 

ISS

International Space Station tonight.

Date: Saturday Apr 11, 2015
Time: 8:11 PM
Duration: 3 minutes
Maximum Elevation: 26 °
Approach: 24 ° above NNW
Departure: 10 ° above NE 

Stewed Prune

Another day afield pruning.  Prune, prune, prune.

I was under the impression that everything was largely done (at least on my part) after last weekend.  Not so.  Finished the southwest quadrant today by myself..  The Frau and I will finish the last of the northeast quad tomorrow.

For the record the tree swallows returned sometime in the  last couple of days.  They are soaring and flitting above the grassland out behind the house.  Impressive!

Before nightfall yesterday an adult bald eagle swooped-in from the east and sat in the tall ash tree that harbors a deer stand on the creek just north of the house.  Judging from the distance between the floor and rails of the deer stand that bird was more than a couple feet tall.  Spectacular!

Me?  I'm sore and my hip is talking to me.

Time for a soak and an ice-cold Molson product.  Just got out of the tub and I'm feeling like a stewed prune...

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The Girls

While out in the woods conducting winter/spring maintenance the girls begging for a treat...

click on the Labs to enlarge

 

Deer

New camera location.

During the winter and spring deer continue to move in familial groups.  Usually one or two does and their fawns from the prior year.

Later this year as the current year crop of fawns are born the yearlings will be kicked-loose to completely fend for themselves.  If they are girl deer there's a strong chance that in good habitat like southern Door County a majority of them will be pregnant by the time winter rolls-around.

Amazing, eh?

Sequence of photos of another group moving through at the end of the day...

click on images to enlarge

 

The Mighty Spruce

I have noticed over the last few years that any number of the trees we originally planted fifteen years ago are reproducing themselves.  Yes, they are generating their own progeny.  By seed of course.  The seeds either fall to the ground, blow in the wind or are moved by birds and animals by means of passing through their feces or clinging to their fur or feathers.

Take this might spruce for instance.

click on the tree to enlarge

About four to five inches tall this little fella will grow into a giant eventually.  Maybe.  Unless some animal browses it for a meal...

Chores

A couple of days ago I spoke of my pruning chores.  The Frau and I share this task every winter/spring.  Walking up and back the rows of trees, singling-out the valuable oaks and taking a limb from here or there.  The idea is to eventually get a nice straight trunk that is free of defects.  Fifty years from now someone is going to harvest these trees for veneer or custom saw boards and they'll say - Whoever planted and nurtured these oaks sure did a terrific job of it.

Trail camera caught me starting out on a row with the blonde Lab frolicking in the puddles.

click on image to enlarge

If you look closely you can see the piece of fluorescent flagging I tied to a branch where I had previously left-off.

Cozy

Even though spring has sprung - overnights remain cold.  Last Friday evening the temps dropped to 18 degrees.

Throw another log on the fire.

This is an EPA-certified, low emission, sealed wood burning unit.  Very efficient for pumping-out some serious BTUs.  Burns a renewable resource too.

Deer

From April Fools Day.  Same location where all the deer and turkey action is occurring.

Over the space of two minutes how many deer can you spy in this extended family group in the three pictures?

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Sunset

From yesterday.  

Another crappy peninsula sunset.

Blech...

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Chores

Busy day today.  For all intents and purposes I am finished with my pruning of the oaks.  There's some touch-up to be completed but the big stuff is done.

The girls tore it up pretty good today but came-up short on their shed antler hunt.

The blonde dog did find and retrieve a skull from a nubbin buck and she was mighty proud on that score.

Both dogs did their level best to perform the Labrador retriever impression of a hog wallow.  The blonde Lab was a good barometer of really how filthy, dirty they get.

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Raising a toast to clean dogs...

Here's to Good Health

Sure enough winter has been past for several weeks and not much has greened-up just yet.

But I have to say that the deer posing for the trail cameras all look rather healthy.  A series of pics taken of three different deer a week ago...

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Sunrise Deer

Been experimenting with some trail camera photography - deliberately positioning the camera to exploit lighting effects during certain times of the day.

Some deer at sunrise.

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Like I said - I'm experimenting.