Talking Turkey - Part One

Last week was the week of the turkey.

There's a camera on a mowed trail a couple of hundred yards from the house.  Where the camera ii is aimed generally westward at a fork in the trail.  The main trail continues to the right of the camera and turns north to cross the creek.  In the foreground is woods, behind the camera is Silver creek, a pond and several acres of prairie grasses and forbs.  It's an interesting dynamic because of the interesting intersection of habitat types.  For five consecutive days there was daylight turkey action.  Of course, turkeys only move during the daylight hours - as the sun sets they roost overnight in trees.

Today, Thursday and Friday I'll post a series of brood flock photos selected from hundreds captured by the patient and silent trail camera last week.

Enjoy...

click on image to enlarge

 

Bruiser Buck

Yesterday was a nubbin buck - today is the bruiser.

Just look at the bulk on this bad boy.  If I didn't already know he's eating healthy I swear he was on steroids.

Picture taken 30 yards from the stand where I killed my doe last Friday - a week ago today.

Raspberry Avalanche!

Yield from yesterday's picking of The Frau's raspberry patch = ten cups of frozen delights.

 click to enlarge

Bring-on the vanilla ice cream!

Nubbin Buck

Probably 6 to 9 months in age - this male fawn is sporting his antler buttons.  

click on image to enlarge

Nice, healthy-looking deer.

Family Groups

One of the surest signs of good whitetail habitat and a moderate climate is large numbers of deer.  There is no doubt that the deer population around these parts has grown prodigiously.  

Another sign is does with twin fawns.  Trail camera evidence points to the existence of any number of double fawn families.

Mama and the twins...

click on image to enlarge

 

Herd of Deer

From the camera located at the crossroads another herd of deer.  Looks like several family groups - three or four?

Click on the image to enlarge it and examine the photo very carefully.  How many deer can you tally?

First Blood

Third sit of the season and the first time I've actually seen any deer.

I was in a stand directly over the creek with a NE breeze in my face - perfect. Mama and a couple of twin fawns came strolling down the trail on the north side of the creek - they were oblivious to my presence. One of the fawns was nudging mom to nurse and not having the heart to shoot mom or a deer only a bit larger than my big hunting Lab I decided to take pictures of them.

click on images to enlarge

 
Fortunately a solo doe literally came bounding on to the scene so I put down my phone, picked-up my bow and shot her at 20 paces.

Finding your arrow stuck in the ground and covered in blood is evidence of a complete pass-through shot.

Blood trail good too.

Deceased deer 35 yards from where she was shot.  Rage expandable broad head - while expensive - are deadly efficient.  Almost perfect shot placement.

The Frau and I field dressed the whitetail and had it hanging within an hour of the kill.

Nice healthy doe.  Probably 1 1/2 years-old and because she was dry - definitely without fawns.  Guess I'm butchering tomorrow morning.

Onions Anyone?

The harvest continues to be, well, you know, harvested.  Onion avalanche!

Two rows of Stuttgarter (from The Fatherland) yellow onions.

Dug them up with at pitchfork while the ground was soft from recent rains, Let them set for 24 hours to soak-up some sunshine then hauled them into the shed to finish curing.

click on the delicious yellow onions to enlarge

They're going to rest on this tarp for several weeks to dry-out after which I'll knock the rest of the dirt-off and store them in the crisper of the three fridges.  Sure, I know what you're thinking - three refrigerators?  Yup, plenty of harvesting to go and I haven't yet killed any deer.  

At 40 degrees and high humidity those onions will keep for more than a year.  Plenty of extras to go to the church food pantry.  

Daylight Bucks

I thought for the last couple of weeks that the only bucks to be spotted by a trail camera were after dark.

No so.  

And this would also be good news for those of a deer hunting persuasion.  Not the biggest of monster bucks - Looks to me like 2 1/2 year-old deer.  Some of the fellas out and about just last Sunday morning...

 click on image to enlarge

Hind Tit

click on image to enlarge

Don't see this very often but here a photo of mama and her twins and one of the young'uns is looking for some of mother's milk.

No spots but small fawns nonetheless.  Late estrous.

Peppers Anyone?

click on the delisious sweet peppers to enlarge

There was a time (a long time ago) that I couldn't grow sweet peppers to save my soul. Then all of a sudden the light clicked-on and a change of location and the introduction of the California Girl varietal changed all of that.

This spring the lady at Bonnie Brooke Gardens in Sturgeon Bay said to plant Northstar - "They do real well on the peninsula".

The result has been an avalanche.  A sweet pepper avalanche. The harvest continues.  Peppers anyone...?

Herd of Deer

Well, perhaps not a herd - but a larger than normal number of whitetails congregated in one location.

Must be a convention or something...

click on images to enlarge

The same day these photos were captured digitally a pair of coyotes (yes, two) were photographed at this same location shortly after 2 AM.  Poor quality photos due to the fog - but yotes nevertheless.

Doesn't appear to have spooked the whitetails.

Rock Falls

Celebrating some birthdays with the family and, coincidentally, there was more terrific food involved.

Supper Club experience at Rock Falls - Dykesville, WI.

 

Dinner

Behold the California Burger...

Rubbed with Penzeys English Prime Rib Rub and olive oil this 1/3 pound Marchant's ground chuck burger was seared over an exceedingly hot charcoal fire, served on a toasted Marchant's Kaiser roll, anointed with mayo and dressed with garden lettuce and tomato and a pasteurized, processed slice of American cheese.  Extra napkins too.

Yum!  

Ghost Deer

A one and a half year-old buck...

 And mama with her twins... 

click on image to enlarge

Ghosts.

Honey Wagon

While out and about riding a bicycle around the country-side recently I could help but notice the size of the honey wagons.  They are semi-trailer-sized now.

Large-scale dairy operations produce animal wast on the scale of a large town.  And most of the liquified manure finds its way on to an agricultural filed eventually as fertilizer.

From nearby - spreading manure.

click on the stinky object to enlarge

Smell that dairy air!

 

Hammer Mill Finds a Home

The antique hammer mill has left the building.

click on image to enlarge

Yup.  The Algoma Foundry and Manufacturing Company mill has found a new home.  

Cory tells me that when it is operable he'll call so I can record some video or even fill a feed sack.

Raising a toast to boiler plate and indestructible manufacturing processes.  

They don't build stuff like this any more.

Changing of the Seasons

The days are drawing shorter and the nights colder.

The deer are transitioning from their ruddy, roan summer coats to the dull gray camouflage of winter.

And the woodburner has been pressed into use. 

click on image to enlarge

 

Ghost Deer

Black and white imagery from a trail camera's infrared setting.

 click on image to enlarge

If you can believe it that is mama and her fawn.  Big deer that fawn is - born early, almost fully grown and unlike most of the fawns showing-up on the cameras no spots at all.

Moving Day

The barn remodeling is finished so everything that had been out in the yard under the tarps - tree stand, firewood, gardening stuff, fertilizer and collectibles was moved back in the barn today.

I'm feeling a bit bushed.

 A place for everything and everything in its place:

 click on images to enlarge

Bring on the landscaper!

Tour de Tom

This past weekend featured the inaugural Tour de Tom.  A 28 mile bicycle tour from The Platz to Algoma, WI and back.  

Six of us participated in a ride with no planned route, little support, no registration fees or agenda and completely ad-hoc.  Some photos from the ride:

Pre-ride pizza

Team Swill

 

On the Ahnapee Trail

 

Algoma group pic

 

Road art in Kolberg

 

Lake Michigan grilled trout and garden veggies for dinner

 

Mennonite makes crepes for breakfast following church on Sunday

click on images to enlarge

I have a feeling that ride participation is going to grow...

Green Bay Over Chicago

Packers 31 - Bears 23

 

Aliens

More evidence of the presence of aliens (the extraterrestrial type) around here.

A photo of the space ship's landing beam as it hovers over the tree tops...

 

Bugs

Meet Lygaeus Kalmii - the Small Eastern Milkweed Bug.

click to enlarge

Found throughout the US this critter dines on milkweed but is immune to the toxic chemicals in the plant.  The regular diet of milkweed also endows this beetle with the same properties making it toxic to other insect predators.

The large number of little bugs (which resemble the adults) are nymphs. 

Hammer Mill

This is a Case Model G feed mill...
 

This is an antique hammer mill manufactured by Algoma Foundry and Machine Company.

click on images to enlarge

It needs a new home.