Deer Camp Dispatch

Spent some quality time in the woods along with Braumeister and Smokey Joe looking to bag a whitetail this weekend and ended-up with nothing hanging.

 

 

That said, there is plenty of daylight deer movement for both bucks and does and the rut has most definitely commenced. I have lost count of the number of rubs and scrapes we scouted. 

 

As per usual Southern Door has A LOT of deer on the landscape. Smokey Joe spied a dandy ten pointer that remained out of bow range.

 

 

As a consequence I have a good feeling about prospects.

 

Even the turkeys are getting in the game.

 

Hope you enjoy the highlights........

 

 

Consider The Larch

I cannot get enough of my favorite tree.  The tamarack or larch - Larix laricina.  Also called the hackmatack.

The larch can tolerate cold temperatures better than any tree in North America which is why you'll find it in the northernmost tree-line regions of the continent.  Rot-resistant they make excellent shingles and fence posts.  Historically, the bark was used in the leather-tanning industry.  It's a damn useful tree.

I suppose I'm biased since we've nurtured several nice stands of tamarack on the tree farm.  They're well-suited to some of the soil types and are thriving. 

They sport some crazy branches that would almost make you think they belong in a Dr. Seuss story but the part I like best is the fall color found in this species.

The needles turn a blazing golden color - then they drop.  It's done.  In the spring the tree grows an entire new set of needles and begins the process all over again.

Functional and good-looking, consider the Larch......
 

The Rut

The rut has officially arrived with the bucks making themselves visible during daylight hours and scrapes and rubs appearing on the landscape.

Including this dandy Big Boy that showed-up on one of the trail cameras.

Rub

Scrapes

Above the scrapes there is the licking branch

Trail

Friday Music

Chester Burton Atkins was always referred-to as Mr. Guitar.  Chet left the earthly world more than a couple of decades ago and I was reminded recently of his collaboration with Dire Straits artist Mark Knopfler.

This happens to be a fun piece I found on the interweb.  Bonus is the Everly Brothers.

Enjoy this collection of talented musicians.....

Bag Limit

Vegan hunter and his retriever.....

Electioneering

e·lec·tion·eer

/əˌlekSHəˈnir/

 

Learn to pronounce

 

Verb or Present Participle: electioneering

 

To take part actively and energetically in the activities of an election campaign.

 

This guy in town always has the very best yard signs on display.

 

This dude is passionate.   

Alas, regardless your politics, signs don't vote.  Informed voters, vote.

 

 

The mid-term elections arrive Tuesday, November 8.

Be sure to get out and vote.

Vote like your life depended on it.

And for the record, this blogger will not cast a ballot for any election denier.  To do so would disrespect, impugn and denigrate the hard work that my honest neighbors - both republican and democrat -  who expend hours of their person time to conduct free and fair elections.

If you believe the poll workers in my community or your own community are tampering with the election or stealing your vote you need to take your accusation, including supporting evidence, to local law enforcement.

It is really very simple.  Put-up.  Or shut-up.

Fall Colors

Some of the fall colors in the yard.

The last photo isn't in the yard surrounding the house but is up at the northern property line. 

Technically the big back year... 

 

 

 

  

October Night Skies

Tomorrow (October 25) brings this month's best viewing of celestial objects in this month's night sky.  The new moon arrives - which means that dark, dark skies are on tap.  

One of my peninsula pals turned me on to this phenomenon earlier this year when she spotted a string of trailing lights moving across the sky like a miniature train.  

She thought they were UFOs.

They were Elon Musk's SpaceX Starlink satellites circumnavigating the earth.  

They're actually a pretty big deal here on the peninsula.  What with the crappy broadband service north of Sturgeon Bay, Starlink has become a viable (albeit expensive) option for those who require an upgrade to their snail-pace internet experience.  Don't get me started on the public utility benefits of high speed internet access for business and schools.  I digress.

If you are desirous of a unique stargazing experience you might want to check-into FindStarLink.com to ascertain when they'll be passing overhead.  

Not as cool as the ISS - but cool enough.

Pro Tip:  Set aside a half-hour to go outside and sit in a comfortable chair.  Fix yourself a hot cuppa cocoa or a glass of your favorite red wine.  Leave your phone in the house.  Go outside and reflect on the beauty of the heavens.  Repeat, leave your damn phone in the house!

Fingers-crossed for cold, clear night skies....

Foxy Red Head

This rodent first appeared in our woods in 2018.  Four years later they have become quite common.  And with our oaks bearing fruit I suspect the population will continue to thrive. 

Meet Sciurus niger - the Eastern Fox Squirrel - the largest of the tree squirrel family.  The gray squirrel is more common but is slightly smaller. 

At first blush you might guess this to be a Red Squirrel.  However, lacking in the photos is the Red Squirrel's distinctive bright white belly and white rings around the eyes.  The rusty coloring and large bushy tail are reminiscent of a fox - implying this is a Fox Squirrel.  

The bright orange pelt of this animal and it's loud, scolding call make it an easier visual and audible identification.  Unlike the Eastern Gray Squirrel this species has a wider home range and spends more time on the ground foraging.  Just like this picture suggests.... 

 

 

This species also buries nuts for retrieval at a future date - which probably accounts for all the tiny oak trees popping-up around the joint.

Fall Colors

Getting closer to peak colors around these parts.

What with the gale-force winds we had last week it is miraculous that any of the leaves have remained on the trees.

 

Friday Music

Something special for this Friday.

A 1968 concert produced for French television.

This is a nugget of a time capsule as this group was at a crossroads here - breaking loose of their earlier bluesy genre and exploring a unique music art form that they could call their own.  They still have their feet in both worlds with this nice collection of a bit of each. 

Fascinating (to me at least) is observing the audience reaction as the music progresses. And Graeme Edge really cuts-loose on the percussion During Peak Hour at 35:20.  The intimate venue makes you want to be there.

Bonus is the opening song is one of my all time faves.

The Moody Blues.....

Ditch Chickens

Following a couple of years-off as a consequence of COVID the Door County Fish, Farm And Game Club is back to stocking pheasants for their members.

Which, of-course, means that some of them will eventually find there way over to The Platz because of the better than average game cover.

Yesterday this happened....

And as I stepped-out on the porch the three birds vamoosed.

For the first time in eighteen years I am without a flushing and retrieving dog.

Being without a dog has been a difficult adjustment.  And with woodcock, grouse and pheasant to hunt it absolutely sucks on many levels.

Fall Colors

Very close to peak fall colors around here.

IMHO - the very best displays are on the road to and from the town dump...

Good Eats

Sourdough boule #3.

 

Me thinks I have the recipe figured-out. 

And because there are garden tomatoes continuing to ripen in the garage, the other night delivered BLTs. 

Some of my friends tell me that Nueske’s is the Gold Standard of bacon. Nonsense. Marchant’s bacon is. 

And by the time December rolls-around home-grown tomatoes will be a fond memory.

 

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.

Last year I didn't bother to blog about this show inasmuch as viewing opportunities were upstaged as a consequence of a full moon.  Not this year however.  The 2022 show benefits from a the very dark skies of a new moon on October 25.  

The meteors are 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. 

earthsky.org

Recipe of the Day

If you're looking to amp-up your ordinary, pedestrian taters you need to try this.

Bistro-style potatoes sautéed in duck fat.

 

These are the absolute bomb.

 

Swamp Gas sez to take an extra statin at bedtime and get over it….

Care and Feeding of the Science Experiment

 

Making Pat’s Sourdough Bread at Home:  The starter I received as a gift in class can be traced back through Pat’s sister in Michigan, to her daughter in NYC, to her friend Laurent Gras, a Michelin starred chef from France.  We’ve been given a gift of a 40-year-old starter that began its life in France.  Here’s how to keep it going.

Feeding the starter:  

120g water

100g old starter

100g flour (includes a heaping tablespoon of rye flour)

Mix the water and starter to make a slurry.  Add flour and stir until lumps have dissolved.  Pour into a quart mason jar and set on the counter at room temperature.  Cover. The starter should double in volume.  Then settle down to its original level.  After 24 hours, refrigerate.  Starter can live in the fridge for approximately 7 days.  Feed once a week.  For more sour flavor use starter that has been refrigerated 4-6 days.

 

Pro Tip - Top jars with a Pickle Pipe. It's an airlock. 

The Science Experiment

I’ve been struggling with my sourdough since I purchased some San Francisco starter earlier this spring.  I was not achieving a satisfactory loft. I wasn’t baking bricks but results were sub-optimal.

So I took a sourdough class at the community college.  Who knew there was such a thing?

It was a cozy group that got the bread-baking itch during COVID. 

My two takeaways were:

1.  Fold and stretch the dough instead of kneading it. Less rough handling and allow a 10-12 hour proof. 

2.  I received a gift of a 40-year-old starter that has its origins in France and landed in Algoma via a chef in NYC. 

Last Thursday there was this....

 

 

By all outward appearances a great crust, good-looking ear and a nice crumb.  Nevertheless, when tasted the following morning there were salty spots.  I made the beginner mistake of incorporating a coarse sea salt into the fold which didn't efficiently dissolve into the dough.

That's OK though.  I'll break-up the loaf and toss it into the woods for the critters.  Waste not - want not.

I started another dough immediately and proofed it over night.

 

Inasmuch as this has become a living thing I have to give this gaseous, bubbling mass a name.  The Blob maybe?  During the stretch and pull phase I incorporated the correct amount of salt using ordinary, fine-grained table salt.

Here is the final result....

 

 

Great crust, good-looking ear, nice crumb and a great taste.  Nailed it!

 

Raising a toast to Lactobacillus fermentation.....

Build It And They Will Come

Quite a number of years ago (ten maybe?) I got it in my head to clear an east-west trail from one property boundary to the other.  

Twice a year I run the mower in both directions.

And have maintained a trail camera in the very same location all the while.

For probably the last half-dozen years the camera at this location has been selected to operate on video mode.

It takes short, silent, fifteen second video vignettes in daylight and after dark in infrared mode.

It is amazing to me the number of critters that use this man-made trail.

BF Skinner likely had a fancy term for what I have done to shape and condition wildlife behavior.  In lay person terms, if you build it they will come.....

Friday Music

This English composer and performer is noted for his bluesy, gravelly voice and stage performance that included air guitar, dancing and other expressive movement performance.  He was one of the early pioneers of white blues-rock music.  His first album featured this Beatles tune and pretty much launched his career.  He had a big heart and a lot of soul.

Joe Cocker and With a Little Help From My Friends.....

Stove Wood

By my estimate I have set-aside roughly three and a half full cords of stove wood.

Bring on the cold weather....

Happy Return

 

The Enchirito was introduced on Taco Bell's menu in 1970 and removed in 2013. It's made up of a soft flour tortilla with seasoned beef, beans and diced onions all rolled up and smothered with red sauce, then topped with melted cheddar cheese. 

 

It returns to the menu for a limited time on November 17.

 

Will be nice to become reacquainted.....

 

Fall Colors

 

 

 

This tree in the yard was about the size of a pencil when I planted it almost two decades ago. 

 

Factors in its selection were fall color and wildlife.

 

It’s still a runt (as far as trees go) but the acorns magically disappear and the ruddy red color is a nice touch….

 

 

Talkin' Turkey

From the trail cameras it is encouraging to see this year's turkey poult recruits grow into juveniles and young adults.

Their mamas ride herd on them and keep them in line.