Finally, Turkey Hunt

Due to some other commitments, we got a late start to the farm this weekend.  Glorious weather - cold nights and sunny days.  Did some BBQ Saturday evening.

 I was in the woods well before sunrise on Sunday.  I heard a few gobbles but never really got anybody to talk to me.  I came in at 9:00 for breakfast.  I had forgotten to turn on my tracking app to trace my steps.

 The redbuds are blooming but not at peak yet.  No sign of dogwoods yet.

 I set up a couple places but mostly just wondered around trying to get a Tom to talk back to me. That's my decoy out there.

 After breakfast, I remembered the app.  This was my route with pretty much the same result - heard gobbles but no action.  Covered 2.26 miles with about 300 feet of elevation change.

 The step count for the morning - both hunts.  Interestingly 43 flights of stairs.

I saw a review in the WSJ for a book on hunting.  Not sure if you will need a subscription to read this review.  WSJ Fair Chase Review

Just in case, here's the Amazon link. Fair Chase on Amazon

Supposed to be sort of a historical look at attitudes about hunting.  Turns out the author doesn't believe in it.  I'm going to read it anyway.

Pear tree along driveway in full bloom.

One up at the orchard.

 A few blooms on the sick old cherry.

 The apples are just coming out.  I think that everything is late this year.

 A crabapple.

 I've been told that the red fuzzy stems on this raspberry-like vine means that it is wineberry.  They are non-native but taste great.  Just like a red raspberry.

 I'm going to have a lot of them based on this brier patch.

 I'm pretty sure that these blue stemmed ones are blackberries.  I find them to be extremely sour.

 Redbuds not quite at peak.

I spent the afternoon on chores.  I got more done with the bobcat than I have in the last two years,  The cutting bar is a big improvement over the digging teeth,

 I relocated and smoothed a couple of trails and I cleared some major downed maples across the one trail.  I could spend a week in this machine on trail work.

 We stayed thru the Monday morning hunt.  It was a beautiful morning but the turkeys were absolutely silent.

 I think that these are ferns emerging.  I was looking for morels but didn't find any.

Broom sedge in the old pasture.  The prairie plot hasn't begun to stir yet.

 I did the soil sampling for the food plots.

A redbud that I transplanted years ago to our home in Mason.  Just starting to emerge.

 I heard a rumor that dogs attacked and killed a miniature horse not too far from the farm.  I see free ranging dogs every week.

 The survey crew on the way out after finishing the boundary marking.  Three guys on an atv.

I did push lots of deer while turkey hunting.

 Momma.

Young buck.

 Ears back, squaring off.

Put'em up.

 Albino or leucistic squirrel.  Incidentally, for the first time all winter, I trapped a couple mice in the barn this week.

 Only a couple coyotes this week but in daylight.  This one looks big.

 And a little guy.

 And the turkey that eluded me.

 Got up to 50 on Saturday - much warmer today.

With this warm weather, things will green up fast now.

Neighborhood News

It has been two years since a multiple homicide event about a mile down the road from the farm.  In case you were wondering about the status of that case, here are a couple of news links.  A short summary is no suspects or arrests.

News Report on the Investigation

News Report on Surviving Children

In other news, here are a couple of recent news stories on the subject of encounters with wildlife.

BBC on Guy Who Survived Shark, Bear, and Snake Attacks

Nat Geo on National Park Incidents

Turkey season opens this week - I hope that means that Spring is here too.

Wildlife Property Damage

Here's an interesting website that I found.  Identify Wildlife Damage

Two Hour Break in the Rain

 Overnight, evidence emerged of a roof leak around the chimney pipe for the stove.  That's a fair weather job to get up on the roof an inspect the flashing.

 Everything is saturated.  It is supposed to pour for the rest of the day.  I headed out during the pause.

 I chose this moment to go find the corner of the property in the creek bottom.  I wanted to drive one of my new pink fence posts so that I could find it again in the future.  It is about 300' elevation drop and it is steep enough to require all fours to navigate it.

 This is the creek at the bottom.  It runs dry in the summer.  I couldn't find any photo that did justice to the steepness of the hillsides.

The property corner was actually across the creek.  I drove my fence post next to the old rebar pin.

The surveyors had marked it up with ribbon pretty well.

 I'm looking up the one property line here and there are ribbons and painted trees across the creek.

Looking back from up the hill just a bit.

Looking up the hill along the line.

 And back down to the pin near the beech stump.

 Back up the creek bed.

 Climbing higher.

The line goes cross hill below that little cave.

Looking down the creek bed.

 You can get a little sense of the steepness with the paint marks on the trees in the background.

Looking cross-hill.

Back down the line to the creek.

I got in and the skies opened up again.