growalot

Well that is very familiar...Glad to see others saying these things...

16 bean/ham soup made with veggies from last year's garden with a fist full of chopped leeks from our woods, broth made from a smoked ham bone,bay leaf and oregano and garlic. Fresh hot dinner rolls for dunking.

So today is when I started calling...actually yesterday.....today I went out to work on the new plot for the rain messed up my garden plans. I decided to go to the edge of the farmers hay field to see if any birds were out due to the rain...half way down the trail I shot last years doe off of I look up..That trail is now covered in downed limbs and trees. I see two huge fans 20-30 yrds off my line in his field directly in front of me...I backed out slowly and got about 200yrds away and started clucking and calling...I did that all the way through my clover plots to the road. I'm hoping to not only get them thinking about looking for hens but discovering the plots. To that add a few curious hens...for I tend to call in hens a lot using my natural voice...Trying to compete with these new farm fields has me trying new ways to get them re interested in checking us out...I know they will be here once the wild strawberries, currents,gooseberries, may apples,bramble, and plum start producing but without the usual bugs...these green fields have it over me.

Been there done that...Thought I was so dang smart at camp...spent 2hours clearing a trail from the edge of the woods to the perfect tree the day before...just so I wouldn't make any noise going in Just so proud of my self...just as it started to lighten up a bit he gobbled and I nearly wet myself...then he crapped on my head and pitched down the hill never to return...So much for that!

When I know they are close I always make sure I have a couple of hen decoys out and do soft feeding clucks and purrs...this after a fly down wing flapping..I use real wings and a cackle...even if he pitches away ...hens will see those feeding decoys and come in to check it out...they usually bring Mr Tom back. I map out the highest points around my blinds to set up a feeding hen so she is visible to all.

Fresh baked cod,mixed green salad , macaroni salad, asparagus

My condolences, he is no longer here,but never lost. He'll be with you on every hunt in spirit. May your time in the woods lift you with fond memories together.

This hill is funny ...sound travels so far!!!...once I got a call from a neighbor saying someone was having a hell of a party in our woods...went in nothing but I could hear it...actually better from his place than ours...got in the car and drove down the hill across the the next road over 3/4 of a mile away and then up over on the other side of the hill...It was a local camp ground having an end of summer bash...but from that neighbors front door you'd swear it was 200 ft away...lol

heres another picture of her...yours is a very pretty girl...love my shepherds

Yes the are...This picture is of one of Angels female pups....she weighed 94 pounds...God rest her soul she passed of uterine cancer...Mr B's sister bought her before moving to Texas...

I had to take my walk at 1 today I had appointments this a.m. One being getting the studded winter tire off and mice nests cleaned out of the engine...So I am walking and listening Checking cams when I hear a very faint Gobble about a 1/2 mile away behind the neighbors house on the road below us.I decided to see how far my voice would go and did some clucking sounds..Well he sounded off with multiple gobbles...So I decided to get to Rivers blind and got the brush pile fence between us and clucked and yelped as I walked to the blind. His gobbles were getting closer...I needed to open the blind up any ways so I opened the storm flaps and pulled down the plastic windows and called again. I threw on my camo sweat shirt over my light blue blouse and waited...over on the neighbors land I see a shiny back and white head then another...I decided to remain quite and they milled around down on the edge of the swamp 70 yrds away for a while...gobbled one more time and headed down hill...A couple of nice Toms...I brought them in from a half mile away then got them to follow me...I'm feeling hopeful... Though I believe decoys will be essential this year...That brush pile fence will be a great tool this year...

What on Gods green earth would cause you to come on the site and paint a huge target on your forehead? You do know that it's not just dads or grand dads that take kids out right? There are many people that volunteer their time and spots to take kids out and teach them a little something about hunting. They spend time, effort, and money to give kids a safer and enjoyable experience. So why should they also be asked to use there first day of the season or even first weekend to do this?...BTW opening day is a Monday this year and a school day/work day for most...Do you think they should take off an extra work day to help a kid get a bird? You narrowed your thought process about this and boxed yourself in...try expanding your view to see the whole picture.

My daughter doesn't like them either. I love mushrooms

Venison steaks smothered in mushrooms and garlic, butternut squash, macaroni salad.

Got a bit behind but finished up all the trees today...there were cherries and plums I could not spray for they were in blossom and one peach tree...though I did do the trucks for ants and borers looks like I'm going to get a lot of apples peaches and pears this year...plums are just loaded with blossoms...but not counting those chicks just yet...last springs late frost took out the plum peach and pears...I have 4 new apples in blossom this year young wild ones at that A food plot peach tree and one of the Delicious trees...not sure if it's a red or yellow... Any whoo... Got behind because Angel had had just about as much as she could possibly take of the swarm of black Flies on her. There was no way I could tell her no to a swim in the pond...she looked so happy...but wet dogs have no place in the house, so I had to delay any chemical work until she was dry enough to go in....I swear she thinks she a water dog...

You just need to go in and catch a bottled Wild Turkey.... Then drop a woodland one in the morning...

TT Lord don't I know it...by the time I got to my stand in the dark a mile away I was soaked through and through...I sat in that stand 12 hours and never even saw a crow..It took that long for me to get the nerve to get back on the ground...If I didn't have to go so bad, I may have spent the night there...

Ssshhhh....I have Mr B convinced I'm deaf as a stone...lol It's a beautiful thing

This is a ..hhhmmm hard to describe ...not a moan or growl, not quiet a humph...I have heard it twice before once at camp when I was tracking (not shot) deer across the side hill and I looked up to see a black bear just ahead and parallel to me. Another time when going into my stand at camp and jumped a black bear in the dogwood brush near a big wht oak.. Actually 3 times...when I opened the truck door and the black bear I had come to hunt at camp was standing on it's hind legs on the other side of the truck.... After that encounter I was on my way out to hunt him when the woods behind camp erupted into trees snapping, screams ,growls , a gawd awful array of sounds that froze me in my tracks until it stopped. This is a relaxed sound like when the bear was in front of me and I believe unaware of or disinterested in my presence. Also when the truck bear dropped to all 4 after I opened the truck door and the light camp on..he was in no hurry to walk way...Thank God he did, my feet decided to stop working at that point...

counting blessings ,counting blessings , counting blessings........

When you hear a faint but familiar sound,but just can't place it? I have had the hair stand up on my arms a few times this past month...When I hear it I stand very still and scan the area....but only once saw something. The one time I was right in what I heard it was the "mew" of a deer fawn/ yearling and they walked past at a distance. The other sound I swear is a black bear...Today I bent over to pull a rock that was buried on it's edge on the path( a tripper) when I heard the faint distinct sound of a snake . I froze and slowly looked around to see a 2ft Garter snake 3 ft from me. I was a bit surprised...first I've actually seen in the woods. Now black bears are not small you'd think if I hear it I should be able to see it wouldn't you? With those dogs around my hearings been on high alert. I have gotten the sounds of most area animals down...there is the shuffle of skunks, rustling of mice scurrying of chipmunks, pounce pounce pause pounce of squirrels. The swoosh of hawks hunting the woods, rustling of wing feather of crows flying through the limbs...the walk scratching of turkey and most of their many sounds. The Pileated and redheaded wood peckers...most song birds... The black bear sounds have me stumped I know that is the sound I'm hearing...hhhmmm perhaps a couple of trees or limbs moving in the breeze?...

We have a internet WiFi booster that works great but that's because we need reception both up and down stairs...I don't know about phones...our sons cell service is horrible at his place...he has to be in just the right spot to talk at his place He's in the Tabors Corners Valley.

The DEC hasn't done anything in the last 12 years to update that report?

Wow those stats are bit scary...We have taken a hit here, but Allegheny county where camp is was slammed...I know the weather and terrain are bad there, and coyotes have moved in big time...bear are plentiful and now bob cats are hunt-able so their population is up....but over a 1100 bird difference is a lot. Then again....I will assume that the reporting rate on turkey is about as good as deer or worse especially when a fall leg is required...people are lazy...

Eddie I have to ask...do you drink enough water.?..asked your Doc about changing meds? ,has anyone mentioned a diet change?...Good golly Molly that would get old after the first one...