Locavore Living (Blog 319)

Last week was a very good week for hunting and Elaine and me and our locavore lifestyle here in Botetourt County, Virginia.  On Thursday, I was able to kill my first turkey of the season, tagging a bird at fly down after roosting a flock the evening before. Wild turkey will now be on the menu for Thanksgiving.

Saturday on opening day of the early muzzleloading season, I killed a nice doe in Franklin County right before sundown.  I had found a place on a cattle farm where deer were likely to enter a pasture.

Our young Rhode Island Red hens are consistently laying eggs and our older Reds have already molted and are now laying, so the egg production is excellent.  And Sunday, now that leaves are falling, Elaine and I noticed that our Dolgo crabapple tree had enough fruits on it (a late frost had killed most of the blooms) to make a loaf of bread from.  Not a major event to be sure, given the tree's major production  last year, but one loaf of Elaine's homemade crabapple and walnut bread will be a delight this winter on a snowy day.

Opening Day of Virginia's Turkey Season (Blog 318)

As much as I enjoy deer hunting, nothing is more pleasurable for me to do in the fall than to pursue turkeys.  So when opening day began yesterday, I was on a Botetourt County mountain.  I heard birds on the roost and began an arduous climb to them.  Periodically they called back, but the terrain was so steep and the woods so dry, I had to take my time reaching the flock.

When I finally did make visual contact, I saw that there were four of them and they were 75 yards above me near the crest.  From the sounds/tones of their voices, they were old hens without their offpspring - more evidence, as shown from biologists' reports, that the hatch has been failure.

I called to the birds as they looped around the side of the mountaintop.  One paused briefly stared down below, then continued with the quartet.  I knew then that I was doomed to catch up with them and several more hours passed as I tried to relocate the flock - to no avail.

I then went to another farm that has always had birds in the past, but this year it does not.  I will try again at a different farm this morning.

Virginia Bears Are Abundant (Blog 317)

Next month, I have a story coming out in Virginia Game & Fish on bear hunting in the state.  One of the topics I cover is the state's burgeoning bear population, and yesterday I saw yet another example of that.

Friend Doak Harbison and I drove to a Botetourt County farm to bow hunt for deer after leaving our teaching jobs at Lord Botetourt High School. When we reached the gate where we would go our separate ways, Doak and I simultaneously spotted a bear near my tree stand.

The creature stood and watched me as I approached it, and, since I wanted to climb into my tree stand for the evening, I had to scare the bear away from my position.  This I did by clapping my hands and yelling at it.  After two attempts by yours truly, I finally convinced the bruin to depart.

Son-in-law David Reynolds and I have discussed trying to kill a bear on the Botetourt County land where our respective families live.  Given the large bear population, I wouldn't be surprised if at least one of us tags one this year.

Hunting Fall Turkeys in West Virginia's Mountains (Blog 316)

Come autumn, my favorite thing to do is pursue turkeys, so I was extremely disappointed when the heavy rains kept me from going afield opening day of West Virginia's season. But with the precipitation at an end, I was able to go afield the following week on a mountain in Monroe County just outside of the community of Pickaway.

I had heard the hatch was largely a failure not only in West Virginia but also in Virginia, and such certainly seemed the case on that Monroe mountaintop as I neither heard or saw turkeys or even found any sign.

Fortunately, I had had the foresight to put my crossbow in my vehicle, so I headed for my land in Gap Mills to deer hunt after striking out on turkeys.  Just 30 minutes after climbing into my ladder stand, I killed a deer, which was certainly a nice ending to the day.  But I surely wish I had had a turkey to take home.

Black-throated Blue Warbler while Bowhunting for Deer (Blog 315)

While bowhunting behind Elaine's and my Botetourt County, Virginia house Thursday after school, I saw a beautiful songbird, a black-throated blue warbler, migrating through our woodlot.

The warbler, on its way to the Carribean or perhaps Central America, flitted about for over five minutes, going from tree to tree searching for food.  Interestingly, there were two of the warblers, perhaps a mating pair that were on their migration together.

I didn't see a single deer that evening, but the warbler sighting made the outing worthwhile.

Opening Day of Virginia's Bow Season (Blog 314)

Last Saturday, I blew an opportunity at a nice doe on opening day of West Virginia's bow season, as I moved into position to shoot at the wrong time.  It was one of those times that a whitetail "appeared out of nowhere" it seemed. This morning on opening day of Virginia's season, I watched a deer slowly approach me for some 15 minutes.

So I had plenty of time to position myself and release a good shot.  I cut out the bottom loins for a future meal as well as the heart.  Larry Proffitt, Elaine's and my friend whose family runs the famous Ridgewood Restaurant in East Tennessee gave us some of their Ridgewood Bar-B-Que Sauce back in the spring when I hunted with him.

Elaine is going to barbecue the heart with Larry's sauce, and we look forward to trying it out.

Opening Day of West Virginia's Bow Season (Blog 313)

Opening day of West Virginia's bow season did not go well for me as I spent the morning hours without seeing a deer, and the evening ones without having any close enough to shoot with a bow.
But some days are like that.

By far the most interesting thing that happened was my watching a raccoon Saturday morning.  The animal came down the Monroe County mountain where I was hunting and walked right toward my stand.  When he reached a log where I had placed my bow in preparation for using a haul rope to lift it into my stand, the raccoon stopped, took a long sniff then turned and scudded quickly back up the mountain.

Just that little whiff of human scent was enough to send the raccoon on its way...absolutely fascinating.

The Perfect Wife (Blog 312)

Wednesday afternoon, a landowner on whose property I hunted on contacted me and told me that the deer were streaming onto her property the past few evenings and that I ought to come over and bowhunt. The day before, Elaine and I had gathered wild summer grapes, and I had planned to help her remove the grapes from the stems Wednesday after I finished teaching school for the day.

But the temptation of bowhunting for deer consumed me, so as soon I arrived home I took off to a treestand.  Earlier I had told Elaine that I "might" go deer hunting but that I probably wouldn't.

The landowner's description of the deer movement was accurate and about 45 minutes after I climbed into my stand, I arrowed a whitetail.  The blood trail was short, and soon I was on the way home where I found that Elaine had already done the grape work, and now I was presenting her with another task... our butchering a deer.

We have our butchering routine fairly well set.  Basically, I quarter the animal while upstairs, Elaine does the "fine" work and wraps the bottom and top loins to freeze and cleans the heart and tongue to freeze. The four quarters are put on ice for us to labor on the next day as Elaine feels that that meat works up better after it is chilled.

Through all the butchering Wednesday evening, Elaine never complained even though she had already worked quite long

on the grapes, which today she will turn into jelly... when she has finished working on the quarters.

Yet another reason why Elaine is the perfect wife. The picture above shows her during our summer grape foray.

Coyotes in Suburbia (Blog 311)

Friday evening after school, I went bowhunting in a Virginia neighborhood.  While aloft around 6:35, I saw something trotting south to north and noted it was a coyote. When the animal was just 12 yards distant and running horizontally to my position, I made some doe bleats in hope that I could stop the coyote and attempt a shot.

But, fascinatingly, the coyote never broke stride, looked directly at me high in a tree, then swapped ends and began running in the opposite direction.  It is no wonder that these predators are so difficult to hunt.  This animal zeroed in on the source of the sound, instantaenously realized that it was fake, and simply ran away.

A very impressive performance by a wild animal, indeed.

(Week Four of Bowhunting with Kill Permits (Blog 310)

Weekend four of bowhunting with kill permits had the rare occurrence of the deer doing the same thing on Saturday morning as they did on Monday morning, Labor Day.  Both times deer milled about under my stand in the dark then left before shooting light.  Another group of deer, both mornings, fed to within about 50 or so yards of my stand, then walked the other way.

These maddening circumstances have made me decide to hunt next Saturday from a ground blind.  For some reason, the deer are feeding for about a half hour in a little patch of grass under some pines and two mockernut hickories.  After climbing down from my stand this morning, I checked to see what they are eating and simply can not figure it out.  No oaks are nearby, no clover is in the grassy patch, no important forbs that I can  find.

But the deer are  very fond of that spot.  I will have my blind set up there next Saturday.

Week Three of Bow Hunting with Kill Permits (Blog 309)

Weekend Three of my August bow hunting with kill permits proved to be another challenging Saturday. The first deer showed up not long after sunrise, materializing directly behind me about 20 minutes after shooting light began.

The deer was broadside and standing still, but it also sported a tiny pair of antlers, which made him off limits as I am only pursuing does.  Frankly, the young four pointer will not be a shooter until another two years at least will have passed, and never, of course, with kill permits.  The young buck hung around my stand for 10 more minutes before he moved on.

Twenty minutes later, two does and two fawns pranced by, but they were 35 yards away and walking steadily.  I was amazed that they did not wander over to feed on the scarlet oak acorns that have fallen near my stand.

So after three weekends of having kill permits, I have only killed one doe, the only one I have shot at.  I am not doing much to help the landowner with his deer overpopulation problem, but will try again this coming Saturday.

When the Turkey Vultures Start to Circle (Blog 308)

Today was the second Saturday for me to bow hunt while using the kill permits that a local Botetourt County farmer and conservation police officer had arranged for me to have.  It is very interesting hunting in August, but some things are the same no matter the season.

I was tethered in my tree stand an hour before shooting light, and was fortunate to hear two dueling great horned owls battling over territory or a female owl no doubt.  Right before dawn, a cardinal started singing and soon after dawn some tufted titmice, Carolina chickadees, and Carolina wrens found a strange form (yours truly) in a tree and began to mob it.

Although normally, the patch of woods I was aloft in is a deer hot spot, this morning not a single deer came by.  The temperature was 69 degrees at dawn, which wasn't overly warm for the season, but there was no wind.  I am convinced that any deer that came by likely smelled me before I even knew they were nearby.  At 10:00 A.M, two turkey vultures started to circle above me, which I took as my cue that it was time to go home.

I'll try again next Saturday.

Acorns are Falling (Blog 307)

I didn't bowhunt with my kill permits this weekend, it was just too hot with temperatures approaching 90 degrees, humidity-wise, by 9:00 A.M. But I did go to my tree stand site in mid-afternoon and put my stand up another 20 inches or so.  The doe I killed last Saturday saw me up in the stand, even though I was fully camouflaged and had on a face mask.

The most interesting thing about my little sojourn afield was that scarlet oak acorns were already on the ground.  The last two years, it has been interesting to observe how early acorns fall.  The deer are certainly aware of this as are the gray squirrels.  Last week, I saw squirrels cutting acorns.

Next Saturday morning, I am hoping for cooler weather.

Deer Hunting with Kill Permits (Blog 306)

For the second straight year, I had deer kill permits from the Virginia Game Department in order to help out a farmer who was having severe deer damage to a cornfield.  It felt strange arising at 4:24 on August 6 to go deer hunting, but I was in tree stand about 75 minutes later, waiting for dawn to break.

I didn't see my first deer until 7:24 but that one was a  young doe and only 12 yards away when I did view it.  I sent an arrow from my crossbow through both lungs (as I would find out later) and after the blood trail, I found that I had killed my first deer of the season.

Elaine and I butchered most of the doe in about 90 minutes, froze the top and bottom loins, and put the front and back legs on ice for the meat to firm up.  Tomorrow, we will turn it into burger.  It's nice to have the first deer of the season refrigerated and it was nice to help out a landowner.

Revitalizing a Former Trout Stream (Blog 305)

Today, I went over to my Gap Mills, West Virginia land with John Loope of the Roanoke Trout Unlimited chapter.  Our mission was to check on the survival of the 10 sycamores and 10 silky dogwoods that I planted this past March, check on the stability of in-stream structures constructed last summer with Roanoake TU members Morgan Wilson and Barry Witt, create three more in-stream structures to deepen the creek, and, finally, seine some minnows and other creatures to check on the productivity of the creek.

Every thing went extremely well.  The vast majority of the planted trees are growing well, last year's stream structures look to be aging well, and John and I positioned three more in the creek.  Aquatic life looked good in the creek, and we even found a rock bass in the stream.

John believes that brook trout may be ready to be stocked in the stream next spring.  That would be a wonderful thing if possible.

Benefit Book Signing for Virginia Outdoors Foundation (Blog 304)

Saturday, Elaine and I traveled to Shenandoah River State Park to do a benefit book signing for the Virginia Outdoors Foundation. It always makes us feel good to contribute something to the cause of land conservation.  Over the years, we have been able to put 412 acres under easement; land that will be permanently protected from being developed.

Groups like the VOF on the state level and groups like the Blue Ridge Land Conservancy and New River Land Trust on the local level are well worth supporting by those who are interested in protecting rural Virginia from development. It is a cause worth championing.

Virginia Turkey Gobbling on July 16 (Blog 303)

Yesterday morning I was taking a walk around 6:40 down our rural Botetourt County, Virginia road when I heard a wild turkey hen yelp, immediately followed by another hen answering her yelp. As a hardcore turkey hunting fanatic, I couldn't let that outburst go unchallenged, so I yelped back with my mouth. The two hens yelped in return, and then a tom sent out a thundering gobble.

Well, now, that was interesting I thought.  So I yelped again, the two hens yelped back, and the gobbler thundered again. I have heard mature toms gobbling in July before, so that event wasn't new, but still it is always fascinating to hear the males sounding off this time of year.

As I walked farther and farther away, the hens continued to yelp at each other, but I heard no more eruptions from the gobbler.  Apparently, he had said all he was going to say... at least for this time of year.

The Joys of a Two-Year-Old Eating Ice Cream (Blog 302)

This weekend, Elaine and I babysat our two grandsons, four-year-old Sam and two-year-old Eli. It was a hot weekend, and the power was out most of it because of a servere thunderstorm. When the weather turns muggy, what better to eat than vanilla ice cream cones, which Elaine and the boys did on several occasions.

Sam, with the wisdom and deterity of an older child, did a commendable job, by and large, of consuming his treat.  There were a minimum of spills and stickiness.

Eli, however, was not concerned about dexterity and neatness and social conventions.  It was ice cream, it was hot, and here was a young man who was not in any hurry.  Eli patiently savored every drop and dab of vanilla, revelling in it running down his chin, dribbling down his arms, and making his entire wardrobe a sweet, sticky mess. This boy knows how to enjoy an ice cream cone, as I hope these pictures indicate.

Blackberry Season Begins and a Weird Creature (Blog 301)

Today began Blackberry Season here in Botetourt County, Virginia.  The wild raspberry crop had fizzled out a few days ago, and there's always a few days between when the raspberry plants finish bearing and the blackberries begin. I wandered over our 38 acres visiting old patches and looking for new ones and found both kinds. I ended up picking  1 1/2 quarts.

Elaine and I froze them for winter pies and cobblers.  We picked three quarts of raspberries during the two weeks they were in, which doesn't sound like a lot and it isn't.  Wild raspberries are never abundant on our property as blackberries and wineberries predominate.  Any year when we can gather three or four quarts of raspberries is above average.

As always, time outdoors is filled with fascinating sights and sounds.  I heard a white-eyed vireo at one blackberry patch, both favor young forest/edge habitat.  But the most interesting thing I came across was a type of caterpillar which I could not identify.  It was working its way along a blackberry vine.  If someone can tell me what it is, I would be appreciative.

Locavore Dinner at Home (Blog 300)

Yesterday evening for dinner, Elaine fixed a wonderful locavore meal of scrambled eggs (courtesy of our Rhode Island Reds) and cheese (courtesy of the local farmer's market). For lunch we had venison burgers from a deer I killed last year.

Earlier yesterday, I gathered raspberries and checked on the progress of the blackberries and wineberries, both of which are ripening but aren't quite ready to pick. During the morning and afternoon hours, I worked on several magazine articles.  And after dinner last night, we played a scintillating game of Scrabble.

Nothing epic happened yesterday, but all days spent with Elaine are good ones.