Virginia Turkey Hunting in the Snow (Blog 421)

Wednesday of this week, with Botetourt County schools again closed and with my frustration with being inside at its peak, I decided to go turkey hunting in the snow at a nearby cattle farm. I asked Elaine to drop me off around 2:30 and pick me up at dark.

My reasoning was that the cattle would slog their way through the deep snow (16 inches fell) and open up some pasture. This would cause turkeys to come feed in the pasture...or so my reasoning went.

But when I arrived at the farm, the cattle were all down at the barn. None of them had ventured away from it the whole time since the snow had fallen on Sunday. So it was I that slogged my way through the pasture and found not a single turkey track. I had hoped to go turkey hunting today, Saturday, but the steady rains ruined that.  Maybe tomorrow?

Success in Virginia Turkey Woods (Blog 420)

In my 32 years as a turkey hunter, I have never seen so few birds as this year. I've gone deer hunting 20 times this season and only twice during those times did I see turkeys.

So when I scattered a flock of birds Tuesday after teaching school, I was so excited I could barely sleep. Wednesday morning, I went out for an hour hunt before school, setting up at the scatter point.

Fortunately, I was able to call in a bird, killing it at 7:18. Elaine took pictures for a future magazine story, I phone checked the bird and cleaned it, and was able to arrive at school around 8:30. The kitchen was a mess from the cleaning and my hunting clothes were scattered all over the house, but it was a memorable morning.

Time for Chicks to Move Outdoors? (Blog 419)

Elaine and I have been in a quandry all week. Our two heritage Rhode Island Red chicks are now almost 10 weeks old, and they, with their mother Mary, have been living in our basement since the hatching. This is not an ideal situation, of course, yet we also know that the other chickens can kill chicks, as did happen earlier with Mary's first chick that hatched.

Winter is coming on, and if we wait too late to put this trio outside, it will be all the harder for the chicks to adapt to the cold. But, again, if they enter into the run too soon, there's that danger of them being killed. So Sunday tomorrow, with a forecast in the 60s, is the day we are going to put the chicks outdoors in the run. We know Mary will try to protect them, the question is will she be able to.

Cutting Down Christmas Trees for the Family (Blog 418)

Wednesday, I drove to our Johns Creek land in Craig County to cut down a Christmas tree for Elaine and me and also one for David and Sarah and their two boys. While bowhunting there in October, I had noted several white pines that would be ideal for Christmastime. They also were growing near oaks and should be removed anyway.

There is something inherently special about going into the woods and finding your own Christmas tree. It harks back to the time when this was a common thing for all families to do. For the past 15 years or so, Elaine and I have found a tree either on our Botetourt County land where we live or on the Johns Creek property. These trees aren't perfectly shaped like the ones for sale, but we think they are beautiful and perfect, nevertheless.

The Joy of Having Grandchildren (Blog 417)

One of the great joys of Elaine's and my life is having grandchildren living close by. Generally, three mornings a week, we have four-year old Eli at our home for an hour or so before my wife takes him to daycare.

The other day, Elaine was performing her early morning exercises, and, unceremoniously, Eli plopped himself down beside her to join in. One of Elaine's standard exercises is to do some leg lifts with a rubber ball positioned between her legs. The photo below shows that Eli knows how to do this exercise as well.

The Joys of Elaine's Homemade Persimmon Bread (Blog 416)

When people ask me what is my favorite type of bread, many answers could come to mind. Elaine is a marvelous cook and her sourdough and whole wheat breads are sublime. But the best bread she makes is her persimmon/wild black walnut bread.

This past weekend, we went to gather persimmons. Earlier, I had gathered wild black walnuts on our Botetourt County, Virginia land and had left them on our fireplace hearth to fully ripen. After we gathered the persimmons, I cracked the walnuts while Elaine prepared the persimmon pulp.

An hour or so later, we dined on persimmon bread for lunch. The fruity/nutty taste, the appealing deep brown color/the smell of warm bread hot from the oven...well, yes, this is my favorite bread.

Wednesday Catches Her First Beetle (Blog 415)

Our best heritage Rhode Island Red hen, Mary, is only 2 1/2, but has already been broody three times. The most recent time was in September; and when the other chickens killed her first chick to hatch, we had to bring her inside for when the other chicks hatched.

The two chicks that hatched, named Wednesday and Friday for the days they were born, are now a month old and living in the basement with Mary. When I came downstairs to check on them this morning, Wednesday, a young pullet, and Friday, a cockerel, were in hot pursuit of a beetle that had blundered into the enclosure.

I was impressed that Wednesday caught the beetle, spearing it with her beak. She had a little trouble eating it, especially with Friday trying to grab the treat. But, eventually, Wednesday downed her first of many beetles.

Stand Selection for Opening Day of Virginia's Muzzleloader Season (Blog 414)

Elaine and I went out mid-day Sunday to set up a blind for me to hunt from during Virginia's early muzzleloader season. The site overlooks a food plot and is a proven evening stand location. But the problem is that the deer come down a hillside to either the right or left and are "on me" before I often know it. A blind was the only choice for this site, as the most suitable tree has lost all its leaves and I would be too exposed if I placed a hang-on there. Sitting on the ground is simply not a viable option.

It will be interesting to see how the site performs Saturday. I expect to see deer that evening.

Scouting for Virginia Turkeys while Bowhunting (Blog 413)

With Virginia's turkey season set to start Saturday, October 27, I decided to bow hunt a Botetourt County cattle farm for deer Thursday after school. My main objective was to look for turkey sign and hope that I would see or hear a flock. I have called in and killed several spring gobblers there and hope that I could take a fall bird  this year on the property.

At 5:10, I saw a flock and when the members came to within about a 100 yards, I got my crossbow in a position to shoot. In the past, while in a stand with my compound or crossbow, I have waited too long too many times to be in shooting position. However, the flock never came any closer than about 70 yards, but I was able to identify its members - seven mature gobblers.

About 5:30, a mature doe approached my stand, and I was able to kill her. Obviously, this outing could not have gone any better.

Rhode Island Red Chicks Hatch (Blog 412)

What do you do when a hen tries to incubate eggs that haven't been fe

rtilized by a rooster? That's what happened to Elaine and me back in late August when one of her heritage Rhode Island Red hens, Mary, became broody.

No rooster had been in Mary's run since April, and, of course, that meant none of the eggs that Mary had so diligently gathered would hatch. Knowing that Mary would not stop being broody until she actually hatched chicks, Elaine and I decided to put three eggs in our mini-incubator  and see what happened. Those eggs were taken from the pen of our alpha rooster, Don, and two of those eggs hatched, one on October 3, the other on October 5.

So we replaced Mary's dud eggs with the two chicks, and she had no problem adopting them. We hope that Mary and her chicks can go outside to live by Thanksgiving.

Grandsons Help me Drag a Deer (Blog 411)

Sunday morning I killed a deer with my new Parker Thunderhawk Pro crossbow, and when I brought it home, I found that Elaine was babysitting our grandsons Sam and Eli. I asked the boys, ages six and four, if they would help me drag the deer to the outside water faucet so that I could rinse out the chest cavity.

They both announced that they had to have long plastic gloves to do the job. So after donning the gloves, they assisted in helping me drag the deer to the faucet. They also, more or less, mostly less, held the chest cavity open so that I could cut out the bottom loins. I am hoping that their dad David and I can take Sam hunting on Virginia's Youth Day in a few years.

Ingram Talk at Blue Ridge Library on Tuesday (Blog 410)

Elaine and I will be giving a locavore talk on Tuesday, October 2 at the Blue Ridge Library in Botetourt County. Beginning at 7:00 P.M., we will be talking about some of the fall fruits (grapes, paw paws, and persimmons) and nuts (black walnuts and three species of hickory nuts) that folks can gather in this region.

We'll also cover raising apple and crabapple trees, and some of our favorite varieties. For example, this fall Elaine made bread from our Rome apples and pies and cobblers from the fruit of our Dolgo crabapple tree.

Finally, we will be covering how to prepare venison and why it is such a healthy meat.

Giving Talk on Invasive Plants to Third Graders (Blog 409)

Tomorrow morning, I am giving a talk to my daughter Sarah's third grade class at Greenfield Elementary. The subject is invasive plants. I have never "taught" third graders or any elementary school students before, so I have tried to be really prepared.

Sarah asked me to gather invasive plants for a show and tell session with her students, plus the classes of the other two third grade teachers. It was not hard to walk along our Botetourt County road for 50 yards or so and gather a half dozen invasive plants.

And that's why students of any age group should learn about invasive plants in their areas. Invasive plants negatively impact both native flora and fauna and require a great deal of work to eliminate. I'm looking forward to the day.

No Bowhunting in the Rain (Blog 408)

This entire week, I studied the weather forecast for Southwest Virginia, hoping that I could go bowhunting during Virginia's Urban Archery Season. A few times, I saw a few brief windows where I could possibly have climbed up into a tree stand for a couple hours.

But, alas, the rains have not relented, and I'll have to be content to go out and do some tree stand site scouting. I have a few places that I want to check out to see if they hold promise. One site especially has promise, as it leads to a clover food plot.

Another place is a Roanoke County backyard where the home owner says deer have been venturing into during the evenings. I'll just try to put myself into position to be successful next weekend.

Bruce and Elaine to present Locavore Workshop

Tuesday evening September 18, Elaine and I will be presenting a locavore workhop at the Salem, Virginia library: https://www.evensi.us/hunting-gathering-fall-free-workshop-28-main-st-salem-virginia-24153/266569171. One of the things the workshop will be about is gathering fall fruits and nuts, which is appropriate because Wednesday afternoon after school, we went gathering wild summer grapes.

Upon finding some summer grapes growing along the side of the road, we later asked the Botetourt County landowner if we could pick them. As a reward for the person's generosity, we gave her a jar of peach preserves that Elaine had made.

Thursday, we removed the berries from the stems and Elaine made the juice. Saturday morning was making jelly time, and Sunday for breakfast will be the taste test.  Summer grape jelly is my favorite jelly of any kind, it is pleasantly tart.

Snafus Aplenty on Opening Morning of Virginia's Urban Archery Season (Blog 406)

I thought I had planned everything for opening morning of Virginia's Urban Archery Season...clothes in a scent free container, safety harness in an adjacent container, gear all proportioned nicely in my day pack.

Nevertheless, I drove off without having my safety harness in tow, which caused me to have to return home. When I finally made it up to my tree stand and secured myself, it wasn't long until my bow haul apparatus fell out of my pocket and crashed to the ground.

Probably my late arrival to the stand and my haul rope falling had nothing to do with my not seeing a single deer on opening morning. I can believe that anyway, I guess. The day was not one of my better performances afield.

Land Prepping for Deer Season (Blog 405)

With Virginia's Urban Archery Season starting next Saturday, I spent this Saturday rejuvenating a food plot on our Botetourt County land. First, I lightly tilled the soil, then raked the debris, and last planted clover.

After that was accomplished, I went around the perimeter of the plot and cut down saplings, mostly ash, pine, red cedar, and redbuds. The removal of those trees should allow the plot to receive more sunlight.

Sunday, my son-in-law David Reynolds and I plan on visiting our Eagle Rock land and putting up a tree stand there. Later in the morning, we hope to errect one behind the house and check on the status of the other ladder stands. I hope next Saturday some time in the morning or afternoon that Elaine and I will be butchering a doe.

Frogs, Turtles, and Toads on the Road (Blog 404)

I typically walk three miles before going to teach school every morning and many mornings I do in the dark. With such a wet summer, I often encounter frogs, toads, and various species of turtles on the road.

I don't like to take box turtles away from their chosen paths because they have well-defined territories. I will "help" them across a road by depositing them on the other side.  Painted turtles are another matter.

The other morning I saw a young painted turtle crossing the Botetourt County road we live on. There was no water source anywhere near him and definitely not one in the direction he was heading. I figured he had gone out looking for food in the wet weather and was still questing about.

I don't generally like to interfere with nature, but I decided to take the turtle home so that he could head for Catawba Creek which flows through our land. I hope I did the right thing. At least, I knew I wouldn't see him crushed on the road later in the morning when I headed for school. Here's his picture.

Spring "Sensory" Story for Smoky Mountain Living Magazine (Blog 403)

The editor of Smoky Mountain Living magazine has assigned me to do a story on the favorite sights, smells, and sounds of spring. For the lead of the story, I interviewed Virginia's Sherry Crumley, a board member for the NWTF, about her favorite sights, smells, and sounds.  The editor has posted the lead of the story and has asked readers to contact me at bruceingramoutdoors@gmail.com if they would like their sensory experiences to be considered to be a part of the story.  Here is the link to the story lead...http://www.smliv.com/blog/things-to-see-hear-and-smell-in-spring-forests/

If you would like your favorite sensory experiences to be considered to be a part of the story, please contact me via e-mail. Thanks.

Time to Renew Hunting Permission (Blog 402)

It's the first week of August, and, to me, this is the time to renew hunting permission for the properties I hunt in Virginia and West Virginia. Monday, I dropped by one property and brought the landowner several packages of venison from a deer killed on the family's place.

Yesterday, I contacted another landowner on a parcel where I will go hunting during Virginia's Urban Archery Season. Tonight, I hope to renew permission for a Botetourt County cattle farm. And so it will continue until I have contacted all the folks I need to.

I've bought new arrows and blades, and my two bows are ready to go, so that is taken care of as well.