Wild Turkey Leg Soup and Blackberry Pie for Christmas Eve Dinner (Blog 222)

Sunday of last week after I called in and killed a turkey behind our house, I asked Elaine if we could have wild turkey leg soup for Christmas Eve dinner - perhaps served with blackberry pie from the berries we gathered last July from the 38-tract we live on in Botetourt County, Virginia.

And today, Christmas Eve, Elaine made my meal dreams come true just like she has been the dream wife for the past 36 1/2 years.  Our son Mark came over for dinner, and the three of us dined on the soup, cobbler, and vegetable dish that Elaine had prepared.

Adding to the local theme, after dinner we sat around the Christmas tree, a red cedar that we cut from our land.  After Christmas, I will use that tree and several others to create some horizontal cover for songbirds and small mammals this winter.

Elaine is a fantastic cook.  In fact, her recipe for the turkey soup once appeared in a story we wrote for the National Wild Turkey Federation.  But she is an even more fantastic wife and helpmate.

A Turkey for Christmas (Blog 221)

I had endured my worst fall turkey season this century, never even coming close to calling in a bird...that is until Sunday.  On the way home from a fruitless hunt to Franklin County, I received a phone call from my son-in-law David Reynolds who lives on our 38-acre Botetourt County, Virginia land with Elaine's and my daughter Sarah and their two sons Sam and Elie.

David had called to tell me that while squirrel hunting, he had busted up a flock of turkeys behind the house.  Was I interested?  David couldn't hunt because he had to take the boys to the other grandparents.

I sped home, ran into the woods and set up and a jenny immediately answered my yelps and kee-kees.  A few minutes later she came walking in, and I killed my first turkey of the season.

What a thrill.  All of my fall turkey hunting takes place in Virginia and West Virginia, and it seems that in the counties I had hunted in across both states have experienced a hatch failure.

But now Elaine has decided that we will have wild turkey leg soup for Christmas, and that is a dish that will be much appreciated by me this holiday.

Birding While Turkey Hunting (Blog 220)

Although my turkey hunting this autumn and winter has been disappointing, I, as always, have enjoyed bird watching while afield.  So far, I have spotted such winter visitors as winter wrens, brown creepers, hermit thrushes, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, juncos, and white-throated sparrows.

Interestingly, two species of winter visitors that I used to see this time of year, I have not observed this century: evening grosbeaks and purple finches. Do they no longer come as far south as Botetourt and Craig counties, Virginia where I live and hunt.  Or is it just random chance that I have not seen them in 15 or so years.

Of course, I would like to call in and kill a turkey for Christmas dinner, but I can still enjoy being outdoors and birding.

Turkeys Hard to Find (Blog 219)

Turkey season has come back in here in Virginia, and I am still struggling to find birds.  Most day, I have been hunting before and after teaching school and just can't seem to locate flocks.

The exception this week was that I found a flock two straight days, but they were across the property boundary.  I sat and watched them on the roost just 40 yards away.  The sweet hen sounds I sent their way were ignored as were the amped up mad hen yelps I tried next.

This morning (Saturday) I am packed and ready to go, but it is raining as I write, and the forecast is for rain all day here in Botetourt and surrounding counties.  I had hoped to drive to Franklin County, but the forecast is for rain there, too.  A heavy acorn crop, a poor hatch, precipitation, and random bad luck have conspired against me so far.  Thank goodness for Sunday hunting, and a day in the woods tomorrow.

Called in Hunter While Turkey Hunting (Blog 218)

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and Virginia's one-day Thanksgiving Holiday turkey season was in.  Content with my deer season, I decided to go turkey hunting, especially since I had trouble finding birds during the two-week early season which had ended.

So given the fact that the general firearms season was in, I decided to go hunting on some private land in Botetourt County where only I had permission to hunt. Setting up in a woodlot where I could view a woodlot and fields on both sides, I began calling.

After about 90 minutes of not having any luck, I saw another hunter "sneak hunting" toward me.  The man did not have any blaze orange on (which is illegal) and I saw him cross the property boundary (another illegal act).  He clearly was stalking me, or more precisely my turkey sounds.

In such a situation, the conventional wisdom is not to make any movements since an unethical hunter could shoot at any movement.  So I began yelling that someone was "over here."  I had to shout out four times before the man stopped and acknowledged me.  The man said he was "hunting."

I told him I was through for the day and the woods were his.  I don't like to argue with someone who is not obeying the law and who can not see another hunter with blaze orange on and just 40 yards away.

New Editions ofJames and New River Books (Blog 217)

Much of this past summer was spent with my revising my first two books, The James River Guide and The New River Guide.  Now, my publisher has informed me that the new editions of both books will be out shortly.

This has been the most intense year of writing I have ever experienced in my 31 years a freelance writer and photographer.  The second edition of my Shenandoah and Rappahannock Rivers Guide and first edition of my South Branch and Upper Potomac Rivers Guide both came out in late June.  Plus, thus summer I took a class for recertification of my teacher's certificate.  It seems like I worked nothing but 12 to 14 hours each day.

Hopefully, readers of the new editions of the James and New will think my effort was worth it. By mail, both books cost $19.75 and that includes tax and shipping.  To order, send a check to me at 1009 Brunswick Forge Road, Troutville, VA 24175.

Peregrine Falcon Makes Kill (Blog 216)

Last week while deer hunting, I espied a raptor speed across a cornfield and make a kill.  Witnessing hawks or owls kill a rodent, mammal, or bird is not uncommon while I am afield, but there was something different about this bird of prey.

The first thing I noted about the bird was its blue-gray back and its large size, then I noted the long, pointed wings and long tail - and I experienced an eureka moment - it's a peregrine falcon I said to friend Doak Harbison who was sharing the blind with me.

The sighting was in Botetourt County, Virginia, and I can't remember the last time I had glimpsed a peregrine in my home county.  I will look for this predator the next time I go to the cornfield.

One of the best things about being an outdoor writer is that when I go fishing or hunting, I am always going birding at the same time.  Birding enriches the overall outdoor experience for me.

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A Hermit Thrush and Questions of Mortality (Blog 215)

A few days ago, I was filling up the waterer for our Rhode Island Reds, and I noticed a hermit thrush flitting about on the ground.  I walked over to the bird, and to my surprise, it did not fly away.  It was then that I picked up the thrush and realized that it was either sick or injured.

What to do? A cold night was the forecast, so I decided to put the bird in our garage overnight.  The next morning the thrush was still alive but also still unable to fly.  Then, I had another philosophical thought.  Should I put the thrush back outdoors and let it come apart of the food chain (as some predator was liable to eat it) or keep it in the garage where it would no doubt die in a few days.

I decided to do nothing.  The next day when I opened the garage, the hermit thrush flitted out and into the front yard...which is where I last saw it.  Several days have passed, and I can only assume that the bird is now dead.  I don't know which predator killed and ate the thrush, but I know that the thrush's likely death is the natural order of things.

Opening Day of Virgnia's Early Muzzleloading Season (Blog 214)

It's opening day of Virginia's early muzzleloading season, and, as I write, an hour before shooting light.  My two muzzleloaders, a Knight Bighorn and a Thompson Center Triumph, have been patterned, but they reside currently in my gun case.

The problem is the weather.  The forecast has improved somewhat, but for much of the day the prediction is that rain and/or brisk winds will occur.  Here in Botetourt, only bucks are legal, and that means that I would have to have a mature 8 pointer come by my stand as I am not interested in shooting a young buck.

Of course, I could drive to Franklin County where the landowner called me last night and invited me to come.  But that is a 124-mile round trip, and I still don't like the look of that sky.  But doe season is open today in Franklin, and I could also pursue turkeys before going on deer stand.  Maybe, I should  take my crossbow and go out and hunt behind the house...maybe not though because if the rain returns it would be difficult to track a whitetail's blood trail.

So here I sit undecided.

Opening Day of Virginia's Fall Turkey Season (Blog 213)

I love the various opening days of the fall hunting seasons and try never to miss them in Virginia and West Virginia.  So it was with great anticipation that I headed out this morning to pursue turkeys in Franklin County.  Indeed, I went to the same farm where I have killed turkeys on four of the last five openers.

Today, however, I never saw or heard a turkey respond to my calls.  I arrived early, hoping to scatter birds off the roost, then proceeded to  wend my way through woodlot after woodlot, field after field, and every other form of habitat I came across - and failed to locate a flock.

I then drove to two Botetourt County farms where I have permission to hunt and struck out there, too.  We have had a tremendous acorn crop and the turkeys apparently are not traveling very much because food is so easy to find.  Still, I should have come across something.  Perhaps the hatch was not a good one this fall.  Or maybe my game plan for the day was flawed.

David's Doe (Blog 212)

My son-in-law David Reynolds and I went bowhunting on family land in Craig County Saturday, and David made an excellent shot on a mature doe after 8:00 A.M. Earlier, we had agreed that the two of us would make two turkey yelps or kee-kees if  either of us killed a deer.  That signal would let each of us know the status of the other.

Thus, I heard David make two yelps.  Although David's calling was, well, not very turkey-like, his aim was perfect and later he recounted his tagging of the whitetail.  I, meanwhile saw nothing and my poor fortune continued in the evening when I only saw two whitetails, one at 80 yards and another while I was walking to the vehicle.

A memorably day for David, a forgettable one for me.  But I am heading out this morning to try again.

Eye Problems (Blog 211)

This weekend, I had my hunting plans all organized and ready to implement.  I was going to bowhunt Friday after school here in Botetourt, go to West Virginia for opening day of the fall turkey season, and spend Sunday here in Virginia bowhunting.
 But Thursday while at school in my second block English 9 Honors class, I felt like a huge eyelash had appeared in my right eye, followed some minutes later by more eyelashes.  Unfortunately, they were not eyelashes but blood.  A blood vessel had hemorrhaged, two tears in my retina had occurred, and I could not see out of the eye.

Thursday afternoon was spent at my eye doctor's and Friday afternoon was spent in laser surgery mending the tears.  The doctor said it would take anywhere from five days to a month for me to regain full vision in the right eye.  My goal today, Saturday, will not to be to hunt turkeys but see if I can figure out how to shoot a crossbow by using my left eye to sight in.

Opening Day of Virginia's Bow Season (Blog 210)

This morning, I arose at 4:05 to go to Craig County to hunt the property that Elaine and I own there in the beautiful Johns Creek Valley.  I almost always hunt there on opening day because I almost always have a chance to tag a deer there on the season opener.

This morning, though, the wind rocked my stand about and by 10:30 I had endured enough.  There is something extremely disconcerting about being 15 feet off the ground and experiencing a tree undulating back and forth.  Plus, the temperature seemed to be growing colder all morning.

When I arrived home, I called a Botetourt County landowner, where I have permission to hunt, and asked if I could come over.  The gentleman answered in the affirmative, and with the temperature continuing to drop, I felt the deer would be moving early this evening.

My supposition turned out to be right, as I killed a doe at 2:45 P.M., just short of an hour after I set up in a ground blind - no tree stand hunting for me in those high winds.  I was home in time for dinner with Elaine, and we played Scrabble while listening to Prairie Home Companion.  Although Elaine beat me in Scrabble, any day where I can kill a deer is a good one.

Seasons (Blog 209)

Recently, one of my Creative Writing students at Lord Botetourt High School asked me what my favorite season is.  When I was younger ( I am 62) or even just a decade ago, I would have answered the summer.

But now, I no longer have a favorite season, enjoying them all equally.  Fall has officially arrived, and I enjoy that pleasant "nip" in the air some mornings.  I am preoccupied with deer hunting and West Virginia's and Virginia's fall turkey season both start soon, and I will be afield on opening day in both states.  This month Elaine and I have gathered summer grapes for jelly and walnuts for cookies.  In another month or so, it will be time to pick persimmons.

Winter, too, has its charms.  There is no joy like waking up in the morning and finding six inches of snow on the ground.  Elaine and I will stay home and play scrabble, and she will bake a blackberry pie for lunch.  Later in the late afternoon, we will take a walk on the seeded logging road that encircles our property and observe what creatures have left their prints in the snow.

Spring means spring gobbler season, trout and river smallmouth fishing, and the woods bursting forth in every shade of green imaginable.  Any morning I hear a gobbler sounding off - well nothing can be finer.

And then summer.  The unhurried rhythm of a summer day: writing in the morning, walking three miles, lunch with Elaine, and an afternoon nap, then more writing and then stopping work for the day at dinner.  Then that long summer twilight of birds singing and the stars coming out.

I like all the seasons.

(Land Saver Award from Blue Ridge Land Conservancy (Blog 208)

Last Sunday, Elaine and I received the 2014 Land Saver Award from the Blue Ridge Land Conservancy at its annual Conservation Celebration.  Quite honestly, it was one of the most touching honors we have ever received.

At the event, I was supposed to address the attendees, and I had planned my talk.  I was going to talk about how when I was 12, my Grandfather Willie showed me the family farm, now houses in Franklin County, Virginia, and how he cried when he told me how the family had lost the land.  "We used to be landed, but we're not anymore," said my grandfather as he was convulsed with tears.

Then I was going to talk about how I promised my grandfather that I would save my money and buy rural property and one day the Ingrams would be "landed" again.  That the main reason I became a writer was so that I could have a second job and use the money earned to buy rural land in the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia.

Then I was going to thank Elaine for taking care of all the daily chores of shopping for clothes, buying groceries, and taking the cars for inspection and repairs so that I could write and teach school.  And last I was going to end up quoting Scarlet O'Hara's father Gerald who said in Gone with the Wind:  "The land is the only thing in the world worth working for... because it's the only thing that lasts."

But I only made my way part way through my talk, not even being able to praise my wife for bringing joy into my life and being such a perfect spouse and helpmate, before I broke down in tears. So, Elaine, even though I didn't say those things last Sunday, I will say them now - thanks sweetheart.

If you live in Southwest Virginia and believe in the precious nature of land, here is the conservancy's website for you to learn more:

www.blueridgelandconservancy.org.

Saturday No. 2 of Urban Archery Season (Blog 207)

Today was the second Saturday of Virginia's Urban Archery season, and the second day I've gone deer hunting.  I was unable to bowhunt all week with a heavy work load from school, plus meetings, and magazine work as well.  So I had looked forward to going afield on Saturday.

However, I awoke to rain falling, and not liking to bowhunt in the rain because of the difficulty of following a blood trail when precipitation is occurring and the danger inherent in climbing a tree in the rain and dark, I decided to stay home and write.

I have this theory that deer move immediately after a prolonged rain stops, but the rain stopped around noon, and I was unprepared to leave for a stand then.  When I did climb into a stand around 4:45, I had this feeling that the deer would not move again until after dark.

Which turned out to be true, at least no whitetails meandered by my stand before I climbed down at sunset.  Next Saturday, I am going to hunt on a flat that has trees dropping acorns.  I feel better about my chances - providing the wind is right.

Virginia's Opening Day of Urban Archery Season (Blog 206)

Yesterday was opening day of Virginia's Urban Archery Season, and I spent much of the morning  watching squirrels and wondering why the mosquito spray seemed powerless to ward off the beasties.  I did not see a deer during the morning sit and went home for lunch and a nap.

Returning to the same Roanoke County woodlot around 4:15, I soon discovered that the mosquitoes were worse and even the squirrels were elsewhere.  But I decided to proverbially "tough it out," and sometimes that is the right decision to make.

For about 40 minutes before dark, five deer began making their way toward me, and I was able to send a bolt from my Parker Thunderhawk crossbow through the lead doe's lungs.  Ninety minutes later, my son-in-law David Reynolds helped me quarter the doe, and this morning Elaine and I began the process of canning the venison, minus the tenderloins and roasts that we froze, and the heart which will form the makings of school lunches for four or five days.

I am very glad that I stayed in the woods all evening.

Hanging a Tree Stand (Blog 205)

Yesterday I spent nearly two hours trying to find a place to hang a tree stand on a Roanoke County property where I will bowhunt next Saturday on opening day of Virginia's Urban Archery season.  In short, I could not find a place where I feel I have a decent chance to tag a doe.

The woodlot I searched through (picture below) has a pasture or fields on all sides of it.  A number of oaks are dropping acorns, but there was no tree near any of the bearing oaks that I could hang a stand in.

One of the best places where there were acorns was the pond that borders one side of the woodlot.  The forecast for next Saturday is for temperatures in the 80s, and I though the combination of food and water offered great potential.  But every tree near the pond was too large for a stand or left me too exposed to any deer that might come by.

I finally positioned my stand along a logging road that runs through the property.  But I have no confidence in the spot.  We will see what happens next Saturday.

Snake in the House (Blog 204)

"Bruce, come down here, right now!" Elaine yelled from the kitchen this morning.  My first thought was that I had committed some egregious error, but then it occurred to me that she was very scared.  I ran from my writing room, scurried down the steps, and charged into the kitchen.

"Just look," she pointed to the recycling bin.  "I thought the sealing of the back door meant that we were done with those things!"

I still couldn't see what she was so aggravated about, but, finally, she pointed directly at the reason for her anxiety.  A sticky label from our bananas had fallen on the floor, landed on the side of the recycling bin, and a five-inch Eastern ringneck snake had become stuck on the label.

The poor creature was wriggling about in obvious duress, and I felt real sympathy for the stuck snake.

"Get it out of here, right now," Elaine demanded.  "I will not share my house and kitchen with snakes."

"They're harmless," I meekly replied.  "But I will remove it from the kitchen right now."

I took the banana label and the attached snake outside and carefully removed the poor creature from its sticky prison.  The last I saw of the Eastern ringneck it was winding its way across the sidewalk and into the grass...free at last.

Deer Scouting (Blog 203)

My son-in-law David Reynolds and I spent this morning scouting for deer on various properties in Craig County, Virginia and Monroe County, West Virginia.  We checked on stand sites, looked for deer and turkey sign, and, most importantly, assessed the acorn crop.

Our most important finding was that there seem to be more acorns this year than last.  I noted scarlet oak and black oak acorns at several sites, though I found no white or chestnut oak acorns anywhere.  Of course, it is still early in the "acorn dropping" arena, but, still, we were encouraged about what we found.

I have my compound bow and two crossbows sighted in, but I have not begun work on preparing my shotgun, rifle, or muzzleloader for the season ahead.  That needs to be done shortly, as I like to have things prepared well in advance.  And, of course, more scouting will be done as well.