Rhode Island Reds Resume Laying (Blog 431)

One of life's little joys occurred this weekend. Elaine and I raise heritage Rhode Island Reds, and it is natural for our chickens to stop laying eggs some time in late fall. The laying typically stops when the birds are in the molting process. The last egg came around Thanksgiving time.

Friday, I found an egg inside the chicken coop. Monday morning, I found two more. One of those eggs was on the ground, probably the work of one of our pullets which probably hasn't figured out when her body is telling her it is emitting an egg.

So it was time to put the nesting boxes back in what we call "The Little Red Hen House," which consists mostly of our younger chickens.  And to make sure that the nesting boxes in "The Big Red Hen House" are clean.

Virginia Gobblers Heralding the Season (Blog 430)

Last week, I heard the first gobbler  of the season sound off, which caused a crow to caw. Then another longbeard gobbled. That woke up every turkey in our Botetourt County woodlot. So for the next ten minutes or so, I heard gobble after gobble.

Every spring one of the nice things to look forward to is the first gobbling of the soon to come spring. I rarely hear hen talk among all the gobbler outbursts. It's always been clear that the males are raring to go earlier than the females are.

As far as what all this means for the season to come, well, the answer is usually very little. Still, it's nice to hear the sounds of turkeys gobbling.

First Woodcock of Season Appears on out Botetourt County, VA Land (Blog 429)

This morning, February 8, I went for my daily three-mile walk in the dark, here in Botetourt County, Virginia. As I was walking up the driveway, I heard the characteristic "peeent," which is how I describe the sound of a male woodcock.

I immediately stopped in mid-stride, wanting to make sure that I had indeed heard what I thought I had. Then came another peeent, and my suspicions were thus confirmed.

We've lived on this land since 1989, having bought it in 1988. We never heard woodcocks until we did a timber cut in 2010 and created some young forest. Beginning in 2011, woodcocks have been present every March. Three years ago, they started coming in February. I wonder when the first female will show up?

Finding the Shed Antler of an Eight Pointer (Blog 428)

During Virginia's deer season, my son-in-law David Reynolds and I encountered a fine, young 2 1/2-year-old buck. David saw him several times during the rut and afterwards. I glimpsed him several times in December. The whitetail had the characteristic long legs of a 2 1/2-year-old, but also sported four points on each side.

Yesterday, I was in our 38-acre Botetourt County woodlot, gathering wood from an oak I had sawed up earlier  but had not had time to bring into our garage. There lying near the tree I had cut was one of the antlers. It was nice to know that the young buck had made it through the deer season and would be around next fall. Hopefully, either David or I will have a chance at him.

Ash Trees Continue to Die (Blog 427)

Saturday afternoon, I spent much of my time cutting down and cutting up dead ash trees done in by the emerald ash borer plague. Our 38 acres in Botetourt County, Virginia hosts many ashes that are dead or succumbing.

It is a sad thing to see  beautiful hardwoods like the green and white ash quickly disappearing from the mountains here in Southwest Virginia and across their range. There is no cure on the horizon, either. And on our land, I can find only one mature tree that, to my surprise, has not been affected yet.
That will probably change this summer.

Chickens "Complaining" about Cold Weather (Blog 426)

Here in Botetourt County, Virginia, the wind chill is below 0 this morning and our heritage Rhode Island Reds are not happy. Chickens have a way of... perhaps fussing the right word... when things do not go to suit them. They march up to Elaine and me, and the whining begins.

This is usually after we give treats to the other chicken run's fowl - the two separate flocks have pens that border each other -  and the other flock does not receive any. Of course, both flocks will complain simultaneously if we walk by and don't give anyone anything.

This morning there was quite a bit of ruffled feathers, both literally and figuratively. Literally because the birds were constantly "fluffing" because of the cold and figuratively because they were complaining about the frigid conditions.

Preparing for Snow in the Virginia Mountains (Blog 425)

Elaine and I were supposed to have given an outdoors-related talk at the Bridgewater public library this morning, but the impending snowfall cancelled the event. Instead, we are cleaning both chicken runs, and I am going to cut some more fire wood before the snow starts.

Human nature is strange. We have plenty of firewood already in the garage and more is out at our woodpile.  But cutting wood in front of snowfall just seems like a constructive thing to do. Elaine is going to cook venison tenderloin for lunch and a wild blackberry cobbler is hopefully on the menu, too. Let it snow.

Deer Scarce during Virginia's Late Muzzleloader Season (Blog 424)

I had five different "settings" during doe days in Virginia's late muzzleloader season and only saw deer (two fawns) on the first of the five. I am often amazed when I see stories about trophy hunting for big bucks during the late season, and I struggle to see deer most years during this time period.

Maybe my poor success year after year is because of my hunting so much in the mountains where the weather is colder. Or, frankly, my poor hunting could be because I am clueless on how to pursue late season deer.  In any event, another late season has come and gone, and I struck out again.

On the January and February Saturdays to come, I'm going to look forward to squirrel hunting behind the house and doing Timber Stand Improvement projects on our Botetourt County land.

Success in the Virginia Fall Turkey Woods (Blog 423)

Today for Christmas, we dined on wild turkey burger and venison meatball vegetable soup. The reason we were able to eat wild turkey breast (in the form of burgers) is because Sunday I was able to tag a bird.

I went hunting with Bedford County's Mike Morrell and his turkey dog Bailey.
Bailey is a superior turkey dog and busted up two flocks not long after we arrived. It was a joy watching Bailey work. Next year, I would like to take Mike and Bailey to our West Virginia land in Monroe County.

Tomorrow, I'm going to take my son Mark turkey hunting in Botetourt with the hope that he can tag a bird before he heads back to Alaska to teach.

Spending Saturday in the Virginia Turkey Woods (Blog 422)

I spent all day Saturday pursuing turkeys on a Botetourt County, Virginia cattle farm. And for the first time in my life, I busted up three separate flocks of birds...and never fired a shot. On the first scatter, with the birds on the roost, they all flew in the same direction.

On the second scatter, which was a flock of gobblers, I actually called one of the longbeards in. But I didn't have a shot because I had set up wrong.

On the third scatter, which was just before 2:00 P.M., I again set up incorrectly as birds filtered by just out of sight.

I hope to do better today. People who think fall turkey hunting is easy are people who don't hunt fall turkeys.

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.