Minnesota!

After taking a few days to get situated into this new lifestyle I was able to get out to the lake tonight to do a little fishing. It had been windy all day but had died down as the sun went down. I took to the dock with a pole set up for small panfish and another for larger fish such as largemouth bass and northern pike. The sunfish were spawning in the shallow water and I quickly had little nibbles on the jig. I put a bobber on in the jig and quickly caught a sunny full of eggs. I decided I was after something a little bit bigger so I put a chartreuse twister tail on my other line and sent the green jig flying through the air towards the middle of the lake. After a few casts I was reeling the bait in when I noticed a dark figure following inches behind my lure. I recognized the fish as a pike, probably around 18 inches. How I would have loved for him to take the my line but that was not to happen. I kept fishing as lightning lit up the Western horizon when I got a phone call from a friend. I put the phone between my ear and shoulder and kept casting, praying I didn't lose the phone to the lake. Another several casts later while I was still on the phone and as the lure splashed into the lake I quickly felt the weight of a fish on the end of my pole. This was the first fish on this rod and reel and I had to adjust the drag and worry about my phone call. I kept saying how great it would be to catch this fish in such a fashion!! Halfway in, the fish jumped clear out of the water and I saw it was a decent bass. As I continued adjusting the drag I found myself looking at the line going underneath me and the dock. The line quickly wrapped around one of the poles in the water. When I unwrapped the fish I attempted to reach down to grab the fish because I was not confident I could lift him out of the water. Without warning the bass shook his head like all largemouths do and the hook lost its hold. I quickly told my friend how this was all his fault! Only  caught one little fish but had a couple great encounters, I have some high hopes for the summer as far as fishing goes.

The ecology of this part of the country is so different than back in Iowa and seeing these contrasting environments makes everything a lot more exciting.

Continuation of this Blog

         As the course that I initially started this blog for comes to a close I will plan on periodically updating it with my outdoor experiences in the future. I have no plan as to how long I will be doing this or how often, but the positive response that I have received makes it well worth the effort. Keep checking for new posts about my time in the outdoors in Minnesota as well!

Thanks for reading over the past several months.

5/9/15 Hunt

        I was finally able to get a turkey for the freezer today, but it didn't occur the way I expected it to. I got out to the field late this morning and was afraid I might have spooked some birds on the way out. When I was walking in I heard a deer snort at one point and saw one running away that was within 40 yards or so. I set up along the fence line that I had seen the tom, hen, and five jakes yesterday to eliminate the problems that I had. The first thing I noticed this morning was the lack of gobbles from where I was expecting them. I always heard the toms to the West other than today and that worried me. Right after sunrise, a little after 6 o'clock, I looked to the East and saw three coyotes trotting across the field. They certainly stood out because I have seen so few this year and they do not usually travel in groups of three or more. A while later I saw two of them go back across the field. I sent out a quiet turkey call to them to see what their reaction would be. They obviously knew something was unusual and they quickly took off. Unlike yesterday when the turkeys were talkative for hours, I heard very few gobbles after 6:30 which I did not like near as much. As I said, I set up along a fence line. There was a very large, thick bush and I sat down where I could see a little bit to the East, but only if they came in to the North of me where my decoys were. Due to the fact that I had not heard any turkeys responding to my calls, I was not paying full attention to my surroundings, I would call out about every 5 minutes or so. I looked up at one point to be surprised to see two turkeys walking away from me, 20 yards away. I saw the short beard of a jake on one of the birds and I grabbed my gun. When I did so, the bird on the right, I believe it was a hen, saw something was up and looked around. The young male looked up and presented a shot. I lined up the bead and squeezed the trigger. The bird dropped immediately and I saw three more birds fly away that were on the other side of  the bush. Once the turkey expired for good I was able to inspect this one year old jake. After putting so much time and effort into being able to glance or try to call one into range, being able to see my work pay off makes it all worth it. Having the opportunity to gain first hand experience is what makes this class so unique. I have learned so much more than what I could have in a standard classroom setting. I am so thankful for every moment I have been able to spend in nature this semester.

Here you can see the bush that I sat next to. The turkeys came from the right side of this picture.

5/8/15 Observation

           I had another interesting day in the field this morning. I knew that I would not be able to stay out too long, but I still wanted to get out while it was nice. I was walking under the moonlight to my blind at 5 O'clock this morning, an hour before sunrise, and had everything for the hunt set up by 5:30. Not long after I heard the morning's first gobble and they never stopped after that. Everything seemed pretty ordinary as the morning progressed but as I was putting one of my calls down I noticed something a little ways behind my decoys on the other side of the fence. A hen turkey had come in from behind the hill and was feeding about 50 yards away. I suddenly had a great feeling about today. I continued calling and I peeked out the back of the blind to see two turkeys a couple hundred yards away in the field. Even with the binoculars they were too far away to determine whether they were male or female. I sent out a couple calls their way and immediately got a response but not from them. The gobble had come from in front of me not far away. I gave out another series of calls and saw a red head in between the old corn stalks. With ever call I made the bird gave a gobble and took a few steps closer. My heart was pounding. Every once in a while he would put his fan halfway up and continue walking towards me. I realized that from his angle he would have no way to see my decoys when he was around 50 yards away he refused to come closer. After a little while he started walking away and my mind raced with all of the things I could have done differently.
            After pondering my mistakes for a while I started getting my head back into the hunt. At one point I looked back again to see the two birds that were behind me (which I eventually realized were hens) and one was chasing a crow across the field. A few minutes later I saw a couple male birds appear from the grass by the river. I continued calling and suddenly started hearing responses to the North where I had not seen birds before. I was preparing my next move when something else appeared where the tom had been before. One after one five year old jakes appeared with their short beards. They acted like they were looking for the source of the calls but once again my poor decoy placement sent the birds off in confusion. I knew I did not have much time, the birds would not stop gobbling this morning it was pretty incredible to hear the birds all around. As I was packing up I saw six more birds by the river and in the field. It was hard to have to walk away with so much activity so close. As I was walking along the edge of the woods I had another tom jump up in front of me around 30 yards away and run off. I should be able to get out again tomorrow with hopefully a little bit more luck.

The Bird Flu

          Recently a new outbreak has occurred across the state that could impact hunters, our economy, and forced the governor to declare a state of emergency here in Iowa. The avian influenza or the bird flu has recently made an attack on chicken and turkey farms across the state. According to experts up to 25% of the chicken population will be killed during this outbreak. This can also spread to wild turkeys, which is what relates to this subject. Thankfully, turkey flocks are usually spread out far enough so that the disease cannot have a widespread impact. Small numbers of birds are expected to contract the disease but it should be contained to small areas. According to the Des Moines Register, there is no health threat to humans but hunters are asked to keep an eye on wildlife for any sign of the spread of the disease. It is believed that the flu is spread by migratory birds flying up and down the Mississippi flyway. In my opinion it is everyone's responsibility to take any steps to prevent the spread of this disease if given the opportunity, at the same time nature will take its course.

5/4/15

            I was able to get into the woods again today, but in a completely different setting than normal. Yesterday, I got my bike out and went for a ride by the Des Moines River and up past the Saylorville dam but there were people everywhere. I figured today would be a little different being a Monday morning, and it sure was. The only people I saw were a couple dog walkers, a biker and a mushroom hunter. For the first half of my ride it was just me and the forest, as I took my time riding along the trail parallel with the river. It was a perfect spring morning with the sun poking through the treetops, shining on the bright green undergrowth, the forest could not look any better. I was hoping to come across some deer while on the trail, (I can cover a lot more ground on a bike than if I was hiking) but saw none. There were squirrels chasing each other off of their territory, all kinds of birds winding their way through the trees, robins, bluebirds, cardinals. On my way back I saw a pair of geese with their young in between them swimming against the current in single file. At one point a pair of robins jumped into the trail and started doing some sort of mating ritual. The most surprising sight of the day came when I was just leaving my house and driving down the block. An opossum ran across the road right in front of my car, I guess no one can keep from getting out on a morning like this.

5/3/15

      I went out into the field today but I did not know how to register everything that had changed in the last few weeks. First of all, it was not 35 degrees right before the sun came up, today I went out in the afternoon in 80 degree weather. That means I could ditch the insulated coveralls and two coats for a pair of camo pants and long-sleeve t-shirt. Another major difference was the amount of greenery. No longer could you stare far into the depths of the colorless forest, today the light green leaves stopped any line of sight at the edge of the woods. As I sat down along a fence line with my turkey calls and shotgun (I was hoping to discover where the turkeys would roost for the night) I remembered two annoyances winter relieved us of: bugs and poison ivy, and I am afraid they both got me. After an hour and a half of listening to song birds, crows, pheasants and more I could sense rain in the air. I looked up and the sun was disappearing behind clouds. I pulled out my cell phone and the radar showed rain all around me. I did not see the point in getting wet today, my chances of seeing anything there were slim to none anyways. I walked back to the car keeping my eyes peered for any movement out of the ordinary but saw none, I could only smell a skunk who was in the area no doubt.
           Back at the car I decided to check the other side of the farm for anything. As I walked along the property line I saw some small animal sneak behind a bush, probably a turkey or opossum. A couple minutes later I saw another small animal digging something in the dirt 10 yards away. I knelt down and tried to get the camera out while it was distracted but when I looked up I saw that it was a raccoon as it hustled away. I walked a little further but did not see anything. Back at the car I began to put away my gear when I looked across the road just north of one of the houses and 6 deer were feeding in the field. As I crossed the road one by one they slowly ran up and across the hill towards safety.
        On the way home I saw another dozen deer and a turkey in the field. I hope to get out again soon but I only see one of the next ten days without storms in the forecast. We'll see though, the weather channel has not been to accurate lately!

After viewing the  pictures that I took of the six deer I realized that many if not all have antlers that are only 1-3 inches long. I have not seen to many bucks with growth this small.

Look closely at the middle deer and see the beginning of antlers on this buck.

This little thing decided to climb along my gun stock.