11/30/09 IT'S HARD TO SLOW AN OLD DOG DOWN

FIRST FERRY OF THE DAY
LUCKY'S BEEN LIMPING

Monday, 8:30 AM. 35 degrees, wind W, light. The channel is crawling, and the sky is almost clear. It is a lovely morning, but the barometer predicts rain.
The regular gun deer season is now over, with mixed results. Those who got their buck obviously are inclined to consider it a good season, those who were unsuccessful will rank it poor. The truth probably lies somewhere in between, but it is obvious that something unusual is going on. I talked with buddy Paul last night, who hunted in the southern Chequamegon National Forest with a large group, and they saw no deer. I have my opinions but I will let the dust settle a bit before I say anything more.
Of more immediate personal concern, Lucky has had a bout of arthritis or something and has been almost incapacitated, not being able to use his right hind leg and in obvious pain. Three half aspirins, given at intervals, at least got him around the block this morning. He gets shots for Lime's disease so it shouldn’t be that. He is do for a vet’s visit soon anyway. He is getting on in years and should no longer overdo things, but it’s hard to slow an old dog down.

11/29/09 PERSISTENCE

DOWN IN THE PINEY WOODS
PERSISTENCE EXEMPLIFIED

5:30 AM. 34 degrees, wind calm at present. It is overcast, no moon or stars to be seen and the barometer predicts rain. A piece of toast and a cup of coffee and I will be at the sugar bush before even a hint of daylight, then walk as quietly as I can and see if any deer are feeding under the old apple trees. Then I will go down to the pine plantation and sit until it is time to go home for lunch and a nap.
Noon: nothing doing this morning but I will still go out to my stand in the orchard country and stay until dark on this last day of the regular gun deer season. Perhaps persistence will pay.

11/28/09 STILL TIME!

THIS OLD HOUSE
BLOOM FARM, ESTABLISHED 1898
TUNDRA SWANS ON CHEQUAMEGON BAY
Saturday, 2:00 PM. 40 degrees, wind W, calm. The channel is calm, the sky partly cloudy and the barometer predicts more of the same. It has been a beautiful day, and I have been home for lunch and will be going back out to the sugar bush shortly. This morning at first light I flushed a deer by the old house and its apple trees, right where Mike shot his buck. I did not see it but it crashed away from me through the brush. I will go back and sit there until dark. Eric came over before noon as I drove into the driveway. He got an eight point buck the other day, out in the barrens. I am beginning to feel like the odd man out. But, I still have this evening and tomorrow to hunt.
There are at least a hundred tundra swans on the Bay in Ashland.

11/27/09 NICE, BUT NO ANTLERS

A SLEEP-IN MORNING
HAPPY THANKSGIVNG

8:00 AM. 28 degrees, wind WNW, very light. The channel has mixed glassy areas with patterns of ripples. The sky is mostly cloudy and the barometer predicts the same.
This has been a sleep in morning, as we had fiends Dot and Grandon Harris over for Thanksgiving dinner yesterday evening and there is a lot of kitchen cleanup to do. We roasted one of the geese I shot last month, with all the trimmings, and it was an interesting meal. Dot baked a pumpkin pie, and there is a very large piece left for me to have for breakfast. Don and Grandon are retired from teaching and missionary work in Indian Country out west and we have a lot of mutual interests. Grandon is a fine photographer and brought his MacBook loaded with photos. We are all grandparents without children and grandchildren for the holiday, so of course we become a mutual admiration society when together.
Not having brought home any venison from the woods, I collected instead the materials for a swag that Joan wanted to make; hemlock branches, milkweed pods, pearly everlasting and mountain ash berries. Pretty, but no antlers.

11/26/09 WAY TO GO, MIKE!

MY TREE STAND
VIEW TO THE SOUTHEAST
VIEW TO THE EAST
VIEW TO THE NORTH
VIEW TO THE WEST
VIEW TO THE SOUTH

Noon. Well, we had our weather change, it was 32 degrees at 6:00 AM and the temperature has not risen since. I was on the deer stand before daylight and stayed there until 9:30 AM. The wind picked up and blew from the north-northwest all morning. Again there was no movement of deer, no fresh tracks and the apples and corn I put down yesterday afternoon were untouched. I talked with hunters who have been on the old buffalo farm to my north and they have seen nothing. I heard two shots about 8:30 AM, over the ridge to the west, otherwise everything very quiet again.
When I got home about 10:00 AM to help Joan with Thanksgiving dinner preparations, she informed me that Mike had called about 8:00 AM. He got a 12 point buck, shot it on the Larsen sugar bush, by the old farmhouse and apple trees I hunted at the other evening. He shot it just before closing yesterday, couldn’t find it, didn’t sleep all night and went out and found it this morning, about a hundred yards from where he shot it. He was so excited he called again at 9:00 AM to see if I had gotten home yet so he could tell his tale again. He deserves to have gotten the big buck, as he has been seeing it since before the season opened. I called him when I got home but his wife informed me that he and neighbor Jim had just left for the bar at the Village Inn in Cornucopia to do a little celebrating and I am sure some tale-telling. Way to go, Mike. You’re keeping my spirits up!

11/25/09 WHERE ARE WE, SEATTLE?

MORE RAIN AND FOG


NO SNOW

Wednesday, 8:00 AM. 42 degrees, wind W, light. The channel is obscured by fog, it is raining lightly, and the barometer predicts more of the same.
Where are we, Seattle? I half expected to meet up with Sasquatch in the woods yesterday evening. Needless to say I am disgusted, and have vowed not to go out again until there is relief from this miasmatic weather. It is supposed to snow late today but I see no evidence of change at present.
Note to daughter Greta in Columbus, Ohio: reading my blog is not a substitute for calling your parents.

11/24/09 DON'T (BOTHER TO) SIT UNDER THE APPLE TREE

Tuesday, 8:00 AM. 41 degrees, wind SW, calm. The channel is calm, the sky overcast and the barometer predicts rain.
Thinking changing locations might change my luck, late yesterday I went out to the Larsen’s sugar bush, where there are many old apple trees, with apples still on them (the countryside is full of these beautiful old trees, replete with apples; I have seldom seen apples on the trees this late, it was a heavy crop). Deer love apples so I sat and waited. No deer, and what is more, no coyotes howling at sunset. I haven’t heard a coyote in three days. The weather pattern of unseasonably warm and very humid weather persists. I didn’t sit under the apple trees this morning, but stayed in bed.

11/23/09 NO ANTLERS, BUT HERE'S A WOLF'S FOOT

A CLUB MOSS, OR WOLF'S FOOT
LYCOPODIUM COMPLANATUM (PROBABLY)

Monday, 7:45 AM. 46 degrees, wind SSW, calm. The channel is obscured by fog, the sky is overcast and there is .2” of new rain in the gage. The barometer predicts partly cloud weather. I don’t know if this is the weather change I have been anticipating, but I doubt it. In any case I am not hunting this morning, still waiting for a significant change in the weather.
The trailing plant pictured is a club moss, allied with ferns, horsetails and other primitive, non-flowering plants. Along with ferns, club mosses have a distinct alternation of generations, the more obvious life form being the 2n or sporophyte generation (shown above), which has two sets of chromosomes. The alternate, or 1n generation, which is usually very obscure, is the offspring of the 2n generation plant. It lives and grows separately to produce the male and female gametes, which then combine to form another 2n plant such as the one shown. Higher plants and animals have the alternate, 1n generation subsumed within the 2n generation life form. I hope I haven’t confused your memories of high school biology, but it is the best that I can offer. The plant pictured is, I believe, the running pine (of course not a pine at all), Lycopodium clavatum. Most of us are familiar with the ground pine, which I have also heard locally called prince’s pine, L. obscurum, and the ground cedar, L. complanatum, because they are much collected n the north woods and used in Christmas wreaths. There are more than a dozen species in the Lycopodiaceae in North America, and I make no claim as to knowing them at all well. The family name Lycopod is from the Greek, meaning wolf’s foot, a more distinctive and descriptive name than club moss, if you want my opinion.

11/22/09 WHERE IS THAT BUCK?

AN OLD BUCK RUB

Sunday, noon. It was another very quiet morning in the woods. I moved slowly through the woods all morning, not being able to sit any longer after yesterday, walking a way and then sitting or standing for twenty minutes, but saw nothing except one lively chipmunk and one raucous pileated woodpecker. Otherwise not even a curious chickadee, or a crow on the wing. The barometer, now rising, has been down for days and I think everything has been anticipating a change in the weather. I heard not a shot. One acquaintance on Hwy J, who hunts with a big crew, usually has three or four deer hanging by now, but his hanging rack is empty. On the other hand, Don Knoke up the street and his two sons have a spike buck and an eight pointer hanging. I will help Joan with some housework to keep the peace, and go out again for the hour before dark.
The buck rub on the shrub willow is old, probably from last year. Where is that buck?
Later: went out to sit on the old logging road that goes down to my stand, hoping a deer would cross it late in the day and I could get a shot. I have seldom seen the woods so quiet, not a sound, only the sound of the blood coursing through my veins. Not a peep out of the omnipresent coyotes that inevitably yip and howl at dusk. I believe we have a huge storm brewing, and nothing is moving out of heavy cover. Now, maybe it won't materialize, but I really believe all the animals and birds have taken shelter until either we have that storm, or the barometer rises quickly to a new high.

11/21/09 A REALL QIET OPENING DAY OF DEER SEASON

CLOSEUP OF PEARLY EVERLASTING FLOWERS
PEARLY EVERLASTING PLANTS

Saturday, 6:15 PM. The first day of deer season was a bust. I was on my stand way before daylight, and only saw one deer, at 10:00 AM, about 150 yards away, running through the woods like a racehorse. I don’t know if it caught wind of me or if something was chasing it. I don’t know whether it was a buck of doe. Except for a few blue jays the only other creature I saw was a fisher, about the size of a house cat, rummaging about in the leaf litter under my stand. It was a really quiet opening day, I heard a few faraway shots in the morning, and nothing in the afternoon. I sure hope it isn’t going to be a repeat of last year’s awful season!
The woods edges and roadsides are full of pearly everlasting, a plant about a meter high with attractive dried white flowers that hang on into winter. I think I identify it correctly as Anaphalis margaritacea, in the composite family. There are other somewhat similar plant species, in the genus Gnaphalium.

11/20/09 A TAIL OF TWO CATTAILS

NATIVE CATTAILS ALONG HWY 13
NATIVE CATTAIL
EURASIAN CATTAIL
TUNDRA SWANS ON THE BAY AT ASHLAND

Friday, 7:45 AM. 44 degrees, wind W, light. The channel is dimpled, the sky overcast and the barometer predicts rain.
We have two cattail species in Wisconsin, the native Typha latifolia and the Eurasian T. angustifolia, the former with wider leaves and larger fruit (the fuzzy cigar shaped “cattail”)), the later with narrow leaves and smaller fruit. The smaller cattail is used in floral decorations and that may or may not have been how it got here. In any case, the native is common to standing water and is rather circumspect in its habitat requirements, while the intruder is more adaptable. The real trouble arises when the two hybridize, which creates a very invasive plant that has a wider range of moisture tolerance and competes with the wild rice, Zizania aquatica, which is an important cultural and economic crop of the Ojibwe and other northern Indian tribes. There is evidence that the invasive hybrid can be controlled by cutting it beneath the surface of the water, but in any case it is a potentially serious problem. For a fuller discussion, see the winter ’09-'10 issue of “Mazinaigan, A Chronicle of the Ojibwe”, a very fine free publication available by calling 715-682-6619. $5.00 annual postage outside the US and Canada.
There were two dozen tundra swans on the bay at Ashland yesterday, enlarge the photo and you may be able to see them.
Blogs will be fewer due to deer hunting for the next nine days.

11/18/09 A REALLY BAD BUG AND REALLY STINKY PEOPLE

TIME TO AIR OUT THE DEER HUNTING CLOTHES
LARGE GREEN ASH TREE
GREEN ASH SEEDS

Thursday, 8:00 AM. 41 degrees, wind NW, calm. The channel is glassy with a few ripples, the sky overcast and the barometer predicts rain.
The imminent threat of the terribly destructive emerald ash borer, already present in several southern and central Wisconsin localities, is making me very aware of ash trees in the community. This large green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) is growing on private property on Manypenny between eighth and ninth streets. Female ash trees are quite noticeable at this time of year because of their prominent brown, papery winged fruits. I am making a mental note of where ash trees are located and will monitor them in coming growing seasons, watching for the characteristic borer damage, which starts with the topmost branches. Sorry about the procumbent photo, it would not cooperate.
Blaze orange deer hunting clothes are appearing now on porches and wash lines, being aired out to dispel the human scent, which is evidently really stinky to all creatures but ourselves.

11/18/09 WHERE'S BRUNHILDA?

THE GHOST SHIP EMERGES FROM THE FOG

8:30 AM, 36 degrees, wind SW, calm. The channel is calm and shining silver, the sky is cloudless and the barometer predicts mostly sunny skies.
Earlier, there was considerable “lake smoke” rising off the waters near La Pointe, rendering the emerging morning ferry a facsimile of the ghost ship from some Wagnerian opera. Perhaps we can find some buxom local diva and equip her with spear and shield, and one of those helmets with the cow horns, to stand in the ferry bow and sing an appropriate aria each morning from now until freeze-up.
Last night was the annual Chamber of Commerce dinner meeting, well attended by I will guess over one hundred members and guests. Community awards were passed out to much deserved applause, and we were entertained by a humorous motivational speaker from over in Dallas, WI who arrived bandaged and with stitches in his forehead because he didn't hold his 30.06 deer rifle tight to his shoulder. A little object lesson there. Budgets were passed and new board members elected, and all had a good time. They even sang happy birthday to me.
Only one photo this morning as the camera batteries died. My own internal batteries are O.K. but could use a little recharging. A second cup of coffee will have to suffice.

11/17/09 WAY TO GO OLD TIMER

HARDLY A RIPPLE
NOT BAD FOR AN OLD TIMER
GOOD SHOOTING BENCHES
A FINE FACILITY
OBEY THE RU LES
SIGHT IN THAT DEER RIFLE

Wednesday, 8:00 AM. 31 degrees, wind SW, calm. The channel is glassy, with some steam rising from it. The skies are clear and the barometer predicts mostly sunny skies. The ferry makes hardly a ripple on the water.
Yesterday I went to the Town of Russell shooting range to do some target practice with the 7mm Browning Automatic rifle I inherited from my father-in-law. The facility, which residents of Bayfield are also welcome to use, is really good, built and maintained by volunteers. Except on weekends it is seldom busy and I had it virtually to myself. It is the kind of thing that makes living in small towns and rural communities so appealing. Respect the facility, buy a raffle ticket or lend a hand now and then and it’s yours, tax and fee free.
Today is my birthday, and the grouping of shots in the target at 100 yards looks pretty good. Way to go, old timer!

11/16/O9 THE DEER STAND IS READY

A GOOD DAY DAWNING

Monday, 7:45 AM. 30 degrees, wind NW, very light. The channel is glassy, the sky cloudless and the barometer predicts partly cloudy weather. It is a fine day.
I spent several hours improving my deer stand yesterday, clearing shooting lanes in several directions, while taking care not to expose the tree stand. I think it is now as good as I can get it. I only use two of the three ladder sections for the stand, as I do not care to get into nosebleed territory, as do the folks who go up twenty feet or more. Getting in and out of the stand is the most precarious part of the activity and I do not care to push it, or for that matter hang myself with all the supposed safety gear. I am not afraid of heights but am not as young as I used to be (not by a long shot).
I am encouraged by the amount of deer activity now around my stand; a deep trail about 40 yards to the south of the stand, a maintained buck scrape about 80 yards to the west, and a lot of deer tracks around a big oak shedding acorns to the east. I have a city budget meeting at 4:00 PM today but may get out to the Town of Russell shooting range sometime beforehand.

11/15/09 DAYS OF SILVER AND GOLD

SPARKLING SILVER WATERS
ROADSIDE GOLD
COIN OF THE REALM

Sunday, 8:45 AM. 36 degrees, wind WNW, light with stronger gusts. The channel is sparkling, the waters dancing silver in the sunlight. The barometer predicts sunny skies.
The feathery golden plant is asparagus, growing by the roadside on Old Military. It is an interesting, useful plant. Everyone recognizes the spear-like shoots of its edible spring growth, but perhaps not its other seasonal iterations. It also produces bright red berries, although I missed them on these plants this year. It is an old-world plant native to the steppes of Poland and Russia, long cultivated and sometimes escaped here. It is now gown all over the world and is no longer only a spring vegetable. It has significant culinary and medicinal properties as a diuretic in the treatment of kidney stones and dropsy.
Yesterday was saddened by the funeral mass of the Rev. Rex Fliess, Episcopal minister and community stalwart. It was also a celebration of his very worthwhile life, which dispelled much of the sorrow. He was a kind friend and mentor to many and will be greatly missed. He also possessed an unfailing good humor, that prevailed, I am told, right to the end. Bon voyage, friend!
Now it is out to the deer stand to make some improvements before the season gets any closer.

11/14/09 JUST A BUNCH OF WISE GUYS

LUPINE BLOOMING OUT OF SEASON
WEEPING WILLOW STILL HANGIN' IN THERE

Saturday, 8:15 AM. 44 degrees, wind W, calm with fog just lifting from the channel. There is 4” of rain in the gage and the barometer predicts partly cloudy weather.
We returned to Bayfield from Langlade late afternoon yesterday. The weather was cooperative and we did some walking in the woods, but not a lot, as we had serious visiting to do. We did see lots of turkeys, deer at night, some grouse and a few eagles.
Old buddy Tom Moran is a friend from childhood and we have kept close all these years. His companion Barb has become a close friend in the last few years as well and we enjoyed being with them in Tom’s new digs on Island Lake. Tom’s cousin Brian Miller is almost as old a friend, and he and wife Carol are expats from Alaska now living in Langlade on the Wolf River, but I think their hearts are still up in the Klondike. Landlubbers, they built a sixty foot steel hulled sailboat in their back yard in Anchorage, hauled it to the ocean and sailed it to the Baja with the intent of going around the world, but fortune intervened and that’s as far as they got, but did manage to escape with their lives. Their Alaska sons now winter in Wisconsin (who would think it?) to escape the dark winters, but go back during the spring and summer months. There were plenty of stories of grizzly bears encountered on the salmon streams or on the way to the outhouse. A twelve, or preferably a ten gage shotgun with slugs is a constant companion. Another old friend of mine, Bill Ballering and companion Emeline live in nearby Mountain. I, Tom, Brian and Bill all worked together at one time or another on pipeline, tunnel and other construction jobs, and when we get together the time and the tall tails tend to fly. As I reflect upon it, we are all probably lucky to still be alive. We are a rather raucous bunch when together, and relentlessly politically incorrect. I looked around for hidden microphones at times but the FBI evidently doesn't bother to put them around North Woods campfires. Lucky went along and had a good time running in the woods, eating leftover steak and comparing masters with the other dogs. There are unfortunately no photos of our trip because I was sold the wrong memory card for the new camera. Today’s photos are from the camera’s internal memory; the old weeping willow on Rittenhouse and Ninth Street is about the last deciduous tree still with leaves. The lupine is blooming on Eighth Street, just a wise guy like the rest of us, I guess.

11/10/09 OCTOBER IN NOVEMBER

NATIVE HOLLY, ILEX VERTICILLATA
RED BERRIES IN THE WINTER
OCTOBER IN NOVEMBER

8:00 AM. 40 degrees, wind WNW, calm. The channel is sparkling, the sky cloudless and the barometer predicts the same. We are getting our October weather in November and it is fine for traveling. We are going to visit a number of old friends in Langlade and Mountain for a few days, traveling southeast from the Chequamegon National Forest to its southern counterpart, which used to be called the Nicolet but for some reason is now a hyphenated subsidiary of the former. Anyway it is a nice trip through forests, farms, small towns and lake country, and from the little Red Cliff Rez to the huge Menominee Reservation. We have a lot of visiting to do but may pretend to do some grouse hunting or fishing as well.
The red berried shrubs are the native winterberry holly, Ilex verticillata. They do not have evergreen leaves as do the better known English and American hollies, but their fruit is outstanding in the winter. These are south of Bayfield along Hwy 13 and the Sioux River. We saw very nice specimens the other day along the Wisconsin River but could not get to them. They are river bottom and bog plants.