I SURE WOULD LIKE SOME VENISON IN THE FREEZER

Thursday, 8:00 AM.  40 degrees F, wind SW, moderate with stronger gusts.  It is a sparkling morning, the dark clouds being blown out rapidly and the sky quickly becoming blue.  The channel has a chop on its waters, and the sea is shining in the early morning sunshine.  A pileated woodpecker drummed incessantly from somewhere as we walked.  It is a fine day, although the barometer predicts rain.  But hopefully not before we get some last yard work done.
        So, back to blog basics.  Far less, I promise, of politics and more of weather observations, wildlife interest, and small town life.  Of the last, the Bayfield Chamber of Commerce is holding its annual meeting tonight and Joan and I will attend.  It is always a good evening, light on business and heavy on socializing.  A special aspect of tonight’s event will be retirement best wishes for Executive Director Carrie Obst, who will leave at the end of this year.  She has done a great job of leading the Chamber to financial solvency and new heights of community and member service.  The membership has grown almost exponentially and the organization has become a true partner with the city in community development.
        Also, as the election dust settles, Wisconsin has again proven itself a political enigma, as although the state went rather solidly for President Obama and filled a vacant U. S. Senate seat with a liberal Democrat, on the state front the Republicans retook the state senate and Wisconsin now has a Republican governor, and Republican senate and house majorities.  Go figure!
        My usual deer hunting territory has been closed to me for quite some time due to a squabble between adjacent landowners over an access road, the upshot of which is I finally got down to my usual deer stand yesterday via a new entrance to the old logging road, and the new truck negotiated it just fine. Joan and I and Buddy drove down the logging trail yesterday just before dark, and met one of the loggers on his way out, so we had a chance to talk to him, a very nice young man in his beat up old pickup truck. 
        They have cut and stacked some pretty big old oak trees from a portion of the tract that they did not log several years ago and the logs are stacked up at the end of the road, ready to be loaded out.  He said they planned to be done, weather permitting, before deer season (which starts November 17, just ten days from now).  My tree stand is intact and there doesn’t seem to be much disturbance in its immediate vicinity.  He was kind enough to warn me of a coyote trap he has put out, so I won’t let Buddy run there.  He said he has not seen any grouse so I probably won’t bird hunt there anyway. 
        He he has seen lots of coyote and quite a bit of deer sign, including a big buck rub down one of the ravines.  Sometimes active logging actually attracts deer, as it provides a lot of fresh browse when the downed trees are limbed. 
        Now that I have access again I will spend some time scouting a bit. The area I hunt is enrolled in the Managed Forest Law program, and basically that is one reason it has been logged.  I will explain that program in tomorrow’s blog.
         I am not as excited about deer hunting this year as I sometimes have been, as I really don’t have anyone to hunt with anymore and that takes a lot of the fun out of it.  But I sure would like some venison in the freezer.