Author's note: We had our first good snowstorm on Monday and whether that knocked out my internet access, I don't know. I was not able to log on for a couple days. I'll have a report about the deer hunting season as soon as I can write one up. In the mean time, here is a true tale about the river that runs past my house.
BONES IN THE RIVERBED
By: Ray Hansen
The inspiration for this blog came from something I observed this summer while wading in the river behind my house and casting for smallmouth bass: deer bones lay scattered in certain sections of the riverbed. Moving slowly along, I’d spot part of a ribcage here, and a hip bone there. Longer leg bones often lay oriented with the flow of the current, and smaller bones sat wherever the high and roiled water flow during the spring would fling them.
Later in the fall I went to a place more than twenty miles upstream and found even more evidence – old and new – on the dry bed of a reservoir that had been drained. I had some hunches about how they got there, but I haven’t lived here very long so I decided to consult the Mystic Oracle, otherwise known as the Past President of the Old Partridge Hunter’s Society. He lives a grouse flush down the road from me and has spent many years on the river. I found him out in his workshop, tinkering with reloading press.
“Ah yes” he said, mulling the question over on a warm October night. “Bones in the riverbed. Well… a few come from coyote kills during the winter, and maybe a few more from deer that make it to the river after getting hit by trucks on the road. Most though, are put there intentionally.”
“Put there intentionally” I repeated, somewhat surprised.
“Yup” he replied, picking up a twelve gauge hull from his reloading bench and examining it under the light of a sputtering lantern. “Do you feed birds in the winter” he asked?
“Sure” I answered.
“And what do you feed them?”
“Seed mix, suet, dried corn, peanut butter”, I said while thinking about supplies I’d buy for the upcoming cold months.
“Great for jays and juncos” the President postulated, “but what if you wanted to feed eagles?”
“Aha” I exclaimed, grasping the significance of his calculated question.
“People here watch for roadkilled deer once the river freezes over. Pick up a small deer if you’re alone, or a bigger one if you have help. Toss it in the back of the truck. Skid it across the snow and slide it over the riverbank”, he explained, staring out past the lantern light.
“Eagles, sometimes four of them, strip the carcass fairly clean and ravens get the rest. Once in a while a pack of coyotes scare the birds off but there is usually not much left for them. Mice and small nesting birds carry off the hair, and the river claims the bones.”
So the river flows along unceasing. New water constantly keeps the current moving. Each time I look at the surface, it really is a new river. The bones I see are the only sign that some particular deer ever existed, but they don’t last forever. Maybe the words on this page are the only thing that can ever lend them any kind of permanence…
Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008
Showing posts with label partridge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label partridge. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
MISCELLANEOUS OUTDOOR OBSERVATIONS
10-05-08 BOWHUNT REPORT
Duane Deno and I headed out to our bow hunting stands again before sunrise on October 5 – the same two we hunted on opening day. As we settled in well before sunrise, a pair of owls decided to see which one could out-hoot the other. Duane’s stand is several hundred yards southeast of mine and one of the birds was somewhere between us, while the other was about 75 yards west of my spot.
As the sun came up, several ravens flew over. They circled the spot where the owl closest to me seemed to be perched, and began cawing to attract other ravens. Somehow in “raven language” they put the word out that an owl was there and soon several dozen of the black birds arrived. They harassed the owl for about thirty minutes before it left, flying below the tree canopy to stay out of reach.
These two species seem to be deadly enemies, and they sure make a lot of noise when ravens or crows find one of the predatory birds roosting. At times I’ve seen a hundred or more crows circling around a tree where an owl sits.
On this morning, the noise was somewhat welcome, because it was so calm that no other noise existed. When this happens, deer are much more likely to hear some faint sound made by hunters in a treestand, and avoid the area. I always prefer at least a light wind that rattles branches on days when I climb up into a stand.
As for deer, I had two approach from behind me, offering no shot. Both were does, and seemed large enough to take if a shot had been possible. Duane saw one, but had no shot either.
PARTRIDGE IN THE CRABAPPLE TREE
I was outside shooting my bow at a target a couple days ago, when a partridge flew past me and landed at the base of a crabapple tree in my yard. The russet colored gamebird picked at some apples that were lying on the ground, and strutted around looking for other bits of food.
I often scatter a few handfuls of dried corn kernels in the yard to keep bluejays, rabbits, gray squirrels and other wildlife around where I can watch them from the house. I think some other birds and animals have learned to listen to the sounds bluejays make when feeding, because the jays are always noisy. That commotion seems to let the others know a feeding opportunity can be found there.
“RIVERSOUND”
From time to time my wife and I have noticed changes in the sound of the river as it flows past our home. This is essentially due to the water level. When low, it rushes over some rocks and around others, creating more aerated swirls and tiny falls on sharply edged rocks. Its sound then is higher pitched, lightly rushing in the slightly deeper mid-stream channel. Birds that eat fish are seen more frequently under low water conditions because they can spot their prey easier and they communicate their excitement in shrill screeches that echo up and down the river corridor.
When higher, the river moans and groans under the heavier flow. Broad sloshing accents the current as it splits around larger, rounded boulders. The once shallow riffles that tinkled with melodic riverspeak, now gurgle and rumble with deeper baritone watersong.
Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008
Duane Deno and I headed out to our bow hunting stands again before sunrise on October 5 – the same two we hunted on opening day. As we settled in well before sunrise, a pair of owls decided to see which one could out-hoot the other. Duane’s stand is several hundred yards southeast of mine and one of the birds was somewhere between us, while the other was about 75 yards west of my spot.
As the sun came up, several ravens flew over. They circled the spot where the owl closest to me seemed to be perched, and began cawing to attract other ravens. Somehow in “raven language” they put the word out that an owl was there and soon several dozen of the black birds arrived. They harassed the owl for about thirty minutes before it left, flying below the tree canopy to stay out of reach.
These two species seem to be deadly enemies, and they sure make a lot of noise when ravens or crows find one of the predatory birds roosting. At times I’ve seen a hundred or more crows circling around a tree where an owl sits.
On this morning, the noise was somewhat welcome, because it was so calm that no other noise existed. When this happens, deer are much more likely to hear some faint sound made by hunters in a treestand, and avoid the area. I always prefer at least a light wind that rattles branches on days when I climb up into a stand.
As for deer, I had two approach from behind me, offering no shot. Both were does, and seemed large enough to take if a shot had been possible. Duane saw one, but had no shot either.
PARTRIDGE IN THE CRABAPPLE TREE
I was outside shooting my bow at a target a couple days ago, when a partridge flew past me and landed at the base of a crabapple tree in my yard. The russet colored gamebird picked at some apples that were lying on the ground, and strutted around looking for other bits of food.
I often scatter a few handfuls of dried corn kernels in the yard to keep bluejays, rabbits, gray squirrels and other wildlife around where I can watch them from the house. I think some other birds and animals have learned to listen to the sounds bluejays make when feeding, because the jays are always noisy. That commotion seems to let the others know a feeding opportunity can be found there.
“RIVERSOUND”
From time to time my wife and I have noticed changes in the sound of the river as it flows past our home. This is essentially due to the water level. When low, it rushes over some rocks and around others, creating more aerated swirls and tiny falls on sharply edged rocks. Its sound then is higher pitched, lightly rushing in the slightly deeper mid-stream channel. Birds that eat fish are seen more frequently under low water conditions because they can spot their prey easier and they communicate their excitement in shrill screeches that echo up and down the river corridor.
When higher, the river moans and groans under the heavier flow. Broad sloshing accents the current as it splits around larger, rounded boulders. The once shallow riffles that tinkled with melodic riverspeak, now gurgle and rumble with deeper baritone watersong.
Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
WHAT DO PARTRIDGE EAT?
BIRD HUNTERS AND DEER HUNTERS CO-OPERATE
By: Ray Hansen
One of the wonderful things I get to observe from a treestand while waiting for a deer to pass within range is other wildlife going about its normal daily routine. Here in Michigan the small game season opens September 15th each year, and that includes Ruffed Grouse. Hunters who hit the woods with pointing dogs each fall call these gamebirds Partridge, and I frequently exchange information with a handful of these guys.
They want to know where I have seen birds, and I want to know where they are seeing deer. And since I simply watch Partridge walking through the woods without shooting them – I’m hunting deer after October 1st – I get to see them feeding. Hunters with dogs never get this chance because the dog points the bird and the hunter moves in to flush it and hope for a clear shot as the partridge rockets away. In the heavy forest cover found hereabouts, the Partridge wins this contest most of the time.
Anyway, from my treestand I have seen these birds consume a variety of foods including leaves from apple trees, buds from the branch tips of aspen (poplar) trees, clover, wintergreen berries, small leaves from fruits like wild strawberry plants, and a small, round black berry that I believe is hackberry.
I have also watched them pick at apples when I hunt near wild apple trees, and I think they catch beetles or grasshoppers at times. I’ve watched them bite and peck in grassy areas and I’m not sure if they chasing bugs or eating the grass itself. When near oaks, I’ve seen them grab acorns but I can’t imagine how they could swallow one. Maybe they target the smaller acorns.
Of all these grouse treats, I have most commonly seen them forage on apple and aspen leaves or the buds from these trees. I often advise grouse hunters to look for places where these trees grow close to a water source, since these spots typically provide gamebirds with all their necessities in a setting where heavier cover offers them security.
Places where wood cutting has taken place two to five years ago are potentially great spots. Here in the Upper Peninsula, poplar (aspen) starts refilling the cutover tracts the following year. Small trees with tender new buds grow in profusion. In addition, the left over branches and brush are usually piled throughout the cut area and grouse use these brushpiles as cover.
Deer also like these “second growth” spots as they are called. I recall hunting near Channing, Michigan one year when I put up a treestand in older growth forest right long the edge of a cut area. In the course of a five-day hunt, two of us tagged bucks thanks to bird hunters.
As the hunters put out their dogs on the edge of the cut nearest the old logging road, deer would move out ahead of the pointers. In nearly every case, the deer would simply circle back through the older timber – and sometimes past my stand – to get behind the bird hunters. The guys looking for partridge often failed to see the deer, or didn’t care because they were not hunting deer. They sure did me a favor though. It made my hunting a lot easier!
Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008
By: Ray Hansen
One of the wonderful things I get to observe from a treestand while waiting for a deer to pass within range is other wildlife going about its normal daily routine. Here in Michigan the small game season opens September 15th each year, and that includes Ruffed Grouse. Hunters who hit the woods with pointing dogs each fall call these gamebirds Partridge, and I frequently exchange information with a handful of these guys.
They want to know where I have seen birds, and I want to know where they are seeing deer. And since I simply watch Partridge walking through the woods without shooting them – I’m hunting deer after October 1st – I get to see them feeding. Hunters with dogs never get this chance because the dog points the bird and the hunter moves in to flush it and hope for a clear shot as the partridge rockets away. In the heavy forest cover found hereabouts, the Partridge wins this contest most of the time.
Anyway, from my treestand I have seen these birds consume a variety of foods including leaves from apple trees, buds from the branch tips of aspen (poplar) trees, clover, wintergreen berries, small leaves from fruits like wild strawberry plants, and a small, round black berry that I believe is hackberry.
I have also watched them pick at apples when I hunt near wild apple trees, and I think they catch beetles or grasshoppers at times. I’ve watched them bite and peck in grassy areas and I’m not sure if they chasing bugs or eating the grass itself. When near oaks, I’ve seen them grab acorns but I can’t imagine how they could swallow one. Maybe they target the smaller acorns.
Of all these grouse treats, I have most commonly seen them forage on apple and aspen leaves or the buds from these trees. I often advise grouse hunters to look for places where these trees grow close to a water source, since these spots typically provide gamebirds with all their necessities in a setting where heavier cover offers them security.
Places where wood cutting has taken place two to five years ago are potentially great spots. Here in the Upper Peninsula, poplar (aspen) starts refilling the cutover tracts the following year. Small trees with tender new buds grow in profusion. In addition, the left over branches and brush are usually piled throughout the cut area and grouse use these brushpiles as cover.
Deer also like these “second growth” spots as they are called. I recall hunting near Channing, Michigan one year when I put up a treestand in older growth forest right long the edge of a cut area. In the course of a five-day hunt, two of us tagged bucks thanks to bird hunters.
As the hunters put out their dogs on the edge of the cut nearest the old logging road, deer would move out ahead of the pointers. In nearly every case, the deer would simply circle back through the older timber – and sometimes past my stand – to get behind the bird hunters. The guys looking for partridge often failed to see the deer, or didn’t care because they were not hunting deer. They sure did me a favor though. It made my hunting a lot easier!
Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
OLD HUNTING TRUCKS
By: Ray Hansen
My friend Mike from up the road asked me several days ago if I would go with him to take a look at a “good old hunting truck”. He has a 2007 Toyota Tundra pick-up, but wanted an old truck to be used for driving through tough woods and some swamp into hunting spots that were more remote. Ideally, he was looking for a four-wheel drive unit that was already beat up but basically dependable so he could keep his “nice truck” looking nice.
He also needs to haul two good bird dogs when hunting for grouse, and does not want to cage them as is necessary in the Toyota. It is nice to have a vehicle that muddy, wet, bird dogs can jump up into when you open the back and wave them in.
We checked out a 1991 Chevy Blazer that seemed to meet all the requirements of a good “camp truck”, and bought it for $400. It is a two-door style with the 4.3 liter V-6 engine, faded red in color, somewhat banged up, with the driver side tail-light duct taped in place. The gas tank leaks slightly and the steering column is somewhat “loosey-goosey”. Anyway, it started right up and idled nicely without having to rev the engine first. It sounded good, and had a worn out set of oversized tires with a spare in the back that held air. What more could you ask for?
We drove it over to the home-based shop of a local bus mechanic who does slow but cheap and reliable work on the side. We parked it by his big “pole barn” style garage, and he’ll fix the worst problems with junkyard parts for the most part. In two or three weeks and with about another $500 invested, Mike will have his camp truck rolling.
It will probably last forever, with just a few hundred miles actual driving distance travelled annually. And the dogs… well, they don’t care what kind of truck they ride in as long as it takes them somewhere they can point partridge!
Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008
My friend Mike from up the road asked me several days ago if I would go with him to take a look at a “good old hunting truck”. He has a 2007 Toyota Tundra pick-up, but wanted an old truck to be used for driving through tough woods and some swamp into hunting spots that were more remote. Ideally, he was looking for a four-wheel drive unit that was already beat up but basically dependable so he could keep his “nice truck” looking nice.
He also needs to haul two good bird dogs when hunting for grouse, and does not want to cage them as is necessary in the Toyota. It is nice to have a vehicle that muddy, wet, bird dogs can jump up into when you open the back and wave them in.
We checked out a 1991 Chevy Blazer that seemed to meet all the requirements of a good “camp truck”, and bought it for $400. It is a two-door style with the 4.3 liter V-6 engine, faded red in color, somewhat banged up, with the driver side tail-light duct taped in place. The gas tank leaks slightly and the steering column is somewhat “loosey-goosey”. Anyway, it started right up and idled nicely without having to rev the engine first. It sounded good, and had a worn out set of oversized tires with a spare in the back that held air. What more could you ask for?
We drove it over to the home-based shop of a local bus mechanic who does slow but cheap and reliable work on the side. We parked it by his big “pole barn” style garage, and he’ll fix the worst problems with junkyard parts for the most part. In two or three weeks and with about another $500 invested, Mike will have his camp truck rolling.
It will probably last forever, with just a few hundred miles actual driving distance travelled annually. And the dogs… well, they don’t care what kind of truck they ride in as long as it takes them somewhere they can point partridge!
Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008
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