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
Showing posts with label poplar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poplar. Show all posts
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
RIVER WALK - PART 4
This is the final installment of the blog about our hike along the Escanaba River. I hope you enjoy it.
By: Ray Hansen
CONSISTENT WATER SOURCES
The artesian wells do not seem to be affected by drought. When other sources run low, they continue to flow. I remember the drought of 1976. We owned an eighty-acre tract east of here on the Stonington Peninsula, about 35 miles away. On that piece of land, we found a big spring that held water when most other sources dried to dust. Deer from miles around visited that spring and wore “cow paths” into the earth leading to the water.
BEARS PARADISE
I recall taking a long, straight cedar pole and using it to try to see how deep the spring was, but the pole went straight down and found no resistance. Its outflow was not too large – probably four feet across – and it must have been connected to an open water source somewhere because I could see small fish in it at times. A cranberry bog was situated farther east, that had open water visible out toward its middle. The ground around the open water was composed entirely of spongy, intertwined bog plant roots. Approaching the water was impossible because you would simply sink through the roots and become mired in them. Deer especially, were unsuited for trying to move through the spot since their legs are too thin. Bears though, liked the sour berries and simply flopped in and wallowed along to get to them.
COPPER COUNTRY HIGHWAY
Archaeologists have determined that this river (the Escanaba River) was one of the major routes leading from Lake Michigan northwest to the Copper Country area on the Keweenaw Peninsula. Many ancient people travelled there to gather copper because it is one of the very few places in the world where this metal could be literally picked up on the surface or mined from shallow excavations, in a form pure enough to use without any refining. Technology has now advanced enough to determine where raw metals originated, and Upper Peninsula copper has been found over a wide part of the country, partly due to trading between tribes, but also from groups traveling to the area seasonally to gather it. Many ancient shallow pit mines were found on Isle Royal in Lake Superior, and have been extensively studied and documented over they years. Some date back many thousands of years.
EAGLE VISITS
On our hike, we watched one of the resident eagles pass by several times. The big bird would not fly directly above us, but he has a series of trees he stops in along the course of the river. They are usually pines, and each has a sort of flat top that lets the majestic bird survey the surroundings from an unobstructed point. These trees are also close to the water’s edge so he can watch for fish. The other fish-eaters that visit are ospreys and kingfishers. All are a real treat to watch as they forage along the waterway and occasionally dive-bomb fish. So far, the osprey has captured the largest fish that I witnessed. It looked like a twelve to fourteen inch brown trout through binoculars.
So our river walks will continue through this fall. Starting October first, I’ll be bowhunting for deer, and this will take up some of my time. The trees along the river have started changing color. Kate and I will enjoy some excellent photo opportunities when the maples, poplar, beech, ironwood, cottonwood, and ash compete to see which can display the most vivid colors.
Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008
By: Ray Hansen
CONSISTENT WATER SOURCES
The artesian wells do not seem to be affected by drought. When other sources run low, they continue to flow. I remember the drought of 1976. We owned an eighty-acre tract east of here on the Stonington Peninsula, about 35 miles away. On that piece of land, we found a big spring that held water when most other sources dried to dust. Deer from miles around visited that spring and wore “cow paths” into the earth leading to the water.
BEARS PARADISE
I recall taking a long, straight cedar pole and using it to try to see how deep the spring was, but the pole went straight down and found no resistance. Its outflow was not too large – probably four feet across – and it must have been connected to an open water source somewhere because I could see small fish in it at times. A cranberry bog was situated farther east, that had open water visible out toward its middle. The ground around the open water was composed entirely of spongy, intertwined bog plant roots. Approaching the water was impossible because you would simply sink through the roots and become mired in them. Deer especially, were unsuited for trying to move through the spot since their legs are too thin. Bears though, liked the sour berries and simply flopped in and wallowed along to get to them.
COPPER COUNTRY HIGHWAY
Archaeologists have determined that this river (the Escanaba River) was one of the major routes leading from Lake Michigan northwest to the Copper Country area on the Keweenaw Peninsula. Many ancient people travelled there to gather copper because it is one of the very few places in the world where this metal could be literally picked up on the surface or mined from shallow excavations, in a form pure enough to use without any refining. Technology has now advanced enough to determine where raw metals originated, and Upper Peninsula copper has been found over a wide part of the country, partly due to trading between tribes, but also from groups traveling to the area seasonally to gather it. Many ancient shallow pit mines were found on Isle Royal in Lake Superior, and have been extensively studied and documented over they years. Some date back many thousands of years.
EAGLE VISITS
On our hike, we watched one of the resident eagles pass by several times. The big bird would not fly directly above us, but he has a series of trees he stops in along the course of the river. They are usually pines, and each has a sort of flat top that lets the majestic bird survey the surroundings from an unobstructed point. These trees are also close to the water’s edge so he can watch for fish. The other fish-eaters that visit are ospreys and kingfishers. All are a real treat to watch as they forage along the waterway and occasionally dive-bomb fish. So far, the osprey has captured the largest fish that I witnessed. It looked like a twelve to fourteen inch brown trout through binoculars.
So our river walks will continue through this fall. Starting October first, I’ll be bowhunting for deer, and this will take up some of my time. The trees along the river have started changing color. Kate and I will enjoy some excellent photo opportunities when the maples, poplar, beech, ironwood, cottonwood, and ash compete to see which can display the most vivid colors.
Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
TREE TRIMMING
By: Ray Hansen
Last year about this time, I was trimming branches from the backyard trees to let more sunlight in. The spruces especially, block the light very effectively. Anyway, I was about ten feet up a ladder, and sawing through a thick, heavy poplar branch that extended out about twenty-five feet from the trunk. It was as high as I could reach over my head, but on the other side of the tree. Suddenly, it snapped off and the far end hit the ground which made it recoil back toward me like a huge, blunt-tipped spear. I could see disaster unfolding - almost as if in slow motion - and I said: "oh @#^^*$$!*, this is going to hurt!"
Well... the sawed end of the branch slammed into my chest like a World War Two soldier ramming a bayonet into the enemy. It flipped me off the ladder with the force of a pellet leaving a slingshot. Kate says I fell straight down, and slammed into the ground on my back. To me, it seemed more like one of the high dives you see in the Olympics, where the athlete does some spirals, maybe a complete rotation or two, then finishes with perhaps a jack-knife maneuver before touching down gracefully. Of course, they have the advantage of landing in water. I, on the other hand, crashed into hard, rocky ground filled with spear-like branches I had previously cut.
The duration of the fall is also in dispute. Kate says it happened in a flash, but of course, her perspective is that of a somewhat alarmed observer. To me - actually experiencing the event - it was more like a sky-dive. The fall seemed long enough for me to review several possible gymnastic moves while in the actual free-fall, before finally deciding that a simple back-slam would end the experience. To me, a side-line observer would have seen something like an acrobatic bi-winged aircraft doing loops and tailspins, before finally heading straight toward the ground. You hold your breath, knowing (and hoping) they will pull out at the last second. My case though, resulted in an uncontrolled flight path to earth, culminating in a full crash.
I lay on the ground slightly dazed, and thoroughly rattled, but intact. After checking my own limbs and finding no breaks or dislocations, I had Kate help me up. I wobbled into the house for a very welcome break, and was out there sawing limbs again after a half-hour rest. You know the old saw: “when a horse throws you, get right back on and ride”.
Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008
Last year about this time, I was trimming branches from the backyard trees to let more sunlight in. The spruces especially, block the light very effectively. Anyway, I was about ten feet up a ladder, and sawing through a thick, heavy poplar branch that extended out about twenty-five feet from the trunk. It was as high as I could reach over my head, but on the other side of the tree. Suddenly, it snapped off and the far end hit the ground which made it recoil back toward me like a huge, blunt-tipped spear. I could see disaster unfolding - almost as if in slow motion - and I said: "oh @#^^*$$!*, this is going to hurt!"
Well... the sawed end of the branch slammed into my chest like a World War Two soldier ramming a bayonet into the enemy. It flipped me off the ladder with the force of a pellet leaving a slingshot. Kate says I fell straight down, and slammed into the ground on my back. To me, it seemed more like one of the high dives you see in the Olympics, where the athlete does some spirals, maybe a complete rotation or two, then finishes with perhaps a jack-knife maneuver before touching down gracefully. Of course, they have the advantage of landing in water. I, on the other hand, crashed into hard, rocky ground filled with spear-like branches I had previously cut.
The duration of the fall is also in dispute. Kate says it happened in a flash, but of course, her perspective is that of a somewhat alarmed observer. To me - actually experiencing the event - it was more like a sky-dive. The fall seemed long enough for me to review several possible gymnastic moves while in the actual free-fall, before finally deciding that a simple back-slam would end the experience. To me, a side-line observer would have seen something like an acrobatic bi-winged aircraft doing loops and tailspins, before finally heading straight toward the ground. You hold your breath, knowing (and hoping) they will pull out at the last second. My case though, resulted in an uncontrolled flight path to earth, culminating in a full crash.
I lay on the ground slightly dazed, and thoroughly rattled, but intact. After checking my own limbs and finding no breaks or dislocations, I had Kate help me up. I wobbled into the house for a very welcome break, and was out there sawing limbs again after a half-hour rest. You know the old saw: “when a horse throws you, get right back on and ride”.
Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008
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