Warm and sunny, finally

It is warm and sunny today. The high temperature pushes near 60, so sitting around the house is out of the question.

With the snow rapidly melting, it is becoming easier to walk around. I took the opportunity to walk down to the edge of my property by the Kickapoo River. I wanted to get the boundaries clearly marked and located. The snow was a little deeper in some spots than I liked, but I managed to get to both edges on the north side of the property. I had also wanted to explore the inside part of the bend where I intend to plant crops, but decided to look over other parts of the property instead.

I headed up toward the ridge that towers over the place. It is not really that much higher than the rest of the land, but the climb is steep. I reached the area where I had been lucky with the deer in season, and relocated some of my favorite spots (which looked different with half the snow gone). I located a few well used game trails and worked my way toward the ridge. Parts were tricky to navigate, since the ground itself was still frozen in several spots, but I made it up to the top (or at least to the point where there was only the rock face above me).

Exhausted, I sat down to cool off. Finally, I decided to look around more carefully. This place was a treasure. I found several small caves and overhangs, obviously used as dens by some critters. Then I located several piles of droppings and identified what had been there. It was a coyote den. It had been used often, but not too recently. I made careful notes to be ready for later activities with the coyotes.

After that, I worked my way down the steeper back side of the ridge to the parts of the land I was more familiar with. Finally, I walked past the “deer condo” and back to the house.
While out and about I heard at least one turkey several times near the river. I later heard several Canadian geese in that same area.
It had been a good morning. But as warm as it was, I could not resist a chance to try my luck at the pond. This warm weather had melted about 60% of the ice cover. Probably half of what remains was slushy and unsafe to even try walking on. I grabbed my spinning gear and some wax worms (left over from my ice fishing adventures) and cast out.

It may be due to the pond turning over from the ice melt or perhaps another reason, but I had almost no luck. I worked my way around the entire pond with not so much as a strike. Finally, I went out on the dock and cast toward the newly open area by the float (that had never been pulled out for the winter). I was rewarded by a nearly instantaneous strike and brought in a nice bluegill. The next cast (which bounced off the float) yielded an even bigger bluegill. However, that was it. Just when I thought I had figured out the pattern, it changed.

Nevertheless, it has been a pretty good day. I caught a couple fish, and explored a large part of my property. Once all the snow is gone, I can explore the parts I have missed so far. Then I can try figuring out where to put the food plots and crops.

Finally, I put the raccoon hide in the freezer after giving it a good coasting of preservative. I can work on the actual mounting when the weather is warmer, and going to stay that way. Anyhow, there are several other critters to get ready, and I can order the needed taxidermy supplies in one big order.

Good day

Today was a good day! After all the work on the drywall, sanding, more joint compound, etc; of the previous days, it was time to let things dry. Even better, for the second straight day, we were expecting the high to be above freezing. It was even in the mid-thirties at 6:00 am. Perhaps spring will arrive.

The wife had to go off to work early, so we got up at 5:00 am. After she got out the door, I made a quick run to the coyote traps. Nothing got caught, but I used this opportunity to retrieve the trail-cam. When I reviewed the pictures, I discovered I had collected several pictures of a Barn Owl. That was unexpected, but certainly welcome. As an added bonus, one was a decent picture of the animal in flight.

Next I got down to the real business for the day; skinning the raccoon. I had managed to collect several of them this year in my traps. It has been many years since I did any serious trapping, so I am happy with the success. This raccoon was thawed out for skinning. Since I am a taxidermist, I planned to make at least one into a full body mount. Another one will be a “coon skin” hat for the wife’s grandchild. It has been quite some time since I prepared an animal for a full body mount. I am glad to say it went well, but took a lot of time. The basic skinning went fast, but all the little detail work needs to be done and done right (carefully). Finally, I completed the task, washed off the skin, and let it dry a while before starting with the preservative.

I even finished in plenty of time to attend the on-line webinar about preserving data for lawsuits. Interesting to me since I am a lawyer, but a bit esoteric for others. Anyhow, it was a free Continuing Education Unit, so I was there for it. Good price.

Then I went over to the pond and drowned a few wax worms for an hour. Sadly, the fish were not cooperating. However, I did hear some Canadian Geese honking away. We had the one here earlier in the week in the pond, so it was good to hear more. The pond is thawing out and almost half clear (or is it half frozen; I never could figure which way I must look at these things).