Almost Fall and Long Ridge Can't Wait!

 These two shots demonstrate what I have been doing the past few weeks besides archery practice. I fertilize and lime the plots just before August. On the annual plots I then rototill them to mix the lime and fertilizer (or harrow) then roll them, seed them, and roll again. Voila! I plant several types of annuals, Secret Spot, NoPlow, brassicas, and mix it in with an excellent clover. What that gives us is a great fall forage, and in the spring the clover comes up to feed the deer through next summer, when I start all over again. This month I also planted a quarter acre of Tall Tine Tubers (turnip) and of course my two acres of perennial clover. All the plantings emerged within three days and are doing well. By mid September, the deer will be back on them!

The two shots below are hilarious. This little guy just can't stand the turkeys eating in his special place. I have a dozen shots of him chasing them off. Apparently this does not discourage them much because they just come back for more. This is up on the Far Ridge.

Since it is well into August, I have been working hard to hone my archery skills once again. This three shot group above was shot from thirty yards, and just meets my standards. Those being, a one inch group at ten yards, two inch at twenty, three inch at thirty and four inches at forty. The forty yard standard is of course the toughest, but I am almost there. Many say that one should allow for a bigger group at forty yards, but I disagree. Just a small movement or step by a deer at forty yards makes a huge difference. I have always been able to make this standard, but when the day comes that I cannot do it consistently, then I'll limit my shots to thirty yards.

A nice shot of a doe and fawn....

Somehow this little guy is still around! I don't know how he does it, since we have so many foxes, coyotes and bobcats in the vicinity...

 No idea what kind of mushroom this is, but I thought it was kind of neat. It was six inches across the top, and I was sure there would be a toad under it! Also, I could never seem to learn which ones are edible, so I just leave them alone...

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 Here is a night time doe in our clover field. The camera is on a lone apple tree in that field, and in a few weeks I'll have pictures of the deer feeding on the apples at this site.

We will pass on this buck in the east plot. Doesn't look to me like he'll make the required eight points. next year maybe...

When I was plowing up the West plot, I looked up to see I had left a hanger in there last December. I climbed up and found the foam in the cushion completely gone, to line a squirrel's nest somewhere, and the cover chewed to pieces. Each year we learn this lesson all over again - which is to say, we never learn! Bring in your hangers and suspended seats from your permanent stands - otherwise it will cost you money!

jackzeller@myfairpoint.net

And Still More Summer at LRDC!

Mid summer now and things are hot here, as in the rest of the country. Our Bluebirds are fledging their second sets, the Robins are on their third, and we even have a Robin that appears to be attempting to hatch eggs in two separate nests in our winter barn. We cannot be sure yet, but I'll keep you posted on that one! Below was a day on the Connecticut River, a perfect summer day. We cruised for miles, seeing hawks, Bald Eagles, Blue herons, and a host of other fish and game. We pulled our twin Yamahas up on this secluded beach for a cocktail, and watched some several Dragonflies (or darning needles as we called them as children) hatch out. They of course develop and feed in the water, and crawl out when the time and temp is right to metamorphose into the real thing. There were thousands of them...

Below is one arching out of the whole in the back of it's skeleton, kind of a poor picture though...

Here it is, finally free of the old bones. They are almost transparent when they first break out, and wet. They dry in the sun for about 5-10 minutes, and darken. Then they are off and gobbling up bugs!

This is the old shell they are in when they crawl out of the water and onto dry land for the finale..

Below is one resting and drying just a minute or so before she flew off to hover...

And here is one just taking off!

And then, back to the game cameras! This is one long legged brutish looking coyote! I can never tell if he is eating minerals, or just sniffing the scent of all the others that do...

A happy confident young fellow on the far Ridge.

Check out the turkeys in the upper right hand corner of this pic..

Another picture of Mr. Nasty.

I feel fortunate to have spotted this nest. It is the nest and eggs of a Wood Thrush, to me, one of the most musical and lovely birds there is...the bird books almost uniformly state that the Wood Thrushes build their nest in trees, like Robins. I find that is not true. Every Wood Thrush nest I have ever seen around these parts was built on the ground, but looks like a Robin's nest. Can you find the three eggs?

I returned a few days later and took this quiet picture from twelve feet at 10X. I will not intrude on this area again, because unlike Robin's, Wood Thrushes will abandon their nests at the slightest provocation...see her large eyes? That is why they prefer dense vegetation.

Still growing...

Deer in the headlights?

That Coyote must be coming back...

Chow time...

This is called "having your skirt blown up"

And so it goes...This week I will start cleaning up camp as I will host a LRDC hunter's cocktail hour there this week, set up my bow target, and in general just start leaning slightly more toward hunting season than farming...of course second cutting is coming in, so there is more hay to heave, and more river to run with the boats yet, but I can feel the excitement just beginning...

Also we have a winner on the 'guess the bird' contest from the last post! It was in fact a chick-a-dee! Tell me where to send the T-shirt kmurray!

jackzeller@myfairpoint.net

Summer is Here at Long Ridge Deer Camp

I love summer at Long Ridge deer Camp! Babes have been born, the birds are crazy, fawns in our pastures, and nature moving, moving, along...this is the first year I have seen so many creatures on our mineral spots...not sure if they all want the minerals, but it sure is a social spot..below is a rabbit that appears to be pretty alert ( I guess unalertness gives you a half life of about 30 seconds in these new England woods...)

This raccoon seems to be partaking of the minerals...

The coyote here looks like he wants the supplement, but probably is just smelling the rabbit/skunk/raccoon/deer/ bobcat/bear scent...

Yikes, time to get outta here!!!

If you are wondering what we do here between deer seasons, check this out below. I was trying to clear the last quarter mile trail of ice storm blow down this week, and gave up. I decided to simply cut another trail and bypass the old. It saved much time but in my work I discovered this centuries old White Oak, deep in our woods. It is huge, for this far north, I would guess 45/50 inches through at DBH. It was so tightly packed with red oaks and hemlocks that I could not even see leaves on it 100 feet above. So, of course an hours worth of chainsaw work later I could finally see leaves of a vibrant oak far above. I will finish clearing a twenty five foot circle around it, fertilize it with 15-15-15, and watch the acorns pour to the ground! These white acorns are preferred above the red oak acorns by all mast eating animals.. They are sweeter, though have a bit less protein.

A few trees cleared away...

And now I can see the healthy White Oak leaves far above. It is alive!

Next down is a little buck on the far Ridge..

Another sleek healthy deer...

A bobcat checking out the mineral lick...

Imagine that this doe would have so little respect for hunters that she would pee on a mineral lick!

Imagine that this young buck would be at all interested!

This fellow below looks promising, and he'll be handsome by fall.

Tell me what you think this bird is, flying so close to the camera. If I like your answer the best, I might send you a T-Shirt! (-:

These two pictures below are of the same babe. Her mom is the doe that pounded our Sheltie deep into swamp mud several weeks ago when the dogs came upon her fawm. Our sheltie 'Luna' is mostly mended now, even her cracked ribs are better. But her left eye is still messed up. We'll see.

So! Next project is to start bow practice..I have numbered my hunting arrows, ordered a new broadhead target, and plan to start as soon as it arrives! Bow season starts in just over two months!

Jackzeller@myfairpoint.net

Surging Toward Summer At Long Ridge

Two weeks to go and it will be officially summer here at LRDC. Unofficially I always consider June 1st the beginning of summer. Birds are jumping their nests and flying, hummingbirds everywhere, and warm. Whatever, it is really late in the season to still have trails shut down due to wind and ice damage, but I still have one quarter mile stretch to clear large trees from. In fact, it is so clogged that I am going to bypass it, and cut an entirely new trail to save time. While scouting that out the other day I came across this porky quill pile. I scratched through it and found nary a bone, so I surmise a Fisher killed and ate it. But then 100 feet farther in I found this ice crashed hemlock with the top branches eaten clear of bark, which is what the porcupines do. Perhaps this one was in the top of this hemlock when it came crashing down 70 feet. Maybe he was wounded and couldn't get far, and a Fisher came along. We'll never know, but it seems likely.

The bear is walking past a mineral lick, where the following deer pictures were taken by a Cuddeback. Decent size, and if it is a sow, she would have her cubs with her. I expect it is a boar, as it's the first picture of a bear this spring at Long Ridge. Appears very healthy.

Same mineral lick showing a budding two pointer that will likely bloom to a four or six within the weeks.

And below a budding four that may sprout with time. We are about three weeks behind antler development here compared to the Virginias for instance...

And below a couple of buddies - until October!

Zoom in on this doe and you will see that she is nursing...

No need to zoom in on this beauty to see that she hasn't given birth yet...soon, to be sure!

My last post showed the four robin's eggs in the nest, and then three hatched...well, here they are all four and did fine. We checked them daily.

Then three flew out and the fourth hung in there for about an hour before it too flew down into the field. We watched them all being fed through our binocs.

A lonely strong nest is all that sits there today...

First cutting is up the elevator and in. Barns retouched where necessary, fields mowed, and the spring rush of our small farm is receding. I just want to escape to my camp and the woods! Bow practice is calling..Jack

Jackzeller@myfairpoint.net