Hunting Fall Nebraska Turkeys

On the first 2 days after the ducks quit flying, I headed to the farm where I have hunted turkeys for several years.

The first order of business was to visit with the landowner.  This gentleman is a man in his mid-seventies and has the good health of a 35 year old.  He is just in excellent condition and hikes all over the farm with his dog.    Because of the previous cold weather and frost in that area, I asked if the turkeys were flocked up and where they were running. My experience had shown me that the turkeys are somewhat creatures of habit, and they will run in the same general area on a daily basis.  Several years ago an area was discovered where a small flock came out of the woods down a deer run to another section of timber.  This happened at 3:30 PM.  The following day, I was hidden next to the run at 2:45 PM.  At 3:20, here they came.  This was a great story and true, but it was circumstance.  I believed they would be pecking and scratching as they moved through the area. 

Sitting up high on a ridge, turkeys had been spotted this year by the landowner in the afternoon.  He also told me that a neighbor had seen a big cat, and thought it might be a mountain lion.  They have been spotted in the area.  With this in mind, sitting with my back against a big tree was the safe thing to do.  A 40 cal Springfield Armory pistol was also carried since a big cat had been spotted. 

The two pictures are taken from the top of the ridge and looking into the timber.  Notice how far you can see once the ground cover is gone.  In the past turkeys had traversed this area and the shooting was easy.  Just sit, be patient, point, and shoot.

I sat in this location for about two hours.  With the beautiful day, it was hard to hold my head up and keep my eyes open.  The thought of the big cat in the area was constantly on my mind, so the 40 cal was kept beside me.  With no action but squirrels and woodpeckers, the time came to move on.

The next area was down the top of a ridge that ran east and west.  Walking down there was horrible.  With all the oak leaves on the ground, walking quietly was next to impossible.  Flushing deer and other creatures did not help the situation. As an old turkey hunter once told me, "The deer and turkey talk to each other. They warn one another of a hunter in the timber."  That is baloney, but always makes a good story.  I do believe when a deer was flushed and took off running, it spooked the other wildlife.

The oak tree in the cent of the picture is where I was heading.  The ground throughout this area is covered with acorns which the turkey and deer feast upon.  I sat on the opposite side of the tree facing down hill.  This is where the  turkeys roam.  I have shot a number right here. 

Sitting at this location for about two hours produced nothing.  Deer and turkey were spotted as I crunched my way to the oak tree.  Hind sight being always better, I felt that staying up higher on the ridge might have produced some action.

The big oak tree is in the center of the picture.  This time I  moved down the ridge toward the tree.  The feeling was the turkeys would be moving just on the opposite side of the green scrub bushes.  They would not be able to see me as easily with their heads down to the ground pecking away.

There was no action.  The wind was dead calm. The deer did not smell me and wandered back and forth across the ridge.  I sat there for about two hours and then gave it up.  There is always another day.

Great sales going on at each of these outdoor outfitters.  You cannot own enough gear.

Good fishing, good hunting, and good luck.  Hank

http://www.outdoorswithhank.com/ text

The Duck Hunting Starts Now

Back from a three week trip, heading to the duck blind was at the top of the agenda.  Scouting out the ground north of Fort Calhoun for turkeys was second.  The report for opening day and the week that followed was outstanding.  A good shoot took place on the first day and the next five days that followed.  Weather was cool with a northerly flow.  That makes for good duck hunting.

Arriving at the Big Chicken for breakfast on Monday, there were only myself and two other hunters.  That was okay, and off we went to the blind.  The weather was balmy with a southerly flow as we arrived at the blind in the dark.  No ducks were on the water.  That was not a good sign.  As it slowly got light, the action started and we had some gadwall work us.  One dropped out of the group of six, and he was dispatched.  As it got lighter the wind went down and by 8 AM, it looked like the action was all over.

Staying till 11 AM was the plan as we generally get some Canada shooting around 10 to 11 AM.  It did not happen this morning and I left by 11:30 and headed to Fort Calhoun to scout for turkeys.

Looking towards the northeast out of the blind.  This is a bluebird day.

The next day, I was at the Big Chicken for breakfast and only two other hunters showed up.  The weather was stable and the southerly flow prevailed.  Into the blind ten minutes before shooting time we were loaded and ready to go. 

By shooting time several groups of pintails worked us.  This was amazing.  The first of November and we were seeing pintails.  What was more amazing were the large flocks of pelicans migrating.  They were really late, and it was unusual to see these birds this time of the year.  They generally go through earlier.

Three pintails flew in low over the blind and headed east.  Then they hooked and flew into the wind, locking up and sailing toward the decoys.  One dropped low and he went to the freezer.  We did not wait for the other two.



Looking straight east from the blind.  Behind us is more water and Canada decoys have been place there.

By 11 AM it was over.  We folded our tents and left.  The forecast for the next day was nasty with winds from the north along with snow and rain. 

I did not make the nasty day due to commitments, but the shooting was outstanding as reported.  The weather was horrible as predicted.  This was just perfect for ducks and geese.  The club had an outstanding shoot with over ten members at the site and 40 birds harvested.  They were migrators moving with and ahead of the stormy weather and dropped into the lake.  Due to dry conditions, all the wetlands north of Tekamah are dry, and the lake is the only open water around.  Farther south is a commercial hunting spot and they have open water, but ours is an island of water as they come south. 

The following day was like the first two.  There was good northerly flow, but the day turned into a cloudless sky.  There was no shooting. 

Things will continue to get better.

The sales are on at the hunting and fishing stores.  This is an excellent time to purchase your favortite item at a good price.  You cannot own enough gear.

Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck.  Hank

http://www.outdoorswithhank.com/

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Dining on Game in Eastern Europe

Missing the opening day of duck season in Nebraska was a big disappointment for me, but my wife and I had a trip scheduled to see the sites of Eastern Europe. 

In Warsaw the first thing I saw on the menu was game.  The people in that part of the country feast on Roe Deer, Wild Boar, Pheasant and other delicasies.  Going out for lunch or dinner is not a quick meal.  It is a dining experience and stretches on for more than an hour.  Wines, appetizers, and other goodies are feasted upon before the main course is presented, and presentation is the first part of the dinner.  It looks not only good, but elegant. 

My first experience was in Warsaw and the fare for me was Roasted Roe Deer.  Roe Deer are a smaller deer than what we have in Iowa with our abundant supply of white tail.  I wanted the recipe, but the language barrier that existed was wide, even though the people in the resturant could speak some english. 

The meat was definitely part of the back strap, and it had been marinated.  In what, I don't know, and I could not find out.  Next it was seared to the point that it was almost black on the outside.  The meat inside was much more tender that our Iowa beef filets, and it was very underdone.  In fact, it was almost rare.  This was meat you could cut with a fork.  The best part was an outstanding flavor and a piece of meat that literally melted in your mouth. Wild game taste was totally gone and the marinate permeated the entire piece of meat.  The waiter had recommended a local dark red wine, and it was outstanding.

What was even more exciting was the resturant dated back to medieval times and the lower levels were still intact and modernized.

One of the dining rooms in the Warsaw Poland restaurant This restaurant is centruies old.

My wife and I at dinner. 



In Krakow we dined with people from the tour and again the fare was elegant and outstanding.  The restaurant was established in 1364 by the name of Wierzynek.  The history is fascinating.  The original owner was the chef for the king. The chef's family established the restaurant.  It was handed down for several generations, and somewhere along the way the chain was broken.  http://www.wierzynek.com.pl/

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An elegant experience in Krakow

The royal family above the restaurant

The next dining experience was in Budapest at the Alabardos Restaurant on the Buda side of the Danube.  The restaurant is in a 400 year old gothic building from the14th century.  Bringing back long forgotten Hungarian dishes is a speciality of the restaurant.  Grilled duck liver, flambeed beetroot, polenta roasted with walnut, and rib of suckling pig with green pepper sauce potatoes fried on duck grease and mustard onion.  How does all that sound?  Again ;you do not sit down, eat and run.  This is a dining experience complete with live classical music and candle light.  The waiter always pairs the dinner with a local wine.  http://www.alabardos.hu/site.php

Dining with newly made friends



Traveling through the country side we stopped for lunch at a really unique restaurant.  The feast was outstanding.  I dined on deer meatloaf.  Again, language was a problem.  The people could communicate in relatively good english, but when it came to describing the spices and processes they used to prepare the meats, it was lost to us.  We know salt and pepper and if you get too much of something else in a foreign language it is lost.  Whatever they put in the meatloaf, it had a sweet flavor with a hint of an additional spice.  My goal this winter is to determine what was in it.

Stag Atlers in the Restaurant



Wild Boar mounted over Deer Antlers. 

One of Vlad's castles



Besides shooting ducks, deer, and turkey, my goal this winter is to find out what marinate was used and how all the meats were cooked. 

Great Sales going on at these outdoors suppliers.  You cannot own enough gear. 

Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck.  Hank.

http://www.outdoorswithhank.com/

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A "toxic slurry" of propaganda: The unprincipled demagoguery of BOLD Nebraska

Hunters and fishermen are true conservationists.  Always looking to take care of the environment and improve it, I have never seen a person that did not support sensible improvements and ideas with a positive outcome.  It is for this reason that after reviewing the article below written by Joe Herring I asked for permision to re-print the piece for this week's blog.  The article is re-produced with the permission of the author Joe Herring.  Mr Herring blogs at http://www.readmorejoe.com/ and I am a subscriber. 

A "toxic slurry" of propaganda: The unprincipled demagoguery of BOLD Nebraska

How many bites at the apple should one get before it can be said you've eaten your share? More than a year ago, the Nebraska Unicameral, as well as the permitting and governing authorities for utilities in this state, were given an opportunity to review the proposed route of the Keystone XL pipeline. At that time, neither the Legislature nor the bureaucracy in Lincoln found anything troublesome about the project proposed by Trans-Canada.

After several months of the best environmental agitation money can buy, the unfounded hysteria over the supposed risk of wholesale contamination to our water supply has gained traction through simple repetition. The unprincipled propagandists of the environmentalist left have succeeded in entrenching a fantasy as fact in the minds of hundreds of thousands of Nebraskans.

BOLD Nebraska and other vocal pipeline opponents would like us to believe that the Ogallala aquifer is some sort of vast "underground lake." It is not. It is a formation comprised of hundreds of layers of rock, with the capability of holding water in quantity. 80% of the aquifer lies to the west of the proposed route, and at a considerably higher elevation. The unassailable fact is, any spill would have to defy gravity and "flow uphill" for thousands of square miles in order to create the type of contamination the opponents are claiming would result from a pipeline leak.

It has also been shown scientifically, that any spill would remain localized, partly due to the rock structure of the aquifer itself. Simply put, the oil could not travel any more than a few hundred feet in any direction before encountering a substrate barrier. The opposition is spending a great deal of time and money to obscure these facts from the public.

Elevation map for the Ogallala Aquifer



Trans-Canada cannot change the pipeline route at this late stage without invalidating the Federally-mandated Environmental Impact Study (EIS) that has taken more than three years and several million dollars to complete. The opposition knows this, and their plans rely upon it.

Should Trans-Canada alter the proposed route, the EPA would immediately rescind permissions already granted, and Federal and State law would then require an entirely new EIS be conducted for the new route, causing at best, a costly multi-year delay, but more likely, an abandonment of the project as a whole.

BOLD Nebraska knows that the majority of our citizens do not share their extreme anti-oil, anti-capitalist views, and would not support an effort to kill the project altogether. This is why their talking points have always suggested "re-routing the pipeline.” It is a BOLD deceit indeed, to suggest “re-routing” as a viable alternative, knowing full well that it will almost certainly result in the death of the entire project.

The question before the Legislature during this special session is not environmental, it is fundamental. Are we Nebraskans going to allow the environmentalist left to use demonstrable distortions and outright lies to exercise a "green veto" on a much needed project of great benefit to both Nebraska and our nation?

The existing EIS was based on sound science, uncorrupted by agenda-driven interest groups. Pipeline opponents are confident that any subsequent EIS could be politicized sufficiently to preclude approval of any new route. This is the ultimate stated aim of the opposition, and they are preying on the reasonable nature of everyday Nebraskans to accomplish this goal.

To make matters worse, should this Special Session produce a law that reneges on our approval granted more than a year ago, Trans-Canada has every right, and indeed an obligation to their shareholders, to sue our state for damages. Not to mention the other states who have already approved the project and committed funds in preparation for construction. As a Nebraska resident and taxpayer, I don’t want to be fiscally liable for derailing a $7 billion dollar project in furtherance of an extreme environmentalist pipe-dream of a world without oil. Once again, it is fair to ask, how many bites will Nebraska get at this apple before someone makes us pay for eating the whole thing?

We are risking exposure to unthinkable liability in order to further an anti-oil, anti-development, anti-capitalist agenda that is anathema to both our state and national interests. Contact your State Senator immediately and ask them to stand firm against the distortions and fear-mongering. Ask them to re-affirm Nebraska’s commitment to the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, for the sake of Nebraska and our nation.



Elevation map for the Ogallala Aquifer Credits:

USGS.org



Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck. Hank
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Wyoming Elk Hunt, Final Days

                       
           
I was running out of time.  This was to be a seven day hunt and now we have moved into day five and six.  The talk was weather, weather, and more weather.  It was just too nice.  In the low  lands temps were reaching up in the 80s and on the mountain in all the sunlight it felt just as hot.  The feeling by everyone was  when it starts warming up, the elk move into the dark timber and valleys and hide in the tall grass keeping cool.  They do not need additional nourishment like they do when it is cold.  A pullover and my lightweight coat was all I needed to be comfortable.  I brought way to much cold weather clothing.  Even the guide, peeled down to a T shirt on a break at the top of the mountain.

This is how warm it was when Jason peeled down to a T shirt on a break

The plan was to go back to the Teton Mountain Pass area and use a blocking method with two hunting parties.  Another hunting party of two hunters with Barlow Outfitting did not have any luck with elk either and it was decided to focus on the area where all the bugeling took place.  One group would go in the forest service access and climb the mountain where we almost got a shot, and the second group would access the area riding in from the north through the valleys.  We would then join up and hopefully drive elk toward one party or another.  Picture Custer attacking the Sioux at the Little Bighorn.  One group from the north and one from the south. 


It did not work.  No elk were heard or flushed out of the timber or tall grassey areas in the valley. 

One of the guides taking a short break before lunch.



Lunch time



This is what the valley areas looked like.  It would be tough to get a good shot in here, but not impossible.



View of the back side of the Grand Tetons.

We called it a day and late in the afternoon went bear hunting.  It was really warm by then, and we saw nothing.

Next morning I went with Bob Barlow to one of his honey holes.  We rode into a beautiful canyon with tall grass and timber on each side and a small stream that S turned along the valley floor.  I did not get one picture as I was gawking at the beauty of the area and of course, listening for elk.  Tethering the horses, we then climbed a really steep mountain about 2/3rds of the way up.  Bob bugeled repeatedly.  We had no answers.  He told me that in this area he always gets at least one bull to talk back to him.  We stayed in the area for about an hour and never got an answer.  We called it a day.

The weather forecast was more of the same for the next several days, and with committments to be fulfilled, I decided to fold my tent and head for home.  This was a great experience and I enjoyed every minute even though I did not get an elk.  Service was outstanding, and I highly recommend Barlow Outfitting.

Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck.  Hank


Great sales are taking place at the above outdoors suppliers.  I buy all my gear when it is on sale and you can save on shipping and get a big discount too.  You cannot own enough gear.

Website: outdoorswithhank.com
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