The Does of Southwest Iowa

Southwest Iowa is really blessed or cursed, depending on who you talk to, with a large and healthy deer population.  The first muzzleloader season that I hunted started for me on the first of January until the tenth.  The second and final season for muzzleloader runs from the eleventh to the twenty ninth of January. 

Having two different farms along two different rivers gives me an edge when it comes to hunting does.  The first location is along the Nishnabotna River north of Oakland, Iowa.  The landowner has ground that runs right along the river.  On it are about 100 acres of timber that was old river bottom at one time.  With all the corn fields around and the timber to hide in, the deer have great habitat and a place to grow and hide. 

Looking west along the old riverbank you can see almost to the river.  There are lanes down through the timber and the deer will come down one of the lanes.  They mostly stay to the east and out in the cornfields.

After Christmas I gave the owner a call and he said to come out.  His relatives had already harvested ten deer from the ground.  The ground seems to hold about ten to fifteen deer.  You take a few off the land, and in a couple of months it is back to the ten to fifteen.  He said he was seeing some small deer early in the morning heading back to the timber after feeding either in the cornfields or the feed lots with the cattle.

Looking north up one of the lanes that the deer come down.  The timber north is very thick.

The temperatures were like early spring.  This was not supposed to take place in January in Iowa.  The temps were 40 to 50s in the day and there was no snow on the ground. 

The ground drops from the pasture and cornfields down a bank of about 15 to 20 feet.  This was the old river bottom of the Nishnabotna River.  From the edge of the bank it is about 200 to 300 yards and holds strips of dense timber.  I sat down in some fallen timber near the bank before light and started the wait.  Nothing showed up.

I push myself back against the two trees on the left side of the picture that are close together.  There is a deer run that swings out from the pile of dead timber and it is here I generally wait for them as they come in from the fields with full bellies.  The old river bank is right behind me.

The landowner called me around 7:30 AM and said he was heading south of the cornfields and would try to drive any toward me.  I was to move to the south end of the stand of timber, which I did.  Here I got behind a tree and waited.  To the front of me was the bank to the old river bottom and right above that was corn.  The wind was out of the north, and normally this would not be a good idea.  The deer would easily wind me, but I wanted to try out a new product.  Scent is always a problem and this was a new scent eliminator I wanted to try.  Wildlife Research Center® Scent Killer Spray Combo from Bass Pro.

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The deer came right straight toward me and never broke a stride.  With the wind at my back they should have winded me and did not.  This product really works. Go to Bass Pro on the link provided below and go to hunting and scent eliminators.                                



The landowner called me again. He said he had run out four small deer and to get ready.  In the glasses, I could see them running stretched out in a line.  A small one came over the bank into the old river bottom and stood there.  I came around the edge of the tree and drew down on the small doe.  I started to pull the hammer back.   Then a really nice size one came over the bank.  It stopped about 30 yards out and looked straight at the tree where I was standing.  I moved around to the other side to get a better angle and plunk the bigger one.   That was a very very bad idea.   I should have shot the small one right on the spot.

The tree where I attempted to hide for the shot.  The four does were just off to the left.

There was just enough movement and it spooked them.  Up came the flags and off they went like a scalded dog.  I never got the hammer pulled back on the muzzle loader.

The landowner came up to give me a bad time about not taking the shot on the small deer.  The two behind the doe were small bucks and were not legal to harvest as they still had their racks.

There is always another day, but I think I will check with the landowner down by the Missouri River and see what his deer population looks like.  This farm is just not offering a lot of opportunity.  I hunted another morning and evening and saw nothing. 

Looking back towards the tree where the screwup took place, I am standing on top of the old river bank.  At this spot it is only about 4 feet high with a gradual slope.  

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To whoever sent me this picture, thank you.  It is a beautiful shot of deer in the early spring.

Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck.  Hank

http://www.outdoorswithhank.com/

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Turkeys, Turkeys and More Turkeys

I had to re-think my original plans.  It was obvious what had been planned was not going to work this fall.  With the weather changes that had taken place, it was believed that new parameters would now apply.

Early the next morning, I headed to a spot by one of the dams where I generally hunt in the spring.  It was dark walking down hill, and tracks could not be seen.  Temps in the early morning hours were in the 40s and it was more like early spring than the middle of winter.  I used an old cottonwood tree to lean against.  The turkeys soon woke up and the hens set up a cacophony of yelping and calling.  As they came out of the trees to the ground the fly down cackle was evident.  There were a lot of birds coming down.

One of my hiding spots.  Turkey would come up out of the timber to my right and head to the water. 

There was no indication where birds might show.  I mounted the gun to my shoulder and set the barrel in some shooting sticks just to be prepared.  They could have come down the hill behind me, or under the fence to my left. Being prepared was the order of the moment.  To my left was posted ground.

The squawking went on for 45 minutes and never let up, but no birds came into sight.  They stayed in the timber.  Then to my left, I heard a lot of racket as the noisy birds moved closer to me.  I sat very still not wanting to move.  Then there was no movement at all.  They sounded like they had stopped coming down the hill to my left.  I waited, but my backside was getting sore and the need to move around was prevelant.

After another 15 minutes, it was time to take a look.  Standing up was the wrong thing to do.  They were about 10 yards to my left and somewhat behind me.  They were still on the no hunting ground, but were slowly pecking and scratching their way toward me.  The movement took care of it. Off they went running and flying into the timber.  There must have been 50 birds all flocked up.

The plan shifted and it was decided to come back to the terraces and pasture area around 3 PM. That is the time when they usually come back from the fields and flock up near the woods.

Back to the hills again in the late afternoon, I set up in an area where the birds had been seen in big flocks.  This would not be easy, as I would not be well hidden and must not move one inch.  It is so amazing how you can drive down the interstate and they can be seen scratching and pecking right along the shoulder.  In the wilds, they can spot you at a great distance and then will split.  It does not take much movement to make them go. 

My back was up against a fence post with some grass around it.  I expected they would come up from the corn fields to the west and come straight toward me.  I have seen them make this track before.

Nothing showed up and I waited till dark.  Next day the same process was repeated.  But now, I was running out of time.  Trying another terrace did not produce anything.

On the third day, I went in the afternoon, and there they were.  The hills were covered with turkeys all slowly moving back into the woods.  After parking the truck, I planned to sneak up on some of the stragglers, but it did not happen.  The picture above was covered with turkeys and another hill north of it had the same type of traffic.  There must have been 500+ in each flock. 

This hill had been covered with turkeys late in the day.  The cedars at the top of the picture are on posted ground.  You can sit in front of a fence post, but when they appear, you cannot move until you are ready to shoot.

Where I sat the first morning.  The timbered area is posted, but they came for a drink and to traverse the area toward the cornfields to the right of the picture.

My favorite spot on this farm, but it produced nothing.  It happens.

I ran out of time and the season ended on December 31st.  The ground in the picture above has no snow and temps are running in the 50s during the day.  This was the first fall season that I did not harvest any fall turkeys.  Now the wait is on till spring for turkey, but hunting is not over with two muzzle loader tags for Iowa antlerless deer.

Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck. Hank

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Where did the Tukeys Go

Getting back home from a three plus week in India and Nepal took it's toll on me and my wife.  We were physically exhausted and I needed to get up to Fort Calhoun and harvest some turkeys. 

Before we left on the trip I had walked and stalked the farm for turkeys and had their haunts well spotted.  The weather at that time was still a little warm by mid afternoon, but the mornings and evennings were cool.  They were starting to flock up.  My experience over the years generally showed that they would move in flocks through the same areas on a regualar basis and usually about the same time. This is typical fall hunting in our area for them.  They seemed to roost in about the same general area.  With all this background information, the farm was scouted.

My usual places were noted, and upon visiting with the landowner he confirmed my plan, as he had been hiking through his farm ground in the hills and timber.  There had been a report of a Mountain Lion, and he went looking for signs.  He found nothing, but warned me that a cat had been seen on a neighbor's farm, and that it was laying on the branches of the big oak trees.  That made sense.  The deer would walk under the branch and the cat would drop down on it.  It was a good suggestion to look up and around when a person went into the woods.

While we were gone, the weather turned cold and a couple of good snowfalls took place.  This changed all the parameters to my plan unknowlingly.  Arriving back in Iowa/Nebraska, the snow had melted away and the temps in the day had moved into the mid 50s. 

It took me a week to straighten my internal clock around and have my stomach return to normal.  Normal is eating steak.   By midweek a rip roaring cold had set in and the appointment was made to see the doctor.  After antibiotics, decongestants, and a couple of good stiff hot toddys in the evening, I was ready to start hunting. 

After a week, the drive to Fort Calhoun was made in the wee hours of the morning.  Hearing turkeys talk in the morning is always exciting.  They get really excited and cackle as they  fly down out of the trees.  It is great fun.

I heard nothing.  As I waited patiently at my favorite spot for over an hour, nothing was seen.  Moving to spot # 2, there were no signs of tracks or droppings, and nothing was heard.  After moving to spot # 3, it was obvious that staying  home would have been a better choice.  By noon, nothing was heard or seen.  The landowner was not home, so I went to Fort Calhoun for lunch and came back for a nap in the woods.  It was a beautiful day with temps in the high 50s and light wind.  The shotgun was on my left and a Springfield Armory 40 cal was on my right, just in case.

I  shot  a dozen turkeys here in the fall.  This is downright disgusting.

Awake at 3 PM the plan was to move south to the pastures and the ground that borders a camp that has no hunting. 

After walking out of the woods on top of the ridge at the first hill, good grief, there they were.  This was not just a flock of 25 to 50 birds, this flock was in the hundreds.  I have never seen so many turkeys flocked up.  Fumbling for my camera, the shot was too far away to prove what I had just seen, but as God is my witness, there could have been 500 turkeys.  The minute they saw me, off they went to the woods running like the proverbial striped assed ape to the no hunting ground to the east. 

Looking straight east to the no hunting area.  The cedar trees are beyond the fence line and the hills were covered with turkeys.  I have never seen so many.  In the process of fumbling for my camera, they all took off. 

I am always amazed how a person can drive along the interstate near our home, and the turkeys just peck and scratch along the road paying no attention to the traffic.  In the woods and pastures, they pick up the slightest of movement.

All the planning went out the window seeing all those birds. 

It is time to think things over and plan again.  A bird with a brain the size of a quarter is not going to outsmart me.

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Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck.  Hank

http://www.outdoorswithhank.com/
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At the Base of the Himalayas, Kathmandu

Most of the cultural centers of Nepal are concentrated around the Kathmandu valley.  Among those cultural sites, the important one is the Hanuman-dhoka Durbar Square.  Located at the heart of the ancient city, it is a complex of beautiful temples and shrines, both Hindu and Buddhist.  Most of them are built in the pagoda style embellished with intricately carved exteriors, built between the 12th and 18th centuries.  The Durbar Square with its old temples, palaces, epitomizes the religious and cultural life of the people.  It is here that kings of Nepal are crowned and their coronations solemnized.  Until the early 20th century the Durbar Square was the King's residence.  Is is a living open museum of Nepal.

Maju Dega
Built in the late 17th century this temple is the most impressive one in the storeyed style.  Its nine step brick base gives it the size which dominates the skyline of the square.  The wooden doorway, pillars, windows and struts are beautifully carved.  There are images of Hindu deities both inside and outside the shrine.

The name Hanuman-dhoka Durbar came from the statue of Hanuman extablished by King Pratap Malla at the entrance of the royal palace in 1672 ad.  The nine storeyed residence built by King Prithvi Narayan Shah in 1770, is called Basantapur Durbar.  The whole complex is also known as Kathmandu Durbar Square.  The palace complex was originally founded during the Lichchhavi period.  It stands today constructed by King Pratap Malla in 17th century.  

Hanuman-dhoka Durbar Square

The Durbar Square area is actually made up of two sub-areas.  The outer complex renowned for numerous interesting temples as Kumari Ghar, Kasthmandap, Shiv-Parbati Temple, Jagannath Temple, while the inner complex comprises the old palace area Hanuman-dhoka and its courtyards.  There are many temples in the inner complex also, most notable being the Taleju Temple dedicated to female royal deity. 

Home of the Living Goddess the "Kumari."

The Living Goddess, the "Kumari." To read about the significance in the Nepalese culture and the Kumari go to the following website.
http://www.visitnepal.com/nepal_information/kumari.php

Besides the magnificent temples and shrines are various festivals, cultural activities and traditions people have followed for centuries.  These are presented in the Durbar Square. 

Our visit to Nepal was an experience we will remember for a liftime.

Now this is hard work

With a Holy Man

Selling Lentils

Magnificent temples were everywhere.



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Good fishing, good hunting and good luck.  Hank

http://www.outdoorswithhank.com/

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