Sunday morning services at the farm...
Arrived at the farm this past Saturday about 9:00 a.m. Filled the Traeger smoker with hickory wood pellets and put on a small boston butt that I'd rubbed with a nice pork rub. Set the temp at 225 and let it go for the day. It was ready about 5:30. The better half was helping her mom out so it was just a couple of the kids and our youngest grandson down for dinner. It was mighty tasty! They left about 8:00 and my daughter asks if I'm gonna be ok by myself. I'm like...are you kidding me! Picture book perfect spring weather with green up in full swing. I tell her I'm pretty sure dad will be just fine.
I made me an after dinner drink, Jameson with a little club soda, and perched out by the fire pit to wave as they left. Two weeks prior, I was sitting by the pit wondering when the whip-o-wills would start their spring calling. Well...they started just as the sun was going down. Not sure why I love to hear whip-o-wills so much but something soothing about their sound. Interestingly enough, the first to call is always in the same location. Just across the dirt road about 150 yds away. I don't know how long they live but it's been the same place since 2011. Sure enough...April 1st and just after the kids leave the quietness of dusk is broken by the call. And then others chime in from different locations. I've only seen 1 whip-o-will in my life, even though I've heard them since I was a kid. And the one I saw, I'm assuming is the same one calling across the dirt road. I walked that property in 2012 when it was for sale and just as I was entering the woods I see a strange bird perched on a dead fall with a bulk chest and head and knew it was a whip-o-will. Night fall came, I turned it in and slept like a baby.
Sunday morning, it was in the mid 50s. As the sun began to peek over the pines I sat on the porch hoping to hear a distant gobbler. I never did. We've had a disappointing crash in our turkey population and not sure why. I decided to ease down to the south end of the property below the lower lower food plot and walk back into the bottoms to check on a secluded beaver pond and just check thing out back there. I've only been back in there a few times over the years. We don't go in there during hunting season. It's one of the most serene settings on our property. As you enter the woods from the south end of the plot, it is a natural knoll bordered by wetlands to the east and bottom land hardwoods to the west with beaver sloughs scattered around. Green up is in full swing and the leaves on the hardwoods have broken buds with some of the maples almost fully leafed out. On this knoll there are a few pines scattered amongst the hardwoods that are just mammoth in size. They dwarf the other trees in size. You can't imagine just how large these trees are. I would guess them to be well in excess of 100 yrs old.
Thought I'd take you along for my foray back in to this area with a few pics. Here's a pic from just inside the woods looking back toward the lower lower plot. Can't tell you how many deer have emerged into the plot from this area during fall sits.
Looking south, you can easily see the defined game trail that critters use coming and going from the plot.
Just off to the right of the game trail is an old ladder stand leaning against a dead oak. I often wonder how many sits the fella that built this stand enjoyed in this special spot.
A little further back and you feel like you're almost walking in virgin timber. The vines growing into the trees are just massive. Here's a pic of one among several that are larger than my forearm. I wonder how old this vine is?
One of the few pines that stand above the other trees. The scales are so huge on this tree. You can see where wood peckers have drilled a few holes in the scales but it's so thick I couldn't find any that made it thru the bark.
Beyond the pine, you cross a small drainage onto another knoll that sits over a beaver pond. Back in December, 2010, Brooks and I walked this area when we were looking at the property. We fell in love with it. A little further and you come upon a secluded beaver pond. The pic below is of the remnants of an old duck blind. In 2010, there was still a wooden bench and rail around it. I reached this point Sunday morning and decided to sit on the corner of the old blind and just contemplate the morning and the view.
I sat there for about 30 minutes overlooking the beaver pond. A pair of wood duck mates were in the pond and several more came and went. Not a whisper of wind and a coal blue sky above me. Had to give thanks to the good Lord for the opportunity to experience such a setting.
Sometime later, I caught movement across the pond and assumed it was a deer walking the edge. Much to my surprise it turned out to be a beautiful coyote that was much larger than I expected. It came into a small clearing and hopped up on a dead fall and stood motionless for what seemed like forever. It was just majestic standing on the dead fall taking in the view of it's territory. I had an epiphany of sorts. I would normally have shot any coyote. As I watched it for several minutes, I thought that I couldn't bring myself to shoot it. It was part of our ecosystem an just looked majestic standing there. It eventually laid down behind the dead fall. Wish I had a good camera with me on this occasion. I zoomed the iPhone and took this pic. Coyote is in the middle of the circle. Didn't do it justice.
The morning was as good as any sunday morning church service I'd sat in. Something about solitude in nature that is just soothing to the soul. I eventually left and made my way back to the cabin to prepare to head home. The sky was incredibly blue. The fields are lush green with growth. I snapped a pic coming out of the pines into the cabin field. Made for the ending of a perfect morning spent in the woods.
Thanks for sharing.
