Living
Al Brown | Tracking the Seasons
Not for lack of trying
At shooting time, the thermometer on the back porch read 25 degrees, 7 degrees below the freezing mark, and the water in the bird bath was frozen over with a quarter-inch of ice.
The tomatoes, the few that were still hanging on the evening before, were now done, their vines drooping, the fruit frozen.
Our multicolored morning glories that just the day before were a beautiful backdrop half a dozen feet behind the bird bath were now nothing more than a shriveled mishmash of blackening leaves and unopened blossoms.
The walk from the house to the mailbox to retrieve the morning paper was uneventful, save for my shuffling through newly fallen leaves.
Pausing to take in the sweet aroma of the frosty morning, the only sounds were those made by falling maple leaves sounding like thousands of raindrops hitting on the blacktop.
For Oct. 10, it was a brisk one, to say the least.
For the opening morning of the highly touted two-day youth gun deer hunt, it was eerily quiet in our little corner of the world where Dodge, Jefferson and Waukesha counties come together.
We heard no gunshots, not even from duck and goose hunters who had been fairly active the first few minutes of each morning.
Possible explanations for the lack of hunter activity and success include the unseasonably cold weather for some of the young hunters (ages 12-15) to endure, deer have been hard to find due to lack of water in the marshes, dense foliage in the woods and large amounts of standing corn for the whitetails to hide in.
The requirement that all hunters, except waterfowl hunters, must wear blaze orange during any gun hunt also may have kept some hunters out of the woods.
Add to this the fact that we have a four day antlerless-only archery and gun hunt now in progress, Oct. 15-18, in the Herd Control and Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) units, which will end at the close of shooting time today.
That's a lot of special hunting regulations to digest, work around or partake in when the regular nine-day gun deer hunt is just a month away.
A spot check Monday after the close of the youth deer hunt provided the following registration results: Wern Valley in Waukesha, one buck and four does; Five-O's Holiday in Oconomowoc, one buck and 20 does; Cruisin 16 BP, no bucks, six does; Detjen's in Watertown, no bucks and just two does.
Registration numbers from the current four-day antlerless only hunts will be more revealing.
The question in the CWD Earn-A-Buck units is "Are there enough does to warrant these special early hunts?"
Time will tell.
- A taste of hunting
- Observing the characteristics of a snowless winter
- Absent snowfall meant thin harvest in 2011
- Wolves getting expanded role in wildlife picture
- New rules allow opportunity to appreciate wild game
- How new concealed carry law affects hunters
- Now's the time to hone weapon of choice
- Overlapping seasons create color conundrum
- Hunting calendar is upon us
- Weary anglers getting their chance
- Passing down knowledge of the hunt
- Appreciating the gifts of Mother Nature
- Ticks replace mosquitoes as concern
- Tag, you're it: hunting seasons approaching
- Fundraiser gives bird hunters a taste of what's ahead
- Rock River's banks a hotbed for local fishermen
- Fishing a great Father's Day opportunity
- With the stroke of a pen
- Grape jelly fills the belly
- Getting out on the water pays off
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Posted Wednesday, Feb. 10 |
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Sports Story of the Week by JR Radcliffe: Indians hit the stretch running |
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- Relay For Life of Lake Country Kickoff-Monday, February 13th
- Oconomowoc Newcomers & Neighbors Monthly Mingle Tues Feb. 14
- UW-Waukesha Continuing Education Classes Offered the week of February 12-18, 2012
- The Rock River Patriots Welcome G. Edward Griffin To Wisconsin
- Master Composter Training Workshop Offiered
- Sussex-Menomonee Falls-Pewaukee Relay For Life Kickoff Event Sunday, February 19th 3:00 PM
- Open House at St. John's Lutheran Mukwonago
- Anti-Bullying assembly
- Summerstage "Break-A-Leg Gala"
- Pancakes at the House
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