Woodcock Report, Mar 30

Gentle Readers and Loved Ones,

Don’t know if these woodcock reports are interesting to you or not. I certainly hope they are.

 

Today was in many ways the best day so far.  Rowdy and I flushed and saw a lot of birds.  Eight woodcocks this morning across the road and after Ann drove up today to shelter in place with me, we went down to Kiezer Lake Wildlife Area and found two woodcocks and a grouse.  So, eleven birds total.

Rowdy tried really hard to break distance discipline and I tried really hard to keep him close.  At best, it was a tie.  

Most of the flushes were out in the distance more heard than seen.  I still have not succeeded in the Holy Grail of a video of a flush.

But on one woodcock I got close enough that I saw it very clearly.  It flew straight up in that weird way some of the woodcocks do and then at some satisfactory altitude it flew horizontal.  

And Ann got to see a Ruffed Grouse very closely when it flushed maybe 10 yards from us.  

On that note, I remain,

Dad/Geoff

Woodcock Report, Sunday

I wasn't going to post this, but what the heck....  Another great day hassling the woodcocks!

It rained until around 1500 military time.  Rowdy and I hunkered in place until it quit and then kitted up and went across the road.  Bottom line, Rowdy found at least 5 Woodcocks on a 2 mile walk measured by my track on my phone.

The property across the road is jointly owned by two guys and their wives.  One of them was cooking maple syrup down a week ago, sat down because he was tired and expired of a heart attack.  I learned this today as I talked to a neighbor who likes to drive his gator around on the trails Rowdy and I hunt.  We met up and BS'd for about 30 minutes today.

So, Resquiet en Pax, my friend.  My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Two memorable flushes.

Back to the Woodcock report.  They have cleared a big opening in the center of their property and they have clay flingers.  I call it the Range.  On the south side of the Range is roughly 2 Acres of new popples, scrub oak and small pool and brambles in a narrow looping arc. It is perfect Woodcock habitat.  Right now all the vegetation is down after winter so Rowdy and I can easily get back there.  It's also mostly defrosted and the ground is harboring worms.  As of today there were a lot of woodcock there.

So Rowdy and I plunged in there and he promptly bounced on up. No point, no hold, just flush.  I whistle sat him and he held watching the bird fly North about 50-60 yards.  I should have heeled him and calmed him for a minute but instead I told him "Hunt".  He took off like a rocket towards where he'd just watch that bird alight.

And danged if he didn't find the bird and flush it again.  This time the bird flew directly at me about 20' in the air as I stood there dumbfounded.  No time to get the phone out and on.  It flew over and slightly left and was a perfect Low House Station 1 shot.  So, there's a bird in my imaginary bag.

The west side of the range is slightly older popples.  There is a hunting / deer trail down through it and Rowdy and took that.  He started acting all birdy and as I struggled to find a flat place to stand with a clear view he found the bird and it didn't hold. It flushed straight up like woodcocks do sometimes and then at about 10' in the air did a horizontal bat turn and shot away. Really neat memory.  I almost got my video.

I saw Rowdy flush 3 more birds, all around 40 yards away.  He went from loping to birdy to flush in about 3.5 seconds on all of them.

Ann's coming up to walk with me tomorrow.  She's also bringing emergency Rowdy dog food resupply.  We'll keep striving to get a video.

Whisler out.

Cinematography!

"It is one thing to show a man that he is in error, and another to put him in possession of the truth. ~  John Locke

Gentle Readers and Loved Ones,

Until now, my unstated goal, as I shelter in place here in the NW Wisconsin woods is to achieve a cinematic tour d’ force.  I want to video Rowdy pointing a woodcock while I walk up to it and flush it.

I achieved 95% perfection today. 

Today, Rowdy and I were beating around across the road in the grouse woods I’ve described before.  He’s doing much better at staying close and listening to me.  I’m standing on the edge of the woods at the south of the Clay Range and Rowdy is beating around in the woods near the small pool.  Suddenly he does a 180 and freezes to stare at the ground about 10 feet in front of him.

Perfect!

I reach in my pocket, pull out the iPhone which does the come alive upon movement thing.  I two finger sweep the screen to the left which I learned only yesterday brings up the camera without requiring a password and presto, there’s the camera.  I press video and I think I’ve pressed record.

I begin walking the 25 yards towards Rowdy and the invisible bird with the iPhone thrust out before me.  I am trying to keep track of the intervening branches so as not to put out my eye, keep the camera trained on Rowdy and evaluate what I’m seeing.

Rowdy is in the half crouch that I’ve come to understand is his version of a point.  His tail is straight back and not doing the “birdy flag” like it does when he smells a bird but doesn’t see it.  He knows exactly where this bird is and it’s holding for him.  The jowls on either side of his canine incisors are pulled back and he is intensely focused on the bird.  It’s unmistakable, which is why I wonder why it took me so many weeks last fall to come to understand what he was doing.  

I bludgeon my way through the woods to him, knowing I’m making a lot of noise but not knowing how to make less, trying to keep the camera trained for the inevitable flush.  I actually make it within 10-20 feet of them and I stop when I actually see the bird on the ground.  I’ve never seen a woodcock on the ground before.  

The instant I stop the bird flushes and flies straight away.  I’m pretty convinced I tracked it with the camera and I think I’ve gotten a really great video!  You can see the stereotypical woodcock head, the long beak, the football shaped body and the rich brown coloring scheme and the blur of wings. It really is quite striking. 

Not the real picture

So, I heel Rowdy up, tell him what a good dog he is, scratch his ears then go to the phone to see my wonderful video!

Which is when I learn the difference between the “I’m recording!” and “I’m stopped!” icon.

Oh, well.  You gotta love when you’ve got room to improve!

On that happy note, I remain 

Dad/Geoff

Excelsior!

 "All excellent things are as difficult as they are rare." ~  Benedict Spinoza, 1632-1677

Gentle Readers and Loved Ones,

I am unsure why my muse has driven me to write and share this.....

The Two Times that I Astounded the First Responders of Burnet County, WI

First Responders, as a group, are experienced people who have seen it all.  To present them with a situation that they have never seen before requires both application of effort and no small amount of bad luck.  This may be the only way I will ever stand out against the communality of the herd that is the human race, for I have managed to do this twice.

Story 1) The snowmobile wreck.

 

Back in 2013, I was cruising solo on a Tuesday in February through the wilds of Wisconsin on a beautiful, clear winter day.  I still thought of myself as a moderately talented snowmobile driver and I was carving a nice 90 degree turn near Web Lake when I hit a patch of ice and then hit a tree.  I was thrown from the sled and somehow hyperextended my right knee and completely tore my right Anterior Cruciate Ligament, although I wouldn’t know about the tear until days later after an MRI.

I found myself in a bramble bush whose scrapes only added minor misery to the excruciating pain in my knee.  I’m angry at having crashed the snowmobile that I loved more than a man ought to love an inanimate object.  I crawled out, dialed 911, the first responders came and put me on a back board on an ATV where I was hauled out to the road, loaded in an ambulance and summarily shipped down to the hospital emergency room in Spooner, WI.  

Somewhere in this process, I called Ann, we joined up and she was sitting with me in the hospital after I had been somewhat sedated, knee braced, x-rayed and told I was going to be sent home.

Having set the stage, here is where I achieved my first pinnacle of success.  The nice ER Nurse said: “I have to ask you some questions for reporting before we release you.  Your answers are for research only and cannot be used in a court of law.  Please answer me truthfully.”  So, I did.

We came to the fateful question.  “Was there alcohol involved in this accident?”  The pleasantly attractive nurse looks at me earnestly and says, “Geoff, I’ve been a nurse here for 14 years and I ride a lot too.  You can answer this question and nothing will happen to you.”

I look back at her then at Ann.  “Uh, I think I had a beer with lunch yesterday?”  Ann nods in the affirmative.  

The Nurse says, “In 14 years, I don’t think anyone has ever said that before.”  “You mean to tell me that I’m the only guy you’ve ever heard of that’s crashed his snowmobile sober?”  She sadly nods, “Yes”.

Story 2) The tick.

Fast forward to 2017 and Rowdy is a 6 month old puppy.  I’ve established my routine of driving solo to the cabin on Tuesday night with Rowdy, going on a walk in the woods Wednesday morning, getting some “Come, Sit! Stay” training done, shooting clays all Wednesday afternoon, staying over Wednesday night and going to dog training on Thursday.  

So, it’s Wednesday night and while Rowdy is on Nexgard which kills ticks like…well, pick your favorite killing cliché.  It kills ticks.  But, still, I do a tick check on him, pull a couple off and then wander off to the bath room with its’ large mirror to look for them on me before my shower.

And…I find one.  On my back, between my shoulder blades where I can’t reach it.  It’s a little deer tick too.  The kind that harbors Lyme disease.  ( …at risk of political incorrectness, please realize that even though Lyme Disease is named for the city in Connecticut, no one blames Yankees for the disease…)  But I digress.

The tick is between my shoulder blades and I can’t reach it.  It is 11 pm, I’m all alone and I have come to the emotional realization that I will not be able to sleep knowing a Lyme disease infested tick is in me.  I have to do something about this.  So…first I tried using my toothbrush to scrape it off.  Failure, and now I’ve sacrificed the brush for no good reason.  I find a heavy shower scrubbing brush and try that.  No luck.  I considered going to the garage and getting a claw hammer but realized I do not have the personal grit required to scrape a tick out of my back with a claw hammer.  I’m playing with the idea of either a) driving the two hours home to wake up Ann so she can remove it or b) driving to the emergency room in Spooner – a 1 hour drive.

An idea occurs to me.  I’m this desperate.  I call the Burnet County Sheriff Non-Emergency number.  A pleasant peace officer answers.  I find myself saying:  “Hello, Officer, I am Geoff Whisler and I have a non-emergency problem that I hope you have a suggestion for.”  And I explain the situation.  

It redounds to this officer’s professionalism that he neither chuckled nor guffawed.  This is when I heard the fateful words for the second time in my life: “Mr. Whisler, I don’t believe I’ve ever heard anyone have this problem before.  Thank you for brightening my boring evening.  Yes, I do believe I have a solution for you.  There is an ambulance station in downtown Danbury, WI that is manned 24/7.  Here is their number.  They may be able to help you.”

So, I call the Danbury standby ambulance crew.  I go through the explanation again.  And again, I hear: “We ain’t never heard nuthin’ like this before!  But sure, c’mon on over.  If we haven’t been called out, we’ll help you.”

So, I drive the short drive over to Danbury and tentatively knock on the door.  “You the tick guy?” “Yup.”  “Let’s see ‘er!”  So, I pull my shirt up, they tweeze the tick out, treat my back with an antibiotic, put a band aid over it, seal the tick in scotch tape so I’ll have it preserved for testing in the event Lyme symptoms show up and give me the tick.  

I am thanked yet again for providing them with a once in a career memory and I go home to sleep soundly.

On that happy note, I remain,

Dad/Geoff.