Level 2 Fishing: Perch Lake, Sparta, WI

Level 2 Fishing Outing -- Perch Lake, Sparta, WI

I got a call from a friend, Anna, on the road asking to meet for a couple hours of fishing and visiting so we chose the dam emptying Perch Lake in Sparta.  It was an opportunity for me to grab my Browning 510 open-faced spin-reel and give it a test, which went well.  The trip was made Level 2 right away by a huge carp or sucker leaping out of the water in the middle of the lake, but other than that, we were not there at a good time for panfish or perch to bite.  No hits on little French spinners, little daredevils, etc. Or crappie tidbits on little hooks.  We were just fooling around, not too serious at all.  Just fun.

Level 2 Fishing - Lake Monona

Level 2 Fishing outing -- Lake Monona

Took the Zebco Mercury/PowerRod and sat on a little kayak/canoe dock at the edge of the park that is just north of the inlet of Starkweather Creek into Lake Monona, for an hour and a half.  I call it a level 2 day because indeed fish jumped out on the lake, but I got no strikes on my spoons, Mister Twisters, French spinners, and little plastic fish.  In the late 60's, Otis Redding's plane crashed into Lake Monona, killing the Blues singer.  I was a bit melancholy to think that here I was, actually sittin' on the dock of the bay near that place, like in his famous song.  I was in Madison, at a friend's house a couple blocks away shortly after it happened, and he was in possession of a piece of fuselage from the plane that had Otis painted on it.  I am told that this item is now on display in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. 

Level 2 Turkey Hunt

Level 2 Turkey Hunt

 

The toughest part of a morning hunt is just dragging yourself out of bed at 5:00 a.m.  It's a heck of a lot easier to do it in mid-May than late November, though, and once I got the boots and camo jacket on it was just a 5-minute walk through the timothy and orchard grass to tuck myself in just above the fenceline on the field going up toward the spring.  I had seen 3 of them strutting across right there a week or so ago at 6 a.m.  I settled myself in among some little pines and enjoyed the caucophony of birdcalls.  A rufus-crested towhee alighted on a fence post just twenty feet away and serenaded me for a while.  I got real comfortable and dozed a little.  After an hour, maybe an hour and a half, a coyote bounded out of the edge of the orchard and was zip-zapping right toward me.  I figured for a close encounter, but then he amazingly stopped, circled a little bit and returned the route he had come.  I sat amazed that he could possibly have picked me up because I was absolutely still.  Then I saw why...he hadn't picked me up at all.  Two deer, possibly the same two I watched last night in the draw, came creeping out, tails straight and very, very alert.  They crossed right to where he had been and slowly melted away into the old orchard, stalking very carefully.  I rested some more and was dozing in and out when a turkey glided in from the woods on a low trajectory and landed in the grass down in front of me.  It sat very still for five minutes, then started moving around, very alert!  I could not help but see the similarities of behavior with cormorants, the head looking left, then right, then left again.  My hunt was suddenly promoted to level 2, but it was a hen and I would not shoot it.  I played around slightly with how much motion I could get away with and the bird strutted around, standing very still for periods of time, then sneaking back and forth.  It seemed to be waiting, and I was hoping that it was for some toms to appear, but to no avail.  After about twenty minutes of teasing me, it sneaked into the draw.  I waited another half hour, then returned, very happy with the day's excitement.  I am one notch farther along on this learning curve, and it was fun.

Level I Turkey Hunt

Level I Turkey Hunt

Got out on Friday afternoon/evening to the draw below the sleeping spot.  Sat myself in there for a delicious nap which was interrupted by a little red squirrel crawling on me.  I dozed in and out on this beautiful day with the M-66 Ithaca in my lap.  Later on, I heard a snapping sound, followed by another a few minutes later and knew something was afoot.  Finally I turned my body 45-degrees and put up a huge buck that was standing nearly behind me.  He leaped into the air in a dazzling show of surprise and panic and bounded zig-zagging through the popples while I laughed quietly.  He was just SMOKED!  Snorting and alerting the entire woods all the way to the spring.  That was a real treat.
About 30-minutes later, a big doe and her yearling appeared from the open field on the hill into the edge of the woods on the north side of the draw and slowly made their way down toward the clear field at the bottom, probably crossing into the pines.
Saw no turkeys, although, just before sunset I thought I heard a tom sound off up the hill and pretty far away, so they are roosting way up in there somewhere. 

4/22/13 Level I Turkey Hunt

4/22/13  Level I Turkey Hunt

It rained pretty much all night, but lightly, and at 7:30 a.m. it stopped and got a little brighter out, so I grabbed my M-66 and walked out to the fenceline between the gullies and dug in by some little pines in case a few decided to cross the field like I see them do all the time.  I heard a couple of little babbles and one sounded off way up in the valley toward the corner. Other than that I had a nice little hour and a half before it started to sprinkle again, so I went in.  The rain continued on and off and I decided to take about a 2-hour bike ride. Near the end I was in the valley next to mine, closer to town and 4 hens crossed the road in front of me in the light drizzle! So I guess it was a Level 2 bike ride. Cleaned the gun up and cased it, gonna take it to the trap range and give it a work out when the weather turns nicer.

4/21/13 Level I Turkey Hunt

4/21/13  Level I Turkey Hunt

My intention was to go out very early in the morning and try and ambush one, but when I awoke I noticed some piddly little snowflakes coming down, so I knew it was cold.  I waited a bit and it got stronger and by 10:00 a.m. there was an inch of snow on the ground.  Everything was white and my pickup truck was white.  Then, about noon, it all just melted, almost instantly!  I did some chores and went on an hour and a half bike ride, getting sprinkled on by rain, snow, and sun.  In the late afternoon I dressed warm, grabbed the Ithaca M-66 again and some 3-inch magnum #5's and climbed up the hillside quite a bit west of yesterday's haunt, to a place we call the sleeping spot.  I dug myself in where I could have a good look down at some swales in the direction of the spring.  You have to have your back to something and I chose the saddle top.  After an hour, there was a mild caterwauling behind me--followed by some gaggling.  I think it might have been a small group of hens that was traversing the area and the scout spotted me, although I had been perfectly still at the time.  No further action, except for a robin telling the entire woods how happy she was in her new nest down the hillside somewhere.  Saw no deer today either.  At the appropriate time, I thought I heard two flutters way up over the saddle and far to the west down the other side, but just then a big group of cacauphonous crows went through and I couldn't focus on the weak sounds any more.  I think it's a pretty good bet that it was the group of hens, now roosting for the night.  Then I heard a tom sounding off up toward the ridge and far beyond the rock ledges, twice or three times but far between and weaker the last time.  Ultimately I had to give it up, but it was again another wonderful late afternoon, giving me the feeling of deer hunting, but with nicer weather by far.  Nothing has budded out yet in the woods and you can see very far.  It won't be that way very long.  A rainstorm is approaching and may spoil any efforts tomorrow to continue.

4/20/13 Level 1 Turkey Hunt

On a beautiful afternoon of sunshine and coolness, I took my Ithaca M-66 and hiked up to the base of the lumber road to the left of the spring.  Nestling into a couple of fallen trees, I hid as best I could and just totally enjoyed the comings and goings of Nuthatches, Chicadees, Pileated Woodpeckers, Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, Squirrels, Jays, Crows, and even a couple of Chicken Hawks that clambered through.  I didn't really expect a Turkey to wander right past me, but I hoped at least to hear them roosting at the end of the day and get a bearing on where to position myself in the future.  Kind of like bowhunting for Whitetails.  A Whitetail doe did sneak right up the draw below me, very cautiously, but no Turkeys, although I think I heard some "putting" very far off somewhere. 
When the sun went down, it got cold very quickly and I was glad to get up and huff it back down to the farmhouse to get warmed up.  I call it a Level 1 hunt, using my old criterion for bowhunting: Level 1 is just enjoying a time period in the woods of quietness and alertness, just as I enjoyed today.  Level 2 is being fortunate enough to actually see a specimen of the game one is hunting.
Level 3 is getting a shot.
Level 4 is getting a hit, and if it is not a kill, it is the most frustrating experience.
Level 5 is bringing the game to bag.