Grouse Hollow Journal for November 17, 2016 by Greg Koelker

I wimped out before 10 o’clock Friday morning.  I actually started wimping out with a sky full of stars overhead when I stepped out of the Ranger and felt an icy, biting wind come racing out of the north up on our ridge.  I drove back home and decided on spending what was left of the dawn napping in the tripod stand in the Mushroom Hole.  The light came quickly enough.  At least two deer crossed in the woods above me, quiet, hushed ghosts - that is I heard them but did not see them.  Crows called and then songbirds and squirrels started making their rounds.  A confused tom turkey gobbled from across the coulee.  I thought I heard a buck grunt over by a cornfield, but maybe it was just my imagination.  Traffic picked up on the nearby road and I imagined a cup of coffee with one of Ellen’s cookies.  The chill stealing into my midsection and neck was real enough, so I headed in to warm up.  

Ellen and our patient greeted me on the patio.  They had just gone down to retrieve the paper.  Scout usually is an outdoor dog.  She wants to be again, but right now she is recuperating from surgery.  Dr. Knight removed a softball-sized fatty tumor from between her front legs on Wednesday.  Scout is wearing a blue, kid-sized Star Wars t-shirt to hold bandages in place.  Scout looks pretty sharp I might add, and she seems like her old self already; once when we weren’t looking, she even ran off to the neighbors’ for a few minutes.   

Drew and Pat came in for lunch.  While I heard two deer, Drew had seen three, and Pat “got a rock.” They still scored a hot bowl of Ellen’s venison chili.  After a strategy session, they were off to wait out the big bucks somewhere in the woods.  Drew arrowed a nice fat doe.  

Last week Wednesday, Ben texted from the backcountry that he tagged out.  He attached a picture of a dandy mule deer.  The 3x3 buck was huge.  I called him and congratulated him.  I told him I wished I was there to help him get it out.  He said, “No you don’t.”  He was on a steep, frosty mountain side looking at a long and gnarly drag and carry out.  He was able to text a buddy who came and helped carry out the meat.  Anyway, he (and we) were pretty pumped up for him.  

Speaking of pretty pumped, we have taken a few deer here this last week.  Drew Rouse arrowed another nice doe to fill out his out-of-state antlerless tags.  Pat Kolbe killed the buck we called Splitter 2, a dandy 12-pointer with high split G2s.  I even got into the act, pulling the trigger on my crossbow with a deer in my sights.  More on this next week.

The weather has been fantastic for some things.  Not for deer hunting maybe.  Regardless, “The Big One” looms large.  If you got fooled by the nice weather like a lot of us, you might not realize that the 2017 Wisconsin Gun Deer Season opens on Saturday morning and runs through the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  This Saturday three-quarters of a million nimrods: old timers, seasoned veteran, casual participants, newbies, men, women, boys, and girls, along with camp cooks, card players, story tellers, bar tenders and deer hunting- hangers- on will take to forests, woods, fields, swamps, deer camps, farms, bars, and/or just back to good old home for the whitetail hunt all over the Badger State.  Tom and Steven Downs will be here from Iowa, staying at Grouse Hollow while Ellen and I head south to hunt with the Burton Deer Hunters.  

The long-range forecast (this is Sunday) is for wet on Friday with dropping temps on Saturday and dry, so it should be a good opener.  After the foggy Sunday two years ago, and last year’s blizzard in the southern counties when we went out hunting in a foot of blown and drifted snow this sounds pretty good.  

Speaking of forecasts, the Wisconsin DNR forecasts a good deer season in 2016 because of the mild winter we had.  You can also read about the new rules and other details suggested and/or required of deer hunters online at: http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/hunt/documents/deerfallforecast.pdf.  

El and I have had our deer hunting tubs on the dining room table for a week or more.  Those plastic tubs hold shells, warm gloves, rubber gloves, hats, hand and toe heaters, suspenders, dry socks, neck gaiters, face masks, knives, binoculars, radios, and more.  Our licenses and stuff are in there too.  I tossed my now unneeded back tag holder on the table - now a relic of past hunts I may just stash up in the shop.  Ellen has been talking strategy with her sister, Barb - not deer hunting necessarily, but kitchen strategy as they prepare to feed a hungry mob of hunters on opening weekend.  El stocks up on stuff all fall and starts making stuff ahead.  

I have to get our trailer serviced with bearing grease and a tire pressure check and a tail lght check so I can haul our four-wheeler and small trailer down to Grant County.  I’ll be pulling it with our “new” used Ford F150 pickup as we donated the Ranger to Ben and Christine’s new home savings account cause.  El and I shot our rifles on Friday last.  They were on as well as ever; of course Ellen shot better than I did as always.

If your freezer is full - or not, consider donating a deer to the Wisconsin DNR Donation.  According to their website, “Wisconsin has a network of venison donation partners including: county land and water conservation departments, food pantries, charitable organizations, Hunt for the Hungry, USDA - Wildlife Services and participating processors who all help implement and administer the program.”  Westby Meats is the Vernon County site - but remember to call first.  Perhaps your local church or a food pantry or shelter could use some venison too. Also remember that the Wisconsin Lions deer hide collection profits all go toward the Rosholt Lions camp for children with visual, hearing or mild cognitive disabilities, and children with diabetes.  Some of the many places you can drop off hides for the Lions are: Westby Rod and Gun Club, Charlie’s Inn, Norm Jambois Garage, and Ace Sportsland in La Crosse; you can find donation info online.  

Until next time, get out - good luck hunting and be safe.  Last season was the deadliest deer gun season in a long time.  Safety means not only in firearm control, but stand safety.  Almost all tree stand hunters can relate a fall or close call story I bet.  I have a couple for sure.  Wear a safety harness when you hunt from a tree stand and use a rope to pull up and lower your UNLOADED firearm.  Even a 12-foot fall can break your neck and dropping a loaded gun can kill.  At least one study I read said that hunters who hunt from stands run risk as high as 1 in 20 to have a fall and/or other stand related accident.  Anyway, again be safe and have a great hunt.  Enjoy.

Grouse Hollow Journal for November 10, 2016 by Greg Koelker

Grouse Hollow Journal for November 10, 2016 by Greg Koelker

Grouse Hollow Journal for November 10, 2016 by Greg Koelker

We have been bow hunt camp central this last couple of weeks, hosting our friends Eli, Pat, Mike and Drew, nephew Chet and neighbor Jim some evenings.  Timber Todd stopped in for the report.  Neighbor Gregg called to share the report across the coulee.  We shared trail cam pics and details of sightings.  I was talking on my cell up on Chipmunk Ridge when neighbor Erica stopped to show me a picture of a nice buck on her trail camera by where she had been bow hunting.  The deer have cooperated too.  Eli killed a dandy 10-pointer on Halloween morning.  Drew shot a doe one night that I butchered and Ellen canned.  Neighbor Jake arrowed a nice 10-point buck on Sunday morning.  Everyone has been seeing deer.  I use the “we are hosting” loosely, as Ellen has been doing most of the work: cooking, cleaning, and mowing the lawn.  Wait, what?  Mowing the lawn?  Remember?  It was September in November this past week, at least in the afternoons.  Hard to believe Thanksgiving is right around the corner.

I have been hunting of course.  One morning last week, after a slow walk - okay, after a slow trudge to keep from getting sweated up - up the Grouse Hollow path in the early morning haze, I got situated in the Grouse Stand.  Some readers may remember when Ellen and Scout helped me put up the Grouse Stand last fall when a real ruffed grouse came meandering up out of the thicket to check us out.  Anyway, I had dragged a scent rag behind me this morning in hopes of luring in a buck.  I called sparingly with a prototype Buck Reel doe bleat.  Crows were making a fuss over in the Oak Hollow - probably where Eli gutted his Halloween morning buck.  A noisy red squirrel scurried down the hill and froze when it saw me.  A curious chickadee eyed me up from overhead before moving to another limb in search of breakfast.  I enjoyed the quiet and the sweet spicy aroma of fallen leaves.  One of the times I was dreaming - almost, I caught some movement up the path.  I could see some long legs stepping slowly under cedar branches.  The deer stopped and tested the wind.  I could see antlers.  It was licking its nose.  I was hoping it would come a little closer, but I think I was busted.  The fat 6-pointer gingerly crossed the path and stiffly stepped down into the woods below me.  I waited for another deer, perhaps a bigger buck to follow, but it didn’t happen - or I didn’t wait long enough.  Anyway, it took a while to work the stiffness out of my back and legs and some blood into my cheeks (the back ones) when I climbed down and hiked in for lunch.

On Saturday morning, El and I were having coffee when we got a call from our dear friend Rox Fox.  Rox’s partner Bob Bonine had died in the night.  Bob was diagnosed with ALS aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease nearly five years ago and had to stop teaching just before I retired.  Bob taught physical science at De Soto Middle/High School for many years.  He loved teaching and his students, and his students loved him.  He had a great sense of humor that everyone loved.  He was a film buff - I love movies too, so we tried to get together to watch a movie every week or at least as often as possible.  Bob’s knowledge of actors and directors and Hollywood writers would have made Siskel and Ebert envious.  Last week, Duwayne Gronning, Vince Ruetten, and I joined Bob at his home to watch the new Star Trek film, Star Trek Beyond.  Bob’s disease manifested itself in his respiratory system, so as time went on he had trouble breathing and subsequently difficulty talking but he laughed at the humor and references to the characters that portrayed a young William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy and all the others in this action packed film.  He used his Ipad to look up answers to questions we had about actors and writers.  Bob never seemed sad about his state - at least that he let on to me.  He made dark jokes about his future and such; I once said I should probably go so he could take a nap, but he replied, “No naps.  I’ll have plenty of time for sleeping soon enough!”  He still had his signature smile with raised eyebrow and biting wit.  He told me he voted early just in case.  He didn’t hunt or fish, but he enjoyed hearing about it - or at least he was kind enough to listen.  He loved talking football; he was a Packer fan and loved his Central Michigan Fighting Chippewas, especially when they beat Oklahoma St. and UNLV this season!  Anyway, El shared the gist of the sermon at church this morning which was that we are all responsible for our own obituary.  Bob wrote his own obit, so look out - regardless, his would be one to be proud of I think.  We all walk this road at some point, and I hope I have the grace and class Bob showed when my time comes.  I will miss him; many, many people who loved and respected him will miss him and you can’t ask for more than that in the end I guess.  Our condolences to Roxanne and Bob’s family.  

Until next time, get out - this early “September” weather has been great for finishing up outside stuff before the inevitable - I mean winter not, well you know.  It is hard to believe that the gun deer season is next week.  Deer Hunt Wisconsin 2016 with host Dan Small is being played a number of times on Fox Sports stations and one can access it by name online on Youtube.  You can also access a Wisconsin Deer Hunting tutorial at the Wisconsin DNR web page.  I summarized a press release and put that on my blog at: grousehollowjournal.blogspot.com for you as well.   If you haven’t, and you plan to hunt, better check out your gear and check the sights on your firearm.  Enjoy.  

Wisconsin Gun Deer Hunt 2016 Tutorial from Wisconsin DNR

The nine day gun deer hunt, a true staple in Wisconsin’s cultural framework, is almost here! 

·         Deer Hunt 2016 – What do you need to know? (helpful one-page document with main changes)

·         GameReg Tutorial

·         Chronology of deer hunting in Wisconsin

·         Deer Hunt 2016 – Message from DNR Secretary Stepp

·         Deer Hunt 2016 – Message from DNR Chief Warden Todd Schaller

·         Interactive Deer Season Map (dnr.wi.gov, keyword “DMU”)

Data Sharing

For the nine day gun deer hunt, preliminary registration numbers will be available at 5 p.m. each day from Sunday, Nov. 20 through Wednesday, Nov. 23. A final preliminary registration summary for the nine day hunt will be available Tuesday, Nov. 29

This approach will provide for consistency and accuracy, since 5 p.m. is the registration deadline for each day. As a reminder, the numbers shared Monday Nov. 21 will give you the most accurate look at opening weekend harvest. This summary will be available on the “weekly totals” webpage.

 “2015 deer registration and license sales overview” 

Grouse Hollow Journal for November 4, 2016 by Greg Koelker

As I tap this out, our favorite month, October vaporized into just one more day, Halloween.  While I am not one to dwell in the past, this October has been - as it should be, a time of Friday night football, Homecoming, the Badgers, the Packers, combines in the fields, fall feasts of all kinds, farmers’ markets, apple pie, apple doughnuts, apple crisp, (I could go on), pumpkin bars, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies (again, I could go on), spectacular sunsets, hillsides dreamed up by artists, falling leaves and the scent of their burning, frosty mornings and bonfire evenings, good walleye and panfishing, Asian beetles and boxelder bugs, the World Series, jack-o-lantern carving, and ghoulies begging treats, small game season, deer season, pheasant season, duck season, turkey season, AND it is almost the end of the political season.  (This brings to mind a poster I once saw in a bar that read, “So if it is Political Season, why can’t we shoot at them?”)  

El and I had a great morning of panfishing on Lake Onalaska a couple weeks ago.  We had doubles and even triples where we had three lines with fish on that morning.  We threw many back, but we kept a nice mess.  Afterwards, I had a rueben and fries and Ellen had a cheeseburger at  Nutbush City Limits in Onalaska.  Some of those bluegills, were 9-inches or more.  When I finished cleaning fish we had two quart bags of fillets!  That night we had a fish fry with red potatoes and apple crisp.  

I went bow hunting in October - a lot.  I saw lots of deer, mostly when I was arriving to my stand or leaving, but still lots.  I arrowed a deer a couple weeks ago, but didn’t find it.  The best part - if there is a best part - is the offers of help to find it from first of all, my wife, but also our friends and neighbors Doug and Darian Strasser, and Timber Todd who all came out on a cold, dark night to tramp in thick woods.  Eli was in a business meeting, but said he’d come later if we needed him.  I slept like crap that night.  The next morning as Ellen, I, and nephew Chet Kirschbaum looked for the deer; I couldn’t help think of mountain man Ben and his friend Drew Rouse out in Colorado as they searched in vain for the bull elk they had arrowed in September.  Some might say, it was just a doe.  I don’t care what anyone says, there is no such thing as “just a doe;” I had the blues big time, so I can imagine their angst.  They say,  “nothing in the wild goes to waste, coyotes gotta eat, life goes on and yada yada.”  That doesn’t help.

Ellen has been busy with cleaning up her garden and flower beds, pulling dried plants and hauling load after load of mulch.  I ran a tiller threw the garden one morning.  She planted garlic this last week too.  I also pulled the brush hog through almost all of our trails one nice afternoon.  Vince Ruetten and I went fishing up on a very windy Lake Onalaska on Friday and ended up having breakfast at Nutbush; nobody had to clean fish.  We had hunters here all day, but I put up our Christmas lights on Saturday.  Hey, if the malls can start in September, I can get mine up when it is isn’t freezing out.  The boys didn’t see much, so I was more productive.  

This week Ben’s friend and business partner, Drew Rouse is here field testing Reel Game Calls new prototype call, the Buck Reel.  He called in a few bucks including one dandy, that didn’t offer him a shot.  He and Ben are marketing the Elk Reel, and are working on design and planning manufacture of the Buck Reel, Predator Reel, and Turkey Reel at this time.  Eli Jackson, Pat Kolbe, and Mike Matonich were also here this weekend.  They hit the woods hard on Saturday and Sunday.  They sat some 13 hours plus on Saturday and only saw one buck amongst them.  That evening we ate like kings thanks to Ellen and Pat.  Pat brought some marinated rib eyes for the grill.  Ellen fixed garlic mashies, her signature cashew and craisin salad, and I grilled the meat on the grill, to perfection I might add.  We watched Bucky take down the Huskers and after half-time  El brought us generous helpings of her special apple crisp with ice cream!  Go Badgers!  We all slept well.

Until next time, get out -   Anyway, I mentioned the election before, so I apologize to readers, but I have to shoot off my mouth here.  I have heard that a lot of people don’t plan to vote.  I don’t get it.  Like any election, this one is important.  If you don’t like the presidential candidates, so what?  There are congressional and state candidates that make a huge difference in all our lives.  I just have to say to those who are planning on not voting, if you don’t vote, you don’t count to those who are running the show.  As I finish this, it is Sunday evening.  Our bleary-eyed nimrods all went out to the woods hours ago and are back for supper.  El and I went to Cassville and a birthday dinner at J&J’s Sandbar for my mom.  She’ll be 29 next week!  Happy Birthday Mom!  Nobody caugth a deer today.  The Packers came up short at Atlanta.  Nuts!  Enjoy.

Grouse Hollow Journal for October 20, 2016 by Greg Koelker

We got home around 4pm on Monday.  Scout was ecstatic and even Gypsy seemed glad to see us.  We had been across Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, and eastern Colorado and back to spend some time with our family and friends in the Vail Valley.  

We stayed in Grand Island, Nebraska the first night of our trip.  The highlight along the way - for me at least - was gasoline prices were under $2 in places.  We also listened to Bill Bryson’s very entertaining, “A Walk In The Woods.”  We saw many combines at work in corn and bean fields.  The great Platte River was fuller than we have ever seen it.  Oh yeah, I found a new Subway sandwich I really like, the roast beef; I almost always go for the tuna salad.  As you can see, the drive across the prairies is well, pretty humdrum.

After blue mountains showed up on the horizon, we stopped in Brush, Colorado and ate our lunch of homemade sandwiches and chips while parked in pleasant shade by the library.  That was the calm before the storm.  We  got into the traffic snarl/Nascar Open that is Denver early Tuesday afternoon.    I drove through the three and four lanes of midday traffic on I-76 to I-70 that takes one up out of the valley of the Mile High City.  The heat and humidity of the prairie had turned to air that was cool and dry.  I was wearing shorts and a tee shirt; believe me it was cooler.

Our now California beach boy, Mark had flown in to Denver from Austin, Texas after a weekend of eating “lots and lots of Texas BBQ” and celebrating his friend Wayne with a bachelor party.  He warned us that when he tried to drive west on I-70, the road was closed due to snow and ice.  He stayed in Denver with a friend.  When we started up the east face the next day, there were snow flurries, but the road was fine.  Like me when I start to get altitude, our heavily loaded Ranger seemed to take a little time to adjust to the thinner air as we climbed  the mountain pass.  

We rolled into Avon, Colorado around 5 p.m. and checked into Falcon Point, a sort of hotel/condo place.  Mark had already left his bags in our room.  We had dinner with him and mountain kids Ben and Christine at their condo.  Chris makes a mean lasagna.  It was great to be together.  Mark slept on the sofa pull out in our suite.

We awoke to a snow covered Avon out the window.  Of course I didn’t include a snow brush in the pickup.  Anyway, we met Ben for breakfast the next morning at Loaded Joe’s in Avon.  Our nephew Tyler Hauk joined us along with friends Ben McNair, and a guy we know only as Wookie for a hearty breakfast of lots of eggs, bacon, sausage, and hot coffee.  Dear friend Nicole Timmerman dropped in on her way to work.  She said, with a devilish smile, that she was stalking us.  We also met Chrissy Timlin, a friend whose husband Joe was one of Mark’s best friends.  Joe was killed in an avalanche a couple years ago.  

We had hauled a load of Wisconsin oak, maple, and cherry boards from our farm and from his Uncle Bill’s farm near Burton out to Colorado for Ben to use in making elk calls for REEL Game calls.  When we dropped off the boards at Heartwood Custom Woodworks in Eagle, Carl Jordan gave us a tour of the wood working “factory” that does REEL’s planing and such.  They have some amazing stuff in their show rooms.  

Ben showed us how much REEL’s factory has grown.  They have more tools and machinery and rooms now.  While we were there, Ben made a run of calls on the CNC router with a piece of cherry I brought.  Ben has taught himself the computer code to operate it as their original program only made one call at a time.  Now he can make many calls in one operation, cutting way down on the time needed to make finished calls.  It is quite a process involving the original cutout, making a second run to cut the proper V for the air flow chamber, then cutting free each piece (kind of like the plastic parts in an model cars or airplanes only with wood) sanding each piece, after which the parts go to finishers who assemble them.  He was getting a bunch of calls ready for the winter shows while we were there.  Mark dropped in at the factory on his way back to California.  It was hard to see Mark leave, but he had to get back to work.  

Ellen and I went for a drive up to Sylvan Lake State Park that afternoon.  There were lots of photo ops with the streams rolling over rocks through halls of gold aspens.  The lake is surrounded by the White River National Forest.  One looks up from the canyon to rocky outcroppings, snow covered mountain tops, and memorable scenes of mountain meadows where some ambitious and/or hopefuls had built cabins and barns a long time ago.  Several still stand.  One can go hiking and fishing and camping.  A custodian at our hotel told us that the 42 acre Sylvan Lake is full of rainbow, cutthroat, brook, and brown trout.  The park is open year round.   

After work that day, Ben and Chris took us out to some property they are trying to purchase.  It is a parcel of 40 acres in a subdivided ranch high up in the foothills outside of Wolcott, Colorado.   The place is wind blown sagebrush, but there is a road, power, and phone line there already and fantastic scenery with a few homes no closer than half-a-mile.  Their dog, Scout of the West, had a blast running up and down the hills and tearing through the sagebrush.  We saw many mule deer too, including a couple trophy bucks that are even trained to stand along the road for pictures.    

Back their condo, we fixed the Rocky Rococo Pizzas El had gotten.  Rocky’s, along with Spotted Cow beer, is a treat our kids (and we) love.  

On Thursday, we went to Edwards and dropped by Dr. Christine’s office to say hello.  We met her receptionist, Angie who lives on a ranch out past where the kids hope to build.  That must be one heck of a commute on snowy mornings.  She told us how she shot her elk off the deck the weekend before though.  We shopped at the Bookworm and got some children’s books for our friends’ kids.  We also bought Ben a breakfast crepe.  

Later that morning we learned that Ben had a photo assignment for Elk REEL - to get some bugling bulls for their web site, so we headed out at noon.  Ben drove us all to Rocky Mountain National Park.  At the park gate, my senior citizen status saved us the $20 entrance fee - even though I forgot my card at home.  The gate keeper also told us the park was closed some 10 miles ahead due to the snow.  We pulled over by a group of cars a few miles in because there were elk all over - right by the road.  There were mostly cows, but one was a spike bull still in velvet.  The spike was resting, so I got a few close ups - from a safe distance.  There was a huge 6x6 bull across the meadow from there.  Ben pulled out his long lense and got some video and photos.  The bull also reciprocated with a few bugles.  Other unseen bulls bugled as well.  El and I had never heard an elk bugle, so this was pretty special.  It was cold with an icy wind spitting some snow flakes at us in times.  People watched and moved on, but we waited.  Another bull appeared across the river, bugling and trying to round up cows.  The herd bull did the same.  We were hoping for a battle, but mostly the bulls were interested in stealing or keeping a harem.  We did drive to the closed part of the park and then pulled into a trailhead and went for a walk across a meadow to where the foothills shot up steeply into the trees.  We crossed a creek balancing on a single plank.  I made it over and back without falling into the drink or dropping my Nikon.  I got a couple shots of a bugling bull through the trees on the way in.  I was the killjoy at the hillside, choosing to slowly head back the mile or more to the car and wait for Ben, Chris, and Ellen.  Anyway, we went back down the park road and got some really great images of bulls fighting across the valley and lots of antler polishing on huge pine trees and cow pestering going on.

On the way out of the park, we came upon another roadside roadblock with a nice herd of cows and large bulls right alongside the road.  There was buglin, and we could see a huge bull up in the aspens answering.  I saw a lady standing next to a spike bull on the side of the road right by her car.  That’s just dumb.  On the other side of the road, we could see a big bull bugling and rounding up running cows in the willows along a creek down the hill.   Ben drove down the road and then came back on the other side as that bull came closer to the big herd of cows in the first place.  I got some great pictures of it and video taped it.  As the 6x6 walked into the camera screen, I whispered, “Come on, bugle.”  As if on cue, it turned and let one go.  Ellen whispered to me, “What else can you get him to do, sit maybe?”  Anyway, you can see that video on my Facebook page if you have such access.  

On Friday morning, Ellen and I went back to the Bookworm and had coffee and I ordered a lemony snicket crepe, sugary strawberries and blueberries in a lemon sauce that was to die for.  We shopped at the Kitchen Collage for a bit.  I could spend hundreds on knives and barbecue stuff there.  They had some drink napkins I wanted that read, “Insanity runs in our family; in fact it practically gallops!”  It doesn’t, at least I think it doesn’t, but it would have been fun at the Griswold Christmas get together.  

Ellen and Christine and Scout went on a long on a four-mile hike up in the mountains, so I opted for a walk on the Gore Creek walking path and took some beautiful shots of the sun through the aspens, reflecting on the creek below.  I took a nap in their living room and read some to their cat, Spanky.  

When the girls got back, Chris went in to work and we met Ben for lunch at our favorite, Moe’s Original BBQ in Eagle.  They make incredible bbq with sides of baked beans, macs and cheese, grits, coleslaw, squash casserole, red beans and rice, pie and more.  Anyway, we all had our sandwiches “Bama Style,” that is with coleslaw on top.  I added more spicy BBQ sauce too.  While it is messy, it is great eating.  Ben returned to work and we returned to our condo to pack up.  

We were invited to Nicole and Matt Timmerman’s for dinner that evening.  Ben and Chris, Stacey Otremba and her mom rounded out the adults.  Young’uns Nicco, Mica, Logan, and Miles lead the monsters contingent playing around our feet and having a blast with Uncle Ben.  (On Tuesday, Uncle Mark surprised Nicco by picking him up after school.)  After spoiling our dinner at Moe’s, you’d think supper might out of the question, but we are troopers and the dinner of deliciously spiced tacos followed up with pumpkin apple cake did not die in vain.

We had breakfast with Ben and Chris at Bob’s Place on Saturday morning.  The place if full of pictures of famous Bob’s from around the world.  I need to send them pictures of nephew Bob Roe, the champion gar fisherman and my dear friend, Bob Bonine, the greatest physical science teacher ever.  Anyway, it was hard to say goodbye.

We stayed in the same hotel, same room too in Grand Island that night.  We drove to Altoona, Iowa the next day for a visit with our friends Jane and Tom Downs.  We watched the Packer game, switching to the debate debacle during commercials.  After coffee in the hot tub, we went to The Corner Cafe for a huge breakfast and then drove up to Boone, Iowa and Redecker’s Furniture to look at more Stressless furniture.  I sat down in a black leather Ekorness stressless recliner and bought it on the spot.  It matches our furniture and it was on a clearance sale and what the heck are credit cards for anyway?  I now have my Christmas present for the next three or four years.  

Until next time, get out - Dan Wolfe of the Stoddard Lions Club asked me to advance a news release about the Lions Clubs of Wisconsin’s deer hide collection fundraiser.  It is a good cause and one can find out where to drop off deer hides online at: www.wlf.info/events/deer-hide-collection/.  I have been archery hunting and experienced some unbelievable sunsets, bugs and chattering teeth, surprises by friends, hunting success and heartbreak making more memories.  More on that another time.  Enjoy.

Grouse Hollow Journal for September 29, 2016 by Greg Koelker

I started writing this last Friday morning at our kitchen table.  I was supposed to substitute teach at De Soto Middle School, but for the second day in a row the Closed Crawl running across the bottom of the TV screen changed that.  They had to close due to over 10 inches of rain and all the flooding and mudslides in our area.  I saw pictures of JC Gillespie Memorial Field aka The Pit on Facebook this morning.  It is very sad.  It will take a lot of time and money to repair that damage.  More importantly, I hope the people in Cottonwood Court and Victory are able to get their lives back in order soon.  

Ellen found that our ridge road and trail crossings appear to be holding up - so far.  I haven’t been in our woods, but I see that near one of our neighbors on one hillside there are at least five huge old oak trees on their sides, broken off at their bases.  My uneducated guess would be that they were probably suffering from oak wilt that was exacerbated by all the rain and wind.  There is a lot of firewood there, but it seems such a shame to lose such great old trees.   

Fall color should start to be evident soon.  I observed mostly yellows, greens, and browns on the hillsides in our coulee, but there are some reds provided by sumac and such along the road and in some yards in town, the maples are working overtime to make a show of it.  I wonder how the record rains will affect the intensity.  The US National Arboretum web site says, “Temperature, sunlight, and soil moisture greatly influence the quality of the fall foliage display . . . A growing season with ample moisture that is followed by a rather dry, cool, sunny autumn that is marked by warm days and cool but frostless nights provides the best weather conditions for development of the brightest fall colors. Lack of wind and rain in the autumn prolongs the display; wind or heavy rain may cause the leaves to be lost before they develop their full color potential.”  So, if the storms continue or we get an early frost, the fall color display may be short, but we sure have had ample moisture and warmer days.  Now if we can only score some “dry, cool, sunny” conditions.  

I am itching to get out in a tree stand this week as the forecast is for cooler, dryer weather.  The gnats and mosquitoes are pretty bad yet.  I have observed some scrapes along several tree lines and Ellen saw one in a food plot, so regardless of the weather, life goes on in the whitetail world.  

The rainy time has been good for indoor maintenance.  I lubed up our lawn tractor and changed the oil.  I started hauling old boards up to the burn pile on Saturday, and I have a trailer load of old fencing, electric baseboard heaters, pipes, and even film can racks to haul to large item at the dump day this weekend.  The film racks come from the old days at WKBT when they started switching over to videotape and film went the way of the buffalo.  I grabbed a bunch of them to put down in our hay barn for support under the hay bails, and as support for the rodents who were able to live under them I guess.   Anyway, I finally got my shop TV antennae adjusted so I have like 13 channels off the air up there too, and I spent some quality time listening to Larry Meiller on NPR and Bill Michaels and Don Labatard on sports radio.  I researched and doctored up my Fantasy Football team, but still lost this last week.  I posted a water tank on Craigslist and sold it the first day, so I made some extra cash, and I spent some quality time on the porch with Ellen, Scout, and several good books.  So the rainy weather is good for something I guess.    

Until next time, get out -  The Pirate varsity football squad spent time this last week shoveling and carrying mud from homes in Victory.  “Many hands make light work,” is a phrase my father-in-law used to use often.  Anyway, Prairie View Elementary Teacher Ev Wick, has been the Pirates Head Football Coach for fourteen seasons.  Weather has played havoc upon the PIT three times during his tenure as coach.  Maybe we need a coach with better luck?  Just kidding Ev old buddy; keep those boys winning to help lift everyone’s spirits.  Go Pirates!  Enjoy.

Grouse Hollow Journal for September 22, 2016 by Greg Koelker

I am not complaining about the weather, but Saturday and Sunday proved to be bluebird days for the youth duck hunt.  On Saturday morning I heard a few shots in the distance, but none this morning.  Don’t worry kids, waterfowling weather will return with more ducks soon enough.

Bowhunters Pat Kolbe and Eli Jackson are here this opening weekend to tag their trophy bucks, or more likely - as they did yesterday - put their  keisters asleep and their backs out of wack while hanging high up on a tree for long hours into the dusk enjoying the squirrels, gnats, and mosquitoes.  They did see some deer, but no shooters.  We just finished a lunch of spicy brats Pat brought from Eden, WI.  Ellen treated us to apple crisp fresh from the oven with ice cream on it for dessert.  Ellen is hunting right now, hunting pumpkins in her patch to send home with Pat and Eli for their families.  The breeze is turning windy helping to keep the heat of the afternoon sun at bay right now.  The hunters are napping, snoring up dreams about better days to hunt in front of the TV in the family room.  I just cobbled up a cable on our lawn mower up in the shop and now I am on the porch tapping this out on the laptop, planning to hunt this evening myself.

I asked the guys what they did to wile away all that time yesterday.  Eli didn’t respond, asleep already I guess.  Pat said he checked out his fantasy football team and mulled over his high school football team’s 6-3 loss on Friday.  He described it as mulling it over and over.  Pat, a former De Soto Pirate assistant for Ev Wick and Oriole assistant, is the first-year head coach at North Fon du Lac’s Horace Mann High.  He said the Orioles lost even though they got in the red zone four times.  Such are the vicissitudes of football I guess.  I often dreamt away the time in a tree stand, literally; I wonder how many critters I frightened away with snoring.  I often take a small radio and ear buds with me and listen to NPR or Sports.  More recently, I have found myself taking pictures with my phone’s camera, texting with my family and friends, and/or watching Netflix with earbuds in to help pass away the time.  More often than not though, I put away the technology and just enjoy the quiet and the scenes.  Last year, I remember a breezy morning when the sun was coming through some hardwoods and there were cascades of yellow leaves with sunlight shining through them in rays dividing the trees.  I try to identify bird sounds sometimes.  I watch squirrels and chipmunks, even mice and birds.  I have watched a grouse drum a couple times over the years.  I have seen a fox make a stalk on a pair of ruffed grouse so wrapped up with their love dance that they almost became dinner.  I make plans and promises - the promise about losing some weight never seems to take hold, and some of the plans are forgotten, but some are carried through.  Anyway, I know of people who read books in a blind and I suppose I could take this little device along and write on my laptop in a tent blind, but I don’t think so.  

I plan to sit on the end of an unpicked corn field this evening.  There have been plenty of daylight deer shots on nearby trail cams so we shall see.  Pat showed me how to set up and use my Therma Cell device tonight.  This is supposed to help keep the bugs away.  I sure hope it works.  

The Therma Cell does work.  There were bugs -gnats and mosquitoes and small flies - amuck when I walked in carrying my chair and crossbow on my shoulders, but no bugs to speak of while I was on stand.  I spooked a couple of unknowns out of the corn when I entered the corn rows.  I heard them gallop away down through the field and into the woods.  Later, I saw three antlerless deer sneaking up along the corn.  They spooked before they got close.  Later I heard something - it sounded like a crew of kindergartners walking in leaves - come in behind me.  I didn’t turn and whatever it or they were crossed the ditch below me.  I could hear something in the corn.  I am pretty sure it was coons.  On the way back to the truck I saw three unknowns in the field.  

Eli and Pat didn’t see much either.  Ellen made thick and tasty venison stew with rolls for supper topping it off with apple crisp for dessert.   The meal was the highlight of the evening.  The Packers sure were not.

Until next time, get out - this last week someone removed the SD card from my our friend Austin’s trail cam.  Austin is in 8th grade.  The culprit most likely downloaded the images on a device, erasing the card.  Austin said that he still had some really great pics from last season plus new ones from this year on the card.  The card was still in the camera, but the jerk was trespassing and stealing those images was not only a rotten thing to do, stealing is stealing.  I think it is great that young people get interested in hunting and this sort of despicable act just sours the experience and enthusiasm.  Enjoy.