Grouse Hollow Journal for May 11, 2017 by Greg Koelker
There has been a lot going on at Grouse Hollow this last week: Mountain man Ben and his friend Drew Rouse are here hunting the third season for turkeys. Lewis, Drew’s pudelpointer is on constant “toss my frisbee” duty while the hunters are out. Ellen’s flowers and grass are growing like weeds. Her morels are popping up all over too. I made room for more junk in my shop this week. I reached another life milestone, leaving my “will you still feed me, will you still need me?” year of my life, and by the time you see this, I will be hunting turkeys (and morels) this fourth season.
I managed to get up at 4:30 and go hunting along with Ben on Wednesday morning last week. I don’t remember a more perfect morning to be out on the ridge at sunrise. The horizon was just turning from orange to dark blue, snuffing out stars and whatever breeze there was when we got out of the truck. Hunting with Ben made it the best. We had barely poured a cup from the thermos when the toms started gobbling in every hollow around us. We set up and moved several times and called and had toms come in. I tried video taping without a lot of success. He didn’t tag a bird this day.
Ben did get his first Wisconsin wild turkey, after hunting all-day for two days, he tagged a bird in the waning hours of the day up near the Oak Stand. Drew had the kill on video. Ben turned cameraman then and he and Drew are out chasing after a bird for Drew as I tap this out on Saturday morning. They rolled out around 4:30 again this morning. We could hear gobbling toms through our open bedroom window. Anyway, they are having fun, hearing and calling lots of birds. We are having Ben’s turkey tonight for supper roasted with mushroom and wine gravy and wild rice. It won’t get no better.
Ellen and Scout and Lewis, have been running up and down the hills as part of El’s cardio regimen which includes hunting mushrooms. She has been finding some too - and deer ticks. We had morels with marinated and grilled venison chops for supper last night with rhubarb crisp and ice cream for dessert. It don’t get no better.
On Friday it was the best of times and it was the worst of times or maybe there was good news and bad and good news. I took the John Deere and tiller down to Stoddard and worked up the ground for the community garden. Our friend and my former student Renee (Anderson) Venner ramrods this project, among others. We had a good visit and I think I left the sandy ground pretty well broken and ready for some planting. Then the old adage that “no good deed goes unpunished” raised its ugly head. As I was driving up Elm Drive in Stoddard, my usually easy going green machine surprised me and crow hopped and twisted a bit. I was wearing a seatbelt and didn’t get bucked off. Upon examination, there was only one, that’s one out of five, lug nuts still loosely holding the slightly twisted left front rim on. I was contemplating a phone call to home for rescue when Bob Wurtzel saw me from his yard and came to my aid. I had found one lug nut in the street, so he took that to go look for a socket and jack. I walked back down the road and unbelievably found the rest of the lugnuts in the street! With Bob’s jack, I was able to bolt and tighten the original lug nuts back on. I checked the rest of the tractor’s lug nuts before I thanked Mr. Wurtzel and headed for the ranch, three miles up the coulee. Anyway, I got the garden done, got to visit with Renee for a while, had tractor trouble and met Mr. Wurtzel, and made it home. So there, take that, fate.
Large item day at the dump was last Saturday. I was checking around for unneeded or unwanted items or just plain large junk to take there, when I started looking at some of the stuff that has been collecting dust in the shop for years. I spied an ancient Stihl saw, a still older derelict minibike, and our pretty old log splitter. Anyway, I couldn’t get any of them to run. After a little power washing and rag work, I took some pictures and placed all three on Craigslist. I sold the saw the first day to a young ex-marine who pulled the starter rope three times and the orange and white machine snarled to life, ready to once again help heat a home. The mini-bike died back when Mark was 11; he is 35 now. The mini-bike motor blew one evening when he was ramming around out in the yard. I never fixed it. I sold it sight unseen on Saturday morning to a guy with a plan to make it a summer project. Cool. Anyone need a wood splitter that works fine if you can get it started? (Oops! Sold it Sunday morning.) Thank you Craigslist.
On Saturday afternoon, El and I drove up to Glenwood City to help surprise our dear friend Angela Hierlmeir who is turning 50 today (May 11). She was surprised to tears as many of her friends and family members showed up at Glen Hills Country Club. Angela was the Choir Director at De Soto High School back in the 90’s. (She is Gordie’s wife too.) Happy Birthday Angie!
Speaking of birthdays, I entered the world of Medicare on May 1. I am not sure how I feel about that. I remember lying on my back on a sandbar, watching shooting stars with my friends Kim, Robert, Donnie, Mike and Greg back in the summer of 1969. Someone said something about the year 2000 and then someone else said, “Do you realize we’ll be like 48 in 2000?” Someone else guffawed to the point of choking on his beer and then declared, “Hell! No way we are going to live to be even 40!” Well, we all did that despite our muscle cars, mis-adventures on the river, and bad habits. Now I am 65, a concept I guess I wasn’t really thinking much about then, maybe like a lot of people until it sneaks up on them. As to being 64, I guess it hasn’t worn off yet as Ellen is fixing me scrambled eggs with a cinnamon raisin bagel and morel mushrooms this morning. It don’t get . . . well you know.
Until next time, get out - this week is the Wisconsin Conservation Congress convention in Oshkosh where I and some 400 other congress delegates from around Wisconsin will sit in on all kinds of discussions and reports about everything outdoors. Governor Walker is supposed to address the group. Perhaps he’ll announce some movement on changing the railroad trespass law. More on all this next week. Enjoy.
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