Ready for Squirrels?

For early hunting season fun, it really is hard to beat squirrels. Ohio's squirrel season typically opens labor day weekend and runs well into the winter now. I know that some other states have open season or squirrel seasons that open much earlier. That's probably how this article Give Squirrel a Whirl came up recently on CNN. It seems like you'd have to be more selective this time of year to target mature squirrels. The ones that are running around the yard and not sacrificing themselves on the roads seem to be on the smallish side.

Like any other time the topic of hunting comes up on a site like CNN the comments section is packed. Check out the survey and vote.

All of it really reminds me that now would be a great time to make sure the .22 is sighted in.

Modified Leopold Bench

The other day I picked up some scrap lumber. Actually it was the remnants of a loft bed with a dresser and closet below that I build for a relative's son. It was my favorite piece I've ever done. But it had served it's purpose and was time to go.

So I was faced with a pile of 2 X 6's and 2 X 4's of various sizes covering the floor of the garage. Nothing that quite matched the requirements for the bench plans I posted earlier. I figured I could make it work. And it does.

It's a pretty laid-back bench, perfect for watching sunsets and deer in the field across the road. Using a 2 X 6 instead of the plans called for 2 X 8 actually opens it up some making it even better for playing guitar.

If you'd like the dimensions I ended up with, leave a comment. I have more pictures as well.

Thinking Like a Mountain

The Conservationist has a great post about an upcoming movie about Aldo Leopold, Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time.

I really identify with this quote from Thinking Like a Mountain:

“We all strive for safety, prosperity, comfort, long life, and dullness. The deer strives with his supple legs, the cowman with trap and poison, the statesman with pen, the most of us with machines, votes, and dollars, but it all comes to the same thing: peace in our time. A measure of success in this is all well enough, and perhaps is a requisite to objective thinking, but too much safety seems to yield only danger in the long run. Perhaps this is behind Thoreau's dictum: In wildness is the salvation of the world. Perhaps this is the hidden meaning in the howl of the wolf, long known among mountains, but seldom perceived among men.”


If you need some time and place to sit an ponder more about our relationship with the land and Leopold's ideas, consider the Leopold bench. 

Sporting Shot: The Future of Upland Hunting

The Shooting Sportsman is probably the best remaining print magazine on the subject when you consider all aspects: writing, photography, design etc.

Their online companion, The Sporting Shot, is maybe even better. It is simply awesome. It makes me want an iPad because I'm sure the experience is even better.

A Bird Dog without Birds is..

...a very unhappy puppy. Followed by a unhappy owner. Again it comes down primarily to habitat. That means land, and that means money. In my opinion, the difference maker and savior (if it happens) is going to be water and water quality. Federal programs that protect water and water quality have a greater public acceptance it seems. And they work.

In any event, the good news is that the gentleman bob seems to be getting more attention recently. Here is an excellent post from Field & Stream in the gun dog blog, A Canary in the Coal Mine: Bobwhite Quail Population.

The Department of Artificial Resources: Stocking, Habitat and Access

The Ohio Department of "Natural" Resources is in the process of the stocking trout of "catchable size" in numerous ponds and lakes around Ohio. In the fall the agency releases rooster pheasants at a variety of public hunting areas around the state. I put the "Natural" in quotes because in many instances what they are actually doing is creating an "Artificial" Resource. Maybe "Outdoor" Resources is a more accurate and acceptable definition.

I understand this practice and believe it has a place. While wild naturally producing stocks would be preferred, in most cases the trout releases are near human populations and in bodies of water that don't offer many opportunities aside from the release. Same deal with the pheasants. It's an access issue. They give people without access to private land opportunity to pursue upland birds, while some other public areas are managed for wild pheasants.

What I don't really understand or agree with is the stocking of sterile hybrids in viable wild areas. Obviously this applies to primarily to fisheries (although a release of 100% roosters is essentially sterile). But why saugeyes in lakes or wipers in the Ohio River? It seems that this would make it even more difficult for the native species by competing with them for food and habitat. It seems like a net loss, when the real issue, where the money really should be spent, is on improving the habitat so that the native species can thrive. Those are the natural resources.

Photo Some rights reserved by Dennis Dalton

Bobwhite Quail - Seen any Recently?

I don't think of myself as necessarily old. But I've seen wild quail just a stones throw south of I-70 in Ohio in my life. So that makes me old enough to remember the winters of 1977-78. Which makes my not exactly young. And I haven't seen a wild quail around here since then.

So I'm glad to see that Ohio DNR is taking steps to reintroduce our native little gentlemen.

Effort to bring more quail to area under way by Jim Morris.

I've kept quail in a johnny house for dog training. Some of the birds escape or don't recall to the pen. I've had neighbors report seeing those birds later, but I haven't seen evidence of a wild quail this far north. Hopefully the habitat is in place that the birds can make a go of it again.

If you have some land and are interested, there are several habitat workshops coming up:

Feb. 19: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Hueston Woods State Park, 6301 Park Office Road, College Corner.
Feb. 23: 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. at Young’s Dairy Farm Golden Jersey Inn, 6880 Springfield-Xenia Road, Yellow Springs.
March 1: 5 to 7:30 p.m. at Ross County Service Center, 475 Western Ave., Chillicothe.
March 5: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Donald Geer farm, 10700 Ohio 73, New Vienna.
March 7: 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. at the Urbana Service Center, 1512 South U.S. 68, Urbana.

The workshops are open to anyone interested in learning about bobwhite quail, wildlife habitat management or cropland conservation.

Saturday workshops will include a short afternoon fieldtrip to a quail management area. Be prepared to go outside.
For more information, visit wildohio.com or call (937) 372-9261.

Photo courtesy of hutch4434 on flickr.