After having several hours of dampening rain showers Tuesday night, I went for a walk yesterday morning. The leaves on the ground at sunrise were nice and soft and didn't crinkle with every step. I planned to do a circuit to the southeast of me; one that would allow me to walk with my face into the ever so slight breeze that was pushing northeast up the slope and east toward the sun.
Once I got off the jeep/snowmobile trail and through the first 200 feet of small conifers, things opened up in a beech cherry forest that, surprisingly had only a few blow downs. I could actually see out to almost 100 yards. It was state land so some of the trees were huge! One old sugar maple that was partially uprooted had to be nearly three feet across at chest height and easily 75 feet tall. It was caught at the top by a slightly smaller but equally impressive sister.
Walking slowly and stopping often to scan the horizon all around me, I made my way southward until I reached a downslope heading to a swampy area and a creek. I found an log on which to sit and stopped to rest for fifteen minutes while I ate an apple and searched the exposed areas for deer. Nada. I did get up close and personal with a red squirrel which hopped on the end of the log three feet from me and didn't realize I was there until I said. "Booo!" It scampered on to the tree against which I was leaning and peered around the bole to see what the hell I was and if I was dangerous. I guess I passed some sort of test because the squirrel sounded no alarm and went on it's unhurried way.
I headed down the slope. At the bottom of the slope, I turned to the west eventually crossing the state boundary and back onto private land. I knew exactly where I was by the gold paint on the trees marking the border, the remnants of logged cherry trees littering the forest floor, an easily discernible skidway and my GPS unit.
Movement became a bit more difficult with all the tops of logged trees scattered about and the few blowdowns across the skidway. I was just making my way through a thick patch where I had to negotiate two tree tops and had limited visibility because of many young beech trees that are still yellow-green with leaves, when the slope above me exploded in activity. Apparently the noise I made stepping on a branch and my odor wafting up the slope had spooked three or four deer I never saw.
I froze for several minutes listening to the sounds of the deer going up the hill away from me and cursed my luck. I waited, hoping one or more might get curious and do something stupid like the squirrel, but it didn't happen. I made my way over to the point from which the sounds seemed to originate to get a clue as to whether they were just passing through or had been bedded down on the slope waiting for the morning sun. This was very near where I had sat on Tuesday morning and an area Mark had walked through trying to stir up deer.
I couldn't even find any signs in the leaves that there had been deer in the area. I found no beds (matted down leaves of a roughly oval shape), droppings, or even stirred up leaves indicating the sudden hoof activity I had heard. After a brief search, I gave it up and continued along a skidway that lead right to where I had sat the day before. It was along this skidway that I did find fresh scat (that's deer shit for those that don't talk so polite).
So ended my three and a half hour walk in the woods. Distance was probably only a mile and a half. The experience was worth it--frustrating, but worth it.
I spent the afternoon moving some firewood into the barn for the winter. Rain was forecast for Wednesday night into Thursday (and they were right--for a change) and I wanted to get the split wood under cover before it got wet. I moved about a cord and a half using the wheelbarrow. There's still another two cords that need to me moved and about the same that needs splitting, but that will wait for another day.
Today will be spent stoking the fire and keeping dry inside.
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