Success!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

I tend to get things stuck in my head and have difficulty shaking them loose. I suppose that is what’s going on with trying to find deer antlers. I have a friend whose father has hundreds of racks lining the walls and rafters of his garage…all from searching the woods around his home in Madison, so I know it works. Then I saw the article in the PD about the cycle of the antler and I’ve been hunting since.

I brought my camera along because I’m also on a mission to photograph those pesky beavers out of the water. I keep seeing them swimming, but I’ve never seen them operate on dry land and when Bruce saw one on Sunday…and I missed it…I was pissed. Well…I didn’t have the camera, so I guess its okay.

The ground was still covered with the melting remnants of the Friday blizzard, but it was less than an inch and the ground was bare in places where the sun reached the forest floor. I made my way from the Wilson Mills parking area to the marsh and began walking around its northern rim to the place where Bruce had seen the beaver on Sunday. I figured I’d find a dry log, sit and wait for him to come stumbling along.

When I got there, I decided that the beaver dam might be a better location and moved on. The dam runs alongside River Road and I made my way up and over it before slipping into the shrubs and thicket just beyond. I was looking towards the water when a large, furry gray blur ran across my path about 30 feet in front of me. I swung my camera around and managed to snap a picture of its ass as it scurried away. It was an opossum and its hind end is probably more attractive than the front…though he probably feels the same about me…but at least I caught him on…digital (what’s the comparable saying for ‘on film’?)?

I walked a couple of more steps and stopped to look at the branch at my feet. Only it wasn’t a branch. I excitedly reached down and picked up my first deer antler. It was small…four points…and the matching antler was no where to be found, but I was as excited as if I’d found a Willie Mays rookie card at some random garage sale. I placed it in a nearby pine tree to retrieve later and continued my search for more antlers and/or a picture of a beaver.

I was walking through the overgrowth close to the marsh’s edge, working my way towards the beaver lodge located about 50 feet off shore when I saw a ripple in the water. I could only mean a beaver or a muskrat…so I stopped and waited. It must have heard me because it slapped the water with its tail and dove under the surface. Beaver for sure. I waited quietly behind a tree for about ten minutes and if finally returned, climbed up on a log and turned to face me. The ‘click’ of the camera sent him back into the water…but not before I’d gotten a couple of fairly good shots.

A red-tailed hawk screeched loudly overhead as I made my way back towards my antler stash. I searched the nearby fields for more, but came up empty. But what a day. Antler, great pictures and a long hike. Not much of a workout, but the serenity I’d enjoyed made it better than a 10-mile run. I suppose I’ll have to head back there tomorrow and comb more woods. I think I’ve got the perfect spot to spend a couple hours some morning and get more and better pictures.

Hike duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 90 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 300.