A quiet New Years
The sun finally came out Monday for the first time in a week or more. I hadn't been to our property near Alexandria in over two months. Andrea had the day off for the holiday and wanted to stay home with the baby so my dog Spear and I packed up the auger and some other gear including snow shoes, and headed out. A quick drive up 94 and we were looking over the frozen lake.
In October I placed a trail camera on a tree in the corner of the field. I was curious how many deer and other animals were using the field. I wanted to retrieve the camera which gave me the perfect excuse to go up there. Since I was up there I may as well drop a line and see if the blue gills we had caught from shore all summer would be willing to take a wax worm through the ice. I also was anxious to use the new tip ups Santa had brought me for Christmas. On the way through Brandon I picked up a few sucker minnows. The plan was to snow shoe through the property and out onto the small lake and drill a few holes. Catch a pike or two and a handful of bluegills then grab the camera and head back home to celebrate the new year with Andrea and Sarah. As is typical for off the cuff trips like this my plan didn't work out as far as the fish were concerned. I didn't get any bites after a couple hours of trying. I didn't mind too much though.
The sun was out and Spear and I cut fresh tracks in the snow. Places like this look so different in the winter than they do in the summer. It was calm and quiet. A beautiful scene that reminds me why I live in a northern climate and deal with snow shovels and broken snow blowers for several months out of the year. Spear also seemed to enjoy our time as he did his best quail dog impression running far and wide searching for something, anything really. Occasionally I would call him back only for him to take off again after checking in.
After giving up on the fishing, I pulled the lines and we made our way to the trailer. A 1962 camper trailer is what we call home for our summer time trips to the property. As you can imagine a 1962 trailer is not real air tight and as such in often blessed with a few rodent inhabitants. I took a few minutes to empty the mice traps and Spear took the opportunity to clear his paws from some of the ice that had formed on them. I locked the trailer back up and put my snowshoes back on. We took the long way back to the car. Savoring the quiet and the beauty of a frozen landscape.
As we approached the car a flock of turkeys were feeding in a field across the road. We watched them for a while and then packed up for the drive home. A great day for the final day of the year. As it turned out, after two months in the field, the camera only got one picture of a bunny.A dozen or more others were unrecognizable. Guess I will have to work with the camera settings and give it another try. Sounds like another good reason to go up there. Since I am going up there I may as well.....
Happy New Year to you and yours. May 2008 bring you all the best.
Sport
In October I placed a trail camera on a tree in the corner of the field. I was curious how many deer and other animals were using the field. I wanted to retrieve the camera which gave me the perfect excuse to go up there. Since I was up there I may as well drop a line and see if the blue gills we had caught from shore all summer would be willing to take a wax worm through the ice. I also was anxious to use the new tip ups Santa had brought me for Christmas. On the way through Brandon I picked up a few sucker minnows. The plan was to snow shoe through the property and out onto the small lake and drill a few holes. Catch a pike or two and a handful of bluegills then grab the camera and head back home to celebrate the new year with Andrea and Sarah. As is typical for off the cuff trips like this my plan didn't work out as far as the fish were concerned. I didn't get any bites after a couple hours of trying. I didn't mind too much though.
The sun was out and Spear and I cut fresh tracks in the snow. Places like this look so different in the winter than they do in the summer. It was calm and quiet. A beautiful scene that reminds me why I live in a northern climate and deal with snow shovels and broken snow blowers for several months out of the year. Spear also seemed to enjoy our time as he did his best quail dog impression running far and wide searching for something, anything really. Occasionally I would call him back only for him to take off again after checking in.
After giving up on the fishing, I pulled the lines and we made our way to the trailer. A 1962 camper trailer is what we call home for our summer time trips to the property. As you can imagine a 1962 trailer is not real air tight and as such in often blessed with a few rodent inhabitants. I took a few minutes to empty the mice traps and Spear took the opportunity to clear his paws from some of the ice that had formed on them. I locked the trailer back up and put my snowshoes back on. We took the long way back to the car. Savoring the quiet and the beauty of a frozen landscape.
As we approached the car a flock of turkeys were feeding in a field across the road. We watched them for a while and then packed up for the drive home. A great day for the final day of the year. As it turned out, after two months in the field, the camera only got one picture of a bunny.A dozen or more others were unrecognizable. Guess I will have to work with the camera settings and give it another try. Sounds like another good reason to go up there. Since I am going up there I may as well.....
Happy New Year to you and yours. May 2008 bring you all the best.
Sport
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