trout
08-30-2004, 12:23 AM
As I left the parking area and headed to the woods I felt a sense of relief.
It was Sunday afternoon and I was about to unwind in the land I feel most at home in.
I made my way down to the head of a drainage that soon twisted and turned, as it cut deeper into the earth. At times I was 60 feet below the forest floor, I had to look straight up to see where the floor of the woods was.
In minutes I was lost in a world that looked as if it might have 500 years ago.
Towering Red oaks, hemlock, hickories and beech looked down at me.
I was a speck in the ongoing twist of life here.
My eyes search the creek bottom and the eroded banks for any sign of past human life.
Only once have I ever found a stone point nearby, but they exist out there hidden treasure of the past.
Then I was drawn to a large piece of decaying bark, over turning it I saw a red-backed salamander
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/539/6ttttsalamander-med.jpg
and another only it was the Lead-backed a slightly different color phase of the same specie.
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/539/6leadback-med.jpg
I heard the distant chatter of a red squirrel and then thought it was raining, only to discover a large Fox squirrel eating beechnuts far above me in the green canopy.
Farther down the land flattened out into a beaver flooding.
It was in the flat lands I saw the creek slow and widen.
A school of chubs swam in a pool no bigger than a bathtub; some chubs seemed to be about 8 inches long.
I wondered how they could survive.
Then I saw the frogs and toads, it seems they are doing very well in this spot.
As I walked farther down I saw something strange, the sandy bottom was moving in two spots.
At first I thought it was gas bubbling up, but soon realized it was a cold water seep coming up from below the creek bed.
I placed my hand into the water and it was ice cold!
It brought back the memories of 25 year ago in the same area; I washed my head in a seep and about froze my brain!
As the creek slowed even more it opened into a wet meadow where two large trees had fallen.
I walked out on the largest tree and was 5 feet off the ground. One wrong step and I could break a leg, but the kid in me still had to venture out on the log.
I was rewarded with the sight of a hummingbird feeding on the Touch-me-not flowers.
I saw a hummingbird moth too!
I could also see a hidden deer trail, mental note to hunt there sometime.
Continuing to the flooding I heard the calls of great blue herons, as I approached they took flight but the Wood ducks stayed perched on a log some 40 feet away.
They always seem to flush as I turn away to leave, and they did just that.
Their whistle peep call reminded me of hunting them last fall, I’ll be back.
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/541/6woodigun_avatar.jpg
I climbed about 40 feet up on the hillside towards the forest floor and decided it was time for a sit.
For 20 minutes I listened to crows, blue jays, squirrels and what I think may have been a turkey scratching while feeding.
I thought how lucky I was to see the things I did and hear what I did.
How no man could tell me to leave, I was on a SGA.
On the way out I counted the different plants I knew and a few I didn’t know.
I saw the early fall mushrooms
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/539/6unkownshroom-med.jpg
and knew I be out sooner hunting for the Fall flush as I do every Autumn.
I headed back to the parking lot but decided to check out a new wetlands project.
What was bare earth last year has a good many plants doing very good in their new habitat.
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/539/6wetlands-med.jpg
24 ducks lifted off the barely one year old pond.
A large toad hopped along the edge of the erosion control fencing.
I’m certain the sounds of toads in abundance, will fill the air next spring.
As will the sound of many shore birds, ducks and even a few geese.
I’ll be back out there as well this fall, hunting ducks with a handful of decoys.
As I finally gave into the reality I had to leave for home, the barking of a fox squirrel came from far away, as if to remind me the 15th is getting closer. http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/540/61squirrel-med.jpg
Note some of the pictures were taken on earlier trips but are from the exact area and are truely what I saw.
It was Sunday afternoon and I was about to unwind in the land I feel most at home in.
I made my way down to the head of a drainage that soon twisted and turned, as it cut deeper into the earth. At times I was 60 feet below the forest floor, I had to look straight up to see where the floor of the woods was.
In minutes I was lost in a world that looked as if it might have 500 years ago.
Towering Red oaks, hemlock, hickories and beech looked down at me.
I was a speck in the ongoing twist of life here.
My eyes search the creek bottom and the eroded banks for any sign of past human life.
Only once have I ever found a stone point nearby, but they exist out there hidden treasure of the past.
Then I was drawn to a large piece of decaying bark, over turning it I saw a red-backed salamander
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/539/6ttttsalamander-med.jpg
and another only it was the Lead-backed a slightly different color phase of the same specie.
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/539/6leadback-med.jpg
I heard the distant chatter of a red squirrel and then thought it was raining, only to discover a large Fox squirrel eating beechnuts far above me in the green canopy.
Farther down the land flattened out into a beaver flooding.
It was in the flat lands I saw the creek slow and widen.
A school of chubs swam in a pool no bigger than a bathtub; some chubs seemed to be about 8 inches long.
I wondered how they could survive.
Then I saw the frogs and toads, it seems they are doing very well in this spot.
As I walked farther down I saw something strange, the sandy bottom was moving in two spots.
At first I thought it was gas bubbling up, but soon realized it was a cold water seep coming up from below the creek bed.
I placed my hand into the water and it was ice cold!
It brought back the memories of 25 year ago in the same area; I washed my head in a seep and about froze my brain!
As the creek slowed even more it opened into a wet meadow where two large trees had fallen.
I walked out on the largest tree and was 5 feet off the ground. One wrong step and I could break a leg, but the kid in me still had to venture out on the log.
I was rewarded with the sight of a hummingbird feeding on the Touch-me-not flowers.
I saw a hummingbird moth too!
I could also see a hidden deer trail, mental note to hunt there sometime.
Continuing to the flooding I heard the calls of great blue herons, as I approached they took flight but the Wood ducks stayed perched on a log some 40 feet away.
They always seem to flush as I turn away to leave, and they did just that.
Their whistle peep call reminded me of hunting them last fall, I’ll be back.
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/541/6woodigun_avatar.jpg
I climbed about 40 feet up on the hillside towards the forest floor and decided it was time for a sit.
For 20 minutes I listened to crows, blue jays, squirrels and what I think may have been a turkey scratching while feeding.
I thought how lucky I was to see the things I did and hear what I did.
How no man could tell me to leave, I was on a SGA.
On the way out I counted the different plants I knew and a few I didn’t know.
I saw the early fall mushrooms
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/539/6unkownshroom-med.jpg
and knew I be out sooner hunting for the Fall flush as I do every Autumn.
I headed back to the parking lot but decided to check out a new wetlands project.
What was bare earth last year has a good many plants doing very good in their new habitat.
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/539/6wetlands-med.jpg
24 ducks lifted off the barely one year old pond.
A large toad hopped along the edge of the erosion control fencing.
I’m certain the sounds of toads in abundance, will fill the air next spring.
As will the sound of many shore birds, ducks and even a few geese.
I’ll be back out there as well this fall, hunting ducks with a handful of decoys.
As I finally gave into the reality I had to leave for home, the barking of a fox squirrel came from far away, as if to remind me the 15th is getting closer. http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/540/61squirrel-med.jpg
Note some of the pictures were taken on earlier trips but are from the exact area and are truely what I saw.