Larry A. Smail's Blog

Wing stretching!

I left later than I would normally to listen for gobblers. However, a walk on a beautiful morning was my primary reason for heading to State Game Lands 247 near Center Hill, Pennsylvania.

I wanted to further test my clothes against ticks too. I had sprayed an ingredient  on them about a month ago and was anxious to see how many ticks would be walking about my clothes. I removed 8 ticks! Not bad since normally I would have killed anywhere from 20 to 30 in that same time frame. Ticks are supposed to die if they are on the sprayed clothes, but I didn’t have the patience. I picked them off and eliminated the little pests!!! many more, apparently, had been repelled  too!

   I approached a pond observing a lone “watch” goose when the gobbling began higher on the hill. The goose was watching for predators since a nest was nearby. I walked up to a field and the gobbler was done talking. Soon, a button buck emerged from the thick multiflora rose brambles offering me a couple of photos. A hen turkey ran from the high grass while watching the deer. She became “unnerved” at my standing. If I would not have stopped to look at the deer, she would have allowed me to walk by.

Ten minutes later while walking along a game land trail, I peered over a rise to see the full fan of a gobbler. I hid and over the next half hour a managed several photos of the “big guy.” He was showing off to a hen. The hen could not have cared less over his strutting for she continued eating.

The photos were difficult to obtain due to foliage from the brambles. eventually, he allowed me a few shots as he exposed his heavy body away from the blurred leaves.

Yesterday, I spent time with family for Easter. Little Kaison Wolfe had a great time as he easter Bunny hid eggs in the yard! he is the grandson of my sister Ruthie married to Tim Wolfe.

Kaison