Yesterday was a terrific day to be afield. It was cool and pleasant, with the threat of scattered showers. The overcast sky after sunup made the lighting easy on the eyes, without the glare and contrast of brighter skies. The lake was back to its fullest level, due to the constant rain over Columbus Day weekend, and a few fishermen were casting their hopes into the water and retrieving rainbow trout.
The ground was moist and quiet with the overnight dew.
I snuck in amongst the smilax and entered the woods. This place has grown up immensely, and now sports a thick understory of smilax, blackberry, wild rose and wineberry. Mixed in are sassafras, young hardwood saplings, serviceberry and grapevine.
I was looking for the bears that I had seen while squirrel hunting a couple of weeks back. I had been through a particularly nasty patch of thorns with a .22, and cut my way out, when I was approached by a black bear of about 400-450 pounds, followed by one of perhaps 250. The guy in front was at least 3 feet at the shoulder, and I talked to them as they came noisily through the brush toward me. They stopped at 25 feet, the lead bear looked aside to gauge the reaction of the following bear. He gazed back at me. A pop into the dirt at my side with the rifle persuaded them that I was mostly human, and they turned aside, to parallel me on my way up the hill for about 50 yards.
I was hoping to find some of their buddies there again, now that I was carrying a longbow and they seemed so fond of noisy humans. I found a couple of nice hidey-holes, near serviceberry bushes that had been bent down by hungry bears, and sat in each for a while. Had a squirrel come nosing around at 6 feet, and could not get a shot at him. It was REALLY thick!
At last, I heard some rustling leaves, a snapped stick, and branches sliding past a body moving through the underbrush. I waited, tensed.
It was a Korean gentleman, out hunting mushrooms.
Anyung haseo!
All visions of the intrepid, daring and pioneering hunter were driven instantly from my head. No bear for dinner, no claws to show my bravery, no hide for a winter wrap. I clambered on uphill, eating juicy sweet-tart serviceberries and thinking how well they would complement grilled bear backstraps.
The rest of the mid-day was spent in exploration and discovery. I found a magnificent ash tree, about 4 feet across at my shoulder height. It had lost all but a couple of leaves, and I wondered if it would still be here in the spring, or if this was its last growing season. I don't know how long an ash lives, or how early it loses its leaves.
I also found something that I had never seen before,a rub on a sizeable pokeweed. That is a sapling on the left, the pokeweed is to the right and further back.
I wondered if it had turned his rack red, and if it intimidated his competition.
It was about midafternoon now, and I was getting tired. I returned to the lake, watched the fishermen (more of them now) and ate my sandwich. I knew that even though I had not made meat, I would not go home emptyhanded. I had seen my prize on the way in. It shone brightly through the woods and promised me that it would wait, provided nobody else saw it, perhaps being tempted to shoot it.
Sure enough, there it was, and I laid my bow on the side of the path and captured it with just my knife. I brought it safely to my truck and took the requisite hero shot.
It was delicious! A Bearded Tooth is easily recognizeable, growing on dead or dying trees, and has no lookalikes that can lead you astray.
I sliced this one thinly, and sauteed it to a golden brown in garlic and oil. A little salt and pepper, and it was a yummy snack. It would also be great as a "faux-crabmeat or scallops" in a chowder. I hope I can find another one today here at home.
So, happy birthday, Bernie, and thank you so very much for the inspiration and luck!
Killdeer
Topic: Happy Birthday Bernie! (Read 1021 times)
