Re: The Triumphs, Trials and Tribulations of Great Bay Babe.
4-10-11
The turkey are on the move.
Spotted 4 toms on the drive to camp Saturday. These two were heading to Camp Mountain.
Two years old from the spur length.
So we get to camp about 1:30 PM. Before we went to 4th and Goal Mountain we did some yard chores. I'm standing in the camp yard at 2PM and the goose bumps rise on my arms. There are two gobblers sounding off on Camp Mountain. We'll take a walk up there tomorrow morning.
In the first couple hundred feet of our 4th & Goal hike we saw tracks of two hens and one tom. The red oak acorns down low litter the ground. It is a 45 minute hike to our white oaks. Expectations are high.
Here we are only a couple hundred feet from the summit of 4th & Goal in my white oak flat.
We found no acorns and only limited old scratchings. Maybe this year the birds will be down low?
Bay is eight months old and this is her third summit. I bet that dog ran three times up to the summit and then back to me waiting for this old guy to get a move on.
Turkeystalker79's mountain from 4th & Goal. Bay never saw the porcupine. When I ride with Bay I say words like porcupine and then badddddddddd. I am hoping she will associate this when and if we do ever run into a quill pig on our adventures.
Bay's Labrador retriever instincts are starting to surface. Maybe it is was the heat but for a dog that avoided getting her feet wet all winter she tested every brook and woods pond. At one very large seep with standing water Bay made her first water retrieve. It took three attempts and wasn't very pretty but it is a start. I was very proud of my little girl.
One thing I did notice is she is not afraid to get her head wet. If she felt a stick on the bottom she would stick her whole head underwater and retrieve the stick.
We got back to camp about 5 PM. I still had some energy and putted around cleaning up the camp yard. Bay took a nap.
After supper we turned in with high anticipation for our daybreak hike up camp mountain.
04-11-10
R&R at camp.
We were on Camp Mountain at daybreak. It was a duplicate of our last daybreak hike. NOTHING.
No owls, no gobbles. I did hear what I think was one gobble way off. So far off I couldn't really pin point the direction. No scratchings on camp mountain. The turkey will come. (I hope.
)
Remember what I said yesterday about porcupines. We were in the choppings behind camp when I saw Bay spot something. It was a porcupine on the ground. I yelled PORCUPINE......BAD. And she backed off.
Whew!!!!!
When we got back to camp I put on a pot of coffee and we went to the store for a paper. I saw one tom and two hens at the apple orchard.
This is my view of camp mountain from the table window of the camper.
There is no better view to enjoy a hearty breakfast.
After breakfast it was time to turn my attention to the camp lawn. I spread 80 pounds of lime. I also spread grass seed in the areas recently reclaiming on the homestead.
This is the newest part of camp lawn to see the sun again. I call this Maine Turkey Camp's primitive camping area. If you snore........this is where you will be.
We wrapped up camp in the early afternoon in order to get home to see the back nine of the Augusta National Country Club. I have always said my spring begins at the Masters.
Bay was ready to head home.
Till next time.