Drove to the ranch on Friday. Used the pick and shovel to clean the roads and cut back a fallen oak that was blocking the road. Then we glassed for turkeys, but found none. Shot my bow and fixed a problem before it got too dark to shoot. I was glad I had my backup bow, as I had to swich the arrow rest from my backup bow to the one I planned to hunt with. I’m shooting a Q32 with a whiskerbisket. Apparently the rest got bent when I crowed too much stuff into my bow case.
The weather was perfect and everything was gorgeous. I even had three hens walk by within 30 yards, but the gobbler that was with them headed off before it got too me. Maybe it got nervous. Who knows for sure.
I took advantage of the good weather and numerous photo ops to make the most of the trip. Here are some shots of the scenery, wild flowers and wildlife.
Fiddlenecks
Red maids
Shooting stars were everywhere.
As were Johnny jump ups.
On some locations on the ranch, native bunch grasses dominate the hillsides.
The stinkbell is a rare plant. We have at least a few dozen of them. (I cheated on this one – took it the week before but couldn’t resist including it.)
This fence lizard was quite macho.
A doe fed onto the ridge as I headed home.
And, I spotted my first gobbler of the spring.
The last photo of the days was of this canvas back duck cruzing past a couple mallards sunning on the shore of a roadside pond.
It was a good trip. One of the best aspects of spring turkey hunting is the beauty of spring.
Great to see all of the different wildlife species on the ranch, including the non-game species and native plants. Looks like you’ve done a great job with the property Rich.