A couple of weeks ago I was trying to hang a big freaking ladder stand all by myself. I’d nearly punched a hole in my ribs trying to get it across the creek and I narrowly avoided crushing my skull more than once trying to get it upright and into the tree. While resting and rethinking my approach I hear a walnut or some other large nut fall out of tree right behind me. I go to investigate and find this:
Along the river under a canopy of Oaks, Sycamores, and other normal river trees were these scrubby little trees with what appeared to be green potatoes hanging off them. I dug deep into that pitifully shallow well of knowledge from senior year Field Biology class… and guessed that they might be pawpaw trees. I had some vague notion that they had a fantastic fruit that people loved to eat but was too soft to transport or market commercially. I was no where near confident enough in my identification to try eating one but I picked a few, dissected one, and thought I’d do some research when I got home. Here’s what they looked like:
They were greener on the tree but in the few hours it took me to get them home they had turned brownish. On the inside they were bright yellow and soft with fairly large lima bean shaped seeds:
My research included this little tidbit:
The earliest documentation of pawpaws is in the 1541 report of the de Soto expedition, who found Native Americans cultivating it east of the Mississippi River. The Lewis and Clark Expedition depended and sometimes subsisted on pawpaws during their travels. Chilled pawpaw fruit was a favorite dessert of George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson was certainly familiar with it as he planted it at Monticello.
And:
Growers hope that potential medical use will eventually lead to increased market demand from the pharmaceutical industry. The seeds also have insecticidal properties. Some Native American tribes dry and powder them and apply the powder to children’s heads to control lice; specialized shampoos now use compounds from pawpaw for the same purpose. Currently, pawpaw extract is being reviewed as an alternative cancer treatment alongside conventional and approved treatments.
If you are wondering (and I know you are), it tasted like a cross between a banana and a mango with the texture of a very ripe pear. It was very good. Kinda cool huh?
A particularly nasty muni court docket had me booked until around 3:00 today. After making sure we avoided jail and other nasty possibilities I changed clothes and headed out south to check food plots, move some stands around, and chase some doves if I could find any.
First, check this out:
All the plots look great but I think this one is the best. Everything is shin high and extremely dense. Once again, it appears we used plenty of turnip seed but if you look closely you can see all sorts of things are growing up:
A couple of the food plots have a different seed mix that includes this mystery plant:
Maybe somebody who paid better attention in Field Botany than I did could offer an idea? My partner was an attractive red head who drove us in her convertible to our site visits…
Finally after checking things out I wandered around chasing a few doves as they traveled between a corn field and their roost.
I’ve spent 4 of the last 8 days in some form of preparation for this fall. Last weekend we got a couple of food plots in before the rain started.
They are each half to three quarters of an acre and hopefully will grow wheat, rye, turnips, clover, alfafa, and peas. Last year we sorta over did it with the turnips and they took over the whole plot (a little turnip seed goes a long way):
Then mid-week I worked with the Feds, a farmer friend and the local co-op to check on the status of getting 20 acres of food plots planted for the WRP property. I have no idea how it looks but it was allegedly drilled before the recent rains. I saw two absolutely tremendous bucks on this property last year but never fired a shot and ended up eating my Missouri rifle tag. I plan to have a few more stands on this property for the 2009 season.
And then yesterday and today I knocked out the rest of the food plots at the Kansas place where we do most of our hunting. After running the disk for a couple of hours I got back to the cabin and noticed 10 jakes and toms hanging out just below the deck. I snagged my video camera and tried to shoot some footage but I was distracted by the crazy crop duster that kept flying right over my head. Take a look:
Anyway, that project is done, now there are stands to place there on the Kansas side too… and dove season is only 10 days away…
I spent last Wednesday afternoon driving, walking, wading, and climbing through 490 acres of swamp ground. The ground is managed under the WRP project which assigns some jobs to the feds and some jobs to the owners. Most of my energy was dedicated to inspecting the water level and vegetation of the various pools. It’s not as easy as it sounds. Those evil brown water snakes, 90 degree temperature, a brief rainstorm, and chest high grass and weeds all conspired to make it about as much fun as a domestic violence case.
But things did look good. About half the pools had been drained to do levee work and they had fantastic stands of smart weed. The rest of the pools had some growth around the edges as well. Looks good for this fall. I also saw a few huge deer tracks and started plotting some bow stands.
After the work was over I took the time to chase some carp and watched two shooter bucks feed on some ground just to the North. Fall will be here before you know it.
Ducks Unlimited hit my inbox with this piece of good news today:
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – July 2, 2009 – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) released its preliminary report today on mid-continent breeding ducks and habitats, based on surveys conducted in May and early June. Total duck populations were estimated at 42 million breeding ducks on the surveyed area. This estimate represents a 13 percent increase over last year’s estimate of 37.3 million birds and is 25 percent above the 1955-2008 long-term average.
And the best area for production? Right above me. The Dakotas had more than double the habitat of last year. Just yesterday I was filling dates on my calendar for duck and deer hunts… It will be here before you know it.
I took this picture yesterday at a place in Eastern Kansas where I turkey hunt. Generally they aren’t even pairing off around here until about now. I haven’t seen a goose sitting on a nest yet. These two must have gotten a head start.
The Missouri teal season opened today with a nice shoot. A friend and I tried out a new spot that is a recently created marsh that was setup and sponsored by the Federal WRP program.
For those of you (like me) who are frustrated with where your tax dollars go, the WRP program is a refreshing alternative. Essentially the government restores historic wetlands and reimburses the owner for the loss of their land. Great for erosion, great for wildlife, great for grain prices, and especially, great for hunters.
