Outdoor Notebook: Spotting fawns and moose
One recent afternoon I was doing some clean-up work at our deer camp. It seems that one could spend weeks cleaning out brush around the cabin, and the job would never be finished. About 3:30 I decided that it was time to head home for a tick search and a shower.
I drove out of our lane and onto Old 8 that is a gravel road that becomes quite dusty when we have not had any rain for several days. I was alone in the pick-up searching the shoulder of the road for deer tracks that are quite rare in our area. I went past the turn where there had been some logging done this spring when I heard my own voice say, “Hey! That is a moose! No! There are two moose!” They were coming out of the thick cover along the road. Of course I was alone, without a camera, and there wasn’t anyone to hear me.
There were two moose that walked across the road almost 40 yards in front of my pick-up. They appeared to be a cow and a year-old calf. Both of them were black in color and very tall. Over the years I have seen several moose in Canada and our western states, but this was the first time I had seen any in Wisconsin. There have been reports by others recently that these tall animals have been seen in the Monico area.
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Several of our friends have phoned to say that they have seen white tail fawns. This is the time when they are being born, frequently in remote places.
Each year at this time there are cautions given in many publications to leave fawns alone. When a fawn is born, very little scent is dispersed from the birthing place. Not only is there a minimum amount of scent, the new fawn has a very effective camouflage coat. The fawn pictured with this column was hidden so effectively that I walked past it twice before I saw it. It was curled up in a place where a person had to look very carefully to see it from even a short distance away.
Frequently people will see a fawn hiding in thick cover. Since they do not see a doe nearby, they believe that the fawn is alone, pick it up and transport it. Please do not pick up a fawn, just leave and walk away. The doe is most likely not far away.
At this time of the year some fawns are orphaned when the doe is killed by a vehicle. If you see that happen, contact the local DNR office.
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Judy and I have recently been spending time in the woods working on several projects at the hunting cabin. Each trip we make we find wood ticks on our clothing and at the hairline on the back of our necks, in spite of the fact that we have used a good tick repellent. They sure make us crawl later when we return home.
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This on-again, off-again spring weather has the fish all confused. We will find good crappie action one day, then a cold front with wind blows in and the crappies will move out into deeper water. It will take a few days to find them again. The muskies have not established a pattern that we have figured out. The best advice is to keep at it even though the action is slow. The work and frustration will be worthwhile.
The 34th annual Curt Ebert Boom Lake Musky Tournament is scheduled for Father’s Day Weekend, June 16-17. This event is always a good time with many laughs. Contact Lee Bastian for entry forms.
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There seems to be a lot of controversy around the presentation by Dr. Kroll on Wisconsin’s deer herd. From my perspective caution should be used concerning what you accept as fact. Some of the emails that are circulating have questionable sources.
Longtime Northwoods outdoors personality Roger Sabota writes a bi-monthly column appearing in the Star Journal.
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