Moustail Landing State Park 10/23/06

Ok so it's not hunting or fishing - it's camping. A loosley related topic that may not be that much of a stretch considering there is huntable TVA property nearby.

It was Fall break weekend for the kids. We wanted to camp in the RV. We would have gone to Montgomery Bell, but there was a music festival going on and the crowd would have been unbearable. We decided to take our chances on an unknown park. I wanted a cleary interstate drive (as much as possible), so we headed west to Mousetail Landing.

The park got it's name from a story about a mice infested tannery that burned down and the sight of all of the mice running for cover. It is right along the Tennessee river. The Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge is nearby and hunting is allowed on the Busseltown unit of the refuge. Maybe this could be a future hunting and camping location.

The scenery this weekend was amazing. The leaves were as "Fall" as they could be. The recent wet weather has done a fine job making for a colorful Fall. The park was pretty much empty, we had the place to ourselves. We biked, hiked, burned things and had an overall relaxing time. The RV is great for the kids. When they get tired of being outdoors, they still have the comforts of microwave popcorn and DVDs. This is especially good for Willy. Becki likes the private bathroom. Although, the park bathrooms were warm and clean. We saw lots and lots of deer - everywhere we looked. The only drawback to the park were the two huge hills bookending the campground. In order to get to playgrounds you had to go down extremely steep and long hills.

It was a good weekend.

10/23/06 Hour and a half walk.

Don't think I can call it hunting. I have spent so much time sitting at Cheatham and not seeing anything, that I don't have much patience for setting up a proper ambush.

Tonight I headed to Sidney Bluff road at 4:44 - got there about 5:15. I parked the truck farther from the field than I have been. I didn't bother putting on camo pants - was wearing blue jeans.

I did have camo coat, hat and face mask. I walked slowly back to the field. I heard footsteps in the trees next to me - it took me about 10 minutes to finally determine the footstep noises were from turkeys.

When I neared the field, I saw a deer body on the southern most entry point. The deer was walking northward, away from me. I crept up to the corner of the field and stood motionless for about 15 minutes. With a rifle I would have had a decent butt shot. I was never closer than 75 yards. I am fairly sure the critter had antlers, but I was never able to get a clear view of the antlers.

I used the shape of the hill to head to the woods to the east side of the field. The wind would work in my favor down there.

I leaned against a tree about 150 yards east of the field - straight down one of the two ridges that leads off the east side.

At 5:53 (sunset was 6:02) I heard alot of wing flapping, which sounded like turkeys roosting on the other ridge - the ridge that runs parallel to the north of were I was standing. I made a mental note of the proximity to sunset - would I be able to guage sunset by the sound of turkeys roosting?

The turkeys were getting restless - seemed odd. Several took flight and changed trees. Moments later I heard a strange animal noise - sounded like a combination of a tree frog and a troll making a strange burping, groaning sound. Could not have been a tree frog - too cold, too much travelling (it was moving). Maybe it was a bob-cat or a coyote pup. A coyote pup may have startled the turkeys. I also heard a loud wheeze that I thought must have been the buck I saw earlier - maybe he did see or hear me and I did push him down the other ridge. He seemed to be wheezing fromt the odd animal sound also. Then I heard coyote howls, one then two, then a bunch. A very eerie sound in the middle of the woods that are getting darker and colder by the second. The everything went quiet.

I heard a truck leaving the logging road on the previously mentioned ridge. I waited a few more minutes thinking maybe the vehicle would stir things up again. No luck. I could barely see in the woods so I headed for the loggin road. I could still see enough for a shot on the road, so I walked slowly. At the corner of the field - very much hidden by the slope of the field edge and all of the brush, I thought I could see the "saw horse" shape of a deer. I did, I did see a deer. We both realized what the other was at about the same time. Niether of us had a clear view of the other. He bolted. I stood motionless. I heard him run for about a 10th of a mile - he was heading south - maybe down the logging road, maybe along the ridge next to the road. He stopped and snorted several times before finally shutting up.

I walked the rest of the way to the truck and am now finished writing at about 7:50. I am about ready for some stand hunting. My patience is returning. I have had several sightings now in this field. I have some good ideas for stand locations.

Odom preserves hunting 10/12/06

From the Tennessean - Thursday, 10/12/06

Odom preserves hunting
TWRA officer raises money to purchase land

By LARRY WOODY
Staff Writer


While most of us wring our hands and fret about Tennessee's declining wildlife habitat, Jereme Odom decided to roll up his sleeves and do something about it.

About 18 months ago the 30-year-old Tennessee Wild-life Resources Agency officer came across 600 acres of land for sale in Cheatham County. He decided to try to acquire it to protect it from runaway development that is sprawling throughout Middle Tennessee.




Odom scouted the acreage, researched the deed and got a price quote from the owner. Then he moved to Step 2: Figure out how to pay for it.

So far Odom has raised $406,000 to secure the property, which includes a 145-acre public shooting complex scheduled to open Saturday. The rest of the property will be reserved for hunting and other wildlife activities.

"It's really satisfying to see it all come together," said Odom, in his seventh year as a TWRA wildlife officer.

"Obviously I couldn't have done this alone. David Adkins, who was my hunter education instructor, has been with me every step of the way. I've had great support from the TWRA, the Tennessee Wildlife Federation and such organizations as the National Wild Turkey Federation, which contributed $75,000."

Along with the big donations have come hundreds of smaller ones, generated by Odom "literally going door-to-door at times" as well as speaking to civic clubs and other community organizations to solicit contributions.

"It's something I'm very committed to," said Odom, the father of three young daughters. "The way land is being developed in our area, if we don't take steps now to preserve some of it there won't be any around for our kids. That's really what drives me."

Odom grew up in rural Houston County "hunting and fishing. I remember how much I enjoyed it — and still do. I want to make sure that it's available to future generations."

The shooting complex will place a special emphasis on developing young shooters. Youngsters will be allowed to use the complex for free, paying only for such expenses as clay targets.

The significance of Odom's success story is this: it is an example of what one person, with energy and vision, can accomplish.

If Odom was able to save 600 acres of wildlife habitat in Cheatham County from developers, might others be inspired to attempt similar efforts in other counties where open space is rapidly disappearing?

"I hope so," Odom said. "I've proved that it can be done, and if I can do it anybody can do it. It's important to get hunting and conservation groups behind you, and those groups exist in every community. We just have to get them united and working together on these projects.

"As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing more important than preserving our
natural areas. If we lose
them now, they'll be lost
forever." •

Reach Larry Woody at lwoody@tennessean.com or 615-259-8019.

10/11/06 -

Hunted by Bio-Logic field again today.

Got there at 4. It was 45 degrees. There is a frost warning for tonight. Acorns are more visible on the ground and leaves have definately started turning yellow. I saw no deer. I thought I heard footsteps a couple times of deer, but no sightings.

Somebody came along at 6 and started hooking his stand to a tree about 20 yards away. I said hey to him about three times, but he just kept on going. He finally explained that he was hooking his stand up for in the morning and then leaving. Maybe I should go back at 7 tomorrow and screw up his time in the woods? Obviously I won't, but any other time I get that close to someone while hunting, a "hello" will quickly turn them around - they'll leave you alone. This guy was annoying. I guess I am going to have to find some place harder to get to. There is too much pressue here. This guy will only be able to get his stand about 12 feet up and he is hunting right over the big ground scrape. He left a nice stand hooked to the tree and it did'nt appear locked. I was an dishonest person, I could have had a nice new stand. A younger person with him did the same thing on the north side of the field - two nice stands free for the taking.

10/8/06

Got to Bio-Logic field about 4:30. Someone had beat me there. I wasn't sure where he was. I was going for the spot in mind until I heard buck grunts...but not real buck grunts...obviously a fake grunt. I headed to the north side of the field.

I dily-dallied a little bit because my original plan was blown by the other hunter. I ended up in a spot I will probably use again. I was behind a tree, but could see the entire field very well. Sunset was around 6:20. I stayed until about 6:44. There was no wind, absolutely dead calm and the temp was about 73.

Saw no deer or turkey all night.

10-7-06

Hunted the Bio-Logic field on Sidney Bluff road. Got there at 5:50, sunup was 6:48. It was 45 degrees. Saw one other yayhoo drive by me after I parked the truck...I parked about 100 yards from the field. This guy drove by me and drove by the field - probably spooking anything nearby. There was a full moon making it a bright night. A 4 mile per hour wind out of the northeast, just as expected.

I sat under a white oak tree about 20 yards off of the field - into the woods. The scrape and two rubs were within 60 yards.

I saw nothing until 8am - at 8am 3 does walked north along the edge of the field. There was too much growth between them and I for a good shot. I was hoping to see the buck sneaking through the cover I was in...I was not positioned for a field side shot.

About 9, I went out to the edge of the field to get more ideas for stand locations. I did mark this morning's spot as "STD A 06" in the GPS. I saw the two tree rubs and the ground scrape again - last time I was here - Thursday night it was dark. There was droppings as well as many footprints. I peed in the ground scrape and headed home.

I also saw two more yayhoos come along around 9. The parked their bright red truck in plain view of the field, got out, nocked arrows and started walking north up the road.

10/5/06

Hunted for a few hours today. Started about 2. When I left the sun was shining and it was hot. By the time I got to the WMA, the sky was grey and looked like rain.

I started at the back of Gibbs road, where I saw all of the sign last time out. I saw a turkey along the road while driving back, but no deer. The cloud cover made the temperature perfectly cool.

I left the stand at home and brought a bucket for a seat. I still hunted all the way down the ridge. The field has been mowed. I saw no deer. Finally at the bottom of the ridge, I sat at the edge of the small clearing between the two big fields. Both of which were mowed. Saw lots of birds...chickadees, red birds, towees, and several small sparrows. One sparrow was small and bright green? Birds were calling everywhere including a crow.

After about an hour, I heard a tractor coming. I got up and moved on. The tractor went on to begin seeding the recently mowed field.

When I got back to the jeep, I ran into Randy Cromer and another TWRA agent (Randy is the head of the Cheatham WMA). He apologized for the tractor possibly messing me up. I said it was alright, I was ready to move anyway. He said I would thank him in two weeks when the wheat was up. He said they jumped a deer about a 100 yards back as he was showing the TWRA agent were a large persimmon tree used to be - before the area was logged over the summer. Said the persimmon tree was a great bow hunting spot.

I told him I was heading up to the field off Wiley Pardue planted with the cabbage like plants...he said it was a good spot. It was planted with Bio-Logic and recently sprayed to kill Johnson grass.

I headed that way. Hunted there all afternoon, but saw nothing. The weather looked like it would unleash a rain storm - flash flood style at any moment. But it never did, so I figured it would be an afternoon of scary clouds, but no real rain. I was right - and it was a good thing, because the jeep has no top! It was covered with a tarp, so I could hole up inside until the monsoon passed if I needed to.

It was disappointing to sit there all afternoon and see no critters. The only positive light was on the way out, about 50 yards from where I was sitting, I found a sizable ground scrape and two rubs. One of the rubs was on a good sized cedar tree. I was sure deer used this field and this is the proof.

I got home without getting wet. Although, it appeard to be misting rain off in the distance most of the afternoon. Also, the jeep tarp was wet and the road was wet. I guess the canopy of tree leaves kept me dry - the rain was never stronger than a mist.

Hawg Shots 3/18/06

Here are some Hawg shots from earlier this year. I didn't get time to write back then as I was busy rebuilding the interior of the latest rental house.



This was Dale Hollow basics for us...20 feet of water, smoke grubs on the bottom...same old song and dance.

Fishing 9/30/06

Didn't fish long on this trip. Dad, Timmy and I spent about two hours fishing Saturday morning. It was cool and windy. Some clouds, some blue sky. We were south of Jouett creek, fishing towards the mouth of the Obey. The same bank we have caught many smallmouth, Dad hooked a 15 inch, about 1.5lb bass on a Pumkin seed grub. The only other fish for the day, was a tiny smallmouth I hooked on a smoke grub. Timmy was casting the spinning reels pretty well...his patience with slow fishing is growing. We didn't fish long this day opting to spend most of the time hanging out at the cabin with Amber, Amanda, Jenny, Danny, Emma, Becki, Timmy, Jessi, Willy and of course Grandma.