Turkey Trot

The forest fire restrictions were finally lifted.  Time to get the logs I had bucked up in the spring. I had not been up in the woods since the loggers completed the thinning. What once was a wheel-rut of a road was now wide enough for passing log trucks. Several new skid roads had been put in. The dogs and I had all sorts of new places to check out.

Thanks to the clear-cut next door and our thinning. we now have a clear view of Spenser's Butte. This old Madrone is the only live tree left in the middle of the clear-cut.

Trask and Koyuk disappeared from a corner of the property we had not been to before.  Cedar stuck with me during our long search for the wayward dogs.  This summer the loggers spotted a bear at a spring. They turned it into a pond for him. It also proved to be a refreshing pool for hot and thirsty Cedar to get a drink and swim in. 

We finally spotted Trask with his usual something being carried in his mouth.

Trask and Koyuk had caught and killed a turkey.  Trask was quite pleased with himself and only relinquished the bird to wash feathers out of his mouth and take a quick swim in the new spring pool.

Trask, Koyuk and I had quite a three-way, tug-of-war with the turkey. After being pulled onto my butt and down the hill, I was able to lasso the bird's legs. I then tied my rope to the quad. Trask hung on until a wing parted from the carcass.

While the dogs were occupied with the wing, I grabbed what was left of the bird and dashed away to a cliff where I tossed it off into a thicket of blackberry bushes. When I returned, little was left of the wing and the dogs were ready to head home.