Weekly reflection #2

Week two is in the books and it was a good week. I am leaving week two with some great learning moments. The first one is that animals and fish are creatures of habit. When I returned to fishing spots that I had not fished in years, I found fish in the exact same places. I talked to older gentlemen that said how they have fished that section of river for years with great success. Looking at it from a scientific view, a section of river that is healthy, has ample food, with structure and depth to protect fish, is always going to hold fish. I learned the same thing with turkeys. We found birds this week in a spot that we have thought of as, “ That place always has birds”. Why wouldn't it? The area has everything a bird could need so it only makes sense that new generations of turkeys fill those areas. My best learning moment from came from the toughest morning of the week. My dad and I were going hunting, but the only problem was that he had to work until 7:30 that morning. No problem I thought, I'll just go in at first light to find the birds and keep tabs on them until he gets there. Sitting at first light listening to 4 differ birds gobble on the roost every 10 seconds, all while knowing that I would have to wait 3 hours to go after them is truly cruel and unusual punishment. But I learned that patience is a virtue, because I enjoyed the beautiful sunrise, listened to the woods wake up, and soon after my dad arrived we had those birds at 50 yards strutting and gobbling. Therefore I loved what I was doing this week. I enjoyed getting back out into the turkey woods because it was a rough 5 days without it. I think it was meant for me to experience my learning moment with patience because I can see how it relates to other aspects in life. My dad and I joked that I knew what those birds were going to, or where they were going to be. In reality I just used my knowledge of the area we were in, past experiences of where these birds like to be, and formed a pretty good guess as to where the birds would be. In this case most of those guesses were right. I was surprised that the three birds we chased on Friday turned into four birds by Sunday, but that was a pleasant surprise. I will benefit from my weeks activities physical, we put on some tough miles hunting those birds. I will benefit because my hunting and fishing IQ has improved. An added bonus is that I have been in a good mood, enjoying everyday which I can't be certain would be the case if I was in classes. This week helped me achieve my goals because I learned more about fish and turkey habitats, I spent time with my dad which added to the fun. Excited for the last full week of senior project. Especially since I just did the math and I am already at my 50 required hours of time spent on senior project.

Total hours spent on senior project: 50