Off and on cooler weather has toyed our minds into expecting crisp mornings next.  There are real clues, too, phenological connections suggesting if this is happening, that can’t be far behind.

“The robins are beginning to flock.  The snakes are moving more, first the garter snakes, and then fox snakes,” said Doug Williams, at D W Sports Center, in Portage.  “Farming has me watching the animals; the deer are coming out of the corn more, late fawns are losing their sports, and bucks’ coats are changing from summer red.”

Shedding velvet will follow, just prior to the Sept. 12 archery opener.

In Williams’ area of Columbia County, the last week in August and first one of September are when the velvet peels away from hardening bone, too.

Gardeners and foresters make another connection with hard antlers; bucks rub saplings, scraping the bark and possibly killing specimen plants.  Using steel posts for protection will not be easy this year due to drought-like conditions and seemingly concrete soil.

Farmers know, too, that when an electric fence fails, it often takes a gallon or two of water near the post to wet the soil and “fix” the fence.

The numbers of outdoors enthusiasts, some new, some returning, are likely to continue taking advantage of easy separation of others and simply using the opportunity to get away from it all.

“I’ve never sold so many fishing licenses,” Don Martin, of Martin’s in Monroe, said.  “That’s likely to continue into the hunting seasons, too. “

There is food in “them there” hills, if one doesn’t mind bending over to pick shagbark hickory nuts and black walnuts, but stay away from the bitternut hickories.

Hard mast of nut trees is spotty at best, with walnuts offering the clearest prospect based on early sightings.

Listen for cutting and dropping, as squirrel hunters call it, referring fox and gray squirrels cutting tree nuts and dropping the shells, sometimes entire nuts, onto dry leaf litter below.

The availability and price of ammunition may find more hunters sighting in new scopes than scouting for squirrels and deer.

This is not the year to waste ammunition, sports shop owners tell.

Preludes to this autumn’s renowned gathering season comes in many forms to anglers, hunters, pickers, crackers, diggers and those who just want to see, sketch, take notes or images, mental and mechanical.

Fruits on ginseng plants, apple trees, Jack-in-the-pulpit herbs, and wild rose shrub hips all show more than a hint of red hues.  Yellow goldenrods and sunflowers are matching sunrises, too.

Those enticed to dig wild ginseng may find the process is not as lucrative due to many factors, including tariffs, shipping, and difficult access to land.  Maybe 2020 is a year to admire the plant, and take a year off.  Bone-dry soil will not help, either.

Scouting hikes have us returning with hundreds, sometimes thousands of plant fruit hitchhikers.  Stickseeds, burdocks, stick-tights, sandburs, and beggar ticks are the beginning of trouble.  Their presence means cleaning more than a squirrel or partridge when returning from a small game hunt, or even scouting for the best tree stand location.

Mark Sept. 12 here, too.

Dogs know this, too.  Some even stop to tug and pull the burs themselves, but beware. A swallowed burdock bur could mean a trip to the family veterinarian, a throat infection, or worse.

Some seed collecting has started. Already prairie pale purple coneflower heads are dry enough. Many more seed heads follow in Michigan lily, yellow coneflower and milkweed.

The DNR state nurseries are seeking help from anyone interested in collecting acorns and other tree seeds for starting new seedling stock.

The forestry staff will issue collection permits and buy the seeds.

Search the website using tree planting/sell seed.

Prairie plants self-seed suggesting broadcasting just prior to the first snowfall may be good enough.  It works for the plants themselves, so why not us?

More than 75 sponsors have enrolled 70,000 acres for this year’s Oct. 3-11 gun deer hunt for hunters with disabilities. Landowners can contact Matthew Gross, WDNR Assistant Big Game Ecologist for more information at 608.261.7588.

Jason Cotter, DNR Wildlife Biologist in Green and Rock counties, said the DNR will be mowing the 15 mourning dove fields in preparation for the Sept. 1 opener.

Yes, several licensed events—mourning dove hunting, ginseng digging, an early teal season, early Canada goose season, and lake sturgeon fishing open in early September.

Pheasant stocking numbers, while cut back from the typical 75,000 to about 50,000 birds, are still looking good and some lanes are being prepared to ease hunting Cotter said.

Keep eyes, ears and noses alert for coming events, including simply enjoying the scenery, sounds, and smells of autumn’s coming.

— Jerry Davis is an Argyle native and a freelance writer who lives in Barneveld. He can be reached at sivadjam@mhtc.net or at 608-924-1112.