Wilson Post Blogs

By  RAY POPE

I received a message from my first cousin, Traci Walker, updating me on her Mockingbird and her cat. Since last year the Mockers have tormented Oreo, her cat, dive-bombing and pecking it on its head. I believe the cat would love to turn the tables on the Mocker and invite it to lunch.

We had a very good time at Garr’s this past Saturday as we talked about Bluebirds, Purple Martins and even Bats. I myself would love to get a Bat house where the winged creature of nocturnal bliss could work on eating the insects that escape my daytime favorites. That was a mouthful. It was also nice to have Sheila Smith show up with a friend, whose name I can’t remember, to learn about the birds. Memory loss seems to run rampant in my life since last October's close call with death.

By RAY POPE

Continued from last week.

Back in the early 1970's, young John Sellars Jr. and myself took the trail behind the Inn looking for Barred Owls. We walked several feet into the woods where I started hooting my vocal call. Several more feet into the trail, I started to hoot some more. All of a sudden there was flashlights shinning up all around the trees. John Jr. was about to burst out laughing at all the people trying to locate the "Owls". Farther and farther out we kept up the hooting till we snuck back and finally parted company for the night. The next morning at breakfast in the Inn's dinning room, everyone was excited about the Owl's hooting, but they never could find them. That was John Jr. and my little secret.

I am sure someone has started doing it, scouting for turkeys. It is about that time. I do not know much about turkey hunting. I think I have gone three times in the past five years. Of course, I was sick during most of that time and didn’t hunt anything much. I do know I never scout for them. However, some say scouting is as important in turkey hunting as it is in deer hunting.  I guess it is if you don’t see them almost daily or are serious about killing one. I am not.

My standard method of hunting is just to go where I have been seeing them regularly and wait for them to come by.

Most mornings, just about seven or seven-thirty, I see one or two big longbeards on the edge of a pasture near here. When the Music City Star blows the horn, most mornings I hear three or four gobble across the street. I have permission to hunt both places. If I go opening morning, I will probably just sit in front of a big maple I know about and wait for them to head for the pasture. However, I have been turkey scouting in the past.

By  RAY POPE

Just a little before eight o'clock this past Saturday morning, I had a visitor from Portland on a quest to see some Bald Eagles at Reelfoot Lake. This was the last state-sponsored eagle tour of the season to go out looking for our quarry, Our National Bird. Margaret Whiteaker was afraid that we had lost our chance to view the eagles until I told her that I was able to do the tours on my own. Forty years this winter as a birdwatcher have enabled me to learn most of the best nest locations to keep a bunch of birdwatchers happy. As soon as we came into the spillway area, there was a group of Eagle watchers pulled off on a graveled area where they are still building the new spillway. We ignored them for a moment so we could eat our lunch in a state park boat launch area.

There are two ways Tennessee’s basketball team can get into the NCAA Tournament.

One, they can buy tickets and serve as spectators.

Two, they can get hot and stay hot.

They pretty much cooked their goose with early season losses to Oakland, to Austin Peay, to College of Charleston. The Vols lost twice to in-state rival Memphis, once in double overtime.

By JOHN L. SLOAN
I did my post season scouting in December and January. I only needed two new stand sites. The first one was easy and I fully expect to kill more than one deer there. I knew where that stand was going in November.

The second location was not locked in to my full satisfaction. I knew the general area but not the exact tree. I figured I would just wait until I was ready to put the stand up and make a decision. The exact tree is as important as general location.

So comes that nice, warm, shirt-sleeve day 26 days ago. Partly cloudy and 65-degrees. Perfect for assembling and putting up two new ladder stands. I bought a couple at Dicks, back when they had the sale. I enlisted Mark Campbell, aka Big Bird to bring his muscles and all the equipment and help me. Although those ladder stands look simple to assemble, I always have parts and screws left over. Away we went.

While the SEC basketball tournament is just around the corner as of Monday, there were four games remaining in the regular season.

That is one-fourth of the 16-game SEC schedule, enough time for some fence-straddling teams to fatten their resumes.

With four teams in a knot for fourth place with 6-6 SEC records, there are plenty of candidates to join the Top Three – Kentucky, Florida and Vanderbilt in the NCAA Tournament field.

By JOHN L. SLOAN
Guy called me and tipped me off to this. I thought I would share it with you. See, to me it seems like it happens just about every year. Some legislator with an axe to grind sponsors a bill or four that are just plain stupid and are for the soul purpose of self-something. By that, I mean they only serve his sense of self.

Here, let me give you an example. How about a bill that would make it possible for my neighbor or me to pull out of our driveway and hit a deer or an opossum on Palmer Road or Highway 70 and TWRA gets a bill for having it removed? Said deer lays there a day and the city comes and picks up the carcass. The city could then bill TWRA for that service as if it was TWRA’s fault or TWRA owned the animal.

By KAREN FRANKLIN

I have no doubt that Mother Nature is not only wreaking havoc on us but also on our feathered friends who are wondering if it is winter or spring. We have several days of mild weather only to be reminded that it is officially still winter by a few really cold, yucky days. Then we go back to rather mild days and so the cycle continues. I’m personally ready for spring to kick in full-time!  I’m also hoping to get some birding in with Ray when the weather warms up.

Spring is a great time to catch migrating birds who are heading back to the breeding grounds for the summer months. Of course this will also mean the loss of our winter birds like Juncos, White-throated Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow and more as they too start to migrate back to their summer territories.

After watching top-ranked Kentucky take Vanderbilt to school at Memorial Gym Saturday night, I came away overwhelmed by Kentucky and underwhelmed by Vanderbilt.

After all, the Commodores were ranked No. 7 in the country in at least one preseason poll. Some thought they would be a Final Four team, based on a senior dominated roster that had depth and players with SEC experience.

By JOHN L. SLOAN
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Why must such a great tasting fish insist on biting best when it is cold enough to freeze the balls stacked around the canon at the Civil War museum? (Forgive the long sentence). Why must the wind always be blowing strong enough to jerk the words out of your mouth? Why must you stand there shaking like Wobble Gear Delong in an earthquake? Why is February such a good month for marble eyes?

I have no answer to the above questions but I wrote them just to set the tenor of this article. You may have guessed it is about walleye (sauger, saugeye) fishing. That of course is something about which I know pitifully little. In fact, I know less about it that Larry Woody. That is just about nothing. One thing I do know. I aint jigging no minner on a heavy jig up and down in 20-degree weather till my arm falls off. However, I tend to catch my share and then some, most of them weighing four pounds. I have no explanation for it just as I cannot explain how the Reflector keeps from sun burning his head. Here is an example.

The forecast is for a high for of 29. Twenty-nine, to me, is not high. Winds predicted to be from the north at 10, gusting to 20. Central Hill will be white capping like a wave on a milk bucket. Of course, we went Nashville’s Bob Julian and me. According to him, it would be perfect for walleye fishing.

By  RAY POPE

I heard from one of my good birding friends, Tammye Whitaker, this past weekend with news that her Great-Horned Owls have returned with mama sitting on eggs. She said that two Red-tailed Hawks also came and rebuilt the nest. They probably were the ones that built it in the first place. Great-Horned Owls will take a crow or hawk nest to use as a nursery.

That will come in handy as crows and hawks build the nest in the spring, and the G.H. Owl do their brooding and chick rearing during the winter months when the lack of leaves on the trees permits the silent hunter to be able to catch plenty of food for their family. The poor fowl-smelling skunk can be a special target for the Owl as the smell doesn't bother him and can be a delicacy. Yuck!

It was Eli Manning’s coming out party.

No better place to have it than in the House that Peyton Built.

Little Brother took the spotlight away from Big Brother.

And, for the record, Eli is an elite NFL quarterback.

It was played out before a packed Lucas Oil Stadium, whose fans were treated to one of the most competitive, exciting Super Bowl games since the idea was hatched 46 years ago.

During Super Bowl week, it was Peyton Manning who commanded much of the attention and press coverage generated prior to Super Bowl Sunday.

Eli grew up in Peyton’s shadow. Peyton was five years older, getting a five-year start in athletics. Five years is a distinct advantage when one boy is 12 and the other boy is seven. They used to compete in basketball where Peyton would beat Eli up.

The first time Eli won was a day when the game was tied and it was next bucket wins. Eli drove around Peyton and dunked on him.

That’s the day Eli knew he gained Peyton’s respect.

Eli grew into a hotshot high school quarterback at Newman High School in New Orleans, where Peyton set records but never won the big one.

Eli chose Ole Miss, where father Archie had been a folk hero. Eli beat Florida as a senior, a feat Peyton never accomplished at Tennessee.

While Peyton is at a crossroads in his decorated NFL career, Eli has risen to the elite class of NFL quarterbacks with two Super Bowl rings, one more than Peyton.

Peyton deserves some credit for Eli’s success. Most little brothers hate being picked on by big brothers. It does one thing, however, makes the little brother fight back, toughens him in the long run.

We see that toughness in Eli. We saw it in a playoff game when he got hammered. When he picked himself off the ground, he had grass and mud wedged in his facemask. His helmet was twisted half-way around his head.

While Peyton specializes in getting rid of the football before the posse arrives, Eli hangs in there until the last second, taking a smack-down in order to give his receivers a chance to get open.

Peyton often walked away from a game with his uniform clean as the Board of Health. The Giants equipment staff doesn’t have enough stain remover to get rid of all the blood, grass and mud from Eli’s uniform.

With yet another come-from behind 21-17 victory Sunday, Eli has built a legend as the Comeback Kid. Games are never over until Eli says they are.

Will history reflect that Eli is the most productive quarterback in the Manning family? After all, he could have an extra five years to catch and pass Peyton.

I don’t think Eli will have all the glitzy numbers that Peyton accrued as an Indianapolis Colt. Remember the Colts offense was built specifically for Peyton from the first day he stepped on the field. Peyton played home games indoors on artificial turf while Eli has to battle the elements of New York’s raw winters. Swirling winds and icy blasts are tougher on a quarterback.

Where Eli can pass Peyton is on the NFL’s biggest stage. Fairly or not, quarterbacks are often judged by how many Super Bowl rings they have. The game-winning 88-yard touchdown drive took nine plays. Five of them were passes completed by Eli Manning.

New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees gave Eli his props before the game.

“I absolutely do think (Eli’s) elite. I have a lot of respect for Eli,’’ Brees said. “He plays in a tough market and handles himself with a lot of class.’’

It takes an elite quarterback to know one.

Contact Sports Columnist Joe Biddle at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .