Working at the Farm - Took a few I-Phone Pics

KSQ2 said:

Great tour Native! Looking forward to some updates; although, I still have some more to look through from past posts.

Click to expand...

Thanks KSQ2. I've been thinking about doing an update and will get around to that soon. In the meantime, here is a picture of a buck this spring that looks like he might have some potential. In a couple more weeks a guy will be able to tell a lot more.

It's been a long time since I have done an update. However, I have been doing some kind of work at the farm most weekends. I started this morning cutting up a big tree that fell in one of my plots. It didn't take long to work up a good sweat.



My food plots planted last fall are doing great. Some have been mowed, but at places where weeds are not a problem, I don't mow them. Chicory remains very palatable even when it gets big. A few different plot pics below. All planted throw and mow last fall:











I want to thank my neighbor for putting in 70 acres of free beans for the deer to eat. It's very kind of him....



I must love food plotting. I put this one in today, but what's the use. With all that food, this one isn't needed, but I did it anyway. It's a mix of buckwheat, sun hemp, rape, and annual clover. I will plant this in perennial clover this fall. This is put in spray, throw and mow.



Continued on next page

A few random pics:













Finally a few buck pictures:

I know this deer from last year. I believe him to be 4 or 5 this year. He had a nice rack last year but we passed him to give him another year. Looks like that could pay off. He seems to be starting out really well:



I know this deer from two years ago. He was about a 125 back then with poor brows. I believe him to be 6 this year, and he may turn out pretty good. His brows have not improved.



I don't recognize this deer, but he appears to be mature and might turn out okay:



Here are a few more random bucks. Can't tell much about them yet, but they might need another year or two:









I will close by showing you how I get a lot of good exercise - thistle hunting. This is a native thistle (Pasture Thistle) but I find it to be more aggressive and harder to control than Canadian Thistle. This one kind of hides in the fields and then shoots up in the last summer. It flowers in early fall and is hard to see for two reasons. First, the grasses help hide it, and second, the flower is kind of a dull color. However, I have declared war and really put the hurt on them this spring. I'm getting good at spotting them. I chop them off with a hoe and give them a shot of gly.



Happy trails!!

It’s about time Native. I was beginning to think that 20 feet of soil in Canetuck had engulfed you. I remember that trucks tailgate. Good looking place as always. Remember to social distance with those bucks.

dogghr said:

It’s about time Native. I was beginning to think that 20 feet of soil in Canetuck had engulfed you. I remember that trucks tailgate. Good looking place as always. Remember to social distance with those bucks.

Click to expand...

Yep, I must be getting anti social in my old age. I will be sure to wear a mask when I throw one of those bucks in the truck. . Good to hear from you Dogghr.

Looking awesome as always!!! Is that the Dukes of Hazard truck, still in action?

suburbhunter said:

Looking awesome as always!!! Is that the Dukes of Hazard truck, still in action?

Click to expand...

Yes that’s it. Close to 190,000 miles and still trucking. I used it today as a cultipacker for the new plot.

That first buck is gonna be huge!

KSQ2 said:

That first buck is gonna be huge!

Click to expand...

Thanks KSQ2. I'm anxious to see how he turns out.

Looking awesome as ever Steve!

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Can’t wait to see how that first one turns out

cutman said:

Can’t wait to see how that first one turns out

Click to expand...

I hope that one with the poor brows don't run him off. The body on that thing looks like an Angus Bull.

That first buck is something serious

First is obviously a giant but I think the third one is gonna be pretty strong too. Looks like he will be thick as best I can tell with velvet. You seem to have a really good amount of mature bucks, what are your neighbors like? Management minded and quality land or what?

Nice bucks this year!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

howboutthemdawgs said:

First is obviously a giant but I think the third one is gonna be pretty strong too. Looks like he will be thick as best I can tell with velvet. You seem to have a really good amount of mature bucks, what are your neighbors like? Management minded and quality land or what?

Click to expand...

I would rate my neighbors better than average. They have quality land, but I don't think they do many improvements. I've talked with the main one quite a bit a get along with him well. We have discussed letting bucks go to gain age, and he is on board with that. However, last year he did shoot a 3 year old that we let go, but I can understand. That deer looked really big. But this year he would have been incredible. Some of the other neighbors shoot a lot, and I think maybe they would shoot about anything. One side of my place borders civilization, and I think that helps a lot. There really isn't any adjoining land to hunt on that side of the place.

My son and I have decided that we aren't going to shoot any young buck. That 3 year old last year looked bigger than 150, and he came through the prairie grasses within 30 yards of our tower blind during ML season. That's the only way you are going to have a chance at the really big ones. Sometimes it works and other times it doesn't.

Native Hunter said:

I would rate my neighbors better than average. They have quality land, but I don't think they do many improvements. I've talked with the main one quite a bit a get along with him well. We have discussed letting bucks go to gain age, and he is on board with that. However, last year he did shoot a 3 year old that we let go, but I can understand. That deer looked really big. But this year he would have been incredible. Some of the other neighbors shoot a lot, and I think maybe they would shoot about anything. One side of my place borders civilization, and I think that helps a lot. There really isn't any adjoining land to hunt on that side of the place.

My son and I have decided that we aren't going to shoot any young buck. That 3 year old last year looked bigger than 150, and he came through the prairie grasses within 30 yards of our tower blind during ML season. That's the only way you are going to have a chance at the really big ones. Sometimes it works and other times it doesn't.

Click to expand...

Sorry I’m picking your brain but what percentage (obviously a guess) of bucks that’s you see one year return the next? I can’t remember how much land you hunt but I don’t think it’s thousands of acres so obviously you are at the mercy of a lot of factors outside of your control. I’m wondering if your land being superior to your neighbors is enough to keep a large portion of “your” bucks safe from neighbors.

howboutthemdawgs said:

Sorry I’m picking your brain but what percentage (obviously a guess) of bucks that’s you see one year return the next? I can’t remember how much land you hunt but I don’t think it’s thousands of acres so obviously you are at the mercy of a lot of factors outside of your control. I’m wondering if your land being superior to your neighbors is enough to keep a large portion of “your” bucks safe from neighbors.

Click to expand...

I am very much at the mercy of a lot of factors outside of my control, just like you said. My place is only 100 acres, and you can't hold deer on a property that small. However, with great cover, they may spend the most daylight hours there, which is very important. But things will go wrong. Over the last few years I can think of a few good bucks (and good prospects) that apparently were shot somewhere else.

In the fall my place is completely in cover except for the roads and a couple acres of plots. When the leaves start falling on neighboring properties and the temperatures start to cool, the NWSGs become very attractive to deer, because it becomes the most secluded cover around and comfortable to travel through. The grown up fence rows with big cedars are good cover too. And, when the crops on nearby farms are harvested, my plots and mast become the best food around. So, for those reasons, our chances are pretty good at success.

When deer season comes, the most important things are does to breed, low pressure and good cover. We never shoot a doe and try our best to provide the other two factors.

I could pick your brain all night so I will spare everyone else for the time being but...one last question on an unrelated note. Have you been able to attract any quail to your nwsg?

howboutthemdawgs said:

I could pick your brain all night so I will spare everyone else for the time being but...one last question on an unrelated note. Have you been able to attract any quail to your nwsg?

Click to expand...

Yes, quail and rabbits are plentiful. I think the grown up fence rows and large cedars are a big part of quail liking the place, along with the NWSGs. Sometimes they will set up in those cedars and whistle. You can walk all around the tree and never see them. It's very common to jump more than one covey when checking trail cameras.

What I won't have most of the year is turkey. The fields are so thick that they won't enter them. To combat that I mow some wide lanes a few weeks before turkey season in the spring, and that helps. Underneath big cedars is where turkeys create dusting sites, because the shade makes the soil easy to dig in. One fence row was covered with turkeys every day this year. They had big wide holes dug out nearly a foot deep. But, if you don't do some mowing, they will be afraid to enter.