Florida Plantation

Great Florida buck. Must be starting to get warm for you - I have family down there and they tell me some days are 80s now.
 
We're in the Panhandle, often referred to a LA - Lower Alabama, so we warm up slower! Gun season ends this Sunday and muzzie extends to 1 March. We were in the 70s a bit last week, but this morning there's frost and that's a possibility until April. By June, you better have your big projects done, else it's brutal!

Dozer guy lined up for next week to fix some issues with my shed and house site work then I can line up concrete for the shed. I'm not a patient person, but you have to have patience when you're trying to get hired work done especially in a post-hurricane environment!
 
Kubotas are some tough machines. I had a L2800 that I used and abused for a few years before I stepped up to the L3800. I really don't need anything bigger although I drool over the MX5200HST model!

Finished up the portion of the side fence today that I've been working on this February. 8" posts on 30' centers with 2 recycled T-posts in between. I put in the T-posts today and cleared more brush and wild thorny pear trees going towards the back. T-posts are harder to put in than wooden posts IMO because they want to twist and it's hard to keep them plumb.

Rut is over and bucks are batchin up again. Does are coming out in the daytime more....funny how that happens.

And some deer hot dogs on the grill over some pecan smoke to end the day.

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They discontinued the MX4800, 5200, and 5800. They now have the MX5400 and 6000, with or without a cab. I assembled a 5400 and 6000 back in January and got to play around with a cabbed MX5400 earlier this week.


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Like every year, after I get a buck on the ground, I'm done. Then all I can think about is getting work done on the rare "cold" days in Florida.

Started working the West fenceline on my only neighbor's side. Zero help from him and his family in labor or $$. I pulled up all the fallen down rusty old wire, cleared the brush and pulled up the T-posts that were in the ground probably 50 years...every one standing the Kubota up on end!. Discovered the deer like to walk across the front of his property to get into my woods and then to my pond and plot...learned something new. They are going to have to jump 4' if they want to continue that trail!

Between the clay and my digger cutting edges worn from the 90 posts along the front, these holes took forever to dig. Light was fading fast, so I quickly cleaned out the holes and leveled the posts with just a little bit of packing. Got back to my truck and somehow had locked myself out. Called On-Star and they can't unlock unless you have an account and you can only establish an account with your truck running. So, 1 hour later, my wife showed up with a spare set of keys to unlock my truck. Good times.

After 2 Saturdays of work, 220' ready for wire! I didn't want to disturb the mature oaks directly on the fenceline, so I went ahead and conceded 2-3' of my property and ran the new line more on my side. I think it came out good...like oaks were planted next to a fence, rather than oaks growing up in a fenceline.

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if you are going to fence it the same as you did along the front are you leaving any areas for the deer to go under it? The reason I ask is because that fence will stop fawns...
 
They discontinued the MX4800, 5200, and 5800. They now have the MX5400 and 6000, with or without a cab. I assembled a 5400 and 6000 back in January and got to play around with a cabbed MX5400 earlier this week.


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I don’t like the tier 4 machines... the place I bought my Kubota from many years ago still calls me to see if I will sell it because everyone is looking for a pre tier 4...
 
I don’t like the tier 4 machines... the place I bought my Kubota from many years ago still calls me to see if I will sell it because everyone is looking for a pre tier 4...

The only problem I have seen out of Kubota tier 4, is people delaying the regen and us having to pick the machine up and forcing a regen(computer) or having to get the dpf professionally cleaned($500). 99% of the time commercial accounts that aren’t operating the machine as it should be. Other than that, we don’t have to do tier 4 repairs. I would take a wild guess and say the other tractor companies see the same issues with tier 4.


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Ya'll need to start your own Tier 3 vs Tier 4 thread!

Regarding fawns, I've got 3/4 mile of fence and I've secured about 1000' feet of that, mainly on the front. The old wire on the rest of the perimeter keeps out dogs, but there are plenty of place for fawns to go through and under the wire. There will come a time over the next couple of years that it will all have new wire though. I've thought about putting a gate in the back where dogs won't likely find and keeping it open June through October or so. We'll see.

Back at it this past week. Had my dozer guy come by and laser level the shed pad and knock down a few more pines so I can put in a road behind the shed and run a nice clean cross-fence.

Had big plans this weekend to use my new Stihl MS241CM on some invasive pears and other trash trees on my border. It's my first pro saw and they actually stop making the 241 in 2019 but I got lucky and found a dusty one in a local Ace. Decided instead to install an H-brace on the last remaining original corner on the property. I had a piece of a roll of wire, about 100', so I cleaned up an installed that too.

Shed Pad:
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Knocking down some pines!
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Before pic of SouthEast Corner fence. It was bad!
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New H-brace in!
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New wire strung:
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You make it through the COVID deal? Hope your doing well.

This is our last year with our lease unless we extend. We are still not sure what to do with it.

First year he did good and last year I did so not upset about that part. It’s the long drive that means fewer trips and the new hunters that moved in next door.

One guy sits in his truck and hunt the road in. And it’s near to one of my best spots so him being there has changed the deer movement to almost dark if not after dark.

I would like to find a place closer to home. Will see how this year goes then have to decide.


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FL Plotter, you’re gonna have to change the name of your place before the “woke” mobs start showing up and protesting.
 
Moderators: this website is really cumbersome to upload pictures compared to others. I have to downsize pictures to under 1MB to upload them. It's part of the reason I don't post much anymore...it really is a hassle and takes too much time. People love to see pictures in a post...makes it more interesting to read and visualize. There's got to be a way for the website to automatically downsize the photos.

Hey ya'll. Teleworking since March to avoid the plague! When not in front of my work computer, been busier than a 1 legged man in an ass kicking contest. Rebuilt my dock. Planted some trees. Cut down a lot of trees. Cleared some land. Fixed some more fence. Planted bahia pasture. Bought a new (to me) tractor. Had a shed built. Not really much to do with deer hunting except check my cams. Good springs rains had the clover blowing up and then it got dry, then it got wet again. I reckon I have a lot of mowing to do on the lease but it ain't critical. Starting to get Africa hot out so I'm pacing myself. Got a french drain to put in the backyard that's been on the lawn for over a month now!

Deadeye: You put in a lotta work into that a place, but between the drive and lack of quality deer, I wouldn't blame you for giving it up. It's small acreage and there's a lot of triggers in NW Florida. I'd find something local that you enjoy more often with less hassle. Time = money!

Here are some pics of my shed. I love this thing!
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Nice shed.

I was just telling the wife a couple of days ago if we move I to be able to have a 40x60 garage with cement floor and overhead crane and some jib cranes.

Then set up my welders n such, get a press and a roller and go to building.


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How's that thing gonna hold up to a Cat 1?

Cat 1 is a windy day in Florida. It's rated for 150mph. We had a Cat 5 (160mph) go over our house in 2018 - 3rd most powerful storm in the history of US weather recording. The shed across the water from us sustained no damage....zero....I can see it from my couch right now as I type this. It's the same style as mine...except mine is 40 miles from the coast!

So we're hopeful.
 
Well boys, quick update on the plantation. Lots of work since my last post. Got the shed wired and electrical hooked up -- what a pain just to get power company to hook up to transformer and install meter, but sure happy I put in the underground last year before the power company got bought out and is no longer a "local" company. Got some more pasture put in and the perimeter road and fenceline stabilized with bahia grass as well. Bought a 5' tiller and love it. Hurricane Sally dumped 24" of rain on us this year, so my pond filled up, but it's been dry in October/November, so it's back down again. Cut my hay for the first time - 10 bales -- so cool! Got some equipment on site this week to reshape my pond and get ready for my pole barn.

On the deer management aspect of things, I got both the front and back 1 acre plots planted in rye/wheat/oats/clover and chicory but it came at a cost. I torn my meniscus in my left knee and had to have surgery. Currently on my 3rd week post-op and getting somewhat back to normal as far as mobility although I still don't trust my knee. On my hunting lease, I watched from the tailgate as my friends planted for me -- otherwise that would have been a bust. I'll post those pictures later. Bucks are pretty scarce on both my properties. As I type this, I'm sitting out the 4-day gun season because it's so hot and humid in Florida right now. We have plenty of season left though....January is our best month with the rut stretching into mid-Feb. I'm not worried.

Now for the pictures! Mods, if you are reading this please install an auto-sizer on this website and the ability to drag and drop.

Pond full after Hurricane Sally (September 2020):
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First hay after 2 years of creating the pastures:

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1 acre plot in back of property put in on 20 October:

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Dirt work going on now:

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Let there be light!:

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