Introduce yourself

j-bird

Well-Known Member
In conversations with a new member I found that we seem to not have an official place to introduce yourself. So with that in mind I thought I would create such a thread. Share with us whatever you would like. I also invite existing members to do this as well so new members can have some reference as to who some of us are.
 
I went ahead and made this a Sticky...

J-bird, you should start!
Your quick! I'm typing already!!!

My real name is Jason. I was and am "J-bird" on the various forums (QDMA, here and Habitat-talk and others). I'm in Decatur County in SE Indiana. I am a life long Hoosier, and Cubs fan! I'm an Engineer by trade and have been doing this habitat stuff for a decade or more now. I have a 150 acre corn/soybean farm and do what I can with it for the deer. I'm in my early 40's and I have 4 kids (a son and 3 daughters) - and a wife that tolerates me most of the time (been married 20 years). I have been doing this habitat stuff now for a little over a decade. I am no expert in anything, but will typically share my opinion. I am a firm believer in that there is more than one way to do anything and in the KISS principle.
 
I'll go next...My name is Johnny and I am located in Northeastern Oklahoma. I will be 52 here pretty quick but feel much younger most days. Work in Healthcare and married to my Beautiful wife Christine who is also a member of this forum. We have 2 daughters and 3 grandsons that keep us busy... We own 2 properties with "Home 10" being where we used to live and it has now grown to 25 acres and is a doe paradise ;) and then we own "Whitetail Hollow" which is our new 80 acres we now live on. "Home 25" is about 50/50 woods to open areas and I have been doing habitat work on 10 acres of it for about 11 years which is about how long the livestock has been off of it that my dad had. Couldn't really do much with it before that. We purchased our 80 3 years ago this month and living the dream on this fully wooded place. We have taken 4 bucks over 5.5 yrs old off of it in 3 years including my Avatar buck. My specialty is hunting solid woods settings. Have been doing it since I was about 14 yrs of age by myself. Have only killed a few does and young bucks in open areas but have had great success on big/old deer in the timber...
 
My forum name, Tom Threetoes, comes from my obsession with turkey hunting. I live about 50 miles East North East from the very southern tip of Indiana. I'm a retired coal miner and heavy equipment operator. My wife and I have been married for 48 years, she shares my love of the outdoors and turkey hunting almost as much as I do. We have two grown sons and 5 grand kids. We bought our 80 acre hunting property about 6 years ago and have been slowly trying to make it a better place for wildlife and for recreation. Because of high property taxes we put it in the Classified forest program. This limits what we can do but I plan to add at least 2 food plots an 2 or 3 watering holes. I kept 5 acres out of the program for a camping area and maybe a cabin later.
 
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I'm TC. I am 33 years old and been in the woods since I could walk. I killed my first deer when I was 8. I am a biochemist, but currently manage office building maintenance. I live in central Indiana, but my 33 acre farm is in southern Indiana in Orange County. We bought it in September of 2015. I love the trees and animals that God put on earth with us. I try to manage what I have for diversity and highlight what can be accomplished on smaller land holdings. I am married with 2 wonderful kids.


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Hurrah! I'm back...if only momentarily. When did the QDMA forum go bust? So, I came here. I came here and left here and came back. I just couldn't get back in the groove. My management plan was great, but execution was in the pits. I almost quit the whole thing.

I spent a lot of time posting and reading and obsessing in the old scheme. I had to go to the mountains for some self-reflection. I tried a couple of my home state forums. Dull and dusty. So, I don't know my motivations and intentions, but it was good to come here, again, and see familiar names, well constructed posts, and lots of positive interface!

I'm an ex farmer. Gave it up quite young, in fact. Decided I could make more money and get the kids educated and independent by helping farmers farm....back when they needed it. B.S., M.S, and a little more. Ran local ag centers for a number of years. Got to go to the big house to stave off coop bankruptcies since I was so good at bankrupting the local coops! Did that for 20 years. Spent the last 15 working for a branch of the goberment involved with agriculture. Production agriculture was my thing in the past. Now its GIS, GPS, aerial imagery, remote sensing, drones, and other technologies.

Politically, and I never thought I would discuss politics, it's time for good centrists and moderates to take a stand for reasonableness. I didn't think there was such a thing in this bitter, partisan and divided country, but, apparently we are a quite quiet group. But I digress...

Seeds fascinate me! All that potential in a little package. Don't take seeds for granted. Learn all you can!

Good to see and hear all of you again!
 
My username comes from my new hunting operation and my favorite farm. My name is Shayne and I am a landowner and lease owner of a large chunk of ground. I was on the old site for a minute and when it closed up I was glad to be one of the first ones to follow to this new better site. I am more of a hunter and a observer than anything on this site. I have been using several of you folks ideas and experiences in my own habitat project work. I own 113 acres that I have done some small management and food plot projects on and now am leasing 20,000+ acres that I am looking to grow older buck populations and overall deer herd on.

The land that I leased was leased from one owner and would have went to a big outfitter in the area had I not jumped at the opportunity that they gave me to lease these properties. My main goal with the properties is to enhance the deer population in our area of the state and sell just enough hunts to keep the bills paid. I am a hunter first so sometimes it is hard for me to allow hunting rights to farms but it is something that I am slowly getting over. It makes it very hard when there are a few very good young bucks that I know will show themselves at the wrong time. My worst nightmare is seeing 140"+ two or three year olds getting killed but it is the nature of the beast. These deer become my children as I am watching over them on a daily basis.

I am not the most knowledgeable person on this site but am always willing to help anyone in need and if I don't know the answer to a question I am sure I know the person that does. There are some great land managers on this site that will guide you on your way!

I am glad to be here and look forward to many years of seeing all of your properties grow and prosper. Happy Hunting!
 
A good ol' Alabama country boy here. My name is Milton and I grew on a cattle farm, where I learned a lot about nature, weather, hard work and markets. I am fortunate to still own a few acres of the farm, which gives me some space to ride a tractor and plant a few trees. I always said that I was a better farmer than hunter. Hopefully, the habitat work will keep enough deer around so my nine grandkids can enjoy. Nine year old Jack was the first one to get a deer just this year.
My alias (lakngulf) comes from living at Lake Martin and my wife owns a small condo at Gulf Shores, Alabama. We thoroughly enjoy both places. My farm background instilled a love for growing things. I start my garden plants in a small greenhouse and plant way too many tomatoes every year. It is a joy for my wife and me to load up the boat with bags of tomatoes and peppers and deliver to our lake neighbors.
 
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I was DeltaDog (or DeltaDawg - can't remember for sure) on the QDMA site. I was born and raised in the Mississippi Delta, and lived there until I was 40. I hunt one small club there that is not necessarily a QDM place, although we try to shoot does and mostly nicer bucks... No age restrictions... I've been working on those boys for a LONG time, trying to get them to come around... But... with our neighbors... sigh... One is a "brown is down" guy, and the other told us several years ago that they were only going to shoot 4 1/2 year old or older deer... Opening morning, they shot a spike (in a state where it is 4 points or better, at the time). When we asked them about it, the owner said, "Well, he's a client. We can't tell him what to kill." Next weekend, another "client" shot a 3 point... Over the years, they have shot every young buck they saw... Yet, this year, when I was blessed with a 17 inch 8 point that I did not age, but estimated at 2 1/2 right before I pulled the trigger...He felt obliged to remind me that "WE only shoot mature deer, and he and the other landowners are going to need to discuss what my punishment might be..." I told him that since my family owns the land the deer was killed on, I was looking forward to his call. And reminded him that we would discuss all of the spikes and 3 points they have killed, when we discussed my "punishment." He hasn't called yet....

Then... My cousin owns 132 acres of WRP... I worked several years on laying it out as a QDM place... It is ideally situated between 2 tracts of "public" land... neither of which allow deer hunting. One is small game only, and the other is waterfowl only... The whole place (132 acres) will flood... and most of it is right now, as a matter of fact... I hunted that place 5 years without seeing a deer while hunting. On the 6th year, I saw a 16 inch 6 point at about 20 feet, and never even reached for my rifle. The 7th year, it exploded! I spent 34 straight days on the stand, and say about 18 different bucks... The best of which was a 21 inch, 3 1/2 year old 8 point. He's on my wall, now... It was the last day of my hunt, and he kept looking back over his shoulder... It was 1:30 in the afternoon, on my 34th day of spending all day on the stand, and I shot him... 3 weeks later, a neighbor shot a 25 inch 4 1/2 year old 13 point, and I guess I will ALWAYS wonder if that was what my 8 point kept looking back for...?

I recognize that the place has the potential to produce some great bucks. Not records, probably, but great bucks. My cousin, however, who owns the land, likes to kill state legal deer... I've shown him pictures of great deer, and yet he goes out there and shoots the first legal deer he sees... :/
We have about 6 acres of plots on the place, but... I live 6 hours away, so I don't get to go home and plant them anymore... Hopefully this year, but who knows if I'll have time...
In years past, I planted 6 pear trees on the place, and caged them in.. I pruned them for the first year, but then got where I can't get over there... I know they're still there, but don't even know if they are making fruit....

Sorry for the long "intro."
 
My name is Seth and I own 150 acres in eastern KY. I grew up on my grandfather's cattle farm, which has now grown to over 600 contiguous acres. My Dad and I are the only ones that hunt the farm with the occasional friend or two hunting at times. Dad has 200 acres of the remainder and I have freedom to do almost anything on it. The farm is a good mix of ag, thickets, and big timber (lots of white oaks). I got serious about bow hunting about 6 years ago and that ultimately led me to the 'other' forum, which led me here.

I've killed four bucks over the last six years and learned quite a bit along the way. I've gotten really good at getting 3yo's in range but struggle with the 4yo+ deer. Need to get Johnny to help me with the big woods :). My avatar buck is my best and am fairly sure he was 4. Three years of history with him. We always seem to have three or four mature deer that spend the majority of their time on the farm. We also have good luck getting bucks to higher age classes because of the abundance of cover. All the bucks I had on camera made it through the season this year (that tells you how my season went ). I also enjoy turkey hunting.

I'm 34 and married with two kids (son is 5 and daughter is 2). My wife and I just bought a place at the lake so I'll be splitting my time between the lake and the farm. I've worked in technology since college and recently started a job as a program manager.

I've got four food plots now and two small orchard areas. I'm planning to create two more food plots this winter and get more fruit trees in the ground. I've also got a lot of work to do in the timber. I grow hay and am planning to get another field into production this year as well. Lots to do in 2017.

I'll get my thread started in the property tour section soon.
 
My name is Steve, and I'm a 61 year old, deplorable and irredeemable Kentucky country boy who loves apple pies, American flags, big loud guns, my family, my church, my fellow man, my faith and my country.

I set out on a journey just a few years ago to transform a 100 acre cattle farm into what I felt that God meant for a paradise to be. My father and I have set so many trees that I've lost count of the number and we have established 60 acres of NWSGs that even the wildlife biologists around here marvel at. I thank God for the strength, health, determination, wisdom and oversight to be able to accomplish these tasks.

We only started hunting this land in 2012 and have harvested or passed one or more mature buck each season. My grown son and I generally hunt together, and my dad stands by with his tractor to, "...help the boys get their deer out...."

I won't claim to be an expert in anything, but the taste of our success here has been sweet indeed. We have many pears, apples, crabapples, persimmons, chestnuts and a host of other mast producing trees providing a bounty of goodness, and each year I add a few more and do whatever maintenance is needed to keep things going. My motto is to create habitat that supports life rather than habitat that is on life support..... I guess the modern terminology is that I'm into "permaculture."

My biggest challenge is being in a general area that lacks the "big woods" like Johnny mentioned in his post. Getting a buck to maturity in this area is a bit of magic (and luck) but our success has proven that it's not impossible. Even though the old bucks are scarce in these parts, the ones that do exist generally find their way to our place. Since 2012 we have taken two 5.5s, a 6.5 and passed several others between 4 and 6.

My main passion with habitat is working the land and learning the old time ways of our forefathers. I want to know what they knew and be able to do the things that they did. If a day goes by that I don't move closer to that goal, it's a day wasted for me. I could care less about what is going on in Hollywood, because my stars are my family and friends who I adore.

I feel really close to many members of this forum and consider so many of them as friends. We have a good thing going here with the sharing of knowledge and common bonds that we embrace. Thanks for overlooking my faults, and my mouth when I get riled up and start acting like a Banty Rooster.
 
Doug here, nicknamed by some as Dog, hence my code. Not much to say except I've hunted these big woods mountains long enough with every kind of weapon short of a sling shot, ok I've done that also, that I've hit and missed with the best of them. I love hunting outside the box in todays mostly unaccepted ways and enjoy my land to the fullest with no guilt. I love land management, but make no bones about it, I'd rather hunt than anything. I hunt several tracts of land and my own, and fair amount of public land. I'm a bit off the wall and don't follow the infamous QDM to a tee, so my suggestions may not always fit that theory.
I love what the balanced habitat provides and am quite content to deal with mature timber as much as high stem count. I accept predators as part of my landscape, and while they are to be hunted and trapped, they cause me no grief, and I can name them just as I do my bucks, and at times know their patterns even better. It's just a fun ride, and I try to get everyone to accept what nature does from the ground up, and if you have a true Leopold landscape, then many a plant and animal will be a part.
 
I'm Mark. Used to be bad faulkner on old site. Infamous opinionated buuthead. No more of that.

Lifelong hunter but just started bowhunting and love it. Already planning for next Season.

We hunt in a club but have hunted public land extensively in the past. Born and raised in WV, but i have lived in South and North Carolina over half my life. Had to sell most of my inherited WV land to settle a divorce agreement. I have partial ownership in other small tracts I never go on, though. Hunted heavily by other relatives. I will leave my share to a wonderful nephew who still lives nearby.

We live just over the NC line. NMBSC is 20 minutes south, Wilmington, NC, is an hour North. We hunt just over the SC line along the Waccamaw River basin. My bride of five years is my hunting buddy and the light of my world. Nothing makes me smile bigger from the stand than to hear her gun ring out from her spot. She has only hunted six seasons, but has killed three bucks, ten does, and five wild hogs. And you should see her cleaning deer and pigs and the meat afterwards. Bad ass chick.

my passion is getting relatives and good friends on game. Over the past nine years, I have helped others a great deal. Warms my heart to see older hunter get his first gobbler in years or a new hunter score on deer. I am no maestro at hunting, but i understand animal patterns in the woods thanks to some really good, patient friends.

I love your posts, guys. I live vicariously thru your labors of love. If any of you ever get up or down this way, give me a holler. We live fifteen minutes from several nice beaches and nice eating joints. Our tattoo guy is first rate, too.

Thanks for making this forum, Al and Cut. Thanks to all the mods as well.
 
AC here. I'll turn 61 this year. I grew up on a poultry farm in NE GA and was the middle child of 5. Older brother n sister and younger brother n sister. Had to learn how to negotiate at an early age being in the middle. I had a Norman Rockwell type childhood. Lived out in the country with nothing but woods around to roam for miles. Big extended family with lots of cousins that often came for weeks at a time in the summer. Married my high school sweetheart a long time ago and together, we raised 3 children and now have 4 grandchildren. I introduced my boys to bow hunting when they were very young. It's been a passion for both of them since that time. So many wonderful memories of spending time in the woods and around camp with them and great friends. The land journey is relatively new to me. After growing up and leaving the farm I never really had a desire to own a big chunk of land. In fact, after they boys were grown and doing their own thing I went a number of years without hunting. At the urging of my youngest son, I looked at a piece of property he was hunting back in 2010 that the owner was in need of selling. That began our land journey. I ended up making an offer on the tract and the Garth Brooks song, "Unanswered Prayers" comes to mind. Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers. That offer fell through which eventually led us to finding the perfect tract - 287 acres of southern paradise. Mature hardwoods, fields, planted pine, wetlands and beaver ponds. It's truly been a life changing experience for our family. Didn't take me long to find the QDMA forum and that's where I met so many of you guys. I truly love the habitat journey. I strive to be a great land steward and manage our property in a way that provides for a healthy forest and eco system to benefit all wildlife. I get just as much enjoyment of flushing a covey of quail as seeing a shooter buck. Land is truly a blessing on so many fronts. So many wonderful memory maker moments with family and grand kids as a result of the land. I'm looking forward to many more sunrises and sunsets continuing the journey. And, I plan on following along with you guys on here doing the same!
 
My name is Ken, I stumbled on to the old site 3 or 4 yrs ago when i was looking for something. As I started to read I thought that the people on there are definitely more knowledgeable that any other forum i'd been on and much more cordial to strangers than any other. So I kept lurking because I have an interest in growing things, and hunting. That's what I've done most of my life. I have worked in the lawn care, landscape and tree care industry since 1985 and still do today as a sales rep for a large fertilizer, herbicide and pesticide manufacturer and distributor. I don't own hunting land, I lease land in Kingfisher county Okla. I've been making food plots and growing trees for a long time but this group of guys, who now have formed an even better site have been an invaluable source of knowledge and entertainment to me. Your never too old to learn something new, that's for sure. I have a deep love and appreciation for Post Oaks. Yea I know that is not a sexy tree to rave about but I'll tell you what. I love them, I'm hoping to make sure that when all the old post oaks have been bulldozed and a house thrown up that there are still some available that can be planted. Im 59 years old and have been married for 37 years, I have boy/girl twins and my daughter has special needs and still lives at home. My son is a newly wed and has lost a bit of enthusiasm in deer hunting the last couple of years but im sure that's temporary. :) I started hunting in 1984 and haven't missed a season since. I hunt Bow, Muzzle loader and Gun seasons. My hobbies other than deer hunting are music, I play harmonica in a group. Home brewing, I like to make beer and wine. Gardening, growing tomatoes & peppers because we love salsa. and fishing. I love eating fish. I'll be growing chestnuts and acorns from various trees this spring thanks to the guys on this forum. I look forward to continuing to learning from the members of this forum and also from the people that are no longer with us that passed on so much knowledge to us.
 
I'm Luke. I'm 31, married, with a 7 month old daughter. I'm lucky enough to have a family farm in west central KY (725 acres) to scratch my deer hunting and habitat management itch. I had been active on the old forum for around a year before they pulled the plug, and made my way over here to stay connected with some of the best deer hunters and habitat managers I know of. The knowledge I have gained from talking to members of this forum has made my hunting success and my overall enjoyment of habitat management go way up. I really enjoy documenting my personal journey on my property tour thread and hope I can help share some of my own knowledge with others in similar situations.


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I am Wayne and I turn 64 in about 90 days. I am a retired state employee with work in education and elections. My dad gave me the opportunity and desire to hunt. Deer restocking in Tennessee began to be effective in the mid-1960s. I saved $130 at about 50 cents an hour to buy my first model 12 Winchester shotgun.

Deer hunting was the greatest excitement I remember as a little boy and it ain't changed since - actually it has gotten worse. My dad and cousin were two great hunting buddies that have gone on to be with the Lord. My son is my best hunting buddy and he is actually as good as a deer hunter as I have ever shared the woods with. I have two kids and three grandkids that all live in my hometown. I am blessed to be married to the same great lady that I first crossed paths with in study hall of my Senior Year.

I build a Greenhouse and now have a Lab Pup I am training to hunt shed antlers. I knew I needed productive things to occupy my time in retirement and I have a long on-going Chinese Chestnut Project that has reached 33 states with about 300 orders. It has been great fun to help people.

As a result of my elections job I learned to stay away from political discussions and have contempt for folks that try to be something they are not. I started reading on the old forum in the spring of 2014 and joined quickly. I was given great assistance and advice by forum leaders within days of joining.

I have done my best to help habitat guys like me. If you are on here to learn and help others learn, I am for you. If you are on here for other reasons, I will not be reading your ...

I am thankful this forum was created and I have done my best to support the moderators and guys that created it. My greenhouse was just finished when the old site got taken away. Unlike many of you, I have a great deal of time on my hands. I am proud to be part of this internet family. God Bless.

Wayne
 
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