Bull Pen, Mandy Hollow and Cari's Corner
- Thread starter lakngolf
- Start date
dogdoc
Well-Known Member
Lak
We have counted the votes and the unofficial results are - You Are the Best Pier Farmer in the Eastern United States.
Your prize - give that boy a mater sandwich!!!
Question - Are we going to see any hog building trap photos?
Hope so.
Haha---very true on the Pier Farmer
lakngolf
Well-Known Member
Yes, I saved some of that last night. But, to be fair, the hog was not building the trap!!
wbpdeer
Well-Known Member
They were trying to make a jail break. I modified the original post.
lakngolf
Well-Known Member
I have been very pleased with the enclosure of corrugated tin and two strands of hot wire. I found a couple of spots where the varmints could enter under the pier, but grandson Jack and I closed them up. So far we have lost only a few tomatoes and no corn. Yes, that is protection. In this picture of my "bean arbor" you can see the wall of tin and efence.
Tenured Student
Active Member
Lak- glad you moved over. I hope all is well.
lakngolf
Well-Known Member
This was one of my favorite posts, because it showed how much the footprint of the farmland changed from 2006 to 2014. Was originally posted in December 2014. Hey, GOOGLE EARTH, time for an updated shot of the land.
Before and After UPDATED GOOGLE EARTH VIEW
Looks like google earth has a November 2014 updated view of my hunting land. You might want to check your aerial views to see if have recent updates. I found shots from 2006, 2011 and 2014 that give an interesting view of the transformation of the Bull Pen field from pasture to plots and cover. It keeps getting better.
Pine trees were planted along the roadside in 2006, along with the sawtooth oak trees, mainly south of the little pond. Quite a change in 8 years. Gives me encouragement that Mandy Hollow will look different in a few years. For now the three pictures are not so different, but you can tell some structure showing up in the 2014 picture.
A couple of comparison pictures, Sept 2015 compared to the start of the thread
Bull Pen Then:
Bull Pen Now:
Mandy Hollow Then:
Mandy Hollow Now:
Mandy comparison not as effective. The before picture was from a tall shooting house that is no longer there, and the after picture is from atop my tractor. Could not get the same perspective.
Before and After UPDATED GOOGLE EARTH VIEW
Looks like google earth has a November 2014 updated view of my hunting land. You might want to check your aerial views to see if have recent updates. I found shots from 2006, 2011 and 2014 that give an interesting view of the transformation of the Bull Pen field from pasture to plots and cover. It keeps getting better.
Pine trees were planted along the roadside in 2006, along with the sawtooth oak trees, mainly south of the little pond. Quite a change in 8 years. Gives me encouragement that Mandy Hollow will look different in a few years. For now the three pictures are not so different, but you can tell some structure showing up in the 2014 picture.
A couple of comparison pictures, Sept 2015 compared to the start of the thread
Bull Pen Then:
Bull Pen Now:
Mandy Hollow Then:
Mandy Hollow Now:
Mandy comparison not as effective. The before picture was from a tall shooting house that is no longer there, and the after picture is from atop my tractor. Could not get the same perspective.
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lakngolf
Well-Known Member
And my threads and posts have a lot about family too. Here was another favorite, posted September 2015, just after our youngest grandson was born. He is due to visit the Lake for the first time on Sunday. I look forward to getting his toes in the water:
dogghr mentioned in another thread that there had not been many updates from lakngulf lately, that I needed to "step up to the plate"
Here is the reason: Little Andrew born 8-11-15 with his proud Poppa
All the more reason to keep that habitat work going. I hope each of my now NINE grand kids have some wonderful hunting or just ground stomping experiences. Got a text from Jack, soon to be 8, that he wanted to hunt more with poppa this year. Jack and I will make that happen, and he will have 1001 questions during the hunt, like
Jack: "hey poppa, why is that cow in the green field"
Poppa: "Beats me, but dgallow says it is a good thing"
dogghr mentioned in another thread that there had not been many updates from lakngulf lately, that I needed to "step up to the plate"
Here is the reason: Little Andrew born 8-11-15 with his proud Poppa
All the more reason to keep that habitat work going. I hope each of my now NINE grand kids have some wonderful hunting or just ground stomping experiences. Got a text from Jack, soon to be 8, that he wanted to hunt more with poppa this year. Jack and I will make that happen, and he will have 1001 questions during the hunt, like
Jack: "hey poppa, why is that cow in the green field"
Poppa: "Beats me, but dgallow says it is a good thing"
lakngolf
Well-Known Member
This posts gives a little taste of the farm where I grew up. My Mom is 91 now and still lives there. She and I grow some great tomatoes around the barn. I posted the picture in Native Hunter's post about "barn quilts" over on qdma forum. I want to preserve it here:
No quilt here but this barn still stands today behind my Mother's house. A lot of who and what I am was developed and shaped among the activities of this ol' barn: milking cows, getting kicked, manure, bottle feeding little calves, catch pens, 4H Club steers, garden soil, castrating calves, nose clamps, corn cob battles, feed lot trucks, catch ropes, feeding hay and corn, vaccinations, and so much more.
This picture was taken in May 2004 by Wanda, who became my wife in May 2005. For a wedding gift to me she had an artist paint a rendering and used some of the wood from the barn as the frame. I cherish it dearly
Oh, and the grandkids love it too. Each trip they always have to check out the loft to see if there is anything new
No quilt here but this barn still stands today behind my Mother's house. A lot of who and what I am was developed and shaped among the activities of this ol' barn: milking cows, getting kicked, manure, bottle feeding little calves, catch pens, 4H Club steers, garden soil, castrating calves, nose clamps, corn cob battles, feed lot trucks, catch ropes, feeding hay and corn, vaccinations, and so much more.
This picture was taken in May 2004 by Wanda, who became my wife in May 2005. For a wedding gift to me she had an artist paint a rendering and used some of the wood from the barn as the frame. I cherish it dearly
Oh, and the grandkids love it too. Each trip they always have to check out the loft to see if there is anything new
lakngolf
Well-Known Member
Couple of Hunt Stories
Great Hunt in Mandy Hollow
While this hunt does not include a buck with a huge rack or stories of rut chasing, it is nevertheless one that unfolded exactly like I wanted. This year I thought that my oldest grandson (Robert 10) would be ready to use a 7mm 08 and he and I would give it a try on Youth Hunt weekend. When it came time to practice he was just not ready to shoot the "loud" gun. I am more interested in his healthy hesitation than with him killing a deer, so that was fine with me. But he and his brother (Jack 7) wanted to go hunting to "watch".
Well, the camera showed several deer checking out Mandy Hollow food plot, so we stayed away from there until the boys were out of school and could go with Poppa. One of the college guys who hunts with me (Alan) got a new Matthews bow last Christmas and had decided to use it until he got a deer, even during rifle season. He and I had hung a lock on at the wood's edge of the Mandy food plot.
I was pretty sure the boys and I could go to the Mandy shooting house and get a deer with my rifle (if I would just shoot straight). But I thought it would be more exciting if Alan got in his lock on, and we sat in the shooting house, and maybe the boys could watch Alan take a deer with his bow. So that was the plan, Alan with bow, Poppa with 270, and two boys with excitement.
We met Alan at the entrance to Mandy Hollow. He had the hard bow case, a big pouch with all things deer hunting, and a Matthews bow that looked like something the villain would use in video War Games. Exciting....the boys watched Alan get ready for the hunt--camo, release, spitfire broadheads, scent spray, indian war paint, etc. They took in every action, and asked questions about everything. I simply packed our bag with headphones, binoculars, and lots of snacks. Soon, we headed to the stands.
The boys and I sat in the shooting house that overlooks the "V" food plot, with shooting lanes cut among the dog fennel. Was a great afternoon for a comfortable sit
Here are the boys in their normal pose for two hours. Jack is studying his video game and Robert is paying close attention to Alan sitting in the tree you can see out the corner of Robert's window. Robert and Alan had worked up some signals so we would know what was going on. Robert was ready for the task, watching Alan all the time.
We went thru Wint O green life savers, Kit Kats, Roasted peanuts, skittles and were saving our lolly pops until 4:15. Before that we see a young doe ease from the weeds at woods edge between us. The doe stops in the lane, does a double take at Alan, and then eases on into the field. Both boys' attention now are on that lane and Alan. Another deer walks out, stops and the same spot and then moves on. By now Robert is watching Alan's every move, and later tells us that Alan slowwwwwly raised his bow, slowwwwly stood up...... A third doe walks into the lane, stops, and Alan sends an arrow straight thru, and all three deer take off. We watch Alan and he gives the thumbs up.
We exited the shooting blind while Alan climbed down, and we met at the bloody arrow. Looked like it was a great shot. I still had the lolly pops in my pocket so we all had one to celebrate, letting Alan chose first. We went back to the truck to wait a bit before tracking, still very excited. Based on camera shots and paths in the weeds I had thought the deer might come out between us. Could not have worked better.
Tracking was not as easy. We used up a couple of flashlights, and I got the million watt light from the truck as back up. We tracked for awhile, explaining to the boys how the process worked. I got tickled trying to get them to "stay behind" the most recent blood. They turned out to be pretty good blood hounds, and got a good lesson on tracking when the blood was not as thick as we wanted. By this time Jack kept saying "This is hard!" but he was learning the process. Robert was into each step Alan and I were making.
Eventually Jack wore out and wanted to go to Gramma's (my Mom) house because he knew she had spaghetti (his favorite) for supper. Robert wanted to stay. After supper I leave Jack with Gramma and head back. I get a phone call that "We found the deer". Turns out the doe was about 50 yards in the woods. All were happy. Alan wanted Robert in a picture with the deer since he helped drag it out.
Robert told Gramma and Jack the "rest of the story" and how he had found the path where the deer crossed the fence. The next day I have the boys pick up the orange flagging tape we had used to mark the blood spots. Robert told me "I think I would really like bow hunting"
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Great Hunt in Mandy Hollow
While this hunt does not include a buck with a huge rack or stories of rut chasing, it is nevertheless one that unfolded exactly like I wanted. This year I thought that my oldest grandson (Robert 10) would be ready to use a 7mm 08 and he and I would give it a try on Youth Hunt weekend. When it came time to practice he was just not ready to shoot the "loud" gun. I am more interested in his healthy hesitation than with him killing a deer, so that was fine with me. But he and his brother (Jack 7) wanted to go hunting to "watch".
Well, the camera showed several deer checking out Mandy Hollow food plot, so we stayed away from there until the boys were out of school and could go with Poppa. One of the college guys who hunts with me (Alan) got a new Matthews bow last Christmas and had decided to use it until he got a deer, even during rifle season. He and I had hung a lock on at the wood's edge of the Mandy food plot.
I was pretty sure the boys and I could go to the Mandy shooting house and get a deer with my rifle (if I would just shoot straight). But I thought it would be more exciting if Alan got in his lock on, and we sat in the shooting house, and maybe the boys could watch Alan take a deer with his bow. So that was the plan, Alan with bow, Poppa with 270, and two boys with excitement.
We met Alan at the entrance to Mandy Hollow. He had the hard bow case, a big pouch with all things deer hunting, and a Matthews bow that looked like something the villain would use in video War Games. Exciting....the boys watched Alan get ready for the hunt--camo, release, spitfire broadheads, scent spray, indian war paint, etc. They took in every action, and asked questions about everything. I simply packed our bag with headphones, binoculars, and lots of snacks. Soon, we headed to the stands.
The boys and I sat in the shooting house that overlooks the "V" food plot, with shooting lanes cut among the dog fennel. Was a great afternoon for a comfortable sit
Here are the boys in their normal pose for two hours. Jack is studying his video game and Robert is paying close attention to Alan sitting in the tree you can see out the corner of Robert's window. Robert and Alan had worked up some signals so we would know what was going on. Robert was ready for the task, watching Alan all the time.
We went thru Wint O green life savers, Kit Kats, Roasted peanuts, skittles and were saving our lolly pops until 4:15. Before that we see a young doe ease from the weeds at woods edge between us. The doe stops in the lane, does a double take at Alan, and then eases on into the field. Both boys' attention now are on that lane and Alan. Another deer walks out, stops and the same spot and then moves on. By now Robert is watching Alan's every move, and later tells us that Alan slowwwwwly raised his bow, slowwwwly stood up...... A third doe walks into the lane, stops, and Alan sends an arrow straight thru, and all three deer take off. We watch Alan and he gives the thumbs up.
We exited the shooting blind while Alan climbed down, and we met at the bloody arrow. Looked like it was a great shot. I still had the lolly pops in my pocket so we all had one to celebrate, letting Alan chose first. We went back to the truck to wait a bit before tracking, still very excited. Based on camera shots and paths in the weeds I had thought the deer might come out between us. Could not have worked better.
Tracking was not as easy. We used up a couple of flashlights, and I got the million watt light from the truck as back up. We tracked for awhile, explaining to the boys how the process worked. I got tickled trying to get them to "stay behind" the most recent blood. They turned out to be pretty good blood hounds, and got a good lesson on tracking when the blood was not as thick as we wanted. By this time Jack kept saying "This is hard!" but he was learning the process. Robert was into each step Alan and I were making.
Eventually Jack wore out and wanted to go to Gramma's (my Mom) house because he knew she had spaghetti (his favorite) for supper. Robert wanted to stay. After supper I leave Jack with Gramma and head back. I get a phone call that "We found the deer". Turns out the doe was about 50 yards in the woods. All were happy. Alan wanted Robert in a picture with the deer since he helped drag it out.
Robert told Gramma and Jack the "rest of the story" and how he had found the path where the deer crossed the fence. The next day I have the boys pick up the orange flagging tape we had used to mark the blood spots. Robert told me "I think I would really like bow hunting"
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lakngolf
Well-Known Member
Wishbone Come True
Remember a couple years back when yall helped me name the Mandy food plot as WishBone. Then last year while mowing I found a nice 8 pt shed, letting us know there were some decent deer in the area. Here is the wishbone plot in yellow below:
Well, Alan and his Dad have been hunting with me for several years, since Alan was a freshman at Auburn. Since then he has graduated, then got a degree in Occupational Therapy, and then a job at a Veterans hospital. Like my son, Alan's hunting windows are now limited.
But he found his way to Mandy Hollow shooting house yesterday and had this buck come into the wishbone plot late afternoon.
A GREAT buck for our area, but that is just part of the story. Alan tracked blood for about 100 yards or so and the trail ran out. He called me to say he was going to stay overnight and try again the next morning. In the meantime, he talks to one of his buddies who remembers something about ABTN
He contacted them. A young lady showed up with Snick and Khaleesi who found the deer in a pond over 1000 yards from where shot. I was so glad they found Alan's deer, and I am very glad to know that we have some great trackers close by. They refused to take payment. She said she just loves to see her dogs work.
Remember a couple years back when yall helped me name the Mandy food plot as WishBone. Then last year while mowing I found a nice 8 pt shed, letting us know there were some decent deer in the area. Here is the wishbone plot in yellow below:
Well, Alan and his Dad have been hunting with me for several years, since Alan was a freshman at Auburn. Since then he has graduated, then got a degree in Occupational Therapy, and then a job at a Veterans hospital. Like my son, Alan's hunting windows are now limited.
But he found his way to Mandy Hollow shooting house yesterday and had this buck come into the wishbone plot late afternoon.
A GREAT buck for our area, but that is just part of the story. Alan tracked blood for about 100 yards or so and the trail ran out. He called me to say he was going to stay overnight and try again the next morning. In the meantime, he talks to one of his buddies who remembers something about ABTN
He contacted them. A young lady showed up with Snick and Khaleesi who found the deer in a pond over 1000 yards from where shot. I was so glad they found Alan's deer, and I am very glad to know that we have some great trackers close by. They refused to take payment. She said she just loves to see her dogs work.
lakngolf
Well-Known Member
And then there were......HOGS
This was posted late February 2016
Recently, I bit the bullet (and the wallet) and bought a Spartan GoCam hooked up to AT&T cell service. banc123 and others had raved about how neat it was to see what was going on in almost real time. Plus, I will eventually have the camera pointed at the little camp area to get an immediate picture of intruders.
The camera was easy to set up and I placed it on a small trail/road that connects two of the food plots at the bull pen. I threw out some corn and a lick block and left with anticipation. Here is a shot of where the camera was place, high in tree with a heavy duty bike lock.
I tested to see that the camera would trigger and went home. And I waited, and waited, and waited. I began thinking it was not working or had been lifted. I put the camera out on Feb 4 and finally on Feb 6 I was emailed a picture of a CROW. I have never been so happy to see a crow.
Then the pictures started coming, and coming. Got a few of some nice does and yearlings in the area, more crows, and PIGS. Knew I had some around but now have confirmation. Seems to be two main young hogs that come every night, but recently they showed up with a litter.
Tomorrow I head to the farm to meet up with a friend who has built a trap and has caught some on his place. Stay tuned.....
This was posted late February 2016
Recently, I bit the bullet (and the wallet) and bought a Spartan GoCam hooked up to AT&T cell service. banc123 and others had raved about how neat it was to see what was going on in almost real time. Plus, I will eventually have the camera pointed at the little camp area to get an immediate picture of intruders.
The camera was easy to set up and I placed it on a small trail/road that connects two of the food plots at the bull pen. I threw out some corn and a lick block and left with anticipation. Here is a shot of where the camera was place, high in tree with a heavy duty bike lock.
I tested to see that the camera would trigger and went home. And I waited, and waited, and waited. I began thinking it was not working or had been lifted. I put the camera out on Feb 4 and finally on Feb 6 I was emailed a picture of a CROW. I have never been so happy to see a crow.
Then the pictures started coming, and coming. Got a few of some nice does and yearlings in the area, more crows, and PIGS. Knew I had some around but now have confirmation. Seems to be two main young hogs that come every night, but recently they showed up with a litter.
Tomorrow I head to the farm to meet up with a friend who has built a trap and has caught some on his place. Stay tuned.....
lakngolf
Well-Known Member
Since the sign of hog invasion is less than a year old we were hoping to reduce the problem significantly with trapping. A friend brought over his homemade trap and we set it up on Wednesday 17th. I placed the Spartan camera on a nearby tree so we could observe . No action first couple of nights but by the weekend we were educated on just how many were in this group. All shapes and sizes:
TAC
Bad storm was due in for Sunday and Monday so we waited on setting the trigger. First night only a couple of sholts arrived and did not trip it. Then last night we got absolutely no pictures and thought the pigs were onto us and the trap. Turns out the camera konked out! My friend checked this morning and had to call for help to load what he found.
]
Two big sows and 12 little ones. That should definitely help. As for the camera it was a big help to us leading up to the catch. It helped us know, almost in real time, what was happening. There is no doubt that the camera was not sending every picture (I have the camera chip loaded and will compare it to the actual emailed pictures). And then the camera failed completely last night. So it will be returned for a replacement but I am hooked on cell cameras, and so glad to have these pigs removed.
TAC
Bad storm was due in for Sunday and Monday so we waited on setting the trigger. First night only a couple of sholts arrived and did not trip it. Then last night we got absolutely no pictures and thought the pigs were onto us and the trap. Turns out the camera konked out! My friend checked this morning and had to call for help to load what he found.
]
Two big sows and 12 little ones. That should definitely help. As for the camera it was a big help to us leading up to the catch. It helped us know, almost in real time, what was happening. There is no doubt that the camera was not sending every picture (I have the camera chip loaded and will compare it to the actual emailed pictures). And then the camera failed completely last night. So it will be returned for a replacement but I am hooked on cell cameras, and so glad to have these pigs removed.
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lakngolf
Well-Known Member
And the grandkids love to fish
Some of you may remember this picture from a previous post. I gave two of my grandsons a Zebco Rod and Reel and small tackle box for their birthdays. It was not Little Bit's birthday but poppa thought she needed a fishing setup as well. So, she became the proud owner of a Pink Princess Rod and Reel
That was probably September 2014, and her line only had a tie on plastic fish, no hook, sinker or float. This past weekend the whole family came to the lake for a visit. Of course, the boys wanted to fish, and Little Bit wanted a "real hook" on her line. So I tied on a small hook, sinker and a float. Baited it with a wiggler, and her brother helped her drop the line into the lake.
As soon as that float hit the water it was GONE! She started reeling as hard as she could, but the Pink Princess drag would not pull the fish. We finally had to grab the line by hand and bring in HER catch! She was proud, and I was proud. Glad to be there for her first fish.
And the boys got in on the action too!
Some of you may remember this picture from a previous post. I gave two of my grandsons a Zebco Rod and Reel and small tackle box for their birthdays. It was not Little Bit's birthday but poppa thought she needed a fishing setup as well. So, she became the proud owner of a Pink Princess Rod and Reel
That was probably September 2014, and her line only had a tie on plastic fish, no hook, sinker or float. This past weekend the whole family came to the lake for a visit. Of course, the boys wanted to fish, and Little Bit wanted a "real hook" on her line. So I tied on a small hook, sinker and a float. Baited it with a wiggler, and her brother helped her drop the line into the lake.
As soon as that float hit the water it was GONE! She started reeling as hard as she could, but the Pink Princess drag would not pull the fish. We finally had to grab the line by hand and bring in HER catch! She was proud, and I was proud. Glad to be there for her first fish.
And the boys got in on the action too!
