Pinetag's Plot - 43 acres in Virginia

[Chainsaw]

Very interesting Pine tag. Can you show us a blowup that shows more of the overall aerial view?

 

[pinetag]

Here is a Google earth snapshot. That point is almost in the center of the pic and if you notice, there is only one other crossing that has cover on both sides of the road as you head North. It is just below the chicken coops.

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[pinetag]

To be honest with you, I'm not exactly sure since this is my first year on the place. It is open woods and the nearest bedding cover is a couple hundred yards to the S, near the creek. My guess is it a funnel of sorts. There is a ridge running along side the road that turns to go up between the cottage and the pasture. My property comes to a point directly across from a small tree line in the pasture on the other side of the road. It looks like this spot and one other (about a 1/4 mile to the North) are the safest road crossings within about a mile. The camera is located just N of the stand in the left side of this pic.

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I'm thinking about changing my entry and exit strategy here. The camera is facing S and my stand is essentially at 1:00 from this position. You can see the deer are generally moving in a north-south or south-north direction or some variation (NE to SW, etc). Thoughts?

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[pinetag]

Currently I come in from the north walking along side the pasture. I thought this would be lowest impact cause I try to only hunt this side if I have winds coming from the S or anything out of the E. The bucks would likely be walking my same path or at the very least crossing it. Maybe cross- crossing it at multiple points even. If I cut in from the corner of the yard (walking E to W) it would only be a 100 yard skip to the stand and bucks would only have one small opportunity to cross my path. I likely would already have a shot before that happens. Here is my current path...

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[pinetag]

Here is what I'm thinking for the future entry/exit...

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[weekender21]

Your property is s pretty good funnel between those big fields. Cover is a very relative term depending on the micro habitat in your area. I get pictures of deer cruising open woods on my place quite often. It’s certainly a great feeling to confirm you have a few good bucks in the area! Could the second and third trail cam pics be the same deer?


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[pinetag]

Pretty classic edge habitat when you look at the imagery. Cover is a very relative term depending on the micro habitat in your area. It’s certainly a great feeling to confirm you have a few good bucks in the area! Could the second and third trail cam pics be the same deer?


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It's hard to tell in those two photos since one has water droplets on the lens blurring out the detail and the other he has his head down. Certainly possible though. I've definitely gotten multiple pics of a couple of the same bucks. The mature looking buck is the only pic I have of him so likely just cruising through.

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[pinetag]

I forgot to post pictures from the cleanup of the cottage yesterday after I came down from the morning sit. We are going to try to do a family "camping" trip over the Christmas break so the wife wanted it to be a little more neat than what I had going on. Tools scattered everywhere, sawdust on everything, no carpets, it was just an overall mess. It's starting to come together now and by next hunting season I should be all set.

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[pinetag]

I've still got to bring the loveseat out there, replace the kitchen faucet, and put up some outside lighting but after that we'll be all set. I think I'm going to go with one of these cheap solar deals from Walmart until I can replace the hard wired porch light.

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[pinetag]

We just got back from an all day dance convention for my daughter so I spent some of the down time walking through Walmart and searching the web looking for ideas of what else we might need. Smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, coffee pot, etc. I also did a little research into tankless water heaters and they have some small ones that look like they might do the job. These can simply be plugged into an existing wall outlet. Anybody have any experience with them?

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[Deadeye]

Not with the smaller ones, but back when I was in the Manufacturing of very high end Luxury Motorcoaches, we used the On Demand Hot Water units in them. It is simply the BEST way to go if you can.

You will either need a smaller unit at each point of use, or one larger unit to do the entire house. Larger ones will need a dedicated Line run from the Breaker Box and most likely will be 220 or 440.

 

[pinetag]

Not with the smaller ones, but back when I was in the Manufacturing of very high end Luxury Motorcoaches, we used the On Demand Hot Water units in them. It is simply the BEST way to go if you can.

You will either need a smaller unit at each point of use, or one larger unit to do the entire house. Larger ones will need a dedicated Line run from the Breaker Box and most likely will be 220 or 440.

Thanks for the reply.
There is an existing hot water heater but it does not work. It is wired to a double pole breaker so I assume that would be sufficient? As little as we will use it I'm not trying to spend a whole lot...just need something for an occasional quick shower before a hunt and avoid frostbite when washing my hands. LOL. I'm leaning toward the 7 gallon version of the mini-tank plug in above. It's less than $200 and i can plug it in and then just run the to and from supply lines myself.

 

[Chainsaw]

Thanks for posting the larger view, there surely is a road crossing funnel and that can be great thing. The less steps in the possible new access route to the stand looks good. Our rut is also winding down also and with some cold weather and winds on and off the deer movement here has slowed considerably also.

Cottage is looking nice, you are definitely capturing the cottage look.

 

[pinetag]

Thanks for posting the larger view, there surely is a road crossing funnel and that can be great thing. The less steps in the possible new access route to the stand looks good. Our rut is also winding down also and with some cold weather and winds on and off the deer movement here has slowed considerably also.

Cottage is looking nice, you are definitely capturing the cottage look.

I think you're right about the narrow road crossing being the draw for this spot. Hopefully it will be an amazing stand for years to come. My plan is to cut a narrow walking path for the new entry/exit route after the season and maybe even rake it (like Okie does) to keep it quiet. I might even drop/hinge a few small trees to provide some screening as well. Although, I will need to be strategic about it as I don't want to hinder the current movement patterns.

Thanks for the cottage comments! There have been a lot of Saturdays worth of work put in, but it was worth it.

 

[pinetag]

I would love to be posting from a stand right now since we got a foot of snow yesterday, but unfortunately I'm working at home instead. I took my lunch break to plow a couple driveways and shovel some walkways.

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[pinetag]

Buck pics are pretty much non-existent again, but there is still a little bit of daytime movement here and there.

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[pinetag]

In spite of the fact that a couple dogs have come through.

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[pinetag]

A decent sized yote passed by as well but fortunately this is only the second pic I've gotten of one since our closing date back in Feb.

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[pinetag]

It looks like this doe might be recovering from someone's poorly placed arrow during bow season.

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[pinetag]

Some more critters from yesterday's card pull. I'm glad to see the variety of wildlife that already calls the place home and I can only imagine it will improve over the next few years after doing habitat work.

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