Allgood Acres

[Native Hunter]

Ben, I'm glad you were able to add that land. Access is so important, and you have improved yours a great degree.

 

[Triple C]

Congrats on picking up the adjoining parcel. Always a bonus to pick up an adjoining tract that adds to yours.

 

[Mennoniteman]

I was able to buy the 6 acre field on my west border. This will give me 47 acres in total. I'm not sure exactly what I'll do with it yet. It does lie flatter than the rest of my fields which are a combination of pollinator plantings and 3 food plots, so cropping it might be an option. What it does give me, is great access, which I desperately needed on that side. I'm also bounded on 3 sides by roads. On my east border is a great neighbor who also manages his property.
View attachment 22842

Glad to hear that you got that key piece of land!

 

[BenAllgood]

I've been needing to catch up on this thread and need to do a better job in the future especially when it comes to photographing all the work. It's hard to make myself stop to do that when I'm trying to get a lot done in a short window. But, that's my fault, and I'll do better. So, this post documents some highlights from Thanksgiving until now.
I didn't have a target buck this year, but the property is working its way to the point where I could see one using it regularly pretty soon.

My middle son had a fun season. He shot two does and I had to hold him back from shooting a third. I don't want to take out too many on the property:

My daughter had her chances, but for one reason or another couldn't make it happen. She still had fun though. There's always next season:

We used an old pool ladder to make an easy access route over a fence:

I did some hack and squirt to set back some succession in some bedding areas:

I got a new chainsaw. This little bugger is a beast. I wish I had taken some good pics of the edge feathering I did with it this past winter:

This is a shooting lane I cut in to the backside of a newly developed bedding area across the holler:

We helped my neighbor burning his native grass patch:

We only found one small shed this year. I have to think it's because I didn't have the turnips and radishes like last year:

My farmer/neighbor disked and mowed some firebreaks for the upcoming burning of my pollinator planting:

I was able to get KDFWR and NRCS personnel to burn my fields for me. For some reason, the burn plan was left out of my contract, so I couldn't do it when we were up there and burned my neighbors. So, they were kind enough to do it for me. This has been a great group to work with:

Some scarlet oak seedlings. I picked up some acorns from around the shores of Lake Cumberland and potted them:

And, the thing I'm most excited about is the new acreage I picked up. I got my farmer/neighbor to plant corn with a wheat cover crop after harvest. He managed to get about 6 acres planted. This should be a huge draw for next season. He's keeping the corn in exchange for doing some mowing for me. It's awesome having great neighbors like this.

So, this is what the property will layout like for next season. Possible tweaks will come up as always:

Well, that's it for now. I'll see if I can get my butt in gear and do better with the updates.

 

[pinetag]

I've been needing to catch up on this thread and need to do a better job in the future especially when it comes to photographing all the work. It's hard to make myself stop to do that when I'm trying to get a lot done in a short window. But, that's my fault, and I'll do better. So, this post documents some highlights from Thanksgiving until now.
I didn't have a target buck this year, but the property is working its way to the point where I could see one using it regularly pretty soon.

My middle son had a fun season. He shot two does and I had to hold him back from shooting a third. I don't want to take out too many on the property:

My daughter had her chances, but for one reason or another couldn't make it happen. She still had fun though. There's always next season:

We used an old pool ladder to make an easy access route over a fence:

I did some hack and squirt to set back some succession in some bedding areas:

I got a new chainsaw. This little bugger is a beast. I wish I had taken some good pics of the edge feathering I did with it this past winter:

This is a shooting lane I cut in to the backside of a newly developed bedding area across the holler:

We helped my neighbor burning his native grass patch:

We only found one small shed this year. I have to think it's because I didn't have the turnips and radishes like last year:

My farmer/neighbor disked and mowed some firebreaks for the upcoming burning of my pollinator planting:

I was able to get KDFWR and NRCS personnel to burn my fields for me. For some reason, the burn plan was left out of my contract, so I couldn't do it when we were up there and burned my neighbors. So, they were kind enough to do it for me. This has been a great group to work with:

Some scarlet oak seedlings. I picked up some acorns from around the shores of Lake Cumberland and potted them:

And, the thing I'm most excited about is the new acreage I picked up. I got my farmer/neighbor to plant corn with a wheat cover crop after harvest. He managed to get about 6 acres planted. This should be a huge draw for next season. He's keeping the corn in exchange for doing some mowing for me. It's awesome having great neighbors like this.

So, this is what the property will layout like for next season. Possible tweaks will come up as always:

Well, that's it for now. I'll see if I can get my butt in gear and do better with the updates.

Looks like things are going in the right direction for you!

It's been hard for me to stop and take pics recently too. I started off making good updates with lots of pics as there were so many big changes in the beginning. Now my projects seem to be more about fine tuning and property maintenance, so the pictures show less noticeable changes. Always something to be done though and I always enjoy my time out in the woods.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[BenAllgood]

My pollinator planting is entering the year of creep. Planted in June of last year, it is slowly getting there. All the species planted have been identified in the field along with some other beneficial bonus ones. With the major johnsongrass problem last year, I'm going to get ahead of it this year. It will be spot sprayed and/or weed wiped around the middle of next month. Vernal sweet grass is another problem seeming to come on like gangbusters. I missed my opportune spray time for it this year, so I'll make a note to catch it in early spring of next year. The last problem is tree of heaven sprouts. I've got to hit those with triclopyr. Top priority for those though, is finding those mother trees along my field edges and killing them late this summer/early fall.

 

[George]

I have had good success so far with hack and squirt triclopyr on tree o heaven momma trees.

G

 

[Native Hunter]

You have everything going great Ben. Your work is really paying off.

 

[BenAllgood]

You have everything going great Ben. Your work is really paying off.

Thanks Steve. But, I have to give credit to the Kentucky NRCS and KDFWR. They have been a huge help and resource for the big projects. I can't say enough good things about them or my neighbors. Looking forward to the day I can retire there.

 

[Native Hunter]

Thanks Steve. But, I have to give credit to the Kentucky NRCS and KDFWR. They have been a huge help and resource for the big projects. I can't say enough good things about them or my neighbors. Looking forward to the day I can retire there.

I agree Ben. The NRCS and KDFWR are good people who really want to help us landowners.

 

[BenAllgood]

My pollinator planting was spot sprayed with imazapic for johnsongrass and triclopyr for tee of heaven and a couple more undesirables. It's definitely looking better than last years invasion of johnsongrass.

 

[gut_pile]

Beautiful

 

[BenAllgood]

Made a quick trip to the farm to take advantage of my new corn field. Right at 4 acres of my new piece is planted in corn. When it's picked, wheat will be overseeded. I didn't plant my plots this year because of this. I wanted to concentrate movement in one direction across the property. I have two sets now to take advantage of that movement depending on wind.
My middle child at the front of the corn field. (Thanks to @Native Hunter for pointing me in the right direction of where to find ladder stands for sale around there).




They sure do like the pokeweed here. Next to cover, it's getting hammered.



Made a pathway coming in from behind the stand to where we can popup into it without the deer in my newly established prairie seeing us.





My son with the weedeater cutting a narrow path through the new prairie leading from the hollow and a newly constructed bedding area to the corn/wheat field. The path passes along the woodline and 20 yards in front of the stand nestled into a cedar. A blockade is laid down in front of the stand. (Yes, the cut tree of heaven was dowsed with liberal amounts of herbicide.)

 

[BenAllgood]

While it doesn't hold a candle to @Native Hunter garden of Eden, my prairie is starting to come along nicely. I was amazed at the growth since the early spring burn. It was over my head in places. There were deer beds all through it, which I wasn't expecting just yet. They are definitely using that trail coming from the holler up to the corn field too. I do wish the grasses weren't so thick in spots in order to give more room for forbs, but we'll see how it goes.

 

[Native Hunter]

While it doesn't hold a candle to @Native Hunter garden of Eden, my prairie is starting to come along nicely. I was amazed at the growth since the early spring burn. It was over my head in places. There were deer beds all through it, which I wasn't expecting just yet. They are definitely using that trail coming from the holler up to the corn field too. I do wish the grasses weren't so thick in spots in order to give more room for forbs, but we'll see how it goes.

Ben, that’s awesome. You are getting the kind of cover and deer usage that I like to see. The forbs are important, but the cover is more important. In the future you will get a good blend of both and can manipulate it as you see fit. Great pictures.

 

[Mennoniteman]

While it doesn't hold a candle to @Native Hunter garden of Eden, my prairie is starting to come along nicely. I was amazed at the growth since the early spring burn. It was over my head in places. There were deer beds all through it, which I wasn't expecting just yet. They are definitely using that trail coming from the holler up to the corn field too. I do wish the grasses weren't so thick in spots in order to give more room for forbs, but we'll see how it goes.

I'm very impressed!

 

[BenAllgood]

My middle child killed his first buck this afternoon. He'd seen a nice 10 twice, but couldn't get a shot either time. This 8 he shot was in front of my youngest daughter a couple days before, but she has a bad case of buck and doe fever this year. She is shaking so bad, she can't get steady enough to take a shot. My son helped put together the stand and put it up. He also weed whacked a trail leading up from the holler, through the tall prairie grass, and up to the corn/wheat field. The buck followed the script perfectly, and my son made a perfect shot with the old Marlin .30-30 lever action. After the shot, he tracked it to where he died just inside the woods.

 

[Native Hunter]

My middle child killed his first buck this afternoon. He'd seen a nice 10 twice, but couldn't get a shot either time. This 8 he shot was in front of my youngest daughter a couple days before, but she has a bad case of buck and doe fever this year. She is shaking so bad, she can't get steady enough to take a shot. My son helped put together the stand and put it up. He also weed whacked a trail leading up from the holler, through the tall prairie grass, and up to the corn/wheat field. The buck followed the script perfectly, and my son made a perfect shot with the old Marlin .30-30 lever action. After the shot, he tracked it to where he died just inside the woods.
View attachment 24671 View attachment 24672

Congratulations to you and your son Ben. That looks like a big old deer. The fruits of your labor are evident.

 

[gut_pile]

Congrats!

 

[George]

A heavy weight for sure, congratulations.

G