Country Roads

[Mitch123]

Got in some good fishing before Florence hits the inlet here. First ever time out on the big blue ocean and let me tell you it was electric. If anyone is thinking about going I highly recommend it.

Also forgot about our dove hunt last weekend back at the cabin. 34 the morning hunt and the 36 that evening. Can’t wait to have some dove poppers and now some fresh fish!



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[Mitch123]

Had a good weekend back at the cabin, getting everything ready for early bear season that comes in next Saturday. Brushed some blinds, got some new ladders up and unfortunately watched it rain most of the weekend. Bear pictures really picked up the past few weeks and the nuts are starting to fall all over the place.

Plots look good just desperately need to dry out some. First two pictures are clover mixes with some radishes and kale. The last picture is strictly tall tine turnips.

This apple tree never fails to amaze me. When you look at the trunk of the tree you wonder how it is even living. Let alone year after year it produces a pile of apples. Looking to try my hand in grafting this year and I believe scions from this tree would be great.

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[Merle Hawggard]

Wonderful place and thread! We'll be keeping up with you from our side of the river.

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[Mitch123]

Early bear season and the first week of bow season have come and gone with not much to brag about. In camp we killed a total of 4 bear opening week, with all 4 around 150-175 pounds. Seems to be about the average for us each year. We saw another 5-6 bear as well along with one of the big boys, weighing around 350 pounds we are guessing. Weather all week was also bad, rained all day for 2 of the days, didn’t even get out of the house. The first week of bow season the weather has also been unheard of. I personally don’t know how y’all in the Midwest do it. Nothing worse then sitting in a tree stand when it’s 85 degrees and the mosquitoes are buzzing you. It’s October and we are well above our average temps, good news is that towards the end of the week we should be getting back to seasonal temperatures. Ready for the first frost!

The one thing I have been looking forward to is that it’s seed swap time of the year! Always fun getting some new species of nuts to plant. Had great success last year and got a handful of the trees planted and tubed about a month or so ago. The ones I didn’t get in the ground I’m planning on just planting them dormant this winter.

This buck is the #1 on my hit list. The last picture is him from last year, awesome to see how much he put on in a year. He lives down on the south end of our farm, this year he had been right regular coming out of one of our clear cuts that are 5-6 years old or one of our warm season grass plots. With the warm weather I haven’t wanted to get in on him yet, waiting for the right weather and right time! Hope everyone else is having some luck in the early season!


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[j-bird]

Is this Giant Miscanthus? My grandpa planted this years ago in his back yard, I’m guessing with the thought of transplanting it to the cabin eventually. I bought some rhizomes from Maple River last year and planted them as a screen in a few places and they look a like. Little did I know, there was a full backyard of it. I’m not sure if it’s giant, but from the looks of it I believe it is some sort of Miscanthus anyways.

Mitch - I love the place.....but I am a little concerned about this grass. Maybe I am wrong and I hope I am, but that looks like johnson grass to me. Now I am not any expert or the like so please get another opinion, and maybe it is some sort of MG, but the seeds head looks more like JG vs the MG I have. Johnsongrass is a nasty invasive plant here. I hope that's not what it is, but I would certainly try to be certain before I went spreading it around.

You got some nice deer, and bears and that is certainly a nice bass on a jitterbug!

 

[pinetag]

Mitch, your place looks great! Plots look healthy as do the bears and bucks! Also, that apple tree is quite incredible. Your second pic with the close up on the trunk looks like that thing died decades ago and a dead stump is all that's remaining, yet the mast production is unbelievable.

Your hit list buck is very distinct. No doubt he is the same one from last year and he exploded with growth! Good luck with your season!

 

[Mitch123]

Mitch - I love the place.....but I am a little concerned about this grass. Maybe I am wrong and I hope I am, but that looks like johnson grass to me. Now I am not any expert or the like so please get another opinion, and maybe it is some sort of MG, but the seeds head looks more like JG vs the MG I have. Johnsongrass is a nasty invasive plant here. I hope that's not what it is, but I would certainly try to be certain before I went spreading it around.

You got some nice deer, and bears and that is certainly a nice bass on a jitterbug!

Believe that you are correct J-Bird! Glad that I asked before I went to digging it up! Everything I’ve seen online confirms your thought, thank you!

 

[j-bird]

Believe that you are correct J-Bird! Glad that I asked before I went to digging it up! Everything I’ve seen online confirms your thought, thank you!

I could be wrong.....I just didn't want to see a fellow habitat nut make an honest mistake. Has it expanded from it's current location?

 

[Mitch123]

I could be wrong.....I just didn't want to see a fellow habitat nut make an honest mistake. Has it expanded from it's current location?

Some in his backyard, I’m not sure where exactly it was planted/ or where is started but this year I did notice some about 10 yards further down from last year.

 

[j-bird]

Some in his backyard, I’m not sure where exactly it was planted/ or where is started but this year I did notice some about 10 yards further down from last year.

if it is johnson grass......it's horrible stuff. Spreads by seed and by rhizomes, animals carry the seed in they hide and discing up a live plant can turn one into 50..... I tend to spot spray mine (gly or cleth) just to keep it in check. it grows fast as well and the roots produce a toxin to stifle other plants as well. It was introduced in the southern states as a forage crop for livestock....and just exploded from there. Just be sure you know what you have before you spread it or kill it. Some folks think they have some sort of fancy bunch grass like the golf courses have.....Ummmm no.....it's a weed, a nasty, nasty weed!

 

[Mitch123]

Overall pretty slow weekend. Wind blew Friday through today anywhere from 20-30 miles an hour. I’m not one that likes to shit in a tree when limbs are cracking all around you! Did sit in one of our boxes last evening with the attempt to kill a doe. Had one come in at 30 yards and smoked her. Knew I put a good shot on her but she took off right up the hill and into the woods in no big hurry. I waited about 45 minutes and started to trial her. I was following pin drops of blood to start with for the first 50 yards. Then about 25 yards into the woods I came up on where it looked like she bedded down, blood was everywhere. After seeing that I knew I pushed her so I backed out. Went back this morning and she only went about another 50 yards from where I jumped her. Only to find out that something beat me to it. Guessing that it was a bear with the amount of meat it ate, and don’t think it was coyotes because the guts were still intact and it wasn’t all tore up but who knows.

Did get dads deer from last year back. Nice solid main frame 8 for our neck of the woods. Haven’t got him on the wall yet because the wall is full! Need to make some room, which I guess is a good problem to have, can’t complain!


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[Mitch123]

Tomorrow starts one of the better weekends back at camp. Trapping season comes in Saturday. We have made a good friend that traps for a living. He has done seminars all over along with even having his own dvd published about catching bobcats. For this opening weekend he comes back every year for the year and we get a line out. We always catch a little bit of everything, which makes for fun mornings running the line. In the evenings we then go out and sit in a tree. In our area, the bucks around this time are just starting to run some does around. All in all it makes for a great week away from work, cell service and just being in the woods. More pics to come next week!

Did get some work done this week with my trees. The first pictures are American Chestnuts that this spring will be a year old. I moved them from gallon fabric containers to 3 gallon plastic ones to store over winter. The next few pictures of a some Dwarf Chinkapins and Alleghany Chinkapins that I got in the seed swap this year. The radicals were already pretty long so I put some of them in my deep pots. They are about 8-9 inches deep. The others I put in standard 6 tray pots until I throw them under the lights here in the next few weeks. We shall see which ones work out better!


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[Mitch123]

Decent week in the woods. Still a little warm so the rut action was pretty slim. Did see a few deer chasing Thursday-last evening. Looking like it’s going to be prime time in the woods for rifle season coming in a week from tomorrow!
Also saw 3 nice shooters that we haven’t had on camera yet this year. Caught a few critters though!

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[Mitch123]

Got it DONE last Tuesday! This buck was number one on our hit list, we have had 2 years of history with him. I hunted him some earlier in the year in bow season but with no sightings. The previous two years of pictures we had him on the lower portion of the farm. Summertime he loved our patch of warm season grass. Our biggest worry was that with him being close to the road, he would end up being killed by a car or a spot lighter.

Now for some details. Pictured is the barn loft that I killed him from. Normally we save that stand for the nasty cold weather, and or snow. The barn is less that 200 yards from the house and just on the other side of the pond. We planted an acre of alfalfa a few years back down their, the deer hammer it of course every summer. This year we wanted to add some more plots and some later season attractions. An acre of turnips and then two acres of rye and oats is what we settled on. Pictured is my view of all three of those plots.

It was nothing for us to see 20-30 deer a night down in those fields. Monday night, one of the guys sat in the loft and saw 38 deer. Bunches of spikes, and a handful of younger 8 pointers. (Yes I know we need to harvest some does haha)

Monday was also eventful because the tree right by the barn showed up looking like the picture above. Tuesday I got in the loft early around 2, after not seeing much in the woods that morning. Does and a few spikes were coming and going all evening, then just like the big bucks always do, split brow just appeared. At 5 o’clock, my .270 cracked and the rest is history!

This buck is not only my biggest buck ever, but the camps biggest buck ever. My dad has hunted up here for 50 years and never recalls seeing another split brow buck. The moment seemed to be surreal, when dad showed up we both were jumping for joy and that will be a moment I will never forget. Makes all the endless hours in the summer well worth it. I already told dad that next year I have even more ideas for better plots and even more habitat management.

The overall week in the woods was also great. Rifle season seemed to line up just about perfect with the rut. Starting at the beginning of the week, we saw bucks with their nose to the ground cursing and even bucks chasing. When we left today, we saw two nice young bucks seeming to have locked the does down. We head back Tuesday/Wednesday to do some driving and hopefully put down some more mature bucks!


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[dogghr]

Great story and buck. Gotta like a plan when it comes together. Congrats.

 

[OkieKubota]

Got it DONE last Tuesday! This buck was number one on our hit list, we have had 2 years of history with him. I hunted him some earlier in the year in bow season but with no sightings. The previous two years of pictures we had him on the lower portion of the farm. Summertime he loved our patch of warm season grass. Our biggest worry was that with him being close to the road, he would end up being killed by a car or a spot lighter.

Now for some details. Pictured is the barn loft that I killed him from. Normally we save that stand for the nasty cold weather, and or snow. The barn is less that 200 yards from the house and just on the other side of the pond. We planted an acre of alfalfa a few years back down their, the deer hammer it of course every summer. This year we wanted to add some more plots and some later season attractions. An acre of turnips and then two acres of rye and oats is what we settled on. Pictured is my view of all three of those plots.

It was nothing for us to see 20-30 deer a night down in those fields. Monday night, one of the guys sat in the loft and saw 38 deer. Bunches of spikes, and a handful of younger 8 pointers. (Yes I know we need to harvest some does haha)

Monday was also eventful because the tree right by the barn showed up looking like the picture above. Tuesday I got in the loft early around 2, after not seeing much in the woods that morning. Does and a few spikes were coming and going all evening, then just like the big bucks always do, split brow just appeared. At 5 o’clock, my .270 cracked and the rest is history!

This buck is not only my biggest buck ever, but the camps biggest buck ever. My dad has hunted up here for 50 years and never recalls seeing another split brow buck. The moment seemed to be surreal, when dad showed up we both were jumping for joy and that will be a moment I will never forget. Makes all the endless hours in the summer well worth it. I already told dad that next year I have even more ideas for better plots and even more habitat management.

The overall week in the woods was also great. Rifle season seemed to line up just about perfect with the rut. Starting at the beginning of the week, we saw bucks with their nose to the ground cursing and even bucks chasing. When we left today, we saw two nice young bucks seeming to have locked the does down. We head back Tuesday/Wednesday to do some driving and hopefully put down some more mature bucks!


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Congratulations! I can only imagine what that small drop tine would have looked like with 1 more year...

 

[Mitch123]

Congratulations! I can only imagine what that small drop tine would have looked like with 1 more year...

We said that all summer getting pictures of him.....could have been a monster! But between the road, and our neighbor bragging about missing him a few nights before under the lights who knows if he would have made it. Shame the law around here won’t do anything about it.

 

[Neahawg]

Awesome deer!!!

 

[Mitch123]

Rifle season ended last weekend for us. No one else at camp killed any big bucks, but we did kill a few does. Hopefully to kill some more before the year ends as well.

Neighbor did kill a nice 8, a deer that we haven’t or didn’t see all year.

Spent the weekend cutting up some meat and grinding! We make burger every year and also some spaghetti sauce. I have found that a 80/20 mix is just about right for venison.

Does anyone else have deer that love pumpkins? Our mountain deer destroy them, my sister works at a creamery and beside them is a big pumpkin patch. Every year they have a bunch of leftovers and we normally get a pick up full. Along with all the pumpkins we can find in the neighborhood after Halloween. What are some other odd things that your deer eat?

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[Chainsaw]

The deer throughout this area consider Hickory nuts to be a gourmet meal. They leave an alfalfa field and walk thru a hundred apple trees to eat hickory nuts. In other areas of the country people report that deer ignore hickory nuts.