Dream ... what's coming for you 5-10 years from now?

[Bullwinkle]

One of the hardest parts of QDM is the wait. What projects/actions have you done that will pay off in the future. Here are mine....

1. Strategy on killing does. Never on plots and only on property lines. 5 years from now the next generation of deer will think even lower pressure than today

2. The 15,000 norways I planted will offer thermal cover. Plan to keep planting

3. Hopefully my fruit trees will drop fruit

4. Logging projects will thicken my open hardwoods

5. My fence around my 8 acre oak regen project will come down offering awesome thick bedding and diversity.

 

[Elkaddict]

I'm hoping to see the benefits of a second generation of mature bucks after a lifetime of improved nutrition. I hope to see the benefits of released oaks and apple trees, and I hope the local trespassers will have learned to stay the hell off my place.... I'll likely be planning another large hinge cut, and if my health holds, be getting ready to retire and live full time on the property.

 

[Chainsaw]

Bull, you come up with the funnest threads. Here are three of my current projects and future expectations.
1. Continue releasing apple trees from the current 2,000 on the property to 2,500. At an average of 100 lbs per tree(just a complete guess, it could be double or triple that easily) will result in 125 tons of apple versus the 100 tons produced today.
2. With next year being our fourth year of logging in a row, browse production will continue to surpass winter demand. Bucks will come out of winter in better condition than ever. Cover will be so thick once again that we can run into it and will bounce back out as before with before being twenty years ago.
3. Each new low impact stand location sitting in a saddle on one of our ridges where three edges come together will continue to be enhanced so each has at least twenty-five released apple trees within its view, 350 linear feet of planted skidder roads, two heavily hinge cut bedding areas on the edge of visibility with a view between them, three to four major buck sidewalks coming together with overhanging branches every fifty feet or so, a part of the major food plot below, three or four planted scrape trees, the full view of the inside corner of the plot, a stand or two of hickory trees, six acres of heavy browse and two water holes, A wet spot surrounded by a mound which grows great summer browse like Jewell weed surrounded by poke weed, a poplar re-sprouting area, a hundred plus planted shrubs caged so they can eat the excess but not the core, and finally a section of fence to squish many trails on the outside edge of visibility into one or two within sight.
More is planned but we don't want to overdo it. These are enough to communicate the flavor of our intention. It's okay if you think me a little off. I think that also.
In other words I'l like to have each stand have a dozen reasons why it's there.

 

[Bullwinkle]

I'm hoping to see the benefits of a second generation of mature bucks after a lifetime of improved nutrition. I hope to see the benefits of released oaks and apple trees, and I hope the local trespassers will have learned to stay the hell off my place.... I'll likely be planning another large hinge cut, and if my health holds, be getting ready to retire and live full time on the property.

You're thread has me thinking. Hope to retire in 5-7 years. The bucks born this year will hopefully be still around and targets then

 

[Bullwinkle]

Bull, you come up with the funnest threads. Here are three of my current projects and future expectations.
1. Continue releasing apple trees from the current 2,000 on the property to 2,500. At an average of 100 lbs per tree(just a complete guess, it could be double or triple that easily) will result in 125 tons of apple versus the 100 tons produced today.
2. With next year being our fourth year of logging in a row, browse production will continue to surpass winter demand. Bucks will come out of winter in better condition than ever. Cover will be so thick once again that we can run into it and will bounce back out as before with before being twenty years ago.
3. Each new low impact stand location sitting in a saddle on one of our ridges where three edges come together will continue to be enhanced so each has at least twenty-five released apple trees within its view, 350 linear feet of planted skidder roads, two heavily hinge cut bedding areas on the edge of visibility with a view between them, three to four major buck sidewalks coming together with overhanging branches every fifty feet or so, a part of the major food plot below, three or four planted scrape trees, the full view of the inside corner of the plot, a stand or two of hickory trees, six acres of heavy browse and two water holes, A wet spot surrounded by a mound which grows great summer browse like Jewell weed surrounded by poke weed, a poplar re-sprouting area, a hundred plus planted shrubs caged so they can eat the excess but not the core, and finally a section of fence to squish many trails on the outside edge of visibility into one or two within sight.
More is planned but we don't want to overdo it. These are enough to communicate the flavor of our intention. It's okay if you think me a little off. I think that also.
In other words I'l like to have each stand have a dozen reasons why it's there.

Amazing that you have 2000 apple trees. What a blessing. You have an awesome thing going Chainsaw

 

[Chainsaw]

Amazing that you have 2000 apple trees. What a blessing. You have an awesome thing going Chainsaw

It is awesome beyond belief Bull. Every property in this area had apples galore in 1990. But succession which overtakes apple trees within about thirty years without our intervention killed most of the apple trees on many of the properties in this area. The people here just didn't have the energy to care about wild apple trees after their usual very long work days.

 

[Sam]

5-10 year
To take my nephew hunting he will be 1 March 31.
To see more wildlife on the property.
To see fruit drop from the trees I'm planting this year and to continue to plant more trees each year.
Seed Drill

 

[j-bird]

I simply hope to see some reward form my efforts. It may not result in deer, but I have a cedar screen I hope to see fill out, some apples I have just started producing this year in a small amount so hopefully I can see them become a major interest to the deer and hopefully see some of my young chestnuts produce something. I also expect my woods to get better in the long term from recent logging activities as well. Will any of this result in any bigger deer being taken.....I doubt it, but just seeing projects mature and make an impact are worth it.

 

[Chummer]

I have one goal above all other. Produce one apple on a tree I have planted. I have around 60 caged trees so needless to say I pushed all in on fruit trees. I started planting 4 years ago but still no guarantee I will ever see an apple.

 

[PineSapJunky]

I would like our state to go to at the very least a tag system to help monitor deer harvest numbers. We are currently 1 of 2 states that rely on the honor system. I would also like to see limits set based on region and not state wide. We're in a relatively low deer density area compared to others. 5 does and 3 bucks is just way too much for any hunter (local or out of state) to be able to harvest in my opinion.

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[Blizzard Ridge]

I would like our state to go to at the very least a tag system to help monitor deer harvest numbers. We are currently 1 of 2 states that rely on the honor system. I would also like to see limits set based on region and not state wide. We're in a relatively low deer density area compared to others. 5 does and 3 bucks is just way too much for any hunter (local or out of state) to be able to harvest in my opinion.

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I wish all states would implement limits based on region and not set forth to cover entire states. Or just go to the old 2 and 2 method that worked for years. There just is no need to kill more than 2 bucks and 2 does a year as far as I am concerned, at least for my area. Buck with a gun and a buck with a bow or two with a bow should be plenty. Same goes for doe's.

 

[PineSapJunky]

Another goal would be to clear cut (with the exception of oaks and soft mast trees) my 40 year old pine plantation and start over with plots in strategic locations, a good road system. I know I can go in and hinge cut but we're looking at 400+ acres. This way I could start over with almost a blank canvas and do it my way.

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[PineSapJunky]

I wish all states would implement limits based on region and not set forth to cover entire states. Or just go to the old 2 and 2 method that worked for years. There just is no need to kill more than 2 bucks and 2 does a year as far as I am concerned, at least for my area. Buck with a gun and a buck with a bow or two with a bow should be plenty. Same goes for doe's.

It's funny. I hear it all the time from in the same breath normally in the same sentence. "We're over run with does"...Then normally they complain about "Ain't seen nothing this year"....soon there after. When trying to bring up camera surveys, browse surveys, etc. You can tell it just hit them in the head and fell off.

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[Triple C]

What do I hope to accomplish in 5 years??? Oldest grandson will be 18 and both grand daughters will be 12. Just hope they still want to come to the farm and hang out with Meme and Poppy. Retirement...at 60, I think about it more now and more with each passing year but I can't say if I will want to retire in 5 years. Still love what I do for a living and fortunately, get paid pretty well to do it. On the farm, I have my eye on an adjoining piece of property that I would love to pick up if the cattle farmer should decide to sell, assuming finances permit. Like someone else noted earlier, hope to see my 1st apple from a tree. We can grow pears but have had no luck with apples. Got LLC coming in bout 6 weeks to graft scions from his apple trees to rootstock we have growing. That will be an accomplishment. Continue to do TSI and general habitat improvement. Build another shed for implements. As for deer, we're blessed to be in an area that has a lot of deer. We've taken nice bucks every year since 2012 but none in 2016. Only 1 4.5 yr old taken along with a number of 3.5 year olds. Hope to have 1 to 3 mature bucks age 4.5 or older to chase each year. Should I retire, we hope to be living close to 2 of our grown children and about 30 minutes from the farm. Good Lord willing...I see myself in retirement hanging out at the farm just about every day just piddling on stuff that I want to do. I go to sleep every night daydreaming about stuff I want to do on the farm.

 

[Chainsaw]

What do I hope to accomplish in 5 years??? Oldest grandson will be 18 and both grand daughters will be 12. Just hope they still want to come to the farm and hang out with Meme and Poppy. Retirement...at 60, I think about it more now and more with each passing year but I can't say if I will want to retire in 5 years. Still love what I do for a living and fortunately, get paid pretty well to do it. On the farm, I have my eye on an adjoining piece of property that I would love to pick up if the cattle farmer should decide to sell, assuming finances permit. Like someone else noted earlier, hope to see my 1st apple from a tree. We can grow pears but have had no luck with apples. Got LLC coming in bout 6 weeks to graft scions from his apple trees to rootstock we have growing. That will be an accomplishment. Continue to do TSI and general habitat improvement. Build another shed for implements. As for deer, we're blessed to be in an area that has a lot of deer. We've taken nice bucks every year since 2012 but none in 2016. Only 1 4.5 yr old taken along with a number of 3.5 year olds. Hope to have 1 to 3 mature bucks age 4.5 or older to chase each year. Should I retire, we hope to be living close to 2 of our grown children and about 30 minutes from the farm. Good Lord willing...I see myself in retirement hanging out at the farm just about every day just piddling on stuff that I want to do. I go to sleep every night daydreaming about stuff I want to do on the farm.

That is a beautiful post as always Triple C. You are a model for us all.

 

[Sampson]

In 5 years, I hope to have a small cabin built and several oaks planted around it. A good supply of water to water the trees.
I hope to have the shelter belt of trees growing through the middle of the farm. This will provide a nice area for the deer to travel and allow them to cross the center of the farm without being seen. I hope to have the pond dug and full on the west side of the creek line.

One of the kids will be in college and one still in high school and I hope they still enjoy going to the farm as much as they do now.

I hope that we have a wet spell for the next 5 years and a mild summer without triple digit heat. Which would allow me to get several acres of oaks and chestnut trees established without the need for me to supply the water to them. The cottonwoods on the creek line maybe big enough by then for the turkeys to roast in them.

But most of all, I hope I'm still right with the good Lord and still thankful for the chance to live in this great country. Where we can own land, manage wildlife and raise our families as we see fit.


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[Triple C]

Bull - I went back and read your goals again. One thing I'm curious about is why you would never shoot a doe in a food plot? If memory serves me correctly, every doe and a number of the bucks we've taken were in food plots. I honestly can't see any difference in daylight use from shooting deer in or around food plots. The deer seem to be back in the plots almost immediately. I'm confident you could harvest a deer in the morning from one of our plots and have multiple deer using it in the afternoon. But, I've read more and more about guys shooting does only on the perimeter or property line. Just never witnessed a change in deer behavior from shooting in food plots. We don't have a single stand on the property line.

 

[OkieKubota]

Bull - I went back and read your goals again. One thing I'm curious about is why you would never shoot a doe in a food plot? If memory serves me correctly, every doe and a number of the bucks we've taken were in food plots. I honestly can't see any difference in daylight use from shooting deer in or around food plots. The deer seem to be back in the plots almost immediately. I'm confident you could harvest a deer in the morning from one of our plots and have multiple deer using it in the afternoon. But, I've read more and more about guys shooting does only on the perimeter or property line. Just never witnessed a change in deer behavior from shooting in food plots. We don't have a single stand on the property line.

No property line stands for us either as I really don't like fence sitting or fence sitters. I know in AG country this may be the only place there is a place to put stands as everything else is crops but in our neck of the woods and it being all big timber I just don't understand the reasoning of trying to get as close as you can to your neighbors to kill a deer. Makes for awkward tracking when you are constantly tracking deer you shot over on the neighbors place...

On our plots over on Home 10 we shoot does all the time and field dress them within 50 yards of the plot and have deer back in the plot while we are dressing deer out in plain view...

 

[OkieKubota]

I guess we are in year 3 of our 5 year goal of making our place the best deer hunting property that we can. We have 3 plots if you consider our backyard rock plot a plot (I do) but this year we are changing that to just having the "Rock Plot" and the "South Plot" and the latter will be getting increased in size by triple. The "North Plot" experiment has not gone as I had hoped which was for my wife to hunt South Plot while I worked my way back to North Plot to hunt. Access was the main issue with a secondary issue of the neighbors taking up residence on our fence in that area for rifle season because they must have seen an google earth photo and realized we had a plot nearby in there.

Also in the works is lots of thickening up hinge cuts for bedding and screening along roads and boundary lines and controlled burns and even some clearcutting to open up edge and create food. I want briar patches, persimmon patches, released oaks, edge, cover, water, and nice plots all in place at- 5-10 years. Going to hunt it differently this fall and everything we will be doing is to draw deer all the way through the property and have deer bed on the property itself. I am going to make the entire north 40 a sanctuary and our hunting will all take place on the south 40. New trail access will also be in place with more perimeter travel.

Lots to do still but dozer coming in 2 weeks and my chainsaw will be in use at every opportunity until the dozer comes in for plot expansion, pond creation, a little clearing, firebreaks, and interior road work so I can get lime buggy to plot...also a new pad for our shop building we are going to build and a lot more gravel down on our driveway and parking areas...

 

[Native Hunter]

I will be retired in less than 5 years. So if my health stays good I will be putting in much more time at habitat work.

I should be dropping a boat load of fruit and chestnuts by that time. Even last season was good, with some seedling persimmons dropping their first crop. 5 more years and I should be able to feed an army from June through December.