Farmhunter's Deer Management and Property Improvements

[Chainsaw]

Thanks Farmhunter, great observations. I'll give the corn planting trick a try for the first 30 yards of beans next year. On corn versus beans we have found the beans here also draw more deer than corn does but we seldom and very close to never shoot a deer that doesn't have some corn in their stomach and most of our deer are taken away from the corn fields.

 

[weekender21]

Great pictures, love those destination food plots! That's probably the only thing I don't like about the mountains, no flat land for serious food.

 

[CTM1]

Really nice pictures, especially like the fisher. They have come on strong in my area of the Catskills in the last few years.
I must say that is some flock of birds, the last time I saw a flock like that I was in my early twenties. You best get out there come spring.

 

[farmhunter]

Couple last pictures from the hunting season. I hate to see it end - but much of my family and friends head to florida now for winter - even before hunting is over, its not the same on your own.

 

[HB_Hunter]

Great pics! Looks like all the animals are appreciating that food.

 

[farmhunter]

Had at least 3 young eight points make it - all seem like homebodies at this time. Also a bunch of obvious 1.5 year old bucks made it through. So 2019 is looking promising, more so than 2018 did and I cannot complain about our prospects last year.

There are always a couple that disappear for the winter - I'm hoping one was our #1 2018 buck Bodie who disappeared in October for the second year in a row.

 

[farmhunter]

also our resident piebald doe - Patches - made it another year. She is going to turn 11 in May.

If you scroll back you can see she made an appearance on my last rifle hunt. She's had a lot of deer fall in her presence - that night was no different - I think I've shot three deer over the years that she was with at the time, I can think of 4 others taken by others that I know of - never a buck though. Our hunting group deserves a lot of credit for recognizing her over the years - the experience of having and identified mature+ deer in our midst has been eye opening on trail cameras and in hunting situations.

I love the picture of me and her. She's been a big part of my life - over 10 of my 50 years on this earth. This day when I hiked in and pulled the camera card - she had been there - just a few minutes prior to me. So it was easy to put the two pictures together. I did it because I wanted to show how little she really is, but I ended up just really glad to have this memory of her an me - a pretty cool, selfish little inclusion of myself into her life.

 

[George]

Neat pictures farmhunter.

G

 

[Chummer]

That could be the best photo shop ever! It is amazing how similar our bucks look alike. We hardly ever have a buck under 3 that doesn’t have spindly little racks. Many times even at 3.

 

[farmhunter]

No time this spring for real shed hunting - but I lucked into a side of a buck I know on the edge of the road on the way into camp. This is the neighbor's field - that treeline top right is the start of my property.

I always like to look for a defining mark from a buck I know. I have a lot of pics of this 8 point through December up until he shed in February - so hopefully I can recognize him this summer to compare his antler growth.

 

[farmhunter]

Nice to be able to post some mostly snowless pics! - I did get into the cabin on Saturday April 6th. Looking back - this isn't abnormal, but its on the later end of things, sometimes I'm plowing by mid April - not this year.

Fields are open - woods are not. Some woods sections are still socked in -

Pulled out both Kubotas - both started up well - and I ran them around about it warm them up.

All the corn and beans is long gone - but its worth noting that many of the turnips were still whole. In the past two years - there was not a turnip to be had - I think this speaks a lot to the food that the deer had available over the winter. Also - I hiked a lot of the property and did
not find a dead deer. Thats always a good sign.

The ponds were still frozen over - but I'd say that will change within a fre days

The beaver pond was open, lots of ducks - but no beavers, my neighbor tends to trap them out every other year or two next door.

And I always like to get a picture of my favorite stone wall!

 

[Chainsaw]

You are just a few days later than us in seeing the snow gone "completely". Congratulations on having turnips left and no winter kill. That is an accomplishment for sure. Those that laid that wall up really had a handle on longevity despite all of the crazy frost heaves that wall must go thru. Love that wall, does it have some great trails skirting around it?

Like you, we started our Polaris this past weekend, started immediately. The dog jumped in it and we took it for a ride just to get it moving. The no-ethanol gas combined with STA-BIL is a real game changer when it comes to starting vehicles after a long winter rest.

 

[farmhunter]

There are a few cut through on that wall that a blind person could hunt over. Neither neighbor that own a part of that wall bowhunts - so they don't take advantage like they should. There was a third neighbor that had a buddy who bowhunted the north end of the wall - and before he moved away he was taking 1 or 2 of our goal bucks every year there. Glad he moved on!! Not sure how he was retrieving his deer he took there - probably at night!!!

 

[farmhunter]

Things are greening up - and we did a couple turkey hunts and made our way to flooded lake Ontario for an spring fishing weekend with friends from around the country. Also got most of the corn and soybeans in - we scaled it back a bit this year - will add a few more fall plots than usual as we transition some areas back to clover/grass.

We ended up with several nice small mouth -that we released of course - and a couple pike. Took a little while to figure the bass out -they were mostly post spawn but not far away.

 

[farmhunter]

Been a very busy spring. Finished up the last Bean plots 6/9. Also bought a bag of Buckwheat. I'd like to time it so that it comes to seed in October, - I did it once by accident and it was a turkey magnet more than anything else I ever planted. thought we might get some bow blind action with it.

Sometimes the cabin gets neglected when we are working spring plots and juggling real work. I finally got it mowed on the weekend. The little pole barn on the left is for the tractor in the winter and houses the UTVs in the summer fall. Really thinking about making it a bunk house - probably next year so that more than one family could stay there with privacy in the off season - and could comfortably hold us hunters in the fall.

Here's a look - needs some paint and tlc -

 

[Chainsaw]

Looks like you had a great fishing outing in Fairhaven. Enjoyed the variety of pictures. Generally when the rock bass show up as they did for you and as they have here the Smallmouth are here also. However Smallmouth had not been getting caught in the pond that week-unusual but so. Big fishing day targeting Smallmouth on Saturday weather permitting (local bar tournament), we'll see how we and everyone else makes out.

 

[farmhunter]

neat observation about the Rock Bass - there are some BIG ones in little sodus bay - we had to work for the SMB - they were finicky. We checked out Blind Sodus bay too - boy that took a beating with the water up - caught some SMB there too - not single LMB. Good luck on your fishing trip - when to the Smallmouth move back out to the main lake?

 

[Chainsaw]

neat observation about the Rock Bass - there are some BIG ones in little sodus bay - we had to work for the SMB - they were finicky. We checked out Blind Sodus bay too - boy that took a beating with the water up - caught some SMB there too - not single LMB. Good luck on your fishing trip - when to the Smallmouth move back out to the main lake?

The Rock Bass are big here also and plentiful again. Smallmouth are not caught in Sandy Pond regularly but are usually caught in the channel to the lake (on the pond side) regularly and especially in numbers at this time of year, not so this year. Fishing day (Taco Bobs opening day Bass tournament) was a bust for us with only one Smallmouth caught; many people caught zero. Some though did very well with the first and second place catches coming from the Henderson area. First place total weight that is best five fish caught per boat was twenty-pounds and 8 plus ounces. Second was eighteen and something. Fishing conditions were extreme with solid 3 ft. waves often crashing over the bow of the boat. All fish caught in the "tournament" were cleaned and cooked along with fixins, beer was included and it was a great time despite the tough weather.

Fawns in the area are now being seen crossing the roads.

 

[farmhunter]

Hello all - hope the spring has not been too wet for you! Its slowed us down for sure -but we are coming out of it now.

I've got some pictures to share - and they are a FIRST for me. After many many years of running trail cams - I've finally captured some Black Bear pictures. For some of you this is Old Hat - but for us - its very exciting!! The first time we saw him - we saw him in person and I snapped an iphone picture of him at mid day in a neighbor's campsite we were visiting, I'm hoping a few of you can help judge his age, size. At first he seemed BIG - but as I look into it a bit more, I don't think he's as big as I first thought - OR - its a different bear.

 

[farmhunter]

Starting to have some bucks fill out. I've got several that are looking promising. Some I've only seen in the fields so far -

Below is a close up of the one laying down - he's an exciting deer - I'm hoping his G2 ans G3s grow to match his brows. We don't have bucks very often with brows more than 3". The big center buck is a 7 point - missing a G3 on one side. The biggest buck on the right is an 8 point so far - neither do I have close ups yet.

plots are coming along - got everything sprayed over the 4th, will have plot and habitat pics soon.