Farmhunter's Habitat Managment and Improvements

[farmhunter]

Well - we are hunting now. There have been several sightings of goal bucks, but no shots yet. Also a new shooter has shown up - which we are very happy about - now, hopefully he sticks around some -

he needs a name yet -

Hugo, Floyd, and Buster's boy are the other no doubt shooters - and they've all been around

from my opening weekend hedgerow tree stand - a look at the South Tower at the NE end of the field and the Sanctuary oats/brassica/clover mix- and corn in background

right now - the oats/brassica/clover mix is very attractive, All these pictures come from that plot - there is a scrape literally under my treestand - the deer are coming to the plot day and night and are back on the beans already as well -

 

[Chainsaw]

Farmhunter, Hope you guys are all okay. A lot of NY guys must have went south for the winter as there are fewer posting.You had a great bunch of bucks last fall; any great hunts?

 

[Weasel]

Great looking property. Love the camp, jeep and awesome bucks. Looking forward to the season updates.

 

[Elkaddict]

Farmhunter, Hope you guys are all okay. A lot of NY guys must have went south for the winter as there are fewer posting.You had a great bunch of bucks last fall; any great hunts?

Wish I had headed south. Damned cold, no luck finding sheds, lots of snow behind this cold front.....

 

[farmhunter]

Sorry - not a lot posting this winter. Hunting season was good - we took three goal bucks and two of the biggest made it another year. The neighbor took Hugo, and Floyd disappeared. Me I just took a couple does. I'll be posting again soon. - Just took a break from it is all.

Picked up a couple new cams. - and am looking forward to this snow going away!!!!

Alex and Buster's boy made it through - hope find their sheds - they dropped in Feb.

 

[farmhunter]

my bow does -

 

[Chainsaw]

Welcome back and I'm glad to hear that you had a successful hunting season. WOW those are two very nice bucks left. Were they the kind that stick around all fall or do they just disappear? We also had a couple of older bucks make it through the season and figuring out how to focus on them for next year is not so easy for me.. After all these years of hunting I'm still in the learning curve on focusing on specific deer.

Those are two nice looking bow does you have there; we held off on the does last year but look forward to taking a couple this year. The herd went so low for us we were a bit gun shy about taking any last year but its turned out that the property is near capacity as it is now. So we should have taken a few does as we had planned.

 

[farmhunter]

Those two bucks we know well. The bigger one is a 9 point and he's known as Buster's Boy. He was around all summer in velvet. And we had pics at night of him pretty often in hunting season - he must have had a pretty good day spot - as none of us ever saw him. The other buck is Alex - this is year two for him that we recognized him. I have his sheds from last year. Both years he showed up in Novembner and wintered with us. Hoping he stays around. I actually missed him last day of Blackpower (ugggh!) my gun got knocked off.

 

[farmhunter]

So the bucks we took - was Gary, Barney and an 8 point we hadn't named. Barney was shot by my cousins son, and not recoverd until several days later so no pictures of the old warrior
My cousin took this nice 8 point on opening day - we only had two cam pictures of him - and no name.

My dad took a nice six point that some of us had passed - he turned out to be 2.5 years old which is our goal anyhow.

This is Gary -

I had to do a little tine repair on him

arney

Barney was all messed up - but an older deer 3.5 or 4.5 years old.

and this was Hugo the neighbor took

 

[farmhunter]

And I've not taken too many pictures of the plots this year. In January and again in Feb we lost a lot of the snow - so I went up a couple times, By Mid Feb all the beans and most of the corn was gone - the deer were on to the turnips - here's a couple pics from the farm this winter - We ended up with over three feet of fresh snow after that Snowstorm last weekend - so spring plans are postponed here - will be shed hunting up there soon.

I thought this trail cam pic was pretty cool

 

[Chainsaw]

Nice update and great turnips, especislly for February. You are set up to get a lot of deer thru the winter well. Too bad your gun got knocked off. With all of the use my gun gets I am always amazed that it has always stayed true. Having three generations hunting together is really special. Good for you! And yikes that is a cool picture!

 

[farmhunter]

Well - its not too early to plow! Starting to prep for may planting - I've got planned 1 bag of corn - strategically placed close to the tower boxes this year for cover during hunting season and for scouting. and 11 bags of soybeans to get out when the soil is the right temp. Here'r a quick look around the south tower - couldn't plow everywhere yet - just the high spots.

Got a good jump on it 4/23/17

One of my fall planted clover plots is looking great! Its the far corner in the pic above - night quite 2 acres clover corner - we had left it in tall grasses the last two years.

The tree planting behind the South Tower is a dogleg that splits the 20 acre field.
Behind that is a planting strip then a 2 acre block of spruce, pine and larch that separate the cabin from the tower - it gives the deer some privacy to enter the fields.

More to come, just getting started!

 

[OkieKubota]

I really like that screen...is that spruce?

 

[farmhunter]

The last pic is part of the 2 acre Block that screens the cabin from the main field. Its made up of Norway Spruce, White spruce, Scotch and Austrian Pine and when I had some mouse girdling issues on the pine one winter - I supplemented the block with Larch trees in the thin spots (and more Norways).

the dogleg that splits the field is Red Pine and Larch - the idea is to offer a corridor of cover 6 or more months of the year and "see through" cover in gun season, It connects the 2 acre block to a Thicket we call the sanctuary to the west of the South Tower - we are trying to convince the deer to cross the field here - its working already to some extent.

If I didn't already say - the field was originally 20 acres - and we've broken it up - you can see it in some of the pics I take once you know.

 

[farmhunter]

got the plowing all done now - Always feel like the the plowing is the test for the tractor - if I can make it through that without a flat or a hose going, or worse - then I'm good for the spring - we'll see!

 

[farmhunter]

Turkeys are super active - seeing them all split up now - and displaying ythe last couple weeks.

 

[Triple C]

Great pic of the struttin' tom! That is one serious plow you pulling behind the tractor. Enjoying your thread.

 

[KDdid]

Love seeing a plow all shined up! Wish I'd kept my old 3 bottom mounted plow-it was super easy to maneuver into tight spots. I plowed backyard gardens with it, I'm sure it would work great for food plots.


Sent from my iPhone using Deer Hunter Forum

 

[Elkaddict]

Farmhunter, your place must me a lot drier than ours. I haven't dared use our tractors--the side by sides and atv are making a terrible mess all on their own and in 4wd (can't imagine what heavy tractors would do).

 

[dogdoc]

I was turkey hunting my grandpa's place, he passed away 5 years ago, and saw a plow that looks just like that one. Told dad I was going to go get if for future breaking up Virgin land. Looks like it does a great job. My kubota is a 34hp 4wd so I think I have enough tractor but I guess that just depends on moisture and how deep I plow. I have never used a plow before. How many total acres do you plant in plots?