Foodplotting In The Mountains...The Sequel

[dogghr]

Continued from previous page.
This guy has been with me for 8 years now, just as my bear sow that gives me her triplets every 2 years. . Like me, he is getting a little grey around the edges and doesn't move quite as quick these days. His job description? Keep mouse, groundhog, skunk, squirrel, coon, and fox populations in check. Bonus, an occassional fawn probably, but that has become harder as I improve fawning cover.
I know his route perfectly. I know his next stop, his next ridge, and his completion of his patrol loop. One of his "pissing rocks" that wolf and yotes like to use to mark territory is just 40 yards behind the camera. My dog also marks it each time she passes it, I guess asking for a date or warning him, or just saying hello? I'm not sure. I do know these pissing rocks are great places for leg hold traps for wolf or yote.
This guy gets a free pass tho and has been by my stand numerous times. I understand he has a niche in the circle of life on my land, and I expect him to do his part, and thus help control what I need to be controlled and keeps sanity of the pack in the hierarchy of yotedom. Some of his buddies do not have that same pass.
Best accept the presence of the predator or you will need to eradicate each of them along with the bear, hawks and eagles, and foxes, and bobcats just as they did years ago. If a predator exist, ask yourself why.

 

[dogghr]

Fawning cover?? By next May, all you see will be a thicket of food and cover in which does will birth and fawns will hide. Some will not make it, nor should they. But most will. Nature has its checks and balances.

 

[dogghr]

He transitioned to another place this past week. My friend who I talked of on our previous forum. I'm not sad, as his battle with cancer that destroyed him this past year is over. Odd how friends are made. We just happen to come in contact a dozen years ago. One of his first questions was did I like to deer hunt. And of course I said one of my two favorite things to do. He didn't like bow hunters based on some hunters he had known with poor ethics. But with time he learned how much it was my favorite thing. He asked me to hunt his 300 ac, only one to do so other than he and his wife. It was/is prime whitetail trophy land and I was very lucky for the chance. We became great friends. Spent many an hour trying to out hunt each other. I'm never met anyone that hunted harder than he, and his walls showed it. Spent time checking the traplines in late winter talking of everything from women to children, to work, to life. Yea I'll miss him, miss him yelling my name in the dark of the night to see if I was ok, or did I get something so he could help me get it out. I'll miss sitting by his fire, or eating a meal at his table, or sipping some of his Peach 'shine. And perhaps a tear might come from one eye as I drag a buck out of the woods this fall and his hand is not there to grab the other antler in help. But that's ok. I'll see you again some day , Harvey. Thanks for letting me be your friend. Peace.

"Let it rain. Let it rain.
Open the floodgates of Heaven.
Let it rain. Let it rain.

'The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad;let the distant shores rejoice.

Clouds and thick darkness surround him;righteousness and justice are
the foundation of his throne.

Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side. His lightning
lights up the world;
The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.

The heavens proclaim his righteousness
and all peoples see his glory.'

Let it rain. Let it rain" ------Michael W. Smith, Let It Rain ( Psalms 97)

 

[cutman]

I'm very sorry to hear about your friend.

 

[Fish]

I am sorry to hear that, dogghr.

 

[Native Hunter]

dogghr, so sorry to hear of the loss of your friend. I remember when you mentioned him before. Both of you were better men by having each other for as long as you did. What more in life can we ask for than true friendship....... Keep those memories.........

 

[dogdoc]

Great tribute to your friend. Always enjoy your updates.

 

[dgallow]

Sorry to hear of the loss of your friend....cherish the memories!

Real common to see coyotes on the ranch right now....they have become well behaved. Saw the white skunk last week....he travels about a half mile from bed to feed daily. Gave an opossum the right of way on a trail the other morning...no light and not sure it wasn't Mr Stinky....sometimes better to err on side of caution. All off those creatures play small critical roles to keep an ecosystem healthy!

BTW....bison have an aversion to brush....and if in any kind of density will set back understory brush, thus favoring a herbaceous and grassy understory. Some folks I know had bison, but wanted to have trees/shrubs on the landscape....so they switched to cattle.

 

[dogghr]

Sorry to hear of the loss of your friend....cherish the memories!

Real common to see coyotes on the ranch right now....they have become well behaved. Saw the white skunk last week....he travels about a half mile from bed to feed daily. Gave an opossum the right of way on a trail the other morning...no light and not sure it wasn't Mr Stinky....sometimes better to err on side of caution. All off those creatures play small critical roles to keep an ecosystem healthy!

BTW....bison have an aversion to brush....and if in any kind of density will set back understory brush, thus favoring a herbaceous and grassy understory. Some folks I know had bison, but wanted to have trees/shrubs on the landscape....so they switched to cattle.

Bison once existed in the Eastern virgin forests in good populations. Yes, mature forests did and can support a large variety of browsing and grazing species. Many of todays highways actually follow old game/elk/bison migration trails. The Eastern bison was a smaller , more stocky version of the Great Plains species. Perhaps since we are now restocking Elk in this state, that will be the next species to be reintroduced. Hope I don't hit either with a car.

Thanks to everyone. Not much time to post but I've had a couple of rains in Oct that allowed all the T&M plots to do good. It's a shame I could get depressed over poor crops but you guys know what I speak of, I'm sure you do also.
Warm temps seem to have dampened buck pics but scrape activity is a 5 year high. Go figure. I passed a nice 8 last Thur that I now regret, but he will be real nice next year. If you haven't seen on the "live" thread, check out my poor Jeep that harvested an awesome 10 pt early Sat morning as I went to farm. His antleres left indention on the hood. Some idiot had already cut off head by time I returned that evening and I'm sure he will boast of his kill. Crazy.

My Random Clusters have been awesome ( you'll have to go back and read if you don't know my term) The new three that I created this year have really patterned the deer even more and they are definitely using for bedding and cruising the Edges that they have created. Good to see sweat pay off. Below is my sit on stand between RC #2 and #5. Well used manmade scrape and rubs are within 30 yds. This stand is where I passed good 8 last weekend.

Acorns are decent for the first time in 2 years. Harder for hunting, but in big woods deer, makes for better bucks in the future.

When I got in this stand past Sat, a Coopers, aka Chicken, Hawk flew in and landed on a branch just feet from me. They are a different type of hawk than my Redtail, in that they don't soar high looking for a meal like the Redtail. Instead they tend to fly low in the trees on their hunt. The Cooper is more shorter winged and bulky looking, almost like a power lifter on steroid. Anyway, after a minute he launched himself and in milli seconds flew the 30 yards thru a thicket too dense for me to shoot an arrow thru, and nailed a squirrel before it could move. Paused for a sec with it pinned to the ground then flew off with its meal. I've seen the Redtail take squirrel flying in at 100+ mph, but first time to see the Cooper do such a feat.

So you don't like the predator because he competes for the game you want? Who was first at this contest? Could you feed your family by taking game every day of the week, every week of the year, every year of your life in order to live?? Indeed they do to survive. Could you possibly be that good? Perhaps you are intruding on their domain, and not the other way around? I wish I was as good a hunter as they. They can teach you much if you will listen. Bet it makes you a better hunter. Hunt like your life depends on it. Be proud your habitat work provides for all, even your competitors.

Have a good hunt these next few weeks. Hope you learn and are successful in some way. Thanks for reading.

 

[dogghr]

Sorry. Here's the pics

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[lakngolf]

Hope you get another chance at that 8, or an even better one, dogghr. Add my condolences to the loss of your friend and looking forward to the details of that meadow transformation.

 

[Flyfixer]

Sorry for the loss of your friend. The Jeep looks bad, heck of a way to kill a deer They still taste the same though! I have hit two of them and ate both of them. Road kill is just fine

 

[dogghr]

Ahh Thanksgiving. What better epitome than this of my mantra the 3 F's of Faith,Family , Friends. Sometimes any one of those can get in disarray but make sure u work hard at reestablishing them to maintain your sanity. Have a great Thanksgiving ladies and gentlemen and enjoy the freedom we have.
You can watch the WVU marching band in the Macy Parade if you like. At least they don't choke in a big game like the team. Have a great day, I'm off to my parents. Thanks again for all the info shared freely on here. Better than ever.


"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. " (Psalm‬ ‭100‬:‭4‬ NIV)

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[Native Hunter]

Ahh Thanksgiving. What better epitome than this of my mantra the 3 F's of Faith,Family , Friends. Sometimes any one of those can get in disarray but make sure u work hard at reestablishing them to maintain your sanity. Have a great Thanksgiving ladies and gentlemen and enjoy the freedom we have.
You can watch the WVU marching band in the Macy Parade if you like. At least they don't choke in a big game like the team. Have a great day, I'm off to my parents. Thanks again for all the info shared freely on here. Better than ever.


"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. " (Psalm‬ ‭100‬:‭4‬ NIV)

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Amen brother and wishing you a happy Thanksgiving. And if you kill a deer at that spot, I hope for the sake of you back that you shoot him on top of that hill instead of the bottom. That would be a hard pull for this old man....

 

[lakngolf]

Have a great day. Three f's for sure and feel better about all three nowadays. I was pulling for wva

 

[Fish]

We read the 100 Psalm before Thanksgiving dinner today. Good post.
Hope you enjoy some time in the woods now.

 

[dogghr]

Amen brother and wishing you a happy Thanksgiving. And if you kill a deer at that spot, I hope for the sake of you back that you shoot him on top of that hill instead of the bottom. That would be a hard pull for this old man....

No matter where you shoot, a deer always goes to the worst place for retrieval. People think I pass deer to let them grow. Nope. By the time I analyze where they will fall, and how far from the truck, and time of day, deer has usually already moved on. By the time I got up on this ridge, and up this old API climber, I sat the whole day, too tired to do it twice. Saw 6 bucks from AM till 3 but all got a pass. Son shot one that morn and that was enough work in the dark that evening.

Have a great day. Three f's for sure and feel better about all three nowadays. I was pulling for wva

Glad you are enjoying your travels Lakn. I bet you travel the country and then come home to shoot a monster first day back out. Not fair.

We read the 100 Psalm before Thanksgiving dinner today. Good post.
Hope you enjoy some time in the woods now.

Thats cool, Fish. Spending day with daughter today, then maybe back out tomorrow when temps drop. Need a foot of snow for still hunting. Good luck.

 

[dogghr]

Took this pic as I left few days ago. Shows variety of plantings especially in a drought year.
To the left are fallow fields, to the right a perennial WC and chicory plot. In immediate distance a spray and throw of brassicas and WW/WR and RC. Planted then w no rain for 2 mo. In far distance another spray and now of same mix. To the right of that would be my alfalfa/ clover/ chicory perenial plot. Despite heavy hard mast crop this yr, deer in them all each morn and evening. .

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[dgallow]

Looks very good considering what little moisture you've had. Maybe the front which came through today will make it to your place.

 

[George]

8 in thick brush?

G