J-birds place

[j-bird]

I got my Turkey Creek trees in the ground the other day. I have had the trees for a week or two, but my order for fence was delayed. I'm not planting trees without protecting them! 2 yates on M7, 2 enterprise, 2 liberty and 2 ark blacks all on B118. Hope to get some apples into november!

 

[Native Hunter]

Holy smoke... just saw this about your shooting houses. Man I hate to see that but glad you guys are okay.

 

[j-bird]

Holy smoke... just saw this about your shooting houses. Man I hate to see that but glad you guys are okay.

Mother nature just decided I needed to upgrade was all. I was planning on replacing one of them anyway this year....now I will just work on two. They both was a learning experience and needed to be replaced anyhow. I just got a bigger push than I expected! I'm pulling apart some machine shipping containers for the structural lumber now. The real windows in the battle wagon got us spoiled so I don't see us cutting corners there. One of the things I am tinkering with is trap door access. I think I can seal the blind even better that way and get a full 360 view if I want it. I'm figuring 6x6 ought to be about right for 2 gun hunters I don't think the two new ones need to be on wheels....

 

[Triple C]

Dang j-bird! Just saw this as well. Glad none of you guys were in those things. Time to start posting pics of the new shooting houses. I hear Native Hunter has a nice plan he may be able to share with you.

 

[j-bird]

Yesterday I found a pair of yotes not practicing social distancing.... I (the gestapo) remedied the problem! Only saw one at first but once I got outside (yes I remembered not to shoot the gun in the house) I saw there was two....I had my bolt gun so I was only going to get one...but I made the one shot count. They wasn't 50 yards from the house! This one is a younger male.... I didn't have a chance to talk to his friend....they didn't stick around! I have no tolerance for yotes or groundhogs.

 

[j-bird]

Dang j-bird! Just saw this as well. Glad none of you guys were in those things. Time to start posting pics of the new shooting houses. I hear Native Hunter has a nice plan he may be able to share with you.

I've been pulling apart shipping crates for some lumber....I'll post up pics of the building process once I get that far.

 

[j-bird]

Spent Saturday fixing and organizing my wood barn and yesterday making a mess in the garage....we had hit or miss rain all weekend, but the temps was nice.

Saturday I had to replace a support post that had been removed decades ago...before my time. It was part of the re-organizing effort since I like to store my lumber up in the rafter.

Then sunday.....I took that lumber that was left and went to work replacing my destroyed shooting houses.

roughly 6'x6' square....walls are 7 feet tall...trap door entry24" x 36".....windows are 48" x 24" and will be double slider type. I ran out of 2X so I had to call it a day. Everything is screwed together with coated decking screws. It's a big puzzle. I have marked the walls both inside and out as well as where they match the base. Nothing worse than trying to "refigure-out the puzzle" later. I'll post the entire build in the other thread once I'm done. For now, I need some more 2X some plywood sheeting, some metal roofing and my windows.

 

[j-bird]

So I spent a majority of the holiday weekend working on the shooting house project. Got the final wall built, hung the wall sheeting (cheap 3/8" plywood just to stiffen things up a bit), and then it was taken apart and moved to the location.... We built the support stand out of reclaimed 5x4 shipping crate lumber they sit on the preformed concrete footers for decks. "X" braces are 2 1/2" square and lag bolted in place. Got everything leveled up as best we could and then we started lifting wall panels. Got them all tied together and everything fit back up pretty well.

Do I have a picture....no. I was too focused on trying to get things done. Between the heat and the pop up rain showers....I just had other things on my mind.

Due to rain in the forecast and not having everything I needed (metal for roof and siding and the windows) then we cover the entire thing in a dark blue tarp. Yep - I got a big blue box sitting out in the middle of the wide open....I'm sure we will get visited by the police thinking it's a meth lab! I am sun burnt and sore. But that's the price you pay for doing it yourself. The youngest helped with what she could on day one...but the second day just having some help with the lifting and a second set of hand s really helped. She wanted to name the stand and not thinking I said "ok"....don't do that. She is 16...16 year olds do not come up with socially unacceptable names. It's now the "Southwest shooting house 2.0"....despite what Emma wants to call it!

Seems like the trap door is going to be a big hit. The floor height from the ground got a little taller than I had planned and the wall height did as well. The floor height is 7 feet off the ground at the shortest point and the wall are about 7 1/2 feet tall. I'll rein that back on the next build. It's just more than is really needed. The floor height I just wanted enough to get under it without stooping....it sits up on the top of a slope with the deer activity below...so the natural elevation advantage helps. We just went from 4 feet off the ground and a shed that you couldn't stand up in....to 7 to 8 feet off the ground and one you can certainly stand up in!

 

[lakngolf]

2.0 retrofit sounds like a winner. We need to know some of those 16 yr old names, though. SSH2.0 sounds too much like Triple C "Lower upper West Tripod"

 

[j-bird]

I got my corn plots planted yesterday...first time I can remember actually having my plots planted before the rental farmer...but it happened today...beat him by 1 day! I thought about just doing fall plots but I got the corn seed for free so we will give it a shot. I mowed and spread fertilizer last weekend then got out the tiller and the old plate planter and put some seed in the ground yesterday.

We had a pretty decent frost a few weeks ago and I knew it would do some damage but I wanted to give it a few weeks to see just how bad it was. Well....we won't have ANY apples this year and I am not sure what it did to the mature oaks and their flowers yet.

It did a real number on my persimmons trees....I think I may have 2 survive while the whip trees I think all died. I think it killed some of my whip chestnuts as well and it certainly did a number on even the mature ones. This tree is several years old and still looks like crap! I'm just glad it survived.



It fried one of my newly planted enterprise apples...the others survived fine...but I think this one is toast! I will leave it be and see if it shows any signs of life in a few weeks. Otherwise I'll find something else to put in there. My crabs are fine and my older apples are fine.....just no sign of fruit....but that I expected.



It even did a number on my sawtooth oaks.....but they are bouncing back pretty well.

 

[j-bird]

Got the new shooting house up but not complete (needs windows and metal)...wrapped it in a tarp to keep it out of the weather. Bear had the big blue house (If you haven;t had kids in the last 20 years you have no idea what I am talking about) ...I got the big blue box! No police raid yet.....


Also got/had my MG screen coming up. I say had....because the rental farmer was spraying today....I fear he may have thought it was johnsongrass! Guess we will see..... and NO I can't seem to plant anything in a straight line it seems....not MG, not trees not corn!

 

[T-Max]

That sucks, J. I feel your pain. I can't plant anything near an ag field that isn't immediately exterminated.

 

[KSQ2]

Another great property thread, thanks for the regular updates!

 

[j-bird]

2.0 retrofit sounds like a winner. We need to know some of those 16 yr old names, though. SSH2.0 sounds too much like Triple C "Lower upper West Tripod"

no....she hangs out with her father and his dirty mind and potty mouth too much. And she is creative as well.....

 

[j-bird]

That sucks, J. I feel your pain. I can't plant anything near an ag field that isn't immediately exterminated.

The guy who rents from me does a pretty good job...but I didn't flag the plants like I normally do...so I'll take some of the fault. Just means more digging in the dirt. He gives me my corn and soybeans seed for free and lets me use his tiller....so it's a small price to pay...IF indeed it happened.

 

[j-bird]

Another great property thread, thanks for the regular updates!

I do it more for my own records more than anything. The years all run together and it's a nice way to chronicle my activities. If others can learn something from my many mistakes or get some inspiration in some form then so be it. I don't always do it right and I don't have a lot of fancy equipment or great ground to work...but it has come a long way from where I started and I have been able to share it with kids and family along the way as well. Glad you enjoy it....

 

[j-bird]

I was out over the weekend checking on things and found a few bright spots....

#1 - it looks like my MG screen was spared! The screen will enclose the plot form being exposed to the larger ag field and hopefully increase it's use and help hide some of my coming and going as well, Since I have a new blind to build at the far end of the pic (end of the green point from the left). I'll give the MG a shot of N when I hit the corn as well. These where just rhizomes this spring.



#2 - not as many of my trees died as I had thought. The whip chestnuts are still alive.....but really set back...I thought they was dead . The existing whip is dead, but I have signs of life at the base so I will see if they survive the summer. I do think a few of my persimmons are toast however and an older chestnut or two (in the ground a few years) I had that struggled are dead or are too far gone to make it thru the summer. We will see. I also found a whole whopping 2 apples on my 5 mature apple trees....so the frost didn't get them all. But what the frost missed the coons will get I am sure. I am finding that I am having some issues with the chestnut hill chestnuts for my particular case. The frost didn't help, and the too dry or too wet may not be helping either. I may need to look into some Chinese chestnuts and see if they do any better. Maybe someone is trying to tell me I'm not supposed to have chestnuts or persimmons! I tend to be pretty stubborn so we won't give up just that easy!!

#3 - the crabapples I planted last year are doing great. I looked at the trees I planted this year and they are about 3 feet tall and my crabs are about 6 feet or more and doing very well. Maybe I should have invested in crabs before chestnuts..... Already eyeing spots for the next order.... My chestnuts keep dying for one reason or another....I'm gonna have to seek a sponsorship from TC for his trees. As the Chestnut hill trees die off, I may just end up filling those holes with TC trees......I don't think he will mind!



And lastly my corn plots are starting to pop. Nothing serious but I have a few popping up already. The plot below has a low spot in it that was too wet when I planted....but I will spray the weeds and hopefully turn this area into a fall annuals plot in aug/sept time frame. the farm is covered in soybeans this year so the deer will have plenty to eat this summer.....I just have to keep them here or pull them from the neighbors once harvest is done.....standing corn and some greens should do the trick.

 

[KSQ2]

Glad to hear the good report on crabapples. They are looking to become the main go-to for us in the future. I’m not much for high maintenance trees.

 

[j-bird]

Glad to hear the good report on crabapples. They are looking to become the main go-to for us in the future. I’m not much for high maintenance trees.

That was my attraction to them as well.....plant and walk away.....I have punned mine some already, but other than that.....they are doing well all on their own for me thus far.

 

[j-bird]

Pulled some cam cards the other day.... Nothing too exciting, but some hope....

First pic of a fawn was on the last day of May. They sure are cute when they are little.... I still have other does still carrying.....


Then I got a visit from it's daddy..... I want to see how well he fills out this year. Tough to tell in the picture, but in the video he is already as wide as his ears.


Then on another site....I got visited by the three amigo's! Nothing overly promising, but still nice to see.


The cam I have on a little wooded opening/plot with lots of "weeds" seems to be getting visited well also. I went in with my weed wacker and just knocked the tops of the weeds off....those the deer had not already eaten. This plot has clover and lots of chicory growing in it, but the deer seem to be just as interested right now in the tender weeds that are shooting up as well. I was going to use my mower but I was fearful that it would mow too short and give the weeds more of an advantage....it wasn't "fun" swinging the weed wacker that much, but I think it was the right tool for the job.

I need to get my allowance back (company cut my pay-check by 10% during covid) so I can get me some windows and metal ordered for the shooting house.....

My corn plots...are a total flop. I wasn't planning on corn this year, but I got some free seed and went for it. I think my planter plugged and as such I have scrapped the idea of corn. I have 1 good row of corn in 3 plots totaling an acre in size. I have a mix of annual clovers and some buckwheat to pick up and use as a summer cover crop to till under for my fall annuals. The deer are moving out into the sprouting ag beans that cover my 100 acres of tillable now so they won't go hungry. I just don't like seeing empty plots.