J-birds place
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j-bird
Well-Known Member
Weekend update. I went out Sunday....I drove the tractor.....I went and visited another "habitat nut" north of me on Saturday and.walked his place to give him a "second opinion" ...and well, to be honest I was a bit tired!
Checked my oaks......northern red oaks show no sign of acorns but they produced well last year so that isn't a surprise for me. My lone white oak has a few but not many, I' not seeing any on my burr oaks, but my native chinkapins are loaded. They will be the first to drop and will be long gone before my firearms season get here. I want to get these white oak acorns before the deer and squirrels do so I can plant them. The tree has real low branches so I can get to them fairly easily. I have also be on the lookout while driving around town for trees that look like they will produce.....I may just stop buy later and pick up a few from a parking lot or two.
Corn plots have corn that is over 8 feet tall and the ears are growing well.....we continue to get rain so that helps a lot.
Fall annual plots seem to be growing as well. They have a long way to go, but I'm glad at least at this point I planted them a little earlier this year. Again the rain really helps. The center pic was like the plot was posing for a pic.....brassica, oats and some peas as well......SMILE! Beans on my place are just starting to show signs of turning, nothing major, but the deer continue to hammer the edges of the fields which is fine with me.....it's giving these plots some time to try to grow. Fall is coming however. I have noticed some of the early planted ag corn is showing the signs of turning brown on the lower leaves, so it's coming.......it's not too close though, I saw a fawn on saturday that still had it's spots! In a few weeks I'll broadcast some winter wheat into the fall plots as well just to ensure we have some more winter food as well.
I also noticed I had some fescue on the north side of my place that I think was holding back the growth of some of my CRP area, so I loaded the sprayer up with some cleth and let it have it! I may hit it again come fall, but we will see how this treatment does first. My best treatment for killing fescue is to apply gly in the mid to late fall, but I can't do that in a CRP area. We will see how this works out and go from there.
Checked my oaks......northern red oaks show no sign of acorns but they produced well last year so that isn't a surprise for me. My lone white oak has a few but not many, I' not seeing any on my burr oaks, but my native chinkapins are loaded. They will be the first to drop and will be long gone before my firearms season get here. I want to get these white oak acorns before the deer and squirrels do so I can plant them. The tree has real low branches so I can get to them fairly easily. I have also be on the lookout while driving around town for trees that look like they will produce.....I may just stop buy later and pick up a few from a parking lot or two.
Corn plots have corn that is over 8 feet tall and the ears are growing well.....we continue to get rain so that helps a lot.
Fall annual plots seem to be growing as well. They have a long way to go, but I'm glad at least at this point I planted them a little earlier this year. Again the rain really helps. The center pic was like the plot was posing for a pic.....brassica, oats and some peas as well......SMILE! Beans on my place are just starting to show signs of turning, nothing major, but the deer continue to hammer the edges of the fields which is fine with me.....it's giving these plots some time to try to grow. Fall is coming however. I have noticed some of the early planted ag corn is showing the signs of turning brown on the lower leaves, so it's coming.......it's not too close though, I saw a fawn on saturday that still had it's spots! In a few weeks I'll broadcast some winter wheat into the fall plots as well just to ensure we have some more winter food as well.
I also noticed I had some fescue on the north side of my place that I think was holding back the growth of some of my CRP area, so I loaded the sprayer up with some cleth and let it have it! I may hit it again come fall, but we will see how this treatment does first. My best treatment for killing fescue is to apply gly in the mid to late fall, but I can't do that in a CRP area. We will see how this works out and go from there.
j-bird
Well-Known Member
Another thread got me thinking about something and I wanted to take the opportunity to add it here.
I faced a defining moment on stand early in my hunting career and it could have been a really bad deal for me. I am a self taught deer hunter and I struggled early on and at the time harvesting anything with antlers was a treat, but the goal was always something for the wall. I had taken a yearling buck in archery season and IN had/has a rule where a single hunter can only harvest a single antlered deer over the course or the entire deer hunting season. I was hunting for a doe for the freezer and a buck and doe comes busting thru the woods right at me. He caught my movement and stopped and stood there and watched me not 30 yards away. The doe continued on without a shot. It was the biggest buck I had ever seen while hunting at that point in time......a clean 10 pointer that would have pushed 150". He stood there and begged me to kill him.....and to be honest, I really thought about it. "Nobody will know", "You can tag it under the wife or the boy", "Nobody in their right mind would let this deer go" all ran thru my mind. As much as I wanted a trophy on my wall - here I was faced with the opportunity to do so, but I would have to sell my soul to do it. I didn't shoot that deer. I kicked myself for not doing it. And I told the story to several people and they all said the same thing......"Why not, I would have." Why not? Because I would have to lie or make an excuse for that deer every time someone wanted to talk about it. Why not? Because every time I saw it I would know I cheated. Why not? It would have been a symbol of how I put my own greed for attention above my own values and the way I was raised. Why not? Because it would have been wrong!
I saw a person give in to that "greed" and I was SO disappointed in them it wasn't funny. I lost a lot of respect for that person that day. That person shot a deer they shouldn't have, they know they shouldn't have and I know they shouldn't have. I don't want to be that person.
I don't type this or tell this story to pat myself on the back, or to claim to be some sort of better person....we are all flawed in some way or form. I do this because there are some defining moments we all face in the woods and those moments can have a profound impact on us as people. If I had killed that buck.....I more than likely would not be hunting still. As badly as I wanted that satisfaction.....I want it for the right reasons. Turns out those reasons are not even what I once thought they where. As much as I love the excitement of the hunt and I recall the details of some of the hunts that resulted in trophies on the wall.....I have hunts with kids when they took their first deer that stand out just as clearly. It's moments in the stand or odd events that happen along the way that I will never forget.....that I shared with someone else. If I had taken that deer - I could very well have led down a very self-centered path and one in the end I would NOT have been proud of.
That "horn greed" is a very dangerous thing. I think many habitat guys have some sort of gene or chromosome or something that makes us a different breed of people. We come to realize it isn't just about us and our success....even though that may be what drives us to jump into this work. The journey tends to change us in the process. It connects us with a piece of property and to animals we now are almost caretakers of. We see success in the process and NOT the end result so much. Sure we want those antlers on the wall, but we have a greater respect for what it takes to accomplish that. The old saying is "Life isn't about what you take with you when your gone, but what you leave behind" comes to mind. I have no issue with pursuit of your own personal success, but the mark of true success isn't what we take with us.....it is truly in what we leave behind. We all have people in our lives that we look up to, imagine how our lives would have turned out if those people would have only focused on themselves....
Sorry for the ramble - I just felt compelled to capture some thoughts.....
I faced a defining moment on stand early in my hunting career and it could have been a really bad deal for me. I am a self taught deer hunter and I struggled early on and at the time harvesting anything with antlers was a treat, but the goal was always something for the wall. I had taken a yearling buck in archery season and IN had/has a rule where a single hunter can only harvest a single antlered deer over the course or the entire deer hunting season. I was hunting for a doe for the freezer and a buck and doe comes busting thru the woods right at me. He caught my movement and stopped and stood there and watched me not 30 yards away. The doe continued on without a shot. It was the biggest buck I had ever seen while hunting at that point in time......a clean 10 pointer that would have pushed 150". He stood there and begged me to kill him.....and to be honest, I really thought about it. "Nobody will know", "You can tag it under the wife or the boy", "Nobody in their right mind would let this deer go" all ran thru my mind. As much as I wanted a trophy on my wall - here I was faced with the opportunity to do so, but I would have to sell my soul to do it. I didn't shoot that deer. I kicked myself for not doing it. And I told the story to several people and they all said the same thing......"Why not, I would have." Why not? Because I would have to lie or make an excuse for that deer every time someone wanted to talk about it. Why not? Because every time I saw it I would know I cheated. Why not? It would have been a symbol of how I put my own greed for attention above my own values and the way I was raised. Why not? Because it would have been wrong!
I saw a person give in to that "greed" and I was SO disappointed in them it wasn't funny. I lost a lot of respect for that person that day. That person shot a deer they shouldn't have, they know they shouldn't have and I know they shouldn't have. I don't want to be that person.
I don't type this or tell this story to pat myself on the back, or to claim to be some sort of better person....we are all flawed in some way or form. I do this because there are some defining moments we all face in the woods and those moments can have a profound impact on us as people. If I had killed that buck.....I more than likely would not be hunting still. As badly as I wanted that satisfaction.....I want it for the right reasons. Turns out those reasons are not even what I once thought they where. As much as I love the excitement of the hunt and I recall the details of some of the hunts that resulted in trophies on the wall.....I have hunts with kids when they took their first deer that stand out just as clearly. It's moments in the stand or odd events that happen along the way that I will never forget.....that I shared with someone else. If I had taken that deer - I could very well have led down a very self-centered path and one in the end I would NOT have been proud of.
That "horn greed" is a very dangerous thing. I think many habitat guys have some sort of gene or chromosome or something that makes us a different breed of people. We come to realize it isn't just about us and our success....even though that may be what drives us to jump into this work. The journey tends to change us in the process. It connects us with a piece of property and to animals we now are almost caretakers of. We see success in the process and NOT the end result so much. Sure we want those antlers on the wall, but we have a greater respect for what it takes to accomplish that. The old saying is "Life isn't about what you take with you when your gone, but what you leave behind" comes to mind. I have no issue with pursuit of your own personal success, but the mark of true success isn't what we take with us.....it is truly in what we leave behind. We all have people in our lives that we look up to, imagine how our lives would have turned out if those people would have only focused on themselves....
Sorry for the ramble - I just felt compelled to capture some thoughts.....
catscratch
Well-Known Member
Great story and self reflection. I've always had to abide by the "one buck a yr." rule and it makes you truly think if you want that deer before letting an arrow fly. I personally don't doe hunt once I've shot my buck. I'm afraid that I would end up in the situation you described and it would hurt too much to walk away from that trophy deer (always known I wouldn't shoot it, I just don't want to suffer as it walks away).
j-bird
Well-Known Member
I hunt now for a buck on the wall and does for the freezer - deer is THE red meat in my household of 6 so we need a few every year
catscratch
Well-Known Member
Gotcha, I've just tried to shoot does before my buck in the past. My boys are both shooting deer now so we end up with plenty for the freezer and I haven't shot a doe for several yrs.
With 6 in the family bet it takes quite a few does to last through the yr.
With 6 in the family bet it takes quite a few does to last through the yr.
j-bird
Well-Known Member
G - If you have to tell people how honest you are...there is a problem! Honesty, morals and the like are all things that are best communicated thru actions......actions speak far louder than words. You can lie all you want to everyone else.....the man in the mirror will always know, and you can't hide from him. We all make mistakes and we all have weak moments....how we handle those is what makes the difference.
j-bird
Well-Known Member
Glad you like it.....happiness comes from inside and it took me some time to figure that out. I have had my moments when I sought that happiness from an external source only to realize it only leads to wanting more. I'm in a good place and it took a while for me to realize that. Do the right things for the right reasons and put others first and happiness will find you. You don't have to go look for it.
j-bird
Well-Known Member
Ok - I had a busy weekend (getting things done for everyone else) but did get out Monday evening and thought I would share.
My fall plots seem to be doing OK - I would however like to give them a kick in the pants with some Urea soon. Oats, peas and brassicas.......should all make a nice addition to my corn plots come later this fall and winter. The ag beans here are starting to yellow so I expect to see the deer to shift to other green food sources soon. Acorns are in process but nothing dropping just yet.
I also pulled some cam cards....having an issue with one in the north, but had a nice surprise on the card from the south. With logging earlier this year folks always wonder how quickly things return to "normal". This particular mineral site I have had up to 5 does/fawns at a time and they seem to be visiting now on a fairly regular basis......I was hoping they would eventually bring some antlers in and it looks like they have.....nothing to get too terribly excited about but they will excite the young hunters we have and provide some great potential for next year.
Based on my history with deer on my place - I figure the one on the left is a nice 8 point 2 year old and the one on the right is a wide 8 point 3 year old, but he really needs some time length and some mass that will hopefully come next year. Officially speaking the one on the left is "off limits" for our experienced hunters but the rookies can take any deer they want.....the one on the right is technically acceptable for the taking this year, but this is a perfect example of how some "rules" don't always work as this deer will be underwhelming this year but could be a really nice deer next year......if he makes it. I'm just pleased to have bucks even of this caliber moving thru the property this soon after the logging. Hopefully we get a crack at something a little more impressive as season gets here, but it isn't always about the "horns". I would be absolutely thrilled to see our rookie hunters take either or even both of these deer.....their smiles would be worth it!
My fall plots seem to be doing OK - I would however like to give them a kick in the pants with some Urea soon. Oats, peas and brassicas.......should all make a nice addition to my corn plots come later this fall and winter. The ag beans here are starting to yellow so I expect to see the deer to shift to other green food sources soon. Acorns are in process but nothing dropping just yet.
I also pulled some cam cards....having an issue with one in the north, but had a nice surprise on the card from the south. With logging earlier this year folks always wonder how quickly things return to "normal". This particular mineral site I have had up to 5 does/fawns at a time and they seem to be visiting now on a fairly regular basis......I was hoping they would eventually bring some antlers in and it looks like they have.....nothing to get too terribly excited about but they will excite the young hunters we have and provide some great potential for next year.
Based on my history with deer on my place - I figure the one on the left is a nice 8 point 2 year old and the one on the right is a wide 8 point 3 year old, but he really needs some time length and some mass that will hopefully come next year. Officially speaking the one on the left is "off limits" for our experienced hunters but the rookies can take any deer they want.....the one on the right is technically acceptable for the taking this year, but this is a perfect example of how some "rules" don't always work as this deer will be underwhelming this year but could be a really nice deer next year......if he makes it. I'm just pleased to have bucks even of this caliber moving thru the property this soon after the logging. Hopefully we get a crack at something a little more impressive as season gets here, but it isn't always about the "horns". I would be absolutely thrilled to see our rookie hunters take either or even both of these deer.....their smiles would be worth it!
j-bird
Well-Known Member
I wanted to add this link - ALL HOOSIER DEER HUNTERS NEED TO BE AWARE. TB HAS BEEN FOUND IN WILD DEER. As such the Indiana State Board of Animal Health and the DNR have increased monitoring and regulations in portions of Franklin, Fayette, Rush, Decatur and Dearborn counties.
The attached link can be graphic so please be prepared - but there is also some good information as to what has happened and the plan moving forward. TB is a serious threat to cattle, deer and people so this is a VERY SERIOUS issue for the hoosier state. I am not a TB expert - I am just trying to raise the awarness of the issue in an effort to protect Hoosier hunters.
http://www.in.gov/boah/files/TB Public Mtg2-Frank Co-Marsh 8-29-16.pdf
The attached link can be graphic so please be prepared - but there is also some good information as to what has happened and the plan moving forward. TB is a serious threat to cattle, deer and people so this is a VERY SERIOUS issue for the hoosier state. I am not a TB expert - I am just trying to raise the awarness of the issue in an effort to protect Hoosier hunters.
http://www.in.gov/boah/files/TB Public Mtg2-Frank Co-Marsh 8-29-16.pdf
j-bird
Well-Known Member
The power of moving water!
Well Friday morning start out with a shock. Th ewife headed out the door to take the kids to school and she comes back in the house soon after I heard her head down the drive. "Honey! The culvert is gone." Is what I heard. What? "What do you mean the culvert is gone?" I asked here. "G O N E, gone, bye-bye, see-ya, outta here......GONE!" She replied. Not sure why I didn;t believe her but of course I had to go see for myself.
Yep - that is GONE! That is a 60" diameter culvert pipe. The trench is roughly 10 feet across and the top of the pipe that is there is roughly 8 feet below road grade! We had received roughly 6" of rain the night before and obviously the water found a path around the pipe and mother nature did the rest. I was essentially stranded. I took the kids to school in the truck in four wheel drive along the edge of our bean field and I could hear the standing water. I contacted the county and we devised a plan. We cut a 15' wide path thru the soybean field.......which didn't make the renting farmer too happy and we used my truck to shuttle folks in and out. The county went to work making a big hole even bigger to "fix it properly".........If I had not had another way out they where simply going to refill the hole with gravel.
MId-day Saturday they they started setting the new culverts in. That is a 120 Deere excavator sitting there to big you some idea of the size. They are setting 2 60" culvert pipes so the base of the hole is roughly 10 to 12 feet wide. At one point they had the excavator in the bottom of the hole in the creek bed. I swear you have to be half crazy to operate heavy equipment!
They then set the culverts and started to back fill. If I recall they brought in roughly 20 loads of stone.
Well when they quit Saturday (yes they actually worked on the weekend) it was actually passable. I'll have to get a pic. They have lots more work to do to "tidy" things up and get all the trees and old pipe and the like out but at least we now have a more solid way in and out. It was amazing what can happen with some rain. So I didn't get much of any actual habitat work done this weekend.
I did get about 3 dozen white oak acorns and about 200 chinkapin acorns collected (ran over the damn dog in the process) though. She is fine (a little sore). Dog decided to lay under the tractor in the tall weeds while it was running as I was picking a few acorns and I had no idea she was under there. She has been to the vet with full x-rays and no broken bones. She lays on both sides and has resumed eating and all other bodily functions......she is on some pain killers and walks like she is drunk but she is up and about.
Well Friday morning start out with a shock. Th ewife headed out the door to take the kids to school and she comes back in the house soon after I heard her head down the drive. "Honey! The culvert is gone." Is what I heard. What? "What do you mean the culvert is gone?" I asked here. "G O N E, gone, bye-bye, see-ya, outta here......GONE!" She replied. Not sure why I didn;t believe her but of course I had to go see for myself.
Yep - that is GONE! That is a 60" diameter culvert pipe. The trench is roughly 10 feet across and the top of the pipe that is there is roughly 8 feet below road grade! We had received roughly 6" of rain the night before and obviously the water found a path around the pipe and mother nature did the rest. I was essentially stranded. I took the kids to school in the truck in four wheel drive along the edge of our bean field and I could hear the standing water. I contacted the county and we devised a plan. We cut a 15' wide path thru the soybean field.......which didn't make the renting farmer too happy and we used my truck to shuttle folks in and out. The county went to work making a big hole even bigger to "fix it properly".........If I had not had another way out they where simply going to refill the hole with gravel.
MId-day Saturday they they started setting the new culverts in. That is a 120 Deere excavator sitting there to big you some idea of the size. They are setting 2 60" culvert pipes so the base of the hole is roughly 10 to 12 feet wide. At one point they had the excavator in the bottom of the hole in the creek bed. I swear you have to be half crazy to operate heavy equipment!
They then set the culverts and started to back fill. If I recall they brought in roughly 20 loads of stone.
Well when they quit Saturday (yes they actually worked on the weekend) it was actually passable. I'll have to get a pic. They have lots more work to do to "tidy" things up and get all the trees and old pipe and the like out but at least we now have a more solid way in and out. It was amazing what can happen with some rain. So I didn't get much of any actual habitat work done this weekend.
I did get about 3 dozen white oak acorns and about 200 chinkapin acorns collected (ran over the damn dog in the process) though. She is fine (a little sore). Dog decided to lay under the tractor in the tall weeds while it was running as I was picking a few acorns and I had no idea she was under there. She has been to the vet with full x-rays and no broken bones. She lays on both sides and has resumed eating and all other bodily functions......she is on some pain killers and walks like she is drunk but she is up and about.
catscratch
Well-Known Member
Glad the dog is ok, glad your wife saw the hole in the road and didn't space cadet into it (easy to do on a secluded road you drive every day). Heck of a repair job they did on it!
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
deer patch
Well-Known Member
To operate heavy equipment you don't have half crazy but it probably helps. I run heavy equipment from time to time and that hole just doesn't look that steep. What's that say about me?
You will have to trust me on this one when I say...Make sure they pour concrete at the inlet side between the two culverts or you will have the same issue as you have now in time.
You will have to trust me on this one when I say...Make sure they pour concrete at the inlet side between the two culverts or you will have the same issue as you have now in time.
j-bird
Well-Known Member
Well I came home from work today and the dog is doing much better - she is actually doing a bit more than she should.....don't know any people that do that! The county was out all day as well making further progress. They seem to have most of the fill work done and have made the road significantly wider than it was (it was barely 1 lane for a regular vehicle) - it's now almost 1 1/2 and you should be able to get a combine across without tires hanging off the road.
Looking from the house side down (facing due north)
Outlet end - they need to better grade the fill dirt and seed but I think they are done on this end other than putting up some "bumble bee" signs. I doubt they install actual guard rails.
Inlet side - no concrete. They do have a small pool at the inlet to slow the water down, but I know that will silt up over time. They have a little more rip-rap to place and again finish the grade and seed the fill dirt.
This is looking up at the house. You can see they cut a small ditch along the west side of the road as well. That area gets surface run-off and erodes the gravel badly all the time. I asked them to cut the ditch in an effort to at least get it off the road. They took out a few more trees than I anticipated, but I told them to do what they needed to do. I will sacrifice future timber value for a safe road any day. This is a dead end road (stops at the top of the hill - if you look close you will see the red diamond sign) so it doesn't see much traffic, which is why it wasn't fixed long ago.
Looking from the house side down (facing due north)
Outlet end - they need to better grade the fill dirt and seed but I think they are done on this end other than putting up some "bumble bee" signs. I doubt they install actual guard rails.
Inlet side - no concrete. They do have a small pool at the inlet to slow the water down, but I know that will silt up over time. They have a little more rip-rap to place and again finish the grade and seed the fill dirt.
This is looking up at the house. You can see they cut a small ditch along the west side of the road as well. That area gets surface run-off and erodes the gravel badly all the time. I asked them to cut the ditch in an effort to at least get it off the road. They took out a few more trees than I anticipated, but I told them to do what they needed to do. I will sacrifice future timber value for a safe road any day. This is a dead end road (stops at the top of the hill - if you look close you will see the red diamond sign) so it doesn't see much traffic, which is why it wasn't fixed long ago.
