Kaleo Hills-Property tour

I got to hunt for a few days over the long weekend. The rut is definitely in full swing in my little corner of western NC. I passed numerous little bucks and does, heard and watched a shooter snort wheeze, and heard a buck “roar”! Coolest grunting I’ve ever heard. No deer were harmed on this trip.

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Nothing better than time spent with those young ones. Congrats on the deer! But the corn bag sledding was my favorite.


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Happy New Year! That’s a wrap on 2023. Son and I killed two nice does on New Year’s Eve to end our season. In total we took five does and one small shed buck on our 172 acres this fall/winter.

I’m looking forward to dusting off the chainsaw and working on habitat!

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Spent a few days working on the property this week. Most of my time and energy went into preparing fire lines. By the time I got everything prepped, the relative humidity was below 20%. Too low for the fuel load unfortunately. I’ll get it burned eventually, hopefully this spring.

I’m pretty proud of this line. Maybe overkill but it’s critical to prevent fire from crossing this line.

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I frost seeded clover on a few plots including this one. I’m hoping this ridge plot becomes turkey central, it’s in a good spot that they frequent.

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I removed a few nest predators, not quite as many as I expected though.

It wasn’t all work, the streams were COLD but I managed a few wild browns.

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I’m very excited to finally have a logger lined up to start this month. My goals in this first 35 acre unit are pretty simple, if it’s not an oak then take it to the mill. This area has a SW or W aspect and will receive fire on a fairly tight return interval (2-3 years).


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I see some red maples. The sap has not been flowing here the past few days. Fire, are you crazy?

G
 
I see some red maples. The sap has not been flowing here the past few days. Fire, are you crazy?

G

Good one G

I cut a few trees last week, sap was definitely flowing in some. The burn area I prepped is only 3.4 acres, was cut in 2015 and is probably 90% 2-4 inch DBH poplar. The hack hammer will be in full force post fire.


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Good one G

I cut a few trees last week, sap was definitely flowing in some. The burn area I prepped is only 3.4 acres, was cut in 2015 and is probably 90% 2-4 inch DBH poplar. The hack hammer will be in full force post fire.


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That is a pretty good sized burn unit. When I started up on the ridge, I was dividing 1 4-acre unit up into 1-acre burns. This year my planned burns units are 35, 26, and 26 acres. This past year I hacked after I burned unit A and that is probably the best way to do it. I'm going to try the maples with my hack hammer today.

G
 
Our spring turkey hunt.

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We’re on a self regulated one bird per season off the property, at least for now.

I’m meeting a contract crew this week to help me out with burning. Can’t wait to get that started!


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Is it cliche to say a turkey flew out of my burn the morning after while it was still smoking? Maybe, but that’s what happened.

First burn conducted on the property, by me anyway. I had a contract crew assist although they weren’t very experienced. I was the only one with a drip torch. It was nice having the extra hands in case things got out of control.

It was a mainly boring burn but in a good way. Definitely hotter in some areas than others but I was generally impressed with how well it burned. This unit is a south facing ridge that was cut in 2015. Very high stem count, mainly poplar.

Total area burned ~8.5 acres.

Upper section

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On the lower unit the fire made it all the way to a small creek in a few areas.

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Once everything leafs out I’ll thin the poplar stand with hack and squirt.

And yes, I saw a turkey fly out of this burn today. I’ve never heard or seen one on this side of the property.


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Nice burn. And gotta love my kinda guy who gets down low to see what comes forth from the ground!


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Progress on the mountain, we have water! Step one for the cabin build is complete!

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6 weeks post burn. I have some work to do removing canopy with the saw and hack/squirt. Most of the burn unit still has 100% canopy closure but there are a few areas receiving sunlight.

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First pear, planted in 2019

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Apples

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Unfortunately the bears are hitting the apples hard already. They’re a pain for sure.

Almost stepped on this fawn. One of three I saw this week.

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Ask Native if you can borrow his DR weedwhacker for them tulips, if not 1ml of imazapyr 20% chemical solution. You have a wonderful place.

Alligare 4sl imazapyr.

G
 
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Ask Native if you can borrow his DR weedwhacker for them tulips, if not 1ml of imazapyr 20% chemical solution. You have a wonderful place.

Alligare 4sl imazapyr.

G

Sounds good. I will chemically remove most of them. Probably leave some stump sprouts as well.


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