North Dakota praire

mineral.jpg
Trophy Rock mineral site - getting some use, but doesn't seem to be overly active - second year of minerals in this spot. Mineral sight on the west property has a lot of use and a pretty good depression dug into the ground where the deer have been using. I think it maybe takes a few years for them to really start utilizing. Plus I'm pretty active on the east property around this site specifically with tree planting/water/spraying and such so I'm sure there aren't as many deer using as if I left it alone. I've used trophy rock and lucky buck - I'm sure they all 'work' to some extent - not expecting magical things to happen, but guessing a little mineral/salt can't hurt the deer.

cedar.jpg
Cedar tree - 3'-4' - starting to get some cedars up to this height - they grow pretty slowly when you just stick the 6" plugs in the sod and let them fend for themselves, but such is life I guess - quite a few of them do make it - tough buggers. Deer of course rub them when they start looking promising - which is why I have an old lawn ornament to maybe discourage that this fall - instead the rocks will probably attract a deer and he'll rip the whole tree out of the ground. I plant 50-100 plugs each year from the state nursery - trying to establish some thermal cover.

unknown.jpg
What is this - quite a few of these little volunteers popping up? - none seem to get more than a couple feet tall - maybe the deer snip them and I need to cage a few - maybe that's as tall as they get or need more time as this was a pasture until a couple years ago?
 
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funnel.JPG
Not a habitat picture, but drove under a funnel cloud on Saturday - didn't even see it until almost right underneath it.

lake.jpg
Another non-habitat photo - view from the dock at the lake cabin. I guess it must not always be windy in North Dakota - a few thunderheads off in the distance and full moon coming up.

Took both these photo's on Saturday - first at 3:30 and second around 9:00 - ND weather can change up pretty quickly.
 
Love that prairie country! Well, after reading about the wind I remember that I hate wind (all real carpenters hate wind) and I realize that I wouldn't consider moving there, but I enjoy the pictures of potholes and ducks and wind and grasslands. Keep the pics coming!
 
I would consider moving there if it weren't for the damnable two/three months out of the year. If I'd have been born rich instead of so good looking.........
 
North Dakota is the only state other than Oregon and Washington that I haven't been to in the lower 48. Need an excuse to come up there.
 
To my knowledge, I’ve never set foot on ND soil. Closest I come is pheasant hunting in Pierre. Such different country out there. Buddy of mine in Omaha has a place in ND and took a stud Muley in velvet a couple of years ago. Glad to be tagging along on your thread.
 
water tank 1.jpg

water tank 2.jpg

Went out to set up cameras and feeders yesterday and grabbed a couple photos of the water tank I buried 4-5 years ago. I have some corrugated metal slices with a couple cinder blocks going up a slight hill to funnel water into the tank when we get the occasional thunderstorm, else I think most would just soak into the soil. Seems to be able to keep a drinkable amount most of the time and this year has been especially wet (got 1.25" last night again). Humidity was in the mid 80% the last couple days, so guessing this is a popular spot.

2018 elderberry.jpg
Elderberry planted last spring is outgrowing the cage - I expect it to be browsed back come this fall which was the whole purpose of planting them. They seem to be the fastest growing shrub I have is most spots. Really put on a lot of growth - I assume after a few more years, I can take the cage off and the deer won't be able to kill them, the deer will just coppice them down each fall to regrow the next spring?

Corn and beans all look really good and there appears to be plenty of deer around for this fall. Archery season starts one month from today, but until we get a frost to kill the skeeters, I think I'll probably avoid being out in the pasture in the evenings. Youngest daughter does have a youth gun tag for middle of September, but I have some permanent blinds you can sit in and only have to worry about getting drained of blood on the walk back to the pickup or while field dressing the deer if she scores.

Should have some trail camera photos in a couple weeks.
 
Get you a thermocell for the skeeters. Works.

The catchment looks nice. Put a trail camera on it and see what is coming to it. You got speed goats in your part of ND?
 
Yep - have a couple thermocells.

Water hole is in an area I try to stay out of so no camera - I just needed to check on a couple trees and do a little spraying. Won’t go down there again until there’s a deer down.

No antelope in this part of ND - need to be further west.
 
grain truck blind.jpg
Went out yesterday and put a layer of stain on the stairs to the 'grain truck' blind. This blind is in a pasture that does have cows in from May until October so any kind of stand would have needed to be cow-proof - dang things like to rub on anything. Plus it's kind of cool to have grandpa's old Ford truck still being put to good use - I'm old enough to remember when a 250 bushel truck was still functional. I can drive my pickup right up next to the truck (you can see the shadow on the left) - which is really nice to keep the walking down for my dad who's not as young as he once was.

rock.jpg
Saw this rock in the pasture and made me laugh - I can plant, water, spray, mulch, cage trees and still have a sometimes maddening lack of success and here mother nature provides a few ounces of 'dirt/rock rubble' and some weeds and grass are growing right on the dang rock. I guess this is why grass/weeds are so tough to establish trees in - cause they can grow literally anywhere.
 
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