Ohio Farm Tours

[buckhunter10]

Good luck buck. I have to say the deer numbers are nothing crazy down in Jackson co where I hunted this fall and the falls past. Seeing more bucks than does and was lucky enough to get one. We also don't shoot does hoping to build the population back up near us.

Hang in there! Some of the best hunting is yet to come. You seeing any deer on bait?

Hey bud! Tonight was slow for me, no deer utilizing my small 1/8 acre rye/wheat plot. I pulled a camera and only had a few deer in the past month. They are using it but just very sporadic.

Deer numbers seem so up and down here. I think we have a lot of deer just mostly nocturnal due to pressure. I had 1700 pictures in 3 weeks over a feeder. All day and night long does, young bucks eating the corn. I had some mature bucks as well. The deer are here, just gosh darn smart! hahah!

I will continue to hunt and we have MUZZY season coming in 2 weeks and Ill be hunting then for sure.

 

[buckhunter10]

Took a walk around the farm today and was very happy with the deer sign. Unfortunately some of the cameras over the plots didn't take very good pictures. They either where to dark, or took pictures of nothing. I need to play around with how the cameras are situated as I feel I am missing a lot of deer activity.

Here is a track I found in the plot, looks like a good one!

 

[buckhunter10]

I am also looking forward to spring gobbler! The turkey population is at an all-time high! Had a group of about 30-40 in a couple of the plots.

 

[buckhunter10]

Finally the reason I do all I do. The future is looking bright at the farm! I do believe one of the big 8s I had on camera go killed during gun season but Ill have to survey a bit closer as the year goes on. All these deer have lived, which has me PUMPED!

 

[buckhunter10]

I have some nice bucks hanging around, just need to figure out where in daylight. I will continue to chase them. Thank you all for reading, commenting, etc.

Happy New Year!

Buckhunter10

 

[Triple C]

Nice to have good bucks graduating to the 2017 season. Think I get just as pumped at seeing good bucks on camera immediately after the season as I do during the season.

 

[buckhunter10]

Nice to have good bucks graduating to the 2017 season. Think I get just as pumped at seeing good bucks on camera immediately after the season as I do during the season.

I agree on that! Sometimes I think I enjoy the plotting, planning, camera running, more than hunting hahaha!

 

[buckhunter10]

I had three hunts the past two days and no deer sightings. I would only shoot one deer that I have on camera currently. I just have been guessing wrong. I choose to hunt the pine plot, deer showed up in double stand. I hunted the Double stand, I am sure they were in another plot/area.

Just how it goes I suppose. I am a bit frustrated as one o the neighbors told me they killed 15 deer this year during gun season. Almost all does. That is a crazy amount of deer for my area. I am going to be finding out more about how many were killed and were they were killed. I am thinking they might have been killed off a very large chunk of ground but I cannot be certain.

Ahh the joys of being a small land owner.

 

[dogdoc]

You have some really nice bucks for your future. Some tough hunting. Good luck rest of season.
Todd

 

[Fish]

Dont hang your head. I would be excited having those bucks this late in the season. They must just be laying low on you.
I cant believe the number of deer that get killed around me, but the better my habitat gets, the more deer i seem to see each year. Yes, small properties are just like that.

 

[buckhunter10]

Dont hang your head. I would be excited having those bucks this late in the season. They must just be laying low on you.
I cant believe the number of deer that get killed around me, but the better my habitat gets, the more deer i seem to see each year. Yes, small properties are just like that.

Yea I am honestly shocked they killed that many but it doesn't seem to make a dent in my overall camera traffic. Sometimes it makes me wonder how many deer I actually have around. My farm is not in farm country so I typically see 1-4 does at a time. However how many "pods" of deer are there around is the question!

 

[buckhunter10]

One thing as a deer/land manager that I struggle with is judging my deer density. Often times we hunt and only see a couple deer. Sometimes we see a bunch, it is very sporadic. The cameras show the movement is consistent all night long. I decided to not shoot a doe this year as we want to help our herd a bit. Often times I wonder if me killing a doe would even make a difference. See the picture below. This plot was full of eagle beans and strip of corn. If you look at the exclusion fence you can see the height difference and pod production inside the cage vs. the outside. This plot is about 2acres, next to a plot that is 1acre. Eagles great like crazy, but the pods didn't seem to last as long as when I planted regular AG beans. Maybe I just have more deer around? The Turkeys could have done a hurting on them as well I suppose!

 

[buckhunter10]

I love planting soybeans, I have the process down, seem to get good growth, feed the deer all summer, deers racks seem to be bigger then ever before, and more deer seem to be hanging around on the farm in general. I do believe that is is extremely important to get something to grow once the beans brown. In Ohio it stays warm into mid to late October - many grains/brassicas seem to continue to grow until a very hard frost. I have been very successful with overseeding oats, rye, and brassicas into standing beans. The grains really do fantastic, and I typically get a carpet of brassica tops with some even producing bulbs. I can't think of a better way to ensure health to a herd then adding something to their diet that they would not typically have, decreasing the winter stress period on the deer is critical, in my opinion.

The deer will find the gold, under the snow!

 

[buckhunter10]

As I continually scout my land, I am always finding small areas that I feel I could better improve. What is everyones thoughts on benefits of beech? Any timber value? If you see the picture below I have a hillside that is overrun with beech. I want to come in, hinge cut a bunch and allow sun to the forest floor. My hope is that the oaks in the area will begin to grow up and hopefully be able to catch up to the beech. This might take several years of hinging/trimming. I might even tube/plant some oaks after I hinge cut a few of the trees.

Thoughts on this?

 

[buckhunter10]

As I wrapped up my last hunt, I picked a box blind over a nice plot. Didn't see deer the night. I pulled the camera and sure enough on the other side of the farm in a small wheat/oats plot I had deer in there and one decent buck. I wouldn't have shot this buck but it would have been nice to watch him. I believe he is a 3.5 year old. I hate that I have to run feeders to ensure that I see deer. However, in Ohio it is legal to bait. I have one neighbor running so much corn he is seeing 2 to 3 times as many does as I am during the season. I was trying to avoid feeding. I have now increased my corn feeders, however I only have them go off for about 3 seconds. The deer will come in, eat a small bit of corn and then they work through the plot. I like this because they are getting the great neutron from the hard work I put in over the summer!

One Tip: If you are allowed to bait in your state and have issues with the deer/coons spinning the feeder plate see my picture below. I had an issue where deer would empty the feeder in about 2 days. I simply bought a 10inch collar from Home Depot. I drilled holes in feeder and in collar. I fixed it to the bottom of the feeder. The corn hits that when it spins and falls straight down. The coons/deer are now not able to spend the feeder plate to drain the feeder.

 

[buckhunter10]

It is funny how deers racks can be so similar, and how unique traits can come and go from one year to the next. This deer showed up on camera and he will be a STUD if he hangs around next year as well. Notice the split left brow, similar to other buck I have on camera but this deer has a much bigger left brow, he is also a bit more spindly in his rack.

 

[buckhunter10]

As I look through pictures it is always hard to tell what deer is which from year to year. See below maybe this is the same buck and he has grown, maybe they are just similar, I am not sure.

2.5

3.5 ( I passed this deer last year 30 yards)

4.5

 

[Paradise725]

As I continually scout my land, I am always finding small areas that I feel I could better improve. What is everyones thoughts on benefits of beech? Any timber value? If you see the picture below I have a hillside that is overrun with beech. I want to come in, hinge cut a bunch and allow sun to the forest floor. My hope is that the oaks in the area will begin to grow up and hopefully be able to catch up to the beech. This might take several years of hinging/trimming. I might even tube/plant some oaks after I hinge cut a few of the trees.

Thoughts on this?
View attachment 5305

I've got a lot of beech on my place too. I'm planning to hinge a lot of it this winter. I would leave the larger beech trees because they make great nesting habitat for bats, birds, squirrels, etc. they say beech makes very thick cover when you hinge it


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[buckhunter10]

I've got a lot of beech on my place too. I'm planning to hinge a lot of it this winter. I would leave the larger beech trees because they make great nesting habitat for bats, birds, squirrels, etc. they say beech makes very thick cover when you hinge it


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I've thought about cutting then putting oaks in tree tubes all throughout the area. How's that idea.

Thanks all for reading, commenting, etc.

 

[Fish]

I've thought about cutting then putting oaks in tree tubes all throughout the area. How's that idea.

Thanks all for reading, commenting, etc.

I am going after beech as well, but my plan is to kill all the suckers with a basal bark spray. Beech will sucker profusely otherwise. I dont want the shade. I have a couple mature trees that i will leave.