The Massey

[KSQ2]

Johnson grass came on strong with the buckwheat, Native told me to spray it with clethodim before we left for vacation. Looks like the clethodim is doing its job. Hopefully the thatch won’t be too thick next month after the buckwheat matures. I’m hoping the johnson grass continues to dry down and won’t be a problem, since it had gotten so tall. You can see it in the background in this pic.

It usually takes our deer a year or so to get used to a new planting, but the chicory didn’t get any break at all!

 

[Native Hunter]

Looking great, and I like that Buck Factory!!!

 

[MarkDarvin]

Do they just flop outta the doe with a basket rack when they're born? Holy buckets!

 

[KSQ2]

Dawna and I headed over to the barn at the Massey this evening since there was a strong east wind and the temps were nice. We were very well entertained. We saw over 30 deer and at least 20 different bucks. We saw several we’ve gotten trail cam pics of, but the biggest surprise of the night was seeing our first true droptine buck! Sorry for the pic quality, or lack thereof, Dawna took the pic through her binocs.


Also I wanted to post this pic from the earlier card pull, the date and time are accurate.

 

[MarkDarvin]

That is a super deer!

 

[John Paul]

Everyone loves a drop tine buck, very nice!

 

[Native Hunter]

Yes, a real beauty. I hope you guys can connect with him.

 

[KSQ2]

According to the radar, the new brassica plot is getting a pretty good drink right now.

 

[KSQ2]

Hung a set on the Massey today. For years I’ve thought about hanging a stand in a 4 or 5 acre oak flat neighboring the property to the east. I’ve stayed out fearing running deer over onto the neighbor’s crop field and into the laps of the many hunters over there. I finally decided this was silly, it isn’t security cover, it’s pretty open hardwoods. It divides the actual security cover on us and the property line to the east. I’ll prolly only hunt it once or twice all season, and only on a light wind morning when the thermals are working. This is the off-year for the red oaks, so traffic will be slower this year I’m betting; but in the very least, I’ll be able to keep a better eye on the neighbors when I’m in the stand. Here’s a few pics, I’ll try a pan shot, not sure if it will load on here.



As usual, my stand hanging buddy was along…

 

[KSQ2]

We finally got a good pic of the tall wide buck at our little house spot. Also got almost an inch of much needed rain on the brassica plot at the Massey early Saturday morning!

 

[KSQ2]

Got a couple more stands up yesterday on the 160 north of the Massey. We’ve had permission there for a couple years now. They got the corn out, so it was time to get the stands in. These were already prepared trees from the last two years. Steps already in and lanes pretty much clear.
Dawna started scavenging for corn while I got the trees set, by the time I was done she had enough to throw in front of cameras for a few weeks.

Here’s one of the trees, SO nice to not have to put in steps and cut lanes.


Pulled a new card earlier this morning at the stadium stand north of town. This was the most interesting of the bucks. More should be showing up in the next couple of months.

 

[KSQ2]

Went to the property by our old house this morning to get a ladder stand cinched up and lanes trimmed. It sets on the 1.5 acre clover plot I’ve documented quite a bit. Clover is pretty much completely dormant now, this area didn’t get the rain we got on the Massey. There is a great mulch ready to be laid down though, as soon as some good rain chances show up in the forecast.


We also got a hang-on up on the other side of the property. I put up one of the new stands I won with a Walmart gift card from archerytalk. It’s a Rivers Edge Bigfoot XL. It’s a pain to hoist up in the tree, but once it is set, talk about comfortable!! Starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel with stand prep.

 

[KSQ2]

Two more stands up this afternoon. These are at a good friend’s 40 acre home place. Shot a big doe off there last year, and saw a really nice 6 that should be a giant framed deer this year if he made it.

My biggest buck was shot out of this tree 7 years ago this fall, hard to believe it was that long ago. Look close and you can see the stand, prolly much easier to see if you’re looking at a computer screen.

 

[KSQ2]

Picked up the cereals today hoping to take a vacation day tomorrow and get 4 acres done. They killed our chance for rain Wednesday though, so the seed will go in the barn until next time. The extended forecast isn’t looking good so I might be waiting a while. I will throw and mow by the second week of October regardless.

 

[bearcat]

Good looking stand setup.
Im in the same boat as you in regards to moisture. We’ve had exactly 0.0 of rainfall in the last 2 weeks and don’t have much of a chance for anything. I’ll overseed some cereal rye as well next chance of rain

I sure do miss hunting in KS. I loved spending time up there. Met some great folks up there around Smith Center


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[George]

Looks like you have a lot of hunting to do, good luck.

G

 

[KSQ2]

Got the last two stands up on Saturday with Audrey. Now the plots are calling, still no significant chance for rain in the extended forecast, but my schedule is going to get much more busy in October; so, I'm planning to get most of them done Thursday. After plots, I have 3 water gaps to fix between us and the neighbor to the north and we'll be all set for hunting, finally...

 

[KSQ2]

I headed to the Massey last night after dark (to avoid running any deer on the neighbors during muzzleloader season) and I was very pleasantly surprised to see the condition of everything from young trees to the brassica plot. Everything looked no worse for the wear, the brassicas are 8-10” tall and look great. I picked up the trail cam and saw that the last rain was September 3rd, but it was a doozy. Unfortunately, it was also very localized, which all the rains since early July have been like that. It’s been a feast or famine type of late summer and early fall. I went ahead and watered the trees and hope to not have to do it again, but the forecast is still looking pretty bleak.

On the lack of rain note, the farmer to the north who pastures his wheat every other year, and the reason why I fix the water gaps between us, told me not to bother with the gaps, they will not be able to get the wheat drilled in time to make it available for grazing. They need a good rain to wake up the rye grass so they can spray it before drilling wheat.

 

[KSQ2]

Got the 2 plots at the Massey done today, two more main ones to go Saturday and then it’s smooth sailing hopefully for a while. This is the only picture I took:

the hydraulic filter plugged…

 

[KSQ2]

We have a lot of camera cards waiting to be pulled. I did manage to grab a couple cards at the Massey yesterday. This guy is hard horned now and would most definitely get an arrow headed in his direction if he got close enough to one of us.