New food plot for 2017-18

[treefarmer]

Here are a few of our visitors. I guess these 3 would be considered a bachelor group, looks like 2 six points and a spike. The spike's body seems to be as big as the other two.
The coyote pictures are from a camera about 350 yards northwest of the feeder, in some deep woods.
Treefarmer

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[treefarmer]

We had a house full at Thanksgiving and enjoyed it thoroughly!
The grandsons spent Thursday afternoon and most of the day on Friday either hunting or fishing.
Thursday evening we saw 9 deer and ended up with some feeding within 20 yards after shooting hours. Couldn't tell what they were.
Friday morning I was trying to sleep in and one of them was beatin' on our bedroom door asking what time were we going hunting? We got to the stand about 6:30, already good light. Right off, Christian says, "Granddaddy there's a deer by the feeder!" We saw several browsing through the planted pines and moving toward some rough woods to the west. All of a sudden Christian says, "There's a buck, I guarantee it's a buck!" He had the binoculars and when he passed them to me he was right. It was a 4 point that has been around most of the summer, problem was he was about 150 yards out and I wasn't comfortable with the grandson trying that shot. So we let him walk hoping he would ramble around and come in a little closer. Needless to say he didn't.
Friday evening was a repeat of Thursday, the deer came flooding into the pines and then into the food plot but after shooting hours. The younger grandson and his dad sat in the boy's shooting house, which we had moved to overlook the oat patch and also the feeder. They got to see several Friday evening too. So they still haven't killed a deer but they do have the "fever".
Now the bass fishing was a different story, they and their dad worked on the bass. We could have had a nice fish fry had they kept the one they caught.
I'm glad they come and can enjoy the woods, if they hadn't had to leave early Saturday morning, I think at least one of them could have probably killed a doe.
After all the kinfolks left, Miss Joy and I took a nap. After that we watched the FSU/Florida game and around 3pm I told my wife, "I think I'll go over to the lease and kill a doe." I got in the stand about 3:30 and I called Miss Joy at 4:00 telling her, "As soon as I load my deer I'd be headin for the house."
It was a good week! The 4 day season closed this afternoon and will take back up in a couple of weeks. A short M/L season is next, I think?
Here's a few pictures of the activities.
Treefarmer

[jtcmedic]

Well done. I would give any thing for my kids to have done that with my father, But i am very fortunate the my wife’s dad is here and is great every deer I have gotten he is my first call and helps me every time.
Keep it up treefarmer sounds like a great Time was had by all.

[treefarmer]

Today the general gun season opened back up. This morning it was too cold to go, can you believe that? Last week was 7 days of M/L season and the weather was so bad I didn't feel like going. It stayed around 42 degrees, night and day for about 3 days with a light rain. Y'all can have this Yankee weather!

It was cold this afternoon 38 degrees with a north wind and I had intended to go to the lease because I have a stand on the south side of a spot and the wind was out of the north. About 3:30 I noticed the wind had laid down so I decided to go watch the food plot south of the house.

There were a couple of deer in it when I climbed into the shooting house. Time I got settled they had moved on into the woods. About 4:15 deer started pouring out of the woods! There were 10 I think. Checking them out I noticed one kept chasing a small one around and realized it was the 4 point I had hoped one of the grandsons would have killed. After the little chase, he came out into the oat patch and I took a crack at him. I hit him and he started to run toward the woods, he stopped and went down. I watched him for a few minutes when he got up and started off again, fired again and he went into the pines, never saw him go down, just lost sight of him.

Went to the house and got my wife's dog and she promptly found the 4 point. Legal meat for the freezer. One of the shots sure made a mess of his gut, it blew contents all against the off shoulder. There was a lot of trimming and will be some more, I hate when that happens. I figure this little feller was last years crop and the momma hadn't run him off yet. He was chasing, yet it is a month till our rut really begins. What ever, he's hanging in the Oak tree tonight. One of the neighbors told me they had shot at him during bow season and missed.

Went back to the house to get the tractor with the loader and it wouldn't start so had to get my wife to help load him on the cart. It is tough gettin' old and not being able to do like I used to do. Need some young blood around to do the heavy work!

I failed to get a picture of the Durana Clover, it is looking pretty good. The deer may pay attention to it by the end of the season.
Treefarmer

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[jtcmedic]

Awsome work right there. Sorry about the loader not working .

[treefarmer]

When it gets below 45 or so these old tractors wont crank. Some diesels have heaters or glow plugs to help 'em start in the Yankee weather.
Thought I would show a picture of the Durana clover strip, it is doing pretty good. The adjacent oat patch is being hammered. I'm surprised they wont eat the oats where we were loading the fertilizer spreader from the back of the truck, 3 times as dark and tall?
Just started a timber harvest and I hope it doesn't mess up the hunting too bad. I'm having a bunch of volunteer pines, oaks, popcorn trees, anything they cut is being chipped and goes to a mill where they produce wood pellets for fuel. We are also cutting some 35 year old pines in the next month or so, some of those will be going for poles.
Very little evidence of the rut starting from any of the camera pictures. The little 4 point I killed was acting kinda' frisky when a big doe ran him off. He chased a yearling around the pines and the he strolled out into the oats where he met the .243. Rut is still several weeks out.
Treefarmer

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[jtcmedic]

370,000 oh that all, after the cut you gonna replant?

[treefarmer]

Yes, Sir. We hope to plant longleaf pines next time. The ones we've been harvesting over the years are the Improved Slash variety. When we 1st planted, we spaced the rows wider than normal so as to be able to continue using the land for both cattle and pines. We had to keep the cows off each planting about 18 months so that they wouldn't destroy too many by stepping on them, seldom will they eat a small pine. We were able to get about 10 years additional grazing before too much shade chocked the Bahia Grass production, plus our cowboys went off to college and never came home. We've clear cut several small tracts and have thinned others 3 times. So we will clear cut and replant for somebodies' future. My wife and I would be blessed to live long enough to see any trees harvested from a new plating next year.
There is a big market for the less desirable wood that is found along with the maturing pines on some plantations. There is a facility in Cottondale, Fl. just few miles east of us in Jackson County that buys the stuff and processes it into wood pellet fuel. Most is shipped overseas from Port Panama City. The timber harvester pays so much a ton for the junk and the land owner gets an almost clean slate for replanting a year or so later. Stumps are always an issue but reestablishing the same patterns parallel to the old stumps is pretty common. The part that is being cut now is natural growth and it will probably need more land preparation because of no parallel rows to follow. Usually a chemical spray to kill everything that sprouts will give the pine seedling a fighting chance.
There must be money in the harvesting side or the man wouldn't own 4 chippers. I guess these are what folks use when the hurricane debris is so overwhelming. If I had $370K I sure wouldn't buy a chipper!
Treefarmer
Edit: I checked the specs on the chipper, it has a 700hp Cat engine!

[jtcmedic]

I could use that chipper, if you get one drop it by my house . Haha
merry christmas

[treefarmer]

The chipping of the natural growth trees was completed yesterday. Kinda' figured this would change the deer patterns around the house for a while. The actual logging operation will start later on, not sure when. The company that is harvesting is working on another tract about a half mile north of us, maybe they will be here is a week or so? They can wait for all I care but business is business.
I decided to go to my shooting house this evening, I got there right a 4pm. Right at 5, almost dark, 2 does stepped out of the woods and just stopped and stared off into the planted pines. I finally saw what they were studying, a deer moving around and then there were several and the one was chasing them all around the pines. Way too dark to tell how big he was. Had his head down trailing, sure got my old heart to beatin'! Had he come into the oat stip I could have seen him. All this only lasted a few minutes and then they all went into the rough woods on the west side. So the rut is beginning, tomorrow and Sunday are the last 2 doe days. Hope to go to the lease and bust an old nanny.
Hard to imagine other than Thanksgiving when the grandsons were here, I've only been in the woods 4 times. I'm gettin' old.
Y'all have a great new year if I don't have anything to report the next day or so.
Treefarmer

[jtcmedic]

Happy new year

[treefarmer]

Well, we missed the snow, it was east of us. The doe days were unproductive. Saturday didn't see a deer on the lease and Sunday afternoon it was raining enough to keep this old man in the house. Monday evening I sat in the shooting house here on our place and saw 5, no bucks. Then yesterday afternoon I went back again and had the most interesting hunt I'd had in a long time. First off I didn't see an antlered buck but I had a total of 18 deer in front of me when I was leaving the stand. It was one magical afternoon! The deer just kept showing up from 3 different directions. Every time one would look up and stare into the pines, I would look with my binoculars and find one heading for the feeder and food plot. Couldn't grow a horn on any of them. I just knew a buck would show up with that many does and yearlings. Checking the camera this morning I found several small bucks had been in the area and one that looks to be a least a 6 point early this morning before daylight. Maybe he'll come visiting when these gals are in the oats and clover. They are actually grazing in the new Durana clover and the oats are cut short. Probably won't see that many at one time again, reminded me of riding the Nova Road through the Mormon's when I was a young feller! I usually slip my camera in my pocket but forgot yesterday.
Cold weather is really set in on us, right now it's 29 degrees. Lookin' for some Florida weather.
A few pictures to accompany the post.
Treefarmer

[jtcmedic]

Nice looking does and that’s a nice buck thick neck,

[treefarmer]

This morning I almost didn't go to the stand, in fact I went back to sleep and finally go up and got to the stand at 7 am. This is the same stand where I saw 18 at one time a couple of weeks back. The last 3 afternoons I had sat and didn't see a thing!
About 8am, I saw a deer moving from east to west in the planted pines below the food plot. One look with the binoculars and I could see it was a legal buck. He stopped and started browsing on something and I couldn't see for all the glare looking into the sun. Used my left hand as a shade and let one fly. Didn't see him run but he was not in sight. Called my wife and asked her to turn her dog loose. She came running down the road and I watched her run straight to where I shot. I knew he was down. This may be the buck in the last picture I posted a week or so ago.
We are waiting on another promise of snow tonight and tomorrow, I'm ready for some Florida weather to return. I miss my "Global warming".
Still have 4 more weeks of rifle season and then one of M/L and the rut is going full steam, finding scrapes everywhere!
Treefarmer

[Triple Creek Reaper]

Congrats, wish I was still hunting down here, my thoughts have already turned to fishing season and getting the boat ready.