Ooooooooh now we're talking. I better start getting some long toss in now... Maybe by summer I'd be able to go more than 3 innings. lol
Jesse's Off Season Thread
- Thread starter bowhunter1023
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Ooooooooh now we're talking. I better start getting some long toss in now... Maybe by summer I'd be able to go more than 3 innings. lol
Given the recent news and need to pinch pennies this year, I decided against food plotting on a grand scale this spring. Instead, I'll maximize my investment and roll with 3 decent sized fall/winter plots that won't break the bank. I'll be planting my first ever plot of radishes (1/5 acre), along with a plot of Buck Forage Oats (1/4 acre) and a plot to be determined (1/10 acre). So I'll have a little over a 1/2 acre of variety samiched in between a few hundred acres of corn. Will my supplemental feeding, abundant browse, and what could be a solid crop of acorns, I should be in good shape food wise...
I also received an email from the landowner of Hippie Ridge this morning. I have full exclusive reign of it again this year. That's as good as it gets!!!
I also received an email from the landowner of Hippie Ridge this morning. I have full exclusive reign of it again this year. That's as good as it gets!!!
Food plots be damned, that's about the only thing you need right there! Congrats, brother.
Keep some extra oats on hand in case you end up with some thin spots in your radish plot. You can just broadcast those oats on top of the ground and most of them will sprout. I filled in my brassica plot this way last fall and it really thickened things up.
I've laid out my plots and what I will be planting, so now it is just hurry up and wait in that regard. The field to the north of us is confirmed corn this year and with the little scouting I've done of the oaks along that field, it is shaping up to be a good year on the north ridge for the first time in a while. I have 5 cams out there right now with the hopes of dropping 2-6 more there before the season arrives. Yesterday evening I cut in a new access road to Hippie Ridge to make things easier for the new stand site and I opened up a clogged trail along one of our shelves. I plan to sit the top half of a ladder stand up on the hillside overlooking this shelf. I robbed the ladder to make my other two stands taller, so all I have is the seat and 3' of ladder, so sticking it high on the hillside over the shelf should work. I've always been hesitant to hunt shelves due to the fact that it limits the shooting to one trail, but this spot actually opens up shots to a small trail coming off the ridge as well.
If the weather holds true to the forecast next weekend, I am planning a daylight to dark work day out there to get most of my stands done for the year. I have a couple to tweak, 6 to move, and 2 to hang for the first time. It'll make for a long day, but it'll be nice to have it done!!!
If the weather holds true to the forecast next weekend, I am planning a daylight to dark work day out there to get most of my stands done for the year. I have a couple to tweak, 6 to move, and 2 to hang for the first time. It'll make for a long day, but it'll be nice to have it done!!!
Good to hear Jesse. I'll prolly just go out and prune some lanes and prep some sites here soon and put the stands up later in the summer.
Got a full day planned for Sunday to get some stands hung. I'll snap some pics while I'm out there. Gonna feel good to finally get some stands hung!!!
Make sure you don't forget your saw and pruners. This is such an awesome time of year to clear shooting lanes... By the time bow season rolls around, all of your lanes and openings just look so natural.
I agree man. Lots of debate on clearing them now in order to avoid not clearing TOO much, but I love doing it now. The plan is to focus on my 3 preferred sets for this year, then do some scouting. All three of the sets I'll work on will be on the north ridge of our property among the oaks that border the corn field to the north. I need to check the acorns, but they appear to be in good stock so far. With that in mind, I expect that ridge to take on a different feel than it does in years with no crop and no acorns. This is the ridge I think Captain Jack is frequenting quite a bit these days also, so I expect these 3 stands to be clutch this fall...
Should be dynamite. They'll bed in the corn, and come out to the acorns in the evening.
You should try to hang a set on the edge or right near the edge of the corn, too... I think it'd be a great morning spot. You could catch 'em coming back to bed, or catch a buck as he's check scrapes along the treeline. Plus, if the corn is part of the property you can hunt, it'll make an excellent entry route to a morning stand.
All three stands will have shots to acorns and the edge of the corn. I'll have one stand right on the edge of the corn where I'll be able to see over the corn and to the other edge line also...
Great to hear Jesse! I just got back from one of my newer sets this afternoon. Brought my oldest daughter along TOO! I told her to grab a T shirt and long pants and she comes out to the truck wearing her TOO tee. :smiley_clap:
I got it all pruned and a dozen screw in steps in and just need to add a few more steps and hang my stand. I've got high expectations for this set and hope to get my daughters in there before end of season.
I was soaked to the bone, danged hot out there!
Didn't mean to hijack Jesse, goodluck and keep us updated buddy!
I got it all pruned and a dozen screw in steps in and just need to add a few more steps and hang my stand. I've got high expectations for this set and hope to get my daughters in there before end of season.
I was soaked to the bone, danged hot out there!
Didn't mean to hijack Jesse, goodluck and keep us updated buddy!
I didn't plant this. The neighbor to the north is one of the largest farmers in our county. That farm is 300 acres or so and lot of it is crops. I'm at his mercy, but if past memory serves me right, I'll have to hunt/fight it until mid-December. As as I'm concerned, it can stay standing until this time next year!
Is that farmer JS? He just bought another farm out near our land where you visited us at deer camp.
Yep. Nice guy from what I know. Only issue for me is the renter hunts and our management ideas are drastically different. It's a buzz kill.
Good stuff man. You've been a busy man, that's for sure. I'm way behind schedule this year for some reason. Just hoping to get some cameras out this weekend and freshen up a couple mineral sites. I'll get after it hard in July.
Dad wanted to know how I felt about hoggin' the bottom yesterday and I was all about it. I figured most of the fawns I've seen are big enough to do without a little cover, plus there is plenty to go around. My other thought was the yotes should be mouse-n' the next week or so now that we cut it, so it may help me thin them out a little. With two plots going in down here, I can spray in the next couple of weeks and get ready for planting season which won't be TOO far away!
I got to do some hoggin' of my own and it was a blast! Had the AC on and the radio cranking. Hard to beat that!!!