Farmall Cub

Was the first year in quite a few since my son and I have been able to get together to go hunting and it wasn't too bad at all.

He got this spike for meat the last chance he had to be in the woods with me. It was about 15 to 20 minutes after he shot it that the coyote showed up. We have lots of them here in Ga and our statewide deer heard is beginning to feel the impact.



I got a doe a few days later and we sure are enjoying the cubed and ground with gravy and biscuits

Cool Ron

Dad got a spike this year too. We put in three deer feed plots last year and will do so again. I have been reading up and learning and will be planting feeds that will help put weight and help with antler growth. This is the first deer Dad has gotten in several years and he's quite happy. We have a huge problem with wolves but we can't shoot them

Billy

Sounds good Billy, We had a great time hunting this year. We put 3 deer in the freezer and I found my daughter-in-law loves venison as well as my 3 year old grandson We may have to go for 4 next year

Been following your progress on your property up north and its looking really good, keep up the good work

Ron

Nice

We processed 2 doe this past weekend. Both my daughters love venison.

Congratulations, Ron. You got a 2fer with the nice spike and the coyote. The coyote population is bad here too. I usually do some coyote hunting after deer season is over but the snow is so deep it too hard to get around. Maybe after the snow settles a bit, I can get out and try to thin the herd.

My deer season was so so, but I did end up taking a couple of small bucks but spent a lot of days not seeing anything.





Speaking of food plots, I had the opportunity to sit and talk with Roger Rothhaar (in my opinion, the best deer hunter in the country) and he said that the best food plot out there is soy beans. He has had all kinds of manufactures give him all the latest deer food plot seeds to try out and he has planted them on his 500+ acres and says that nothing works better than soy beans while they are green. Once they dry out and turn brown, the deer aren't drawn to them as much. The plus side of soy beans is once the deer lose their interest in the beans, you can harvest them and make a money.
In the UP where Cowboy hunts, any food plot should work well to attract deer. I live in Lower Michigan in a very agricultural area. Here, I don't think food plots are viable, there is just too much food out there in the farmers fields.

Thanks Ron we are having a good time UP there

Hi Ricky

I am not making my plots so much to draw deer as provide good nutritional feed for as much of the year as possible. I am looking at things like rye that stays green longest and turns green earliest. Turnips and radishes that the deer can dig up in winter and feed on. Kale that has almost everything in it for antler growth. And sourgum that will grow up and give them some cover and safety and can eat it through the winter. What I am trying to do is have healthier and bigger deer. And help them survive the winter.

My cousin who almost always gets his limit. Says he plants a little of everything as you never know what they are going to want one year to the next.

This guy really has it going on and a lot of great info but there's a lot to read through. He not only shows how and when to plant put has trail cameras out and shows what they eat all year round.

http://www.outreachoutdoors.com/phpBB3/ ... m.php?f=19

Billy

cowboy wrote:Thanks Ron we are having a good time UP there

Hi Ricky

I am not making my plots so much to draw deer as provide good nutritional feed for as much of the year as possible. I am looking at things like rye that stays green longest and turns green earliest. Turnips and radishes that the deer can dig up in winter and feed on. Kale that has almost everything in it for antler growth. And sourgum that will grow up and give them some cover and safety and can eat it through the winter. What I am trying to do is have healthier and bigger deer. And help them survive the winter.

My cousin who almost always gets his limit. Says he plants a little of everything as you never know what they are going to want one year to the next.

This guy really has it going on and a lot of great info but there's a lot to read through. He not only shows how and when to plant put has trail cameras out and shows what they eat all year round.

http://www.outreachoutdoors.com/phpBB3/ ... m.php?f=19

Billy

Great link, Billy. I see what you are doing. I know the UP can have a tremendous winter kill sometimes losing 1/3rd of the deer population in a single winter season. Providing a year round food source is a good thing. Do the deer yard up in your area? I know sometimes the deer will yard up and many will die of starvation when an abundant food source is near by, but outside of the yard area. If the deer stay in your area during the winter the food plots will be a great benefit for them. Where abouts in the UP is your property?

I've enjoyed watching the progress you've made clearing the property and really like the cabin especially the new shelving, really cool!!

Thanks Ricky

I don't know personally as I am not up much in the winter. But my cousin that lives up there says they don't yard up like they used to. He said its a combination of more people feeding and feed plots and lot lighter snow falls so it is easier for them to move around. We are 20 or so mile east of I-75 and 15 miles north of Lake Huron. Right now there is only 8 to 11 inches of snow on the ground. The winter of 1984 I was UP cutting cedar posts I stomped the snow down around the trees and cut them off just below the snow line. That summer I was going down the trail and looked at the stumps and thought what did I do! They were sticking up 5-6 feet. The snow on our side is nothing like it used to be!

Billy

I had a rather slow season myself this year. Only took one small buck and yes I did let the big one get away. I guess that is why they call it hunting rather than killing. I am just glad he didn't run to the bottom of that holler (or draw as some people call it). Had to drag the sucker about a mile anyway by myself. LOL!

Well boys, i've had a terrible hunting season. Not even the first doe went down. I've tried and tried to wait on some horns, all i've seen were two spikes. And with work on the weekends and school during the week, not much was accomplished.
Hopefully, I'll have my shooting house built by next season. Just starting to figure out they're patterns and such.
Well, reckon i'll start baiting hooks for awhile.

Nice deer, kill all the yotes you see. Kill as many as you can, kill them all....

My land in VT is between the bottom land and the higher elevations of the mountain. Back in '86 we had wall to wall deer runs all over the place. This was why i purchased the land because of the wildlife on it. I had my own hunting heaven. As the years went on we were seeing yote tracks behind every set of deer tracks. As the years followed we seen less and less deer tracks. Now there's no deer at all, very few if that. Heck we see more yote tracks now.

My point is the yote population is way over blown now and we need to get a handle on it soon. With out us culling the yote population we will have no deer left at all. We also have the Pig Bomb situation happening too. The wild bores are breeding faster than rabbits and spreading out across our country and going north too. Soon everyone here will have fresh pork in your backyard on the hoof. They showed the kids can't play in there backyards because of the wild bores. Again we need to get a handle on this over blown population too.

OT;
Be on the lookout for the fcub hunters comming north from the south with a load of wild bores to dump on us in the north when they raid our fcub population up here and then go back south. Ed these wild bores will steal your donuts for sure. We need to watch out for this. Kidding...but really;
Its the guys in texas with the biggest wild bore population so far. Soon we will be invaded in the north were we will have wild bores in our backyards. There very bold and really mean too. The worst thing is these wild bores are very dumb. They will crap in the creek water were other livestock drinks causing diseases. This is very bad.

If these predators aren't kept in check we will be and are run over with over population already. We need to hunt them much heavier soon.

On a good note the wild boars that are being harvested for the over population are being takin to the soup kitchens to feed the poor/homeless which is a good thing. Bill

i am going to learn how to post pictures one of these days. we have lots of deer here in arkansas have a tuff time raising a garnden.

tomcat wrote:i am going to learn how to post pictures one of these days. we have lots of deer here in arkansas have a tuff time raising a garnden.

Trust me, if I can post pictures, anybody can post pictures!!!

It is time to start fishing.

This morning's paper had a picture of a herd of 57 elk that was in a field about 2 miles from me. Very unusual for them to be that far east of the foothills. We've had a very dry winter, and I would guess that the availability of grass to graze lured them down here.
http://www.timescall.com/

Bob

Edit: Wednesday paper, the link may not show the picture tomorrow.