Pic of the Week

Well this was the first week in a long time that I actually had some restraint and kept away from my hunting location & trailcams.  Therefore I have no "fresh" pics to post this week.  I also forgot to post a "pic of the week" last week, so I'll dip into my pics from earlier this summer and put 2 on the blog to make up for last week!



Very nice 10 pointer.

Another nice buck from the same day as above, but on different cameras.  I thought at first it was the same buck, but after close examination, they are definitely 2 different animals.

New Buck Shows Up

I have been struggling to get any good inventory of bucks on the farm this year.  My normal go-to spots for hanging trail cams have failed me this season and I have resorted to trial and error locations.  Travel routes down wooded fence rows along crop fields seem to be my best option thus far, in fact I just pulled a cam from a spot just like that today.  My wife Joanna, son Jeremiah, dog Lady, and myself all went out for a walk this evening and we were near a spot where I knew I had a cam hanging for about a month.  I couldn't stand being that close without going and grabbing it!

Once we got home and fired up the computer to look at the pics I found out I had discovered a new buck!  I named him "Tall Boy" for obvious reasons.  My camera was low to the ground and I think the angle of his body makes him look a little bigger than what he really is.  My best guess is a 120 class deer maybe 130.  I would probably pass him if he wanders within 40 yards of my stand but then again maybe he is bigger than what I think.  Regardless he does have some neat character.  

Preparing Foodplots for Hunting Season.

I took advantage of the great weather this Sunday to do a little food plot maintenance.  First I checked on my corn plot.  It surprised me quite a bit.  I wasn't expecting much at all due to the record drought this summer and I didn't have much of a budget for fertilizer.  However a little over half the stalks made ears and even though they were small they had good looking kernels on them. 

Then I hopped on my "tractor" and took off to mow my clover plots.  My herbicide budget is about the same as my fertilizer budget so I have to resort to mowing my clover to control weeds.  I let it grow wild all summer long and mowed it down today.  Some of it was tough to chew through with the ol' exmark but it got the job done.  By October it should be nice and lush.  I set a trail cam on one of them and we'll see what happens!

Practice, Practice, Practice

These last few weeks leading up to bow season are always the hardest.  Filled with eagerness to get out in the stand.  One way to cure that bug is to get some buddies together and shoot some arrows.  That's exactly what I did a couple nights ago.  We even stuck some balloons to the targets and made a little competition out of it.  It was a great way to spend the evening and stay sharp with our aim.

 

 



Pic of the Week

Hard-Horned

The Perfect Spot

Every year we all search for the "Perfect" spot to hang our treestands.  Well, today I hope I found that spot.  The tree wasn't ideal, but the location seems to be. 

Torn down & ready to move.

The tree had some good "lean" to it before I could get to a straight spot in the trunk to hang the actual stand.  So the ladder had to be "snaked" up the trunk!

"Snaked" the ladder up the trunk!

View from the top. To the north lays a 5 acre corn field that the deer just POUND until it's picked. 

Looking out over the corn.

View out the back.  A heavy trail runs out of the corn and back to a small timbered flat that I've thinned out and seeded with a food plot mix.  Beyond the clearing is heavy, rugged timber that stretches for miles along the Des Moines River valley.

View from the top.

After hanging the stand I hooked onto the ATV mower and cut a trail around the outside of the corn field.  This will make it easier for me to "sneak" in to the stand, making as little noise as possible. 

Sneak in the back door.

Now I just need October 1st to show up!!!

Trail Cam Results: Introducing "The Mule"

I checked my trail cams that have been out for nearly the entire month of august. I had them in my go-to spots that have yielded me some good buck pics over the years. Well unfortunately this year was a bust. Not much at all.

I got numerous pics of one decent up-and-comer buck who will be a dandy in a year or two if he can make it past the sharp shooting of the "if its brown its down" shotgun hunters.

I did however get just one pic of a real nice buck I've named "The Mule".  He's got all the antler characteristics of a muley buck: short brows, a big frame, tall tines, and a deep fork on his G2.  He is unfortunately roaming my old man's area of the farm so if he stays put, Mike has first shot at him. 

The beans have begun to turn and are getting tough so the deer are laying low during daylight and moving on to the mast producing trees.  I reset my 4 cams from the bean fields onto some trails in transition areas I think bucks might be using.  Unfortunately I will be sticking with my "month at a time" method so we will both have to wait til October to see if I've got any good buck pics.  Until then here is "the up-and-comer" and "the mule".