2010 Preseason April

[Professor T]

4/7/10
I picked up 6 sacks of corn on th way to the camp. ($48) Rambow met me there and we loaded up and went to the back. We put 2 sacks in each feeder and pull pix from TC's. After this we went to the www stand to check it out. Rambow believes I should have put the stand on a different tree. He is probably correct but I will make a decision later.

Pictures showed that hogs were at www and E-plot. A hen turkey at E-Plot. The deer are starting to use the mineral lick. After looking at the pix I moved the hog trap to the edge of the E-Plot. I baited with diesel covered corn and set a trail cam to see what enters the trap. The door is tied open. I also moved a TC to the feeder at the T-plot.

I hooked up the groundhogMax and made a pass through the west plot. It only work if you kill the grass first. It was a good trip with a lot accomplished.

Part of Family group # 2 at E-Plot


This was the maiden sow from Family group # 1 at E-Plot
As you can see she is not a maiden any more

Part of Family group # 2 at www

This hen showed up at the E-Plot feeder a few days in a row. This is the first time I have had a turkey come to a feeder to feed since starting to feed about 5 years ago.

[Professor T]

My feeder was empty....I wonder why?

Doves seem to find the food anywhere you put it.

Rambow coming to help me at the WWW

Young one at Buck Point

Mineral Lick is kicking in.

Got 300 plus pix ast Buck Point this week

[Professor T]

New place for the hog trap. I'm trying to out run the coons.

Peach Tree at Koltons Korner making fruit this year

One of the Sawtooth oaks Rambow gave me a couple of years ago. I will prune them all this year to make them start growing up straight.

The feeder is now in front of the Lone Oak Stand. This stand will now be a stand to take a doe from.

Feeder at hte T-Plot. The Shaking Tree Stand is 20 yards from feeder but out of the line of sight. I placed it as close to cover as aI could to make it easier for the bucks to come to it. When they make their circle it will be a "Circle of Death"

Koltons Korner The tree on the right is a White Oak planted in 2001 and the tree on the left is a sawtooth oak planted the same year.

[pauld]

See alot of clover like that may need to mo dat .

[Professor T]

4/14/10
I made a trip to prune trees and clean the areas around their trunks. The weed-wacker hadn’t been run in a year so I put it in the truck to work on at the house when I had a chance. I used a pruning shears and grass clipper to clean areas. I made good progress but having the right tools at hand would have been better. The pregnant sow had been hanging around the mineral lick but not near the trap. Coons are the major visitors there. Deer are going to the mineral lick frequently now. Starting to see little bumps on the bucks heads but not enough to get excited about. I added feed to www feeder which was out again. No deer visiting the sight now.

Three visitors to Buck Point mineral lick


Young buck at lick


Sow at lick


Coons in love


First deer to show at T-Plot Feeder

[Professor T]

4/16/10
I returned to work on the trees with weed-wacker in hand this time. Work went a lot faster and I was able to accomplish a lot. I pulled pix from TC’s except the www which I did not visit because of time. I worked until dark. Man, what a nice day? Turkeys were at the mineral lick, just passing by. Not much at the other cameras. First deer came to the T-Plot Feeder. Looks like last seasons yearling. He has good size and may have a decent rack this year.

I took pictures of most of the trees that I worked on (before and after) but I still did not get to all of the trees that I have planted. I have found a few that I didn’t remember and marked a couple of native trees that I particularly want to save and fertilize. There is a Cow Oak on the East side of the E-Plot that was tangled in vines and other trees weaved into it’s branches. I cleaned this one up pretty good, it is at the stage where it will be getting that big growth.

At the camp, I ran the AC just to make sure it was still working good, but did not get a chance to enjoy the cool. Lady bugs are covering the floor of the camp. This is a battle I have been fighting for years. I am still at the losing end of this fight. I will have time soon to work on the inside of the camp because it will be getting to hot to work outside.

By the end of May the antlers will be a couple of inches high. Excitement will build again until the opening day. Each year my season has been improving. Last year I had more racked buck sightings then any time in the past. With care I may be able to hold on to this success for a while longer. The cutover is growing and soon will shade out the plants under it. But areas nearby are fresh cutover which will add to my success for a while longer.

Crab Apple # 2
Before

After


White Oak and Sawtooth Oak planter in 2001
Before

After


2010 Crab Apple


2010 Swamp Chestnut (Chinquepin Oak)