Kooch 80

Ya, I put a vent pipe beneath the seat part and of course out the back. Must work because the outhouse smells like the wood it was made with and not the other thing that goes in there. No bugs, bees or mice have gone in through the pipe.

I recommend a wind turbine.
 

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Pictures. Everybody likes pictures. There's nothing too exciting here. But, you know, pictures.

I had an empty calendar today so I took a quick run up to my place. Did I mention it was cold up there? It was -15 at 8AM. So, I took my sweet time getting out there. When I did, I found snow, plenty of snow. It actually ended up being a nice day to take the snowshoes out for a spin. I walked up the long skinny plot, checked on the box blind, wound back down the East side access trail then took the big loop following the deer sidewalk.

The WR plot was smooth like a pool table, nobody is digging in it, but the snow is deep. On the bright side, there was a lot more deer sign this year compared to about the same time last year. Before putting in the plot, and cutting my initial deer and border access trails, whatever deer were there just moved through without any real pattern. Now, there are obvious trails in the snow. So, that's nice. This time last year I was hard pressed to find ANY track, let alone nice trails like this, or rubs, or beds, or scat. Now I know where to put trail cameras. I put three out. Maybe I'll get up there in a month or two to pull cards.


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Looks like they're using the sidewalks. Tracks & beds - all good signs. I'll bet the WR plot will get hammered as soon as the snow melts down a bit.
 
I bet a lot of you guys like being alone now and then too. I don't have a cabin up here yet, so I either stay in town about 40 minutes away, sleep in my vehicle or throw up a tent. My daughter said this picture was, "The definition of lonely." To me, it's just calm and serene. This is how I spend my evenings up there when I'm on my own. Pretty close to perfect way to unwind from living in the city and being in sales.

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Very nice looking property so far. Maybe you would consider partitioning off the back 10 feet closest to the shed door with 2" Styrofoam insulation and a small vented heater and forget about that 40 minute drive to town.
 
Very nice looking property so far. Maybe you would consider partitioning off the back 10 feet closest to the shed door with 2" Styrofoam insulation and a small vented heater and forget about that 40 minute drive to town.
I've thought about that, and honestly, I don't think I'd be able to stand the chemical smell in the shed long enough to sleep in there. It smells like creosote in there, or whatever the wood floor is treated with.

A major goal this Summer is to get a structure built up there. I'm moving a garage from a friends property and will put it on a slab. I hope to get it closed in and dry and at least good for Summer use this year. If all goes really well, I'll have it insulated and heated in time for deer season. I doubt it though.
 
Another Spring cold snap here in MN. Planned to spend Easter weekend up North but thought better of it. Detail stripped and cleaned this today instead. Thinking about next Fall already. So much to do before then though and I’ll enjoy every minute of it.

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Heading up this weekend to spread 1,500 pounds of pelletized lime, the first of two installments this year. Also, since I'm told the snow is out, I'm going to try and apply half of the P&K recommendations from the soil test. If we accomplish that, I'll be satisfied. Depending on how that goes, I may do some work widening access trails a bit, maybe lengthening one. If those things happen I'll be thrilled. Plenty of other work to be done, but that seems like enough for a day or two. I'll post pictures when when I'm done.

Edited to add the picture. Oil changed, blade sharpened, running like a top. Also, two of the 4x4 blinds from Menards ready to take up there as well.

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Please let us know how much ice is on the lakes. I need to getup north soon.


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I got up here about an hour before dark. On the drive in, I saw at least 30 deer out in the open areas along the roads feeding on the first green stuff to show. Amazingly, my ATV fired right up. I left it in the shipping container all Winter. I brought a fresh battery because I was sure it would be flat. That was a nice surprise. Tomorrow I'll get to work spreading lime.

Trail camera photos showed loads of doe groups, maybe a buck or two sans antlers. I dunno. The rye in the plot is just starting to green up a bit if I look closely. This first year plot seems to have made a difference. Last Spring there was nearly zero deer sign. This year, there is deer scat all over the place, and some well worn trails. The grouse are drumming, and along with the deer pictures on the trail cameras, there were some other visitors.

A wolf makes a regular appearance.
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Does this look like a bobcat or a lynx?
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Looking South in the skinniest part of the plot. I like the sun on the trees.
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Please let us know how much ice is on the lakes. I need to getup north soon.


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Ice report. Three feet in lake vermillion as of yesterday. Just starting to see some water around edges in bays. My friend says it will not be off before fishing opener. And, he’s seen a few Winters.
 
I got up here about an hour before dark. On the drive in, I saw at least 30 deer out in the open areas along the roads feeding on the first green stuff to show. Amazingly, my ATV fired right up. I left it in the shipping container all Winter. I brought a fresh battery because I was sure it would be flat. That was a nice surprise. Tomorrow I'll get to work spreading lime.

Trail camera photos showed loads of doe groups, maybe a buck or two sans antlers. I dunno. The rye in the plot is just starting to green up a bit if I look closely. This first year plot seems to have made a difference. Last Spring there was nearly zero deer sign. This year, there is deer scat all over the place, and some well worn trails. The grouse are drumming, and along with the deer pictures on the trail cameras, there were some other visitors.

A wolf makes a regular appearance.
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Does this look like a bobcat or a lynx?
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Looking South in the skinniest part of the plot. I like the sun on the trees.
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I like the looks of that last picture. Some nice crossings should develop in those skinny areas.
It will be interesting to see what experts say on that cat.


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Hard for this southerner to believe you still had "Devil's dandruff" on the ground in late April! We're supposed to hit the 90s this coming week.

And for anyone who might not recognize the "Devil's dandruff" reference, from a pretty hilarious SNL skit ... not far off the mark on how many of us southerners act when we see the white stuff!

http://view.yahoo.com/show/saturday-night-live/clip/60336226/weekend-update-buford-calloway
 
Hard for this southerner to believe you still had "Devil's dandruff" on the ground in late April! We're supposed to hit the 90s this coming week.

And for anyone who might not recognize the "Devil's dandruff" reference, from a pretty hilarious SNL skit ... not far off the mark on how many of us southerners act when we see the white stuff!

http://view.yahoo.com/show/saturday-night-live/clip/60336226/weekend-update-buford-calloway

We went from snowmobiles to 4 wheelers in a week. Just a minute, you might not know what snowmobiles are ...;)


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Last Fall my daughter took a shot at a doe, it would have been her first deer. She was with her mother in a stand so I didn't witness it. But, by the way they described things, I thought it was a miss. I showed up to help them track. There was some dark hair in the snow, but not a lot, and no blood. We followed the track in the snow until it went into my neighbor's property. No blood the entire way. At the time, I assumed a high miss.

On one trail camera, I've got video of a doe with a grazing wound on the top of her back. I hope it's the same deer. I wasn't able to get a hold of my neighbor to continue the track that night, and since we saw zero blood, I felt OK stopping. But it still nagged at us all that we might have left a deer to die.

Also, there's video of a sickly doe, very skinny and slow, and always alone. There aren't any recent photos or video of her though. However, I did find a piece of a deer today. Maybe this is her. I looked for a while, but couldn't find any more pieces parts.

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This plot was cleared late last Summer so I didn't have to deal with weeds last year. It was planted to WR. This is my first year spraying. I've got a 25 gallon sprayer for my ATV. I mixed 2 pounds AMS (maybe a bit light?) a gallon of 41% glyphosate, two pints of 2,4-d and a big glug of dawn dish soap and went to town. You'll see, where I actually sprayed, VS where I missed. The herbicide worked. My spraying skills, not so hot. The massive green in the background, is a load of fern that simply was not there the first time I sprayed. This time, I didn't have the 2,4-d in the mix, but did use 4 pounds AMS and a gallon of glyphosate in the same 25 gallon sprayer. The plot is right at 2 acres which is stretching it for 25 gallons. I need more water jugs so I can slow down and just do half at a time. That way, I think I'm more likely to get an even spray.

It sure is wet up there.spray.JPG
 
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It looks like water is laying all over the surface there. Is it normally that wet ??
 
It looks like water is laying all over the surface there. Is it normally that wet ??
Nope - it just got done raining. It's wet up there, but not THAT wet.
 
One last trip to spray yesterday, and put some Lexan windows in the box blind. It's very wet up there, with lots of standing water. I ended up rutting the trail into the food plot pretty bad getting in and out spraying and spreading lime this year. This just makes it hold more water. I'm going to have a few loads of gravel brought in. It's the main access to my plot and a mess.

I pulled cards. There are fawns. I didn't see any photos of twins. I have pictures of a bear with twin cubs. I wonder if she's the same bear I saw last time I was up? This picture only has one of the cubs, but there are two. I have a video of them playing with the salt block.

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Edit to add another picture -
A buck! Not a large buck. But, it's the only one I've caught on a camera this Spring. Hundreds of photos of does, fawns, black bear with cubs, raccoons, and one small buck.
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Did you apply for a bear tag?

Good luck with that buck!


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