Thank you guys for the kind and inspiring words! I appreciate it.
It's been a really busy year. We built a new home and moved in this last Spring/Summer. My wife did most of the work including the contracting, framing (with a family friends help and guidance), plumbing, electrical (with her dad and a family friend), flooring, trim, paint, etc... We didn't do the foundation, roof (time constraint) or drywall. Still have a lot of smaller projects left, but we'll get to them when we have more time and funds moving forward.
Needless to say, it put a damper on most of my normal habitat work, other than some basic upkeep. I only planted around a dozen trees this last year, which was nice and manageable.
I didn't get in as much hunting as I'd like this year either. But my kids got a lot of education working with mom, or hunting/trapping small game around the property. That's where it's at for me at this point in my life so I'll start with some of those fun moments that they've had this year, before I get to habitat updates :)
My youngest son, shot his 1st woodchuck from our bedroom window from 50 yards with a Ruger 10/22 Takedown (his oldest brother then helped him skin and tan the hide!) :
Oldest son shot his 1st crow from 75 yards with his CZ .17 HMR:
Middle son shot his 6th wild turkey (4th record book), 1.5" spurs and 11.5" beard using a Weatherby 20 gauge shotgun (assists go to our trusty sidekick jake, named Chewy and his girlfriend hidding in the picture if you can find her) :
Oldest son took his 6th (and largest) deer this year. This was his first deer taken from an open ladder stand from 20 yards. This is his 2nd buck taken with a compound bow: