Double A Farm (NE Ohio) updates

[Weasel]

Some of you know me from the old forum and Double A Farm from my posts as Stickbowcrafter over there. Trimmed the username down to my actual nickname since childhood.

For those of you that aren't familiar, the Double A is a 40 acre farm in NE Ohio's corn & soybean belt. The property is about 60/40 woods/tillable. My neighbor leases my front 10+ acre field that connects with his. He doesn't hunt so he gave me permission to hunt & manage his woods as well. His parcel is about the same size and layout as mine.

I sold my 25 acre farm to buy this 40 acre piece in 2013. I have been improving it since. It was vacant land then. I have since built a two story barn (cabin), a storage shed & just this summer an equipment building.

I have approximately 2-3 acres in food plots (summer & fall) and I started a fruit orchard and chestnut grove in the Spring of 2015. We have killed 3 mature does from the property (one each year) and passed many immature bucks. Trail cam photos show that mature bucks frequent the area but I have not put one on the ground yet. Buckeye Big Buck Club recognizes a 140 inch buck as a good representative of the species in Ohio and that is a realistic goal in my area. Monsters have occasionally been found or killed in the area due to the large ag presence.

Hopefully that brings you up to speed enough to get started. I'll get some pics posted soon.

 

[Weasel]

 

[Weasel]

 

[Weasel]

 

[Weasel]

 

[Weasel]

 

[kabic]

Did you have a cabin build thread? Think I remember reading that and enjoyed it.

 

[Weasel]

Did you have a cabin build thread? Think I remember reading that and enjoyed it.

Yes, I spent most of my weekends in 2014 building the two story barn (cabin).

 

[Merle Hawggard]

Awesome thread weasel, look forward to seeing more of your place.

 

[huthut]

Weasel - followed your work before and found it enjoyable - thanks for moving and jumping in over here.

 

[bueller]

Very nice. Keep the updates coming!

 

[WMObowhunter]

Glad to see you on here, Stick! I actually had left you one last comment on your QDMA thread.

 

[Triple C]

Gonna have to get accustomed to Weasel instead of Stick!

 

[Weasel]

Thanks to my new friends & so glad to see some of you made it over from the old forum. Sorry for the name change, felt like the right time since we are starting over. Only my family & friends call me Weasel...seems appropriate now that so many of us have known each other for years.

 

[Turkey Creek]

Looks like your into the tiny house living craze! :) Glad to see you here. Are you building any bows currently? That would be a great thread in itself. Someday I am going to devote the time to becoming proficient enough to kill a deer with a primitive bow, and I might need a builder.;)

 

[Weasel]

Chris, I didn't have the time or money to build anything else, started out as a place to store equipment but I got tired of not having anywhere to stay. Turned it into a little cabin with a loft for now. Still a work in progress but it's cozy. Lots of free/recycled material going inside. Someday after college tuition & weddings for 2 daughters, I might build a proper cabin.

I saved up some money and had a metal building put up for the tractor and buggy earlier this summer.

It's been a year or two since I built any stick bows. Lots of fun. I've built many over the years and went through the primitive & traditional bow stages. Killed plenty of game with them too.

 

[Weasel]

Couple rough aerials to give you an idea of the lay of the land. My 40 is inside the red property lines. You can see my orchard & some food plots in the secluded north field. I have some kill plots in the middle woodlot connected by some deer walkways. The prevailing wind is W/NW so I try to access all my stands from the east of the property on a low power line. Sorry for the lack of detail, doing this all on a mobile device. Neighbor's 40 is to the west, he doesn't hunt but I'm the only person with permission. South field gets a rotation of commercial corn and soybeans.

Bigger picture. Again, this is mostly flat corn & soybean fields & woodlots.

 

[Turkey Creek]

Just razzin you a bit, you are light years ahead of me at this point. Looks like a proper hunting cabin to me. Recycled materials are the cat's meow. I have lots of ideas for my new house in a couple of years that will hopefully be incorporating a bunch of recycled wood and metal.

 

[Weasel]

Just razzin you a bit

I know, and it was a good one too! No worries, I enjoy a little chop bustin' with you all.

 

[Weasel]

Ok here's my topo map from my SWCD/NRCS Conservation Plan as per Bartylla's request. The contour lines are 2 foot increments. I tried telling dogghr that my farm wasn't flat, here's the proof LOL. This conservation plan booklet was totally free as was the walking tour taken with my local NRCS agent and DOW officer. It also includes a soil map with individual soil types marked along with separate soil type description form, soil inventory report and forestland productivity report. FYI my soils are silt loam of the Mill, Cambridge & Venango varieties for those of you smarter than me. There's also a detailed objective report spelling out the goals for the property and thorough instructions on how to achieve those goals.