LessRice Land Tour

LessRice

5 year old buck +
Hey all, I'll start out with an introduction. My name is Jason and I'm addicted to improving my piece of dirt. I live in the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities but my heart lies in Burnett County were I got 100 acres of canvas to splash in.

I am probably one of the youngest members on this forum at the age of 25 but I am happily married with 2 boy age 7 and 3. They truly are the fuel to my fire to create a legacy and future for them. Whether it will be picking an apple off a tree that we have planted or watching deer pour out of the planted spruce thickets, god willing, I hope I am blessed to be able to create memories here this with my boys for decades to come.

A little background about this property. It used to be heavily hunted, baited hard, and got the snot driven out of it in years past. In the past 5 years I have witnessed the quality of hunting plummet but I have said to myself this is the best possible time to make a change. The changes included, after baiting was banned in Burnett County (FINALLY), decreasing hunting pressure, create better quality of habitat, plant conifers and soft mass. With a deer population probably around 20 DPSM it has never been more important to practice select harvest. Only one buck has been shot on this property in the last 8 years and that was a 3.5 yo 8 point with my bow. The hardest part is protecting young bucks.

Here is the best prospect from last year:

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... Unfortunately, he bit the neighbor's bullet last rifle season. Hopefully a new comer decides to move in this year.

So first project of the year consisted of creating funnels with hinge cutting, which has been something that I have not been able to truly take in advantage in the past.

This is a funnel I created by hinging by a new stand location, that goes through a jack pine point surrounded by a dying poplar stand. I put a camera up here 2 weeks ago and had over 500 pictures.

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The other benefit to hinging the some of the live poplar trees was it created instant browse.

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It really wasn't too surprising they tore these up coming out of such a tough winter. But there is around 30 acres of 20 yo Red Pine that they winter in and an almost endless supply of browse, due to the low deer population. I have yet to find a winter killed deer after walking maybe 60% of the property so far this spring. Lower deer density creates an environment with a lot less stress.
 
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Second project of the year started last week. The weather was a gift and a curse with the imminent rains coming shortly but freezing temps and winds whipping are not the best in keeping the chill out of my bones. I had 4A Norway and White Spruce plugs to get tucked away this week so I had to enlist some help.

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Ok so they weren't much help but they kept me on my toes.

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Only Mother Nature's wrath will determine their survival this summer. That maybe our 2 year drought is finally over.

At the end of the weekend, I got the plugs planted in the freezing rain but I also had bought 2 40 gallon poly stock tanks at Fleet Farm that wanted to address. While trying to occupy kids and get work done I only had time to bury one and hopefully the recent rain will help fill it. Next week I will get the other buried and put a camera over it.
 
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Good stuff!!
 
I have always wanted to get more turkeys to use our property but every year seems like we will hold only a couple hens and any brood they are able to bring up. This has been a reoccurring habit over the last 5 years and have thought "well maybe this year I will get a couple tom's to call it home here." While walking the property I did notice some recent turkey sign and while looking over last years WR field saw something that I instantly recognized.

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Hard to see but tom track with dragging his wings. He happened to strut right past one of my cameras and got my first EVER strutting tom picture on the farm last Saturday. (Too bad I didn't get a chance to hunt until Sunday) While out turkey hunting in the rain I did manage to see 6 hens but no toms and didn't hear any gobbling.

As the spring has finally started to take hold and the snow melts off my plots, it has revealed last years WR and has been getting pounded.

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I'll just throw a couple of other pictures on here that I snapped last weekend...

This is about a 300 yard shooting lane we cut a few years ago

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This is the one natural water source that will vary from 5 feet to 1 foot deep, depending on the year, but no matter how dry there is always some water available. I am hoping the stock tanks will serve as a good source of water for the deer.

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The last is a shot of my OLD BEAT UP disc... Hoping to replace it with a small 3 point disc this year. If anyone knows of one laying around shoot me a message.

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Great photos!! Looks like you have some good helpers too.
 
that disk looks exactly like mine did until one gang fell off! It still kind of works.

nice pictures!
 
I'm 33 and I wish I would have started at 25 or as young as possible. It would have taken no time and you can't get those growing seasons back. Great looking place. Keep us posted on the progress.
 
Great thread.... Love the "helpers"... They aren't much help, but it sure makes it more fun being out there!

-John
 
Thanks guys for the kind words.
 
that disk looks exactly like mine did until one gang fell off! It still kind of works.

nice pictures!

The right gang is hanging on by a rusty thread and I need to find a replacement ASAP! That thing has been passed down and been through hell and back.
 
Great job! Keep in mind the Jordan buck, Myles Kellers former state record, and lately some very large non typicals have been taken in Burnett county. The genetics are around, build it and they will come! It's good to see a post from another guy in the same general area. Keep the them coming!
 
Very nice! The helpers look like they're ready to go.
 
Looks great, I wish I would have bought property when I was in my 20's instead of throwing my money away on new trucks & bass boats!
 
Nice work! Good pics.
 
the place looks great! My wife and I had our first baby back in November....i'm really looking forward to the days that I can spend with him doing stuff like you are!
 
Looking good! Keep us posted on the things you have going on around there, love all of the pics!
 
Excellent thread and congrats on all the hard work. thanks for sharing
 
Very nice place! Beautiful spot
 
I haven't posted on my land tour since this spring but its been a busy year. Anyways fast forward to this year and I really got to thinking what the regeneration would be like with all the rain we have received this year. Haven't had to water the apple trees once but the oak regeneration is slow at best.

These are areas that were hit by tornado and 100+mph straight line winds 5-ish years ago...







Up in Burnett County, along with a lot of other members, we have some nice beautiful red sand to grow on. It really makes me jealous of guys in places like Iowa and Missouri, where if an area was clear cut after 5 years would be a thick impenetrable bedding area. I am left with whole lot of nothing... We started planting spruce the couple years in hopes to transform the area.
 
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