Riggs field day/land tour

[sandbur]

Riggs-it might be best to not tell your wife and in laws about Foggy's rain dances. Some people do not understand the importance of a good rain. They might think we are a bit weird.

 

[Riggsgwp->]

Hell I started doing my own dance, cut out the middle man! He's got a bad back anyway.

 

[Riggsgwp->]

Well I've been busy making a few more changes after the group was here. It's easiest to just show pictures.
New ground blind setup on south end of pond and I added a waterhole to keep them in range. The first picture is from the dam where the deer travel.

I used a trash pump to fill from the pond


The blind is easily accessible by canoe and I only have to take a few steps to get in. Deer will have no idea I'm there.

 

[wiscwhip]

Sweet setup Riggs!

 

[Riggsgwp->]

Here's some progress from the rye, alfalfa, red clover and chicory plot. Nice steady rains on the plot have jump started germination.

 

[Terrific_tom]

Awesome looking place you have Riggs. A lot of hard work.

 

[Riggsgwp->]

Thanks I've been busting my butt this year to try and "finish" up all my projects. Next spring I will be working on an orchard and some more hinge cutting but hopefully it will be an easier year. I've said that before though:eek:

 

[sandbur]

Thanks I've been busting my butt this year to try and "finish" up all my projects. Next spring I will be working on an orchard and some more hinge cutting but hopefully it will be an easier year. I've said that before though:eek:

Believe me that you never finish your projects if you hang around with this group! You just get too tired or too old to continue.

Looks great!

 

[foggy]

As long as you get those projects started.......you got a lifetime to get it finished. :) Enjoy the trip.

 

[MNAaron]

I love your property and enthusiasm wish I could have attended your land tour.

 

[Riggsgwp->]

I love your property and enthusiasm wish I could have attended your land tour.

Thanks Aaron. We can find some time next year and I can give you a tour.

 

[Riggsgwp->]

Make it easier or make it harder....as long as it remains fun and not a "job" ;)
Ever need a hand doing something give me a shout...we're close

Thanks Stu and I've told you and Bob from the beginning let me know if you guys need anything. I should have more time in the future as I will be scaling things down quite a bit.

 

[Satchmo]

Riggs,
The place looks great, and nice job on that blind. I don't get the concept of scaling back though. My list of things I want done grows faster than the list of completed ones! ;)

 

[Riggsgwp->]

The scaling back is for my wife and kid. She's been hounding me to spend more time doing fun things, apparently she doesn't see the fun in land management for wildlife:rolleyes:

 

[Satchmo]

I hear you there! That is why I'm going to Dickinson, ND for a wedding over Labor day weekend instead of bear hunting. She says it will be fun. :( Yea right!

 

[Riggsgwp->]

It's kind of ironic because I'm doing everything to make the property nice for my son and wife yet I'm not spending enough time with them throughout the process. Definitely a balancing act.

 

[Satchmo]

It's kind of ironic because I'm doing everything to make the property nice for my son and wife yet I'm not spending enough time with them throughout the process. Definitely a balancing act.

It definitely gets better. When your boy is old to go along and help, the wife will probably be a lot more understanding. I know I got away with a lot more stuff as long as at least one of my boys was with.:cool:

 

[deepsleep]

Love your place, Riggs. I love the first pic of all you guys chilling by the pond, that's really what all this habitat management is about. I noticed you mentioned the does getting run out during the rut. You also have enough food there that I know I'm not alone in assuming you had 200-400 acres. If you have plans of adding acreage in the future, I would keep things as they are, however, if you are planning to stay at that acreage I think you need to trade some of your food for cover. Huge amounts of food are great for late seasons and holding does all summer, but when the rut is ongoing and also when the masses hit the woods, cover is king. At least where my place is in MI, I look at most of my food plots as something to make me feel good about myself and my cover as something that holds the big bucks on my land. I am also finding as we get more and more trees on the ground and some of my cover projects get some time on them, the number of bucks pouring in during the rut and sticking around goes up every year.

 

[sandbur]

I don't envy you guys trying to do land management with young kids. Gotta be a tough balancing act

It goes better when you live on the deer hunting ground. If my wife was home, I could get outside for short periods of time and still be home to spend periods of time with the kids.

Riggs- Remember the family comes first!

 

[Riggsgwp->]

I will have a better feel on how the deer respond to my cover(tree plantings and hinge cuts, NWSG) in the next few years. Fortunately there is no hunting pressure on any of the surrounding property so I can get away with being food heavy right now. When the crops go out the deer shift their movement to my 40. I have already been thinking of adding more cover but it's a monumental task converting farm land to cover here due to Bull and Canadian thistle. If left untreated I would have a solid patch which ironically the deer really like to bed in here and feel very safe. I love the brain exercise of laying out the property to meet all of my goals though.