Someday Isle - Property tour
- Thread starter Someday isle
- Start date
Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
I agree. Early on I would spend hours in the stand morning & afternoon thinking I was going to get the opp at the big boy. Never once did I see that happen.
We will have temps in upper 80s today and on Wed they will drop to 60. Tempting ....
Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
Bassattackr
5 year old buck +
Been there, done that!
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
We’ve got a chance of rain every day for the next four days starting tomorrow morning. Really hoping we get a little something a couple of times this weekend. My Labor Day weekend plots are mostly dust right now. I grabbed a couple bags of Rye today and am headed out at first light tomorrow to do a little over seeding. Then I’ll hope the rains come. We’ve also got cooler temps coming for the next couple of weeks. Hopefully all of that combined jumpstarts the plots. I’d planned on a sit Saturday but we’ll see if it storms or not. As of now there’s a chance of scattered storms.
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
Spread an additional 100 lbs of rye today. To quote Bill from a couple years ago - it was just scorched earth out there. My plots were mostly dust. Hopefully I timed it right. Spread seed this morning. Two hours of light rain this afternoon with more predicted on The way tomorrow. It looks like cereal rye to the rescue. I’ve been pretty lucky with my plots and have never had a total failure. A pretty good drought a couple years ago was tough sledding for awhile but things worked out. Hopefully this year ends up just fine as well. I pulled camera cards today too. That was maybe the biggest positive for me. 35 acres and while the plots were dust I still have 11 different deer showing up. I think it’s because the LC mix has them coming to the plots pretty much year round. And our turkey population continues to grow. An area that I cleared this year and and let grow in natural vegetation is feeding deer too. So much good stuff learned on this sight is paying benefits even when the weather doesn’t cooperate. Here’s a few pics from today.
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
I haven’t updated this thread in a while. 2021 has been a strange season. Food plots struggled with late heat and no rain. Winter rye saved the day. I harvested three deer - nothing with antlers - two with my bow and one with my rifle. We’ve had a few bucks on camera but only at night. I may still hunt a little during Missouri’s alternative methods season but I also might not. I’m working a lot and Business is sort of getting back to normal but I’m in st Louis county and we still have a mask mandate so we’re still a little restricted. I’d hoped to be back up to full speed by now but our revenues are still down from when all the silliness began. It’s been nice to get out and hunt a little though and I’m happy with three deer again.
Since we bought the place in June of 2016 we’ve harvested 17 deer, and I’ve harvested 9 myself in the last three years including a couple decent bucks. Honestly we’ve had more success that I’d ever hoped. My goals haven’t changed, harvest a deer or two a year and have an occasional chance at a nice buck. Thanks to all the advice on here and hard work on our part that seems to be what we’ve been able to do. I feel very blessed.
This winter I hope to get some habitat work done again. I need to continue to work on bedding areas and thickening things up a bit. I’ve got a couple stands that we just don’t use much and that we’d not had much success from. I think I’m going to move those to take advantage of different wind conditions in other areas. After six seasons I’ve learned that the deer have certain habits and just as soon as you figure their patterns out they throw you a curve, but I’ve learned a lot and am getting to the point where I’m not making a lot of changes anymore, just enhancing and maintaining all that we’ve done.
Since we bought the place in June of 2016 we’ve harvested 17 deer, and I’ve harvested 9 myself in the last three years including a couple decent bucks. Honestly we’ve had more success that I’d ever hoped. My goals haven’t changed, harvest a deer or two a year and have an occasional chance at a nice buck. Thanks to all the advice on here and hard work on our part that seems to be what we’ve been able to do. I feel very blessed.
This winter I hope to get some habitat work done again. I need to continue to work on bedding areas and thickening things up a bit. I’ve got a couple stands that we just don’t use much and that we’d not had much success from. I think I’m going to move those to take advantage of different wind conditions in other areas. After six seasons I’ve learned that the deer have certain habits and just as soon as you figure their patterns out they throw you a curve, but I’ve learned a lot and am getting to the point where I’m not making a lot of changes anymore, just enhancing and maintaining all that we’ve done.
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
I went out yesterday and blew the leaves off of my logging road trails and picked up some firewood for back at home. The area I cleared last year really looks good And the deer are certainly in there, this will be the first full year of new growth so I’m hopeful it turns into a nice bedding area or at least a travel corridor.
I did some walking around and game planning for the habitat season.
I‘m going to make a few adjustments to things I’ve done in the past. I need to continue working on opening up my trails to a little more sunlight. I’m going to be a little more aggressive with my cuts this year and take out some trees that I should have dealt with before. It seems I always wish I’d cut a little more - but it’s hard to put back if you make a mistake And take too much.
I need to do a little driveway and campground work too. That doesn’t necessarly equate to habitat work but it needs to be done.
After five years of ownership and six hunting seasons Ive really got a good idea of what’s working and what’s not. I’m going to maybe move one stand and refine A couple of my plots but most of my work this year and probably next will be on thickening up some spots. There are a couple areas that seemed thick five years ago and now they’re opening up a little too much. I’ll probably drop a few trees and hinge cut some.
I’d like to maybe add a couple shooting houses of some sort for firearms season but that’s not a priority. As I’m getting older though it’d be nice to get out of the weather once in a while. For now, I still prefer to be in a tree and I have a couple pop ups that fill the need.
I did some walking around and game planning for the habitat season.
I‘m going to make a few adjustments to things I’ve done in the past. I need to continue working on opening up my trails to a little more sunlight. I’m going to be a little more aggressive with my cuts this year and take out some trees that I should have dealt with before. It seems I always wish I’d cut a little more - but it’s hard to put back if you make a mistake And take too much.
I need to do a little driveway and campground work too. That doesn’t necessarly equate to habitat work but it needs to be done.
After five years of ownership and six hunting seasons Ive really got a good idea of what’s working and what’s not. I’m going to maybe move one stand and refine A couple of my plots but most of my work this year and probably next will be on thickening up some spots. There are a couple areas that seemed thick five years ago and now they’re opening up a little too much. I’ll probably drop a few trees and hinge cut some.
I’d like to maybe add a couple shooting houses of some sort for firearms season but that’s not a priority. As I’m getting older though it’d be nice to get out of the weather once in a while. For now, I still prefer to be in a tree and I have a couple pop ups that fill the need.
Bill
Administrator
That’s on my list too. Not to old for an open stand and I do prefer them. But man it is nice to climb into a box and stay warm once in while. I’ve got a couple but want more.
4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
I have some of each, I prefer to be out in the elements, but I don’t like sitting in rain, or snow with my gun, or bow. And when temps drop below 0, or even when the wind chill drops below 0, I just sit in a heated stand just for comfort. If I am bow hunting, I don’t like sitting in box stands, it just feels wrong.
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
First batch of blooms on my pear trees this year. Two of my trees appear to have had quite a few blossoms. We had a couple frosts after this but I. Hopeful we’ll at least have our first pears this year. I guess time will tell but they looked pretty while it lasted.
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
I continued my process of expanding my food plots this weekend. I’ve added about 1/10 of an acre to two of my food plot areas and then widened one of my logging roads to about 30 feet wide for about 75 yards of the length of the plot. It’s not a lot of new area but it brings my total food Plot acreage to about 1.6 acres. I’ve got to blow off some leaves and do a little spraying yet - at the end of the month I hope to throw some buckwheat down and start developing the soil.
We’ve had such a late spring that most of the clover that I planted last year with my cereal grains has barely started to grow - so I’ve got a lot of weeds in my plots that I usually don’t have. Even the rye is barely a foot tall at this point. You can see it In the background.
We’ve had such a late spring that most of the clover that I planted last year with my cereal grains has barely started to grow - so I’ve got a lot of weeds in my plots that I usually don’t have. Even the rye is barely a foot tall at this point. You can see it In the background.
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
Had a large tree come down in all of our recent storms. It’s resting on the tree that has my most productive and most hunted out of stand. I’ll leave it alone for now and see if it comes down in its own. If it’s still hanging there later this summer I may have to put a chain around the base of it and give it a pull with the tractor. Glad I wasnt in the stand when it came down though!
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
And we’ve got antlers growing!
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
Took a trip out yesterday to put in some summer food plots. I expanded three of my plots a little this year to put a little more food out. The deer kept the eye mowed to less than an inch high all winter and spring. I disced in the rye and medium red clover on my harvest plots and then disced up the three expanded new areas. I broadcast about 130 lbs per acre of a 50/50 mix of cow peas and buckwheat. I’m sure the buckwheat will grow and the peas are just an experiment. I cultipacked everything after that.
We’ve had such a strange spring. Slow going all along and then really wet. The clover is just now starting to come on they’re plenty of clover on my place just in case the peas and buckwheat don’t do much. But again, I know the buckwheat will grow and there’s plenty of moisture in the soil right now.
I’ll post pictures when I get back out in a couple weeks
One fun note. I wasn’t out there ten minutes when I saw a doe and a very tiny fawn. It couldn’t have been more than a few days old. It stopped and looked back at me and then followed mom into the thick stuff.
We’ve had such a strange spring. Slow going all along and then really wet. The clover is just now starting to come on they’re plenty of clover on my place just in case the peas and buckwheat don’t do much. But again, I know the buckwheat will grow and there’s plenty of moisture in the soil right now.
I’ll post pictures when I get back out in a couple weeks
One fun note. I wasn’t out there ten minutes when I saw a doe and a very tiny fawn. It couldn’t have been more than a few days old. It stopped and looked back at me and then followed mom into the thick stuff.
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
For sure - there were some beds in the rye even in my small plots.
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
I went out today to spray my clover trails. I saw what I think was the same doe and fawn I saw last week. I re-seeded my clover trails last fall and it’s been slow coming in with this late spring. I expanded one of the trails into a 1/4 acre food plot and have dedicated two of the trails to just clover - although I’m sure I’ll overseed a little rye into the clover this fall like I do every year.
I sprayed butyrac 200 for broadleaves on them first and then did a second lap with sethoxydim with a surfactant to take care of the grass.
I sprayed butyrac 200 for broadleaves on them first and then did a second lap with sethoxydim with a surfactant to take care of the grass.
