Huge Work and Preparation Week.

This has been one long week of work trying to get everything ready for the 2014 deer season. I did my cutting and spraying a couple weeks ago, but this week I have been plowing and dragging two new plots for fall planting. It is Thursday evening and this is how they look. It is supposed to rain this weekend so seeds are going in the ground tomorrow evening.

This plot will be planted tomorrow with a brassica blend of turnips, sugar beets, and rape.

This plot will be planted tomorrow with crimson, red, and white clover, as well as forage oats.

Additionally, I have been setting up stands this week.

In total, there are four 15' ladder stands to go along with two Millenium M100 hanging stands.

Spring Food Plot Success

This guy seems to be enjoying what's left of the Spring Food Plot.

Archery Season Begins September 15th!!

Another Baby

First Fawn Sighting

It's not a very good picture, but we have our first official fawn sighting here at the Lodge.

Food Plots Are Growing Quite Well

Thanks to consistent rain in our region, this Spring food plot is coming along quite nicely. If you are looking for private ground for your bow hunt or muzzle loader hunt this year check us out at Williams Wilderness Lodge

Spring!!

This is why I love Spring.

Spring Food Plots Are Officially Planted

Well I expected to post this at least a week earlier than this, but spring turkey season booked up more than expected (it's a good thing) so the food plots went in a little late. Starting with an overgrown field was a lot of work. This is what my bottom field looked like two months ago.

It was a crazy winter and I wasn't sure if it was ever going to end. I don't think it started warming up until the middle of April. I decided the first time I laid eyes on the overhead of this property that this would be my prime food plot area.

Today I finished my groundwork and planted my spring deer crops.

Hopefully in a few weeks we will start to see some greenery popping up in this dirt. Because it was an overgrown field, I decided to plant a spring crop of mostly buckwheat to help with the soil quality for a subsequent fall planting this year. To compliment my buckwheat I planted cowpeas, grain sorghum, and a pinch of sunflowers. I plan to cut this in the fall and plant some combination of clover in the fall.

Map Of Current And Proposed Deer Management Techniques

I stayed home from the land today to get a short break from the 4am turkey hunting grind of the last three days. Being new to the sport of turkey hunting the gobblers have been teaching me many lessons and running me ragged. Even though I wasn't physically present there today my mind was still there, as I sat down and plotted current projects as well as future ones on an overhead map. The yellow ovals are food plot sites. The red rectangles are current deer stands and/or box blinds. The triangles are proposed future stands. The blue blobs are current mineral sites.

A New Resident On The Property

I was wondering how long it would take before I had a bobcat running around.

The Harvest is Plentiful, But The Laborers Few.

Spring Turkey Hunters need to book here. We are in full strut!!

A Little Work At The Pond Today

I decided it was time to confirm whether the "stocked" pond that came with the property actually was. I was pleasantly surprised to get my answer. Caught this 10 inch little guy and then after snapping this photo I caught a 13 inch largemouth on the next cast. Now I just have to fatten these guys up a little more. I might have to stock a bunch of minnows in the pond.

Visitors On The Pond

The best form of therapy for a stressed or tired soul is a day at the lodge...even this couple knows that.

The Turkeys Are Invading!!

TURKEYS!!!!

We are building for a great Spring Turkey Season, as I am now getting more trail camera pictures of the gobblers than I am the deer.

1HP Motor

Post by KNNC.

Gone To The Birds

These guys are getting ready for Spring Turkey Season (April 21-May 11). Are you??

Food Plot....If Winter Ever Ends

Future home of buckwheat, soybeans, cowpeas, sunflower, and sorghum...if we ever have a Spring.

Gobblers

These birds are moving in for Spring Turkey Season (21 April-11 May)

Hinge Cutting of Cedars

With the warmer weather finally arriving (hopefully) I decided to bust out the chainsaw and do a little hinge cutting on a grove of cedars I noticed during the winter. This should create better cover and encourage deer bedding, as well as better habitat for the rabbits and maybe even some quail.

Work Day Reverts To Plan B

The temperature was to get up into the high 30's on Thursday, and to anyone who lives in the midwest you know that would be balmy for this winter, which has seemed to spend more time in the negatives than in the positives. This had me excited to actually get a little outdoor work done in the form of hinge cutting some cedars to create better bedding cover for wildlife, as well as getting my post hole digger running.

Upon arriving to the property I quickly discovered that was not to be, as my chainsaw quickly let me know it was boss by refusing to run. My post hole digger also let me know it would not be working by displaying worn out cracked fuel lines. However, being new to this land management gig there is always other work to do so I set out to have a productive day anyway. I hopped on the quad and took a ride down to the box blind, which is in desperate need of repairs before the upcoming season. I headed back to the shop and did a little carpentry work to produce a new floor for the two man blind. I then realized that I will soon need to transport a tractor from my brother-in-law's place to the property for spring food plot planting, and decided it might be time to ensure the trailer is in working order. After some airing of tires that was complete. It was now time to reward myself with a cigar break.

The final task of the day was to tour the land and check trail cameras. This was truly the pleasant surprise of the day. I checked trail camera #1, which hadn't had much action since deer season ended and it had 26 pictures, mostly of a doe and two yearlings that I get numerous pictures of all over the property. Then I checked camera #2, which said it had taken 110 pictures. Upon seeing this, I was a bit annoyed, figuring the cold weather had caused my camera to malfunction and take a photo every 12 seconds of nothing for a while (anyone with trail cams is aware of this extreme cold weather effect on the cameras at times).

Upon arriving home, I popped the sd card in my laptop and was pleasantly surprised that all of these pictures were legit, and that many displayed a dozen or more deer at a time in the pics. It looks like the herds are recovering quite well from two years of drought and a rough winter. 

Spring Food Plot

As I sit in the house looking out over the frozen tundra that has become of Northern Missouri this winter. I cannot stop researching spring food plots to plant. It seems with every article I read I change my mind on what I will plant. I have gone from clover to grain sorghum to an acre of buckwheat, but have finally decided on a mix of buckwheat to help with my fall plot along with a mix of other goodies to better feed and attract the deer prior to a fall clover mix.

50% SOYBEANS

35% COWPEAS

5% SUNFLOWERS

5% BUCKWHEAT

5% SORGHUM Opinions??

Winter Is Getting Old

Certainly I am not the only one who has grown tired of winter. Couple that with how antsy I am to break ground, plant some food plots, and do some timber stand improvement, and I am about to lose it stuck in this house.

Early Most Wanted List for 2014

This was the first trail camera I set up, and having no prior experience with trail cameras I was just a bit off on the height for this first pic. It's unfortunate, as I would have really liked to see the buck under that rack.