springs here.. kinda.. whats the plan?

[beeker]

well spring is kinda here.. i'm itchin to get out to the old deer camp and see how the shack weathered.. what are the plans this year men? what do you plan on doing to the deer property? food plots? stands? trails? bridges? ...  lets discuss..

we have another bridge to replace this year.. top of the list..

found a new place for a permanent stand.. plan on building one using those metal brackets fleet farm has.

2 food plots are being expanded.. and one new one.. these aren't monster plots just natural openings that we mow and plant.

going to open up our "shooting range" just a natural area that slopes down to the swamp. going to mow shooting lanes and make a bench.. built a deck last year to shoot from.. kids love it.. we shoot pistols.. 22's.. shotguns at clays.. very fun. would like to get a 100 yard target for rifles.

still haven't pounded in a sand point.. that's been on the list for years..

What's on your list?

[Go Big Red!]

1. Hang trail cams
2. Slash and cut shooting lanes
3. Permanent stand in current ladder stand location
4. Move ladder stand

[dakids]

Get a brush mower and make the food plot bigger. 
clear a few more shooting lanes.
Move a few ladder stands.
Add a few new ladder stands. 
Hack and squirt a lot of iron wood.
Plant 20 more fruit trees and cage them.

[beeker]

dakids.. what kind of fruit tree stock are you buying? bareroot? you mentions some "tube" stock one time? or are you going to buy the 6 footers from fleetfarm/nursery? you find any deals on trees or pestacide.. post it please.

I'm thinking a few more fleetfarm types... something a few years old that I can cage off right away.

I also got a few new moltrie game cameras with the solar packs for christmas.. so I'm planning to get those out this spring..

red what kind of permanent you building? I picked up a older alunimum ladder at a yad sale last fall and plan to use that for my stand.

[dakids]

Last year I planted 10 2" american wild plum and 10 2" Dolgo crabapple.  The plums will sucker a lot so we will not be able to spray under them after this spring so we will mulch them more.  P gravel 6" around bases to stop mice.  The dolgos are one of the most prolific producers of fruit.  Both varieties are very cold hardy.  zone 3 I think.   My friend is a landscaper and has already got mine in pots and ready to put under his drip erigation system until fall.  Great way to ensure the bare root trees live the first year.  I work off the bill for the trees.  I was thinking about adding some pears this year as well as whitney crabs to extend the fruit drop.  Also looking into some other varieties of smaller crab apples for the grouse during the winter  .

Last year we planted 5 hundred differant eldiberry, plum, naniberries.  We didn't have enough room inside the fenced area and the deer hammered them.  Hopefully a few will servive this year.  ALL of the big trees that I planted last year were caged.  I planted them on a saturday and before I could cage them on sunday. One of them was attacked by an angry buck. 

I would get your cams out in your back yard or kitchen to test them.  I've had great luck(knock on wood) with moultries but the primos blackout that I won last fall is the worst piece of crap I've ever owned.  I'm on my 3rd differant cam.  The cam was free but I've had to pay shipping 2 times and burned up 24 AA batteries.

Hear is a pic of one of our perm stands.

[ray634]

I am rebuilding a 4x4 permanent on the front field.
Moving 6x6 permanent to a spot on the back field that can be accessed from the woods instead of across the field.
Replanting the back field to clover, with a sorghum patch near by.
Maybe plant sugar beets in the hole off the front field.
Got 25 high bush cranberries from NWTF to get started.
Maple syrup will start any day now!
When the ice is gone, get back to hauling in blow downs from last year.

Oh yeah, work in a trip to New Mexico to see the new grandson , and celebrate his sisters birthdays. 
Is it July 4th yet?

[beeker]

dolgos??? i honestly never heard of em.. will have to check em out.. thanks for the tip.

ray 634... make sure you highbrush crans have plenty of sun.. i have a patch.. the ones in direct afternoon sun are 10x's the ones that are in the shade.. even had some cransberries on em last year..

was looking at fleet farm at their "food pot seeds"... I usually pick my stuff up at the local mill but was thinking i may give one of those a shot. on one of the new plots were doing.. I usually try something new.. don't want an entire plot full of turnips..

[Go Big Red!]

dakids.. what kind of fruit tree stock are you buying? bareroot? you mentions some "tube" stock one time? or are you going to buy the 6 footers from fleetfarm/nursery? you find any deals on trees or pestacide.. post it please.

I'm thinking a few more fleetfarm types... something a few years old that I can cage off right away.

I also got a few new moltrie game cameras with the solar packs for christmas.. so I'm planning to get those out this spring..

red what kind of permanent you building? I picked up a older alunimum ladder at a yad sale last fall and plan to use that for my stand.

Thinking a simple enclosed box with ladder access and enough room to move and be somewhat comfortable.  Something with a bit more room since my oldest boy went deer hunting with me to Wisconsin last fall.

[beeker]

got my first view of the land to see how it "wintered".. no surprises which is good.. my biggest concern is always the road to the shack.. some water standing on it but the old dodge plowed through it ok.. no sinking in the mud.. we spent a summer dumping river rock on the bad spots.. seems to have fixed it. the bridge we built last year was a concern to see how it wintered.. the footings survived very good.. we used 50gallon drums cut in half with some 4"rebar pounded through the bottoms and then filled em with rocks and sack-crete.. they didn't move an inch and with me standing on the bridge jumping above em I couldn't get a ripple to come from em.. think we got it

[HD]

Do you have pictures of these footings, I think I may have a use for them. 

[beeker]

i'll take a look and see if I have any pics of em.. if not i'll take some of the bridge next time i'm up at the land.

[deadeye]

Man, you guys have a lot of ambitious projects for this year.  Being last year my plots failed miserably, I plan to replant this year.  Also, my son and my uncle want to plant a 3-4 acre corn patch.  Not sure of the logistics yet, but I did order the seed. My brother in law ordered another 6-8 hundred trees so I will be assisting in the planting.  No major trail making or mods planned for this year.  I have a couple spots that I plan to put up ladder stands.  No new permanents planned.  We are slowly making plans to have some areas clear cut.  I have some rather large areas that were clear cut about 24 yeas ago and are now mostly covered by aspen re-gen. These trees are now 6-8  inches thick and now prevent much of the under story growth.  I would like to patch cut 3-4 acre areas to eventually have a much more divers age in the trees.  It's hard to get a logger interested in this as it would require taking smaller trees than they would like to.  Anyone know a central MN logger who would be interested in this proposition?       

[MTCOMMER]

I have to get up to the land here in a few weeks before the green starts coming through.  I am going to hang 2 stands, and clear some lanes.  I also need to mow down some of the brush (that is going to be a task)
and then its going to be time to plant another 3 acres of beans and 3 acres of corn in the middle of our land, as well as, we may plant another few acres of miscellaneous stuff around another one of our stands, there is a field that is mostly dirt.  I think another food source will be great for the pheasants and deer.
Hopefully the long winter didn't take down the pheasant population.  We will know shortly though.

[beeker]

mtcommer.. speaking of pheasants.. I think I saw as many pheasants on my trip to my land (east of milacs) as I did deer.. and pheasants are to common around there.. so maybe they did ok.. or they're migrating.. 

[MTCOMMER]

mtcommer.. speaking of pheasants.. I think I saw as many pheasants on my trip to my land (east of milacs) as I did deer.. and pheasants are to common around there.. so maybe they did ok.. or they're migrating.. 

That is great news!  I was a little worried about the extended winter.  Lets hope the population was spared all across the state.   

[glenn57]

Man, you guys have a lot of ambitious projects for this year.  Being last year my plots failed miserably, I plan to replant this year.  Also, my son and my uncle want to plant a 3-4 acre corn patch.  Not sure of the logistics yet, but I did order the seed. My brother in law ordered another 6-8 hundred trees so I will be assisting in the planting.  No major trail making or mods planned for this year.  I have a couple spots that I plan to put up ladder stands.  No new permanents planned.  We are slowly making plans to have some areas clear cut.  I have some rather large areas that were clear cut about 24 yeas ago and are now mostly covered by aspen re-gen. These trees are now 6-8  inches thick and now prevent much of the under story growth.  I would like to patch cut 3-4 acre areas to eventually have a much more divers age in the trees.  It's hard to get a logger interested in this as it would require taking smaller trees than they would like to.  Anyone know a central MN logger who would be interested in this proposition?       

deadeye, not sure about central mn loggers but up north where we have our cabin we looked into getting our 6 3/4 acres logged off because of all the old trees and we have been told thats not a big enough area for a logger to make it worth his while??????

[ray634]

While 6 acres may seem like a large area to landowners, by the time a logger moves his equipment in he may not have room to turn around.
My suggestion would be to have someone that needs firewood cut it off.
The other option would be to get together with some neighbors and get enough land to clear to make it worth while.

The 6-8 inch aspen would be a different story. At 24 years the stand is about 1/2 grown. It is hard to find a use for this size wood especially with paper/pulp production being way down. You may have to give the wood away to get it cut if it is hard to get at. Maybe with the heavy snow from this winter it will be easier to get it cut.

[glenn57]

i hear what your saying ray634, even the small 1-2 man logging operators are contracted up with bigger logging outfits.