iowabob85

I just have to say that this team is simply amazing. Last year it was a runaway and this year you guys are right back in the thick of it again. Kudos to the Autumn Assassins for consistently getting the job done.

huntingson

I hope that all is well fellas. Sorry I have not been around.Gun season just ended here and the weather was horrible for it. I don't know for sure, but I would guess that the kill #'s are way down from last year. Hopefully we will get a few nice buckson the trail cams so we can know that they are around, but we shall see. I hope Dennis iswrapping hishands around the 5" circumference main beams of his monster right about now, and since it is inching ever closer to the late rut for the southerners, LTK is about to take one down as well. Then, Ron andJesters bucks will just be icing on the cake

Seriously, we are by no means out of the race. We are 122 out of first. Hell, with some of the bucks around Dennis, he could shoot a one-sided buck that scores that. Go get them gentlemen!!!

Beagle001

agreed

drhntr178

Im leaving this afternoon. Hunting till friday in a spot I havent touched this season. Last year my buddy killed a 149" the first day. Its my turn this year. Ill be back friday afternoon with the results, and maybe even a score.

Germ

Good to hear from you again, I was just going to call

Wheatley

Good luck Dennis and everyone else. I will be hunting with a long bow this weekend or a ML.

Beagle001

well ill be going out yet for some more does, and just to see what i see. me and my buddy Paul, huntwi88, are gonna try and get one or two or three or more on camera so that should be fun...
other than that the five of you that havent got one yet, GET ONE!!!! lol
anyone heard from Berwindale lately? talk to us bud

huntingson

Sounds like fun Beagle, I hope you all are able to take a few.

We got our first snow of the year this morning. Driving out there were already numerous deer tracks crossing the gravel lane in all their normal spots. It should be interesting to get out this weekend on the lease and do some real scouting. I love scouting after a snow. It is amazing what you can learn.

Also, this Friday I am having a DOWbiologist come out and we are going to walk my farm and she is going to help me lay out a plan for wildlife habitat growth/management as well as help me find state and federal funds to hlep pay for it all. I am pretty excited about it really. My #1 goal is to make my farm a mecca for not only deer but turkey, grouse, pheasants, rabbits, and pretty much anything else native to the area. I also want to get the deer concentration up from where it is (about 1deer:15 acres) to somewhere around 1:7.5 or 1:10 (minimum). I don't know if that goal is realistic due to surrounding hunting pressure, but I figure I might as well give it a try.

Well, sorry if I bored you. I don't really have anyone to talk to this stuff about other than on here.

Wheatley

We like hearing it Jim so just keep talking away. I wish I had a farm that I could do that on. I would love to live out of town and be able to have enough land to hunt on. One of these days maybe.

MNpurple

Hey Jim, sounds like we have very similiar plans. Starting over Christmas my dad and I our beginning to do some real management work on the family property. We have plans for timberstand improvment, food plots, water, amonst other things. There are alot of poplar/aspen/ironwood that need to be thinned out. A couple of years ago we began selectively opening small areas of the woods up to allow sunlight to hit the forest floor and I am so amazed at the number of young oak trees that have sprouted and taken off just with the addition of light. We have the same approach as you with wanting to manage for multiple species, not just deer. One think we have been very succesful with is dropping the large mature poplar trees. If you kill them rather than letting them die on their own and provide the floor with sulight, the amount of root suckering that takes place is amazing. These thick little stands of poplar are great for the grouse. This year we are going to be planting all the logging roads in clover for the deer but grouse love the clover too. Its only 80 acres right now, but I tell you, it is so much fun planning and acting and then seeing the results.

We know how we want to improve the timber and habitat but the food plots are a different story as there are so many options and you dont want to be wasting money. I;m n the process now of looking at what the many companies offer and reading reviews on their products.There are beans, corn and alfalfa all over so we want to plant things that are different and the deer can only find here.

One of the neatest ideas I have read so far is about creating your very own sheltered watering holes. I have read about guys having success burying a kiddie pool (the 6 foot wide kind) in some sort of drainage so it naturally fills up with water, and hold water giving the deer and other a small, secure place to drink. Apparently the scummy, stagnant water is not a deterrent to them.

Good luck to you and share any ideas you have.