Leaning Forward; 2021-2022 Season

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Chuck R.

Chuck R.

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Jan 23, 2005
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5,174
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Leavenworth, KS
With the 2020-2021 season winding down what are your projects in prep for this coming year?

I'm still looking for squirrels and coyotes, also a pig hunt towards the end of the month. I'm also prepping for next year.

I'm working on some habitat improvement. My acreage is small at 80 acres and is "multi-functional" due to my range and 2 ponds (one is 9 acres) that get used heavily for retriever training. I'm also surrounded by open ground with neighbors that hunt. Bottom line is while I've taken a couple decent bucks from my back yard, it's not the norm. My land isn't my primary hunting area anyway, but I'm determined to improve what I have in case I lose access to my other areas.

So I'm clearing a small buck bedding area now and prepping to plant more trees (fruit, oaks & chestnuts). I'm growing persimmons and oaks in my basement now from seeds/acorns to plant this spring. I've also got 25 Chinkapin oaks on order from the state of KS and another 4 apple trees for my deer engagement area.

On the equipment side, I'm working towards my goal of creating; "Chuck's version of the ultimate eastern KS stand gun that's sometimes used for still hunting in western KS". At the end of the month I'm sending my Rem M7 in .260 Rem off to Pac-Nor to have it re-barreled in either .260Rem (again) or .260AI. I'm sticking with the 20" length, but a heavier barrel and having it fluted to hopefully keep the package at approximately the same weight. The rifle is shooting well accuracy wise, but it fouls so badly it's a PITA to clean, which means I don't shoot it as often as I should. Once it's back (16weeks) I'll look at replacing the HS Prec stock with either a McMillon or a Manners. The HS is fine for the Ultimate Eastern Stand Gun, but a little weighty for the still hunting in western KS task.

Also for 2021-TBD I've been invited by an old work friend that retired to join him in hunting a 500 acre spread that he's hunted for years and taken some very, very, nice 10pt or better bucks from. The cost is going to be helping to build a small bridge and a couple more box blinds.

So, what's your upcoming preps?
 
Heavy snow during the season helped show some heavily traveled trails deer were using we weren't aware of. May add another stand or two to cover those areas. Probably add a couple more cameras and reposition some others. Might even upgrade an ATV.
 
My peeps are always the same. Find a decent spot away from everyone else. Preferably private land. Keep the kids practicing as well as myself. Took up archery this year. Been 2 decades since ive shot. Teach my son how to handle a bow. Also to keep fattening up the neighborhood squirrel population.
 
I’m hoping to build a cabin. At the very least I’ll build an elevated shooting house and plant some fruit trees. That’s more for a few years from now than next year, though.
 
I have reluctantly put the wheels in motion to get my cabin on wheels back to my timber property.
Phase one is selling and cutting sixty white oak trees. I cruised and marked trees about a month ago, and got two separate estimates. White oak lumber is high right now, so i pulled the trigger on a sale. I hate seeing those big old oaks go, but i really hate seeing them die and fall to rot on the ground. 2/10/21
20210210_152508.jpg 20210210_152833.jpg 20210210_152827.jpg
Next is installation of three or four culverts to allow crossing the drainage on the property. I supplied the culverts and the logger has agreed to install them on the skidded trails.

Then we will groom the skidder trails to provide easy access and comfortable travel for my family with our atvs, utvs, jeeps, and horses. I may even hike on them on my hind legs occasionally. ;)

Then I will choose a spot and park my cabin, hook up a simple drain, get the solar panels pointed southerly.
I hope to be ready to hunt in comfort and style by fall of 2021.

This is the only pic I could find of my new blind/cabin. A windstorm had blown it out in the field and on its side.:fire::cuss:

20200409_122612.jpg I'll get a better pic up soon.

Anywayyyyyyyy.......thats what I'm doing for 2021 deer season!
 
loose some weight, and get back in shape(not roundy!) so walking around trying to kill stuff doesn't kill ME......Need to get the smashed up front end on my truck worked out.
guess I need to get back into shooting my bows again also. I can still hit what I point them at, well at shortish range, but I have to draw and shoot now, even my 55s a too heavy to hold for any length of time....fat, lazy, slow.....frustrating.....
 
Armored farmer said:
I have reluctantly put the wheels in motion to get my cabin on wheels back to my timber property.
Phase one is selling and cutting sixty white oak trees. I cruised and marked trees about a month ago, and got two separate estimates. White oak lumber is high right now, so i pulled the trigger on a sale. I hate seeing those big old oaks go, but i really hate seeing them die and fall to rot on the ground. 2/10/21
View attachment 977094 View attachment 977095 View attachment 977096
Next is installation of three or four culverts to allow crossing the drainage on the property. I supplied the culverts and the logger has agreed to install them on the skidded trails.

Then we will groom the skidder trails to provide easy access and comfortable travel for my family with our atvs, utvs, jeeps, and horses. I may even hike on them on my hind legs occasionally. ;)

Then I will choose a spot and park my cabin, hook up a simple drain, get the solar panels pointed southerly.
I hope to be ready to hunt in comfort and style by fall of 2021.

This is the only pic I could find of my new blind/cabin. A windstorm had blown it out in the field and on its side.:fire::cuss:

View attachment 977100I'll get a better pic up soon.

Anywayyyyyyyy.......thats what I'm doing for 2021 deer season!
Click to expand...
Great use of a old wagon frame, I'd love something like that but would have to be on skids or take the wheels off. Tho I would need the property first.
 
LoonWulf said:
loose some weight, and get back in shape(not roundy!) so walking around trying to kill stuff doesn't kill ME......Need to get the smashed up front end on my truck worked out.
guess I need to get back into shooting my bows again also. I can still hit what I point them at, well at shortish range, but I have to draw and shoot now, even my 55s a too heavy to hold for any length of time....fat, lazy, slow.....frustrating.....
Click to expand...
shame were so far apart would be nice to get out and loose this weight, difficult by my self.
 
Been clearing shooting lanes till the snow got deep and the weather turned brutal. End of the month or early March will frost seed several small food plots with clover and chicory. They were Forage Soybeans, Winter Peas and Buck Oats last fall, with the winter die back of the beans and peas the ground will be open enough for good seed contact and the Oats will come back this spring and make for a good cover crop to reduce weeds. Turkey season is only two months away so I need to check my calls and start practicing. Come spring I have a coupla spots for new stands and some old food plots that I need to figure out if I will spring plant or wait till fall. Firewood needs to be cut in there someplace too.
 
earlthegoat2 said:
I am trying to buy 30 acres of pine land that I plan to develop a little into a better deer hangout area. Need to close on it first and the close date was last Monday. Lots of complications so we will see how that goes.
Click to expand...

I've also looked at getting more acreage. I'd love to get the 40 behind me as that ties into a large wooded section and that would alleviate (a bit) the deer crossing open ground to get to me. Right now our prices (maybe everybody's) are pretty high due to COVID and raw land around me us up to $6K per acre. It kinda of makes for pretty expensive venison, and honestly that's be my only use for the land. I've observed my neighbor's farming and cattle activities and it really looks like work :eek:. One truly intriguing fact right now is that interest rates are low, but it would also take me some time/money to make improvements. IF my son was really, really, into hunting I'd probably pull the trigger as it would be left to him and possibly grandkids.

So my new "plan" is to work on what I have, take the money a would have spent on interest and do one guided hunt per year that I wouldn't normally do. 2022 will be antelope in WY, 2023 will be elk & mule deer again in WY. After that I may try for a moose, by then I'll start reviewing health/physical ability VS. the game/location. Luckily I've got some guys that I served with at one point or another with the same interests.
 
LoonWulf said:
loose some weight, and get back in shape(not roundy!) so walking around trying to kill stuff doesn't kill ME......Need to get the smashed up front end on my truck worked out.
guess I need to get back into shooting my bows again also. I can still hit what I point them at, well at shortish range, but I have to draw and shoot now, even my 55s a too heavy to hold for any length of time....fat, lazy, slow.....frustrating.....
Click to expand...
I'm there too, Bro. I had to drop my Mission down from 70# to 55# this year. I took a buck and a doe with it, but I think that it cost me a buck. I tried some mechanical broadheads this year, hit a buck on the shoulder and didn't get much penetration. Trailed him 200+ yards but never found him. Never saw him again on camera either. Went back to Muzzy and shot through both shoulders of another buck.

My legs and lungs are in pretty good shape but my upper body strength is gone. Need to get back in the gym.
 
Quick update since the original post:

Drew in for WY Antelope, will be heading out with a couple friends for a hunt the last weekend in SEP.

Planted a total of 65 trees this spring, all of which are still alive! 42 oaks, 5 chestnut, 4 apples, 9 persimmons, and 5 spruce for screening. Note, trees are cheap, tubes, weed mats, and fencing are not. Also don't plant more than you're willing to keep watered. I've put together a watering system for the back of my tractor with a PTO pump and I draw water from my pond, but it's still about 3hrs a week to make the rounds.

Rem M7 re-barreling is still in wait mode as is the Manners stock. The new Leupold VX3i 2.5-8x CDS is sitting in it's box waiting.
 
I could update my post about getting my cabin back to the woods....
Last March I sold 60 mature White Oak trees. They were in the general area where I wanted my cabin/deer blind. Now I not only have a nice clearing for the cabin, but also have some skidder trails to access the property and use to get the blind in place. We also hope to do some trail work for ATV and horses to use as well as game. We have culverts in the drainages.
 
I started to feed our local squirrel population. Fattening them up. Also attracting more for dinner. Also bought a Henry lever action 22 so I can pop them with cb caps. Seen some decent sized ones.
 
Mowed trails through the timber and CRP. Usually do it twice before deer season, once in June and again around Labor Day.

Found deer are just like people, they'll take a nice clear path to follow if it's available.....helps them get in the habit of going by certain stands.

IMG_20160814_150925602(2).jpg
 
Meeks36 said:
I started to feed our local squirrel population. Fattening them up. Also attracting more for dinner. Also bought a Henry lever action 22 so I can pop them with cb caps. Seen some decent sized ones.
Click to expand...

And I thought I was the only one doing that!

When we 1st bought our 80 acres, I noticed a squirrel "gap", so I put in a few nesting boxes to help them along. Now in the winter I also run 2 "squirrel" feeders close to the house (re-purposed deer feeders). The population has increased and I can hunt them without putting much of a dent in the numbers. Best part is the little guys are constantly losing acorns, so now I've got oaks springing up where there's no other oaks near by.
 
Rembrandt said:
Found deer are just like people, they'll take a nice clear path to follow if it's available.....helps them get in the habit of going by certain stands.
Click to expand...

I've found that is true also, and if one leaves the surrounding growth thick and heavy, you can redirect them slightly. Wish I had a setup like yours, I'm using a walk behind brush hog or a commercial string trimmer to make my paths in those spots too steep or narrow for the tractor. But it occupies my time and gives me somethin' to look forward to. I find myself telling myself "I need to do this different next year.", but then wonder just how many "next years" I have left.

....anyway, the frost seeded clover and chicory are comin' in nicely, but the dang deer have already eaten all the clay peas outta the summer plots. Might have to till up some of it and replant in late August.
 
I have been tending trail cams and set up a mineral lick in Apr. Lots of deer activity and no hogs or yotes yet. Found a spot for a stand but will probably hunt from a climber this year before putting down something even semi-permanent.
 
Rembrandt said:
Found deer are just like people, they'll take a nice clear path to follow if it's available.....helps them get in the habit of going by certain stands.
Click to expand...

I've observed the same, they're also somewhat curious. I once just bush-hogged a short loop in my woods across from my stand and watched 4 does handrail down the wood-line, come to the trail, take it, follow the loop, exit and continue to handrail down the wood-line. I've now mowed a diagonal trail in front of my box blind coming from my feeder/orchard and leading to a corn plot. Once we get closer to the season I'll run a disc over it a couple times to spur some new growth. That should have them browsing broadside at about 70 yards.
 
On the deer using trails, they are pretty easy to funnel. For years we have had fields where it is used for hay that year and not cows and we can tie the top two and bottom two strands of a 4 wire fence together and the deer go through. Or loosen the top stand and pull it down and they jump it there.

Years back the deer crossed an active fence we couldn't change without letting cows escape. So we got some cheap furring strips and cut 18" long and nailed to every post over a length. Ran white cotton string over the top of them down the fence except for a 20 yards spot and it funneled he deer all to jump in that one area.

Also discovered if I cut a trail to my deer stand through rose or thick stuff the deer would follow through it also.
 
Several things, for me mainly on the equipment front. I just finished having a .243 put together on a Savage 110 action, topped it with a Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9x40. Shoots .379 w/ factory Federal 100gr so now I'm going to be working up a couple handloads. Thinking of a 60gr load for 'yotes, and one 85 gr load for "all comers". Also working up a better 150gr load for the old 30-30. Snagged a pair of Leupold binos on sale early spring, and a Bushnell rangefinder at the pawnshop too. Trying to upgrade my optics to all Leupold, but that's proving difficult and expensive. Picked up an old Winchester 1400 from Dad, so I can keep up with the guys on the dove field this year; old double barrel wouldn't quite hold her own with the auto boys. And speaking of dove, have been working on putting a plot in for them down the far end of the bottom. Nothing big or fancy, just a bit of sunflowers and milo. And, it's right near a creek. A friend of mine and I are talking about getting back into coyote calling, so I'm looking at getting another call. Foxpro probably, but not decided yet. I'm also looking into upgrading my processing equipment. The old hand-crank meat grinder just ain't gettin' it anymore!

Maybe the biggest thing I'm working on, is my dog. Sam is a Mtn. Cur, and shows a lot of interest in squirrels and other furry things that like to go up trees. She keeps all the varmints down around the house, but hasn't spent a lot of time in the woods. Hopefully we'll be able to get into the woods more this fall/winter and get her treeing good. Since there aren't a lot of quail around anymore, I've given squirrel hunting the majority of my woods time. Deer and turkey never have interested me that much, but small game always has. With all that said, I'm looking at building another blind down in the hayfield, and another stand in the woodlot to use as a "30-30 stand". Lot of work to do yet, but I'm sure I'll find the time after we get the hay up and the last of the corn cultivated.

Mac
 
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