2022-2023 Hunting Preps

[Chuck R.]

Congrats! There's nothing I like more than finding and cleaning up "free" oak trees!

What kind?? Most of the "volunteers" I've found on my place are Chinkapins and Pin Oaks. It happens the same way on my place and I too believe it's the squirrels. The Chinkapins bear acorn surprisingly fast.

 

[BigBlue 94]

Congrats! There's nothing I like more than finding and cleaning up "free" oak trees!

What kind?? Most of the "volunteers" I've found on my place are Chinkapins and Pin Oaks. It happens the same way on my place and I too believe it's the squirrels. The Chinkapins bear acorn surprisingly fast.

I have zero clue. Leaves are of the long smooth sawtooth variety and the few acorns i saw were of the normal shape. Ill have to do some research.

The house i grew up in is about a mile NE of the current place. It was on a small 40 acre watershed that used to be a rock quarry in the first half of the 1900s. We had a bunch of mature oaks of many types. Some were 3 to 4 feet in diameter. One of them would have the long black acorns harvested by my dads buddy who has spent 50 years working at a nursery. Unfortunately that tree died after we put in a new lateral field.

Have you ever been down south to Toronto and seen the ancient post and blackjack oaks? A few were around in 1776. Pretty cool to see in winter and summer.

 

[Chuck R.]

I have zero clue. Leaves are of the long smooth sawtooth variety and the few acorns i saw were of the normal shape. Ill have to do some research.

The house i grew up in is about a mile NE of the current place. It was on a small 40 acre watershed that used to be a rock quarry in the first half of the 1900s. We had a bunch of mature oaks of many types. Some were 3 to 4 feet in diameter. One of them would have the long black acorns harvested by my dads buddy who has spent 50 years working at a nursery. Unfortunately that tree died after we put in a new lateral field.

Have you ever been down south to Toronto and seen the ancient post and blackjack oaks? A few were around in 1776. Pretty cool to see in winter and summer.

Nope haven't seen a Blackjack. On post we have a bunch of magnificent Burr Oak and I've been starting them from Acors and planting. Problem is they'll produce in about 30 years or so.

Most of what I see growing wild are Pins, Northern Reds and Chinkapins. The Northern Reds look like pins till you count the lobes.

Chinkapin:



Looks similar to a sawtooth (Chinese oak, non-native), but wider:




Long and slender could be a Shingle Oak, they're native, but I've yet to find one:




Pin Oak:



or Northern Read Oak, which is native to the northern 1/3rd of KS:

 

[BigBlue 94]

Nope haven't seen a Blackjack. On post we have a bunch of magnificent Burr Oak and I've been starting them from Acors and planting. Problem is they'll produce in about 30 years or so.

Most of what I see growing wild are Pins, Northern Reds and Chinkapins. The Northern Reds look like pins till you count the lobes.

Chinkapin:

View attachment 1103071

Looks similar to a sawtooth (Chinese oak, non-native), but wider:

View attachment 1103072


Long and slender could be a Shingle Oak, they're native, but I've yet to find one:

View attachment 1103073


Pin Oak:

View attachment 1103074

or Northern Read Oak, which is native to the northern 1/3rd of KS:

View attachment 1103075

They are indeed chinkapin oaks. I walked down there just now. I easily saw 100 acorns without actually looking for them and countless trees, a couple were over 15 ft tall back in the woods farther. Gonna harvest a few of the ripe acorns and move them farther back on the property. So stoked! The deer are gonna love me haha

 

[BigBlue 94]

And yeah, the posts and blackjacks are really really slow growers. Some of the 100 year old ones down at Cross Timbers in Toronto are barely a foot in diameter.

 

[Chuck R.]

And yeah, the posts and blackjacks are really really slow growers. Some of the 100 year old ones down at Cross Timbers in Toronto are barely a foot in diameter.

Yup Chinkapins!!

Mine produce a lot and every year! Besides deer, the turkeys love them too.

 

[BigBlue 94]

Yup Chinkapins!!

Mine produce a lot and every year! Besides deer, the turkeys love them too.

Turkeys eat acorns? Did not know that lol. Got lots of them around.

 

[Chuck R.]

Turkeys eat acorns? Did not know that lol. Got lots of them around.

Yup!

Oak trees should also be on the top of your list with white oak and red oak trees, in particular, proving to be effective at attracting turkeys. Oak trees are known to produce plenty of acorns in the autumn, and with acorns making up a large percentage of the average turkey’s diet in the fall, you will probably see a spike in turkey activity if you have oaks on your property.

https://blog.coldstreamfarm.net/what-types-of-plants-attract-turkeys/

https://www.realtree.com/food-plots...at-will-hold-turkeys-on-your-hunting-property

 

[BigBlue 94]

Yup!



https://blog.coldstreamfarm.net/what-types-of-plants-attract-turkeys/

https://www.realtree.com/food-plots...at-will-hold-turkeys-on-your-hunting-property

Not sure i need more Turkeys... Lol

Skip to about the 45 second mark

 

[27hand]

I got to the range today.
Finished tweaking 3 scopes at 100 yards so, the 30-30, .44 mag, 760 pimp in .06,National Ordnance 1903A3, Tikka. 300 WM and Rem 700 in 7mm mag are all set.

Our early archery in the special regs area opens tomorrow.

I had my Ten Point FX4 fitted with a new cable and it was hitting about 4 or 5 inches low off hand.

I took a table and chair, zeroed at 20 and moved progressively to 30 thru 50 yards.

That thing is amazingly accurate even at 50.
Furthest shot for me was 32 yards last year.

Now. Revolvers need to be run.

 

[Chuck R.]

This morning the wind was up, so that means practice!

Varying 8-10, so I shot off the tripod and my backpack both sitting out to 466yds.



Also tested 3 NAB 130 grn loads for the .260, all 3 sub MOA and it's now about where it needs to be for MV in the low 2800 range. I'm going to try different OALs with the 3rd load and call it "good" for this year. I've got to travel for work this week and when I get back I've got 3 days before our early antlerless season.

 

[FL-NC]

I still have a month and change before bow season even opens here. I have been working on a home made blind on a small field I hunt, since the popup I used before on that field didn't survive last season. It started off as the frame to Mrs. Fl-NC's greenhouse- UV over a couple of years took out the cover, so only the frame was left.

 

[FL-NC]

A scrap piece of 3/4" plywood became the wall facing into the field. I put a layer of extra bricks I had laying around to create a barrier between the ground and the wall, and used some leftover paint from when I painted my shed. 2 fence T posts were used to anchor this whole mess, with all of it being tied together with bailing wire.

 

[FL-NC]

I made a roof out of one of those camo tarps from harbor freight. I also picked up some of the pallets that are used for mattresses and box springs from the mattress store next to the dojo where I train for side walls, with bricks on the bottom for the same barrier as the "front". Leftover split wire from a jeep project went over the top edge of the plywood wall to minimize water intrusion from the rain. I had some extra screen from another project for the side "windows". I closed off the remaining open spaces on the front with landscaping material. Many zip ties and staples later, this is what I ended up with. I also had some green spray paint laying around, so I attacked the whole thing with that, cause why not. Even put some fake plastic moss left over from one of Mrs. Fl-NC's projest around the window. All I need to do to finish it is close up some areas in the back to minimize light intrusion/silhouetting- I will probably do this with pieces of the old blind and another damaged camo tarp I have. Let's see how long this redneck marvel of engineering lasts. I got about 20-25 bucks in this mess. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

 

[BigBlue 94]

Spent a couple hours down in the oaks after work today. I was looking for acorns. Many were gone but i did get nearly a dozen primo ones, and theres a few more still green.

My god there are 100 trees down there in a 400 sq ft patch! So many. Cleared a lot of the undergrowth out and got em looking fairly nice. Thwn i went down the the other spot behind the lagoon that i saw some oaks. All of a sudden i see a small oak of a different nature. Looks like a pin oak like the one we planted in the yard. Then i spy behind it a much larger one, about 4-5 inches in diameter and 20 plus feet tall! And straight as an arrow, like most of the trees in this crowded forest. Then i see, maybe 50 feet into the timber, a tree that looks like a chinkopin, and is easily 35 feet tall. I was getting tired and ready for coffee so i didnt wade through the thicket of dead cedar branches to go look. Gonna buat out the chainsaw tomorrow and do some better clearing of junk trees.

This forest still has lots of secrets to be found.

The small pin(?) oak, fully cleared of its surrounding shrubbery. If you look at the top left yellowish leaves, they are covering the larger pin oak trunk.


Leaf on the larger oak

 

[Chuck R.]

Very cool! They look like Northern Reds. Wait another month and the oaks really stand out! That's when I normally look for them to clean them up. I'll mark them, then come back after late doe season to work on them.

Year before last I started working on a "buck sanctuary" in the middle of my woods by making a small clearing, adding north facing brush piles and general clean up of some of the under brush. The edges I left pretty thick as to add to the cover. I went in with my small tractor and disked up the middle to get some new growth started.

This weekend I'm getting another 19 oak seedlings planted that we grew from acorns, then transplanted to pots. Saw Tooths, Burr and Reds. As hard and as dry as it's been the ground is a PITA to work with. Friday I dug 3 holes by hand, then said screw it and mounted the 3PT auger with 12" bit. Planted bare root seedlings with a dibble bar is a breeze compared to planted potted with root balls in our clay soil. I'm going to order 4 more fruit trees this month for spring delivery and I think that's about it as far as tree planting goes. It's getting to be a real chore keeping them alive in the summer. Even with my IBC Tote, 3PT watering system carrying about 225 gallons it's about 4-5hrs a week spent watering. Luckily I've got a couple few million gallon reservoir to pump from:



We need rain!!!

Yesterday I zero'd my M7 in .350RM with a 200 grn Hornady Spire PT load. In it's new Manners stock, it's 7lbs and a few ounces "all up" scope, sling and 4rds, bare rifle with mount bases is under 6lbs. Then I zero'd my M700 in .300WM with 165s to use as a back up for my MT mule deer hunt next month. I swapped out the VX3 4.5-14.5 with a new VX6HD 3-18x50 and had to zero. As much as I dislike shooting from a bench, this was the least fun I've had in a while.

 

[BigBlue 94]

Ugh i need a disk for my lil tractor. I priced them at TSC and holy crap, im too poor!

I thought maybe northern reds when i looked back at the pics you posted earlier. Im just surprised to see em. I know there is an absolute monster tree back in there, but i thought it was a cottonwood. It is in a small runoff ditch and has some exposed, fully barked roots that are 15" or so in diameter. Ill have to go back and check in out.

Some of the chinkopins by the road are red already and some have brown leaves already.

 

[BigBlue 94]

Once i finally got the chainsaw running, i got a good hour in of cutting and bushwhacking. The best thing about the thickness of this forest is everything is laser straight. I cut down a few cedars that will make excellent walking stick stock as well as one that will make two good fenceposts. It was a good 8" diameter and i found out fast why i had the chain off this saw... Dull as heck! But it cleared a big hole for sun to shine through to the 4" oak.

Then i walked back to that big monster tree in the seasonal creek type ditch thing. Its certainly a cottonwood. Doesnt look so big without any scaled context...


But whoa, thats some serious bark!




These are the roots


Then i made my way back to the bigger oak i could see. And it is a big ol chinkapin! Lots of acorn trash below it. I machete'd a nice path back to it through the dead undergrowth cedar branches.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

You sure got a good day for all that work.

 

[Chuck R.]

The weather has been great for doing the outside stuff, at last in the am. Still getting a little warm in the PM though!

BTW, Cottonwoods are probably my least favorite tree around here. They need a bunch of water, so they're normally around drainage areas & creeks. Chitty firewood, they grow huge and shed branches that crush little trees. Other than making a huge shade tree, I'm not seeing a benefit. Just as soon as I can ID them I cut them down while they're small enough to deal with.

I've got a friend coming out to get some rifle practice in this morning, then just 5 more trees to plant today! I got the shoot lanes mowed on Friday, next is cleaning out the elevated box blind and getting it ready.

From this morning, shooting off the improvised log:



I shot my .270 from the tripod and my .260 off the log. Used both Strelok data and "cold stick" off my dope chart and BDC reticle. Between the two 40 rds total.

and the last trees planted for 2023!



Burr Oak from Ft. Leavenworth acorn that I stratified this winter!

 

[BigBlue 94]

Yep, it was a beautiful day indeed.

On an old property we had some 60-80 ft tall cottonwoods. Not thick and bushy like this one, but straight up growers. My 78 f150 still has a crished bedside and cab roof corner from a lightning strike felling a 20 ft piece. Other than shade, i like the way the leaves rustle in the wind.

Any tree is better than these danged cedars!

 

[Highland Lofts]

I go back to Upstate New York for two weeks of small game hunting and trapping fly back to Seattle for two weeks then fly back to New York for deer hunting for a month.
I placed an ad in the shopper back there for two weeks looking for a place to trap coyotes.
We gat a call today from a guy who owns three 110 plus cars properties that he wants up to start out trapping woodchuck then on to fox & coyote.

It should open in up for deer season.
I pickedup a new Traditions Outfitter 350 legend single-shot rifle for deer hunting and got it all sighted in at a hundred yards.

A week and a day I'll be back in New York for my two week trip.

 

[BigBlue 94]

Monster leaf from an undergrowth oak i removed today. My hand is about 9 inches, thumb to pinky. Found a few more nice mature oaks back a bit farther. Just gotta uncover them! The deer definitely know they are there as there is fresh scat and lots of acorn trash



Load of eastern red cedars going back to one of my 27 brush piles...

 

[BigBlue 94]

So last night i was sitting in the garage watching TV and looked down at the 13 acorns sitting in an enclosed orange pill bottle. What the heck are those white things!? Oh (expletive)!

So after a mere 8 days in that bottle, 10 of the acorns had started sprouting a little root. I had 10 planting cups and a flat so i got some potting soil and some soil out of my garden, and planted those ten acorns. Gave em a little water and put em on a shelf where they will get nice warm air from the heater. They are about 6 feet below the LED lights that are on for 17 or 18 hours a day. Ill transplant them in the spring. I plan to transfer them to half gallon milk jugs once they are established so they can grow nice long tap roots.

 

[Chuck R.]

So last night i was sitting in the garage watching TV and looked down at the 13 acorns sitting in an enclosed orange pill bottle. What the heck are those white things!? Oh (expletive)!

So after a mere 8 days in that bottle, 10 of the acorns had started sprouting a little root. I had 10 planting cups and a flat so i got some potting soil and some soil out of my garden, and planted those ten acorns. Gave em a little water and put em on a shelf where they will get nice warm air from the heater. They are about 6 feet below the LED lights that are on for 17 or 18 hours a day. Ill transplant them in the spring. I plan to transfer them to half gallon milk jugs once they are established so they can grow nice long tap roots.

Sounds like it's going to work great!


I normally:

1. Stratify them over the winter in the fridge
2. Plant them in long root building pots early March and keep them in doors (that way I see which ones are actually sprouting)
3. Transplant them into larger pots and move outdoors to condition them after the last frost
4. Plant in location around June

This year I replanted them in larger pots in June, then kept them next to the house to make it easier to water them. It really cut down on both watering and weed management. I just planted the last ones last weekend and watered them again on Sunday. How well it worked I really won't know till spring. That should be my last watering trip of the year. I went through about 400 gallons by making 2 trips.

I also had a little luck in direct planting acorns. At least a couple that the squirrels couldn't fine sprouted, so I weed whacked around them and marked them with stakes.