2022-2023 Hunting Preps

[FL-NC]

Last Friday I got all the feeders filled and running and emplaced my last popup blind, and did final safety checks on the ladder stands, equipment lines, etc. Lucky for me, it rained a little bit the night before- so I was able to see some tracks in the sand in the fields around where the stands and blinds are set. Even luckier, the temps have started dropping a little bit, and opening archery day is this Saturday, with good weather forecasted. I can get 2 does and 1 buck off this farm I hunt. I plan on mostly watching deer during archery, so I won't even be taking a shot during archery unless its a very sizeable doe well inside of my effective range. During gun season we have 6 or 8 doe days, so I won't be hurting for chances at meat. Our rut doesn't even start until after new years when the weather tanks (for Florida anyway) so unless a good buck blunders out prior to then (8 point or better) I won't be dropping a hammer on a buck before 1 Jan.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

The thing is top-heavy. The wind blew it out in my field and turned it over once.....it wasn't ruined.....but busted the door and a couple of windows. Knocking it out of square too..
View attachment 1081810
Ironically....that was 4/6/20....the same day that I laid one of my semi's over and screwed up my shoulder.
So two years later.......!
The outlets are code....BTW.
Cabin code....

OHNO! Dang. But that must have been some wind. !! Bummer.

 

[BigBlue 94]

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.

From what ive read, and experienced (lol), chinkapin acorns do not need to be stratified.

Ive got a pair of squirrels hard at work this very moment burying stuff. Saw em a few minutes ago. This is the first year ive really seen them around the house area.

Threw out a mineral and grain block last week. A George Jones was back there munchin on it when i took 500 lbs of corn back to the feeder today. Also dropped off a livestock mineral block near the old scrape.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

A "George Jones..." I got that.

 

[BigBlue 94]

A "George Jones..." I got that.

George eats thousands of my arch-enemies a year, the despicable tick. I actually dont see many opossums on my game camera, which points right at my corn feeder. I bet ill see this guy regularly though. He knows corn is there now. He moved very healthily, scampering off into the woods.

 

[Highland Lofts]

I take my grandson back to New York from Washington state so he can go squirrel hunting for two weeks in October.
The first two day in got down in the mid twenties and nothing we out moving. Yesterday he got two of them.

 

[BigBlue 94]

I take my grandson back to New York from Washington state so he can go squirrel hunting for two weeks in October.
The first two day in got down in the mid twenties and nothing we out moving. Yesterday he got two of them.

If you want, there is a squirrel shooting contest near Tonganoxie, KS, where its not just the number of squirrel taken, but location of the shots too. Never been, only heard rumors.

 

[Highland Lofts]

I looked it I up. Might be something interesting when my grandson gets a few more years older.

 

[BigBlue 94]

Lol Hunting Season 2037 Preps...

The first of my ten chinkapin acorns has sprouted! Should be pumping out acorns by 2037 hahaha

 

[Chuck R.]

Lol Hunting Season 2037 Preps...

The first of my ten chinkapin acorns has sprouted! Should be pumping out acorns by 2037 hahaha

View attachment 1114700

Very cool!! Congrats!

Chinkapins might surprise you though, you might only have to wait till 2031 or so. I've had some volunteers once cleaned up and fertilized yearly start producing in about 8 years.

 

[BigBlue 94]

Very cool!! Congrats!

Chinkapins might surprise you though, you might only have to wait till 2031 or so. I've had some volunteers once cleaned up and fertilized yearly start producing in about 8 years.

Yeah i hope so, i just picked a random year lol.

Thursday i finished clearing trail number 1 through the woods. Might need a bit of cleanup to get the gator through, but its pretty nice. Yesterday i hung a left at one corner and headed west. Made it another 100 yards or so. Beings its pretty much all cedars, with dead branches 5 feet high, its pretty easy going. Toughest part is finding a place to put all the limbs. Ive ended up clearing a 10'x10' or so pocket a few times and just making a brush pile. Should be nice for the small critters.

I need a wood chipper...

 

[Chuck R.]

A wood chipper would be great, but I also like making brush piles.

The final prep today, prior to heading to MT in the AM, hunt starts on the 18th. My buddy will came up from OK on Sunday and we spent the last couple days chronographing, verifying settings and doing some reloading. Today was a dress rehearsal:



10-11 MPH wind and we went out to just shy of 500.

 

[Patocazador]

If you want, there is a squirrel shooting contest near Tonganoxie, KS, where its not just the number of squirrel taken, but location of the shots too. Never been, only heard rumors.

I shot 7 squirrels one day with a .22 on our old hunt club. A six-member family griped about me bringing in ruined squirrels. I asked why they were ruined. They said I shot them in the best-tasting part, the head.

 

[BigBlue 94]

I shot 7 squirrels one day with a .22 on our old hunt club. A six-member family griped about me bringing in ruined squirrels. I asked why they were ruined. They said I shot them in the best-tasting part, the head.

Squirrel head cheese? Lol.

 

[BigBlue 94]

A wood chipper would be great, but I also like making brush piles.

The final prep today, prior to heading to MT in the AM, hunt starts on the 18th. My buddy will came up from OK on Sunday and we spent the last couple days chronographing, verifying settings and doing some reloading. Today was a dress rehearsal:

View attachment 1115202

10-11 MPH wind and we went out to just shy of 500.

Good Luck!

Ill get some pics today while i work. There is enough brush to make piles and cover the trail in chips lol.

There are at least 5 brush piles on the property from when Whitetail Properties made the clearings and main trail, and from the house area. They are massive, 20 ft tall and bigger in diameter.

 

[BigBlue 94]

Heres my trails. All cut with a sawzall, chainsaw, and axe.







The end of the trail, for now...

 

[BigBlue 94]

Making pretty good progress, i think. Done about 600 feet so far. The 90° angle is where the trailhead is. The eastern leg is gator accessible, with just a couple tight areas. Im gonna continue west just a bit then curve back the the north.