winding down, plans for next year's season

[keith44]

Well the hunting seasons are closing soon, I have not had a what you could call a successful season.  The deer simply left for the season, but now that the season is closed the does are back  .  I did see one buck, early in the season and passed on an iffy shot so at least I can say I saw something.  The turkeys have either been killed out or run off.  We heard the calls of at least three Great Horned Owls over the course of a two week period, when we no longer heard them the turkeys were gone along with the rabbits.  The squirrel population stands at 5, Three Grays and Two Fox. 


I am putting feeding stations out for the squirrels, and have a place for a food plot for the deer, and will be clearing an area to put in an orchard that I will sow with grasses that should help with the rabbits.


How's everyone else doing??  Have a good season??  Making any changes for next year??

[Bugflipper]

I need to thin some squirrels here. Last year we had snow on the ground for about 2 weeks. Rather than get iced in we went down to the valley for 5 or 6 days until the roads melted off. The outside dog's food bowl was full. We got back and it was going nuts. It loves the rare snow we get so I didn't think much about it. Those squirrels lived on it's food while the ground was covered and invited all their friends. It finally was able to deter them enough when it thawed out. Well they didn't relocate. I lost 6 trees worth of apples, 3 trees of pears and 2 peaches to them. I wish they could be shipped in the mail. I would send you all you needed.

[Land_Owner]

The deer season here is only one weekend away from being over.  My hunting partner got one on Opening Day, a little BBuck.  It tasted GOOD! 

My oldest son killed his first ever deer, a 122# basket rack 6-point and I am as proud of that deer being taken by him, off of my land, from my tree stand, as any of the bucks whose heads grace my living room wall. 

In total, we had a Tom Turkey kind of season.  I killed two, my hunting partner killed two, and one each were taken by two Guests.  There remain at least 6 more Toms and 17 more hens and jakes. 

I passed, when I should not have, on two Bobcats.  Now the turkeys are in jeopardy.  I thought I would see them again.  No Dice. 

This season the first ever coyote was killed on my place.  A 55-pound male.  That bodes ill as yotes are reported to be responsible for 40% of deer fawn fatalities. 

Since 11/19/11 we have collectively killed five hogs (I got 3 of them) representing nearly a half-ton of BBQ.  The hogs have torn my place and the local woods to shreds, but FL has a 24/7/365 mentality and liberal law for taking pigs on Private Land.  So the pig season is year-round...provided they participate. 

I received an FWC Gun and Night Light Hunting Permit - good for one year of nuisance wildlife eradication.  No more eating, sleeping, baths, changing clothes, shaving, traffic jams, daytime TV, or sports jibber-jabber Talking Heads.   With the addition of a well placed, close-in, tree stand and some 12V auto-battery powered Fog Lights with red lenses, we can sit all day AND all night waiting for hogs.  Just good old watching the woods and trying to keep the skeeters from carrying us away.  Maybe make a dent in them now, at least we're going to try.

[Bugflipper]

This winter it's been warmer than usual here. The grass is still green. I didn't hunt much because of the weather. I took the opportunity to catch up on some things I was going to do in warmer weather. I try to have a self supportive farm. It really helps to grow and mix your own feed. That is usually one of the largest expenses right behind machinery. Three years ago I had loggers cut about 80 acres to make a new feed patch. I bulldozed the stumps out, fenced it in and planted chicory, turnips and white clover to convert the soil into a suitable place for crops.


There have been hair sheep in it for a couple of years to keep the weeds controlled. Last summer I put hogs in there to change the soil structure and eat everything up. It will be ready this spring for planting, it looks like they have rooted up most of the roots and nothing is standing above ground. I believe I will plant  sunflowers in there this year. I am wanting to add a little bit more fat to my game birds and chickens. Corn as the fattener just really isn't doing much for flavor on the game birds. Sunflower seeds have more protein and fat than corn. I should be able to get two harvests out of them, so another bonus. I raise row crops, plant feed for my livestock and fowl and run food plots for them. All of the wild animals tend to benefit from it. There's enough for feed and a little profit off the crops to buy new machinery, supplies and fuel so I don't worry about loss from animals. Just the squirrels that took out my fruit. I swear they intentionally took a bite off of every piece of fruit to spite me.