Shedder

very nice.

Great pic!

Great question! I have used Secret Spot for a number of years now in various applications and have found, just like any other plot, the more you put in the more you will get out. Its going to need a couple hours of sun a day to grow so pick an area in the woods that has a natural opening. Always pick a natural opening over cutting down even small trees unless you know your tree species!! Hate to lose a few young Black Walnut trees for no reason!! For your site prep its up to you what you put into it. They say a leaf blower is sufficient but I have found only ok at best results with this. Stihl makes an amazingly light yet powerful cultivator that is perfect for this application! Strap it onto a deer cart and your good to go anywhere! I don't think it weighs more than a very light tree stand! I have made some great plots with this thing! This was one that I put into a small wooded clearing this year and planted with Rut Time Tubers. I could not keep the deer off it...with this experience I will wait until much closer to deer season to put in a plot like this in again as by the 3rd month it could not keep up from the browsing! Typically wooded areas are not ideal areas PH wise for growing plots if your doing a 100' X 100' plot you should put out about 20 pounds of 19-19-19 based on a rate of 500 pounds per acre. That should give you a good boost the get your plot going. Watch the forecast and time it up so you are seeding a day before a nice rain and your golden! With that being said if you are talking deer that have large stands of woods...It won't take much green growth to draw them into an area! Hope this was a little help to you. Good luck and have a blast!! ~Matt

Well, No need to worry about that ADK hunting club I was looking into...1 buck a year will keep my early season dollars out of the northern zone... Kentucky is warmer any way! Way to push those dollars out of NY, NY!

Looks like a great place for a plot! Any idea on what you will plant yet?

Looks great!!

Man I love your creek photos!

Those are some beautiful pics!!

I guess the "my deer-my woods" perspective is something that has always puzzled me. It seems to me in the end this debate finds a way to trickle down to this very way of thinking. I don't know how to change those preconceived thoughts but with courtesy and good hunting ethics. I for one am excited to see these changes and look forward to shaking a few new hunters hands in the woods this fall. One of those hands will not be the person running this state who already told me I was not welcome here because of my voting history, stance on guns and abortion...

Excellent find!! Gotta love knowing such a nice one will be in your area this fall!!

WOW! That is a fantastic pose! Looks great and CONGRATS on your hunt!!

Not sure if this has been posted but too important to chance...This was on the Excalibur site today IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTICE ABOUT EXCALIBUR MATRIX 405 CROSSBOW RECALL It has come to our attention that the potential exists for accidental discharge to occur in some of our Matrix 405 crossbows sold after January 1, 2014. This appears to involve the sear contacts wearing prematurely due to a differential in hardness between the two sear contact areas within the trigger mechanism. As a result, the crossbow may fire when an arrow/bolt is in place, but without the trigger being depressed. At Excalibur, we have the utmost concern for the safety of our customers, and we are taking immediate action to address this situation by recalling all Matrix 405 crossbows purchased after January 1, 2014 and repairing them at our expense. If you purchased a Matrix 405 after January 1, 2014, please do the following: Stop using your Matrix 405 crossbow immediately. If you can, return it to the dealer from whom you purchased it. If this is not convenient, we ask that you ship it back to us at our expense. If you are shipping the crossbow to us, please call our customer service department at 800-463-1817 to address the shipping cost and obtain a return authorization number to aid in tracking the process. U.S. customers please ship your crossbow to either one of our US Warranty locations; Woody's Sporting Goods, 35 Werner St., Wernersville, PA 19565, or Horizontal Archery, 37432 Fifth Ave., Sardis, OH, 43946. Canadian customers please ship your crossbow to Excalibur Crossbow, 2335 Shirley Drive, Kitchener, Ontario, N2b 3X4. To ship your crossbow, please remove the front limb unit using the two riser mount bolts under the front of the mainframe, remove the scope and rings using the nuts which clamp the rings to the scope mount, and remove the quiver mount. The stock unit can then be securely packaged and shipped to the appropriate address for inspection and repair. If you have any questions about this process, please contact our customer service department at 800-463-1817. Once we have received your crossbow, we will repair and return it to you as quickly as possible, also at our expense. We at Excalibur sincerely regret the inconvenience caused by this situation, and we will strive to quickly and effectively correct the issue so that you can continue to enjoy your Matrix 405 crossbow. Thank you for your patience and understanding with this issue.

This is beautiful news! Thank you Rick for everything you have done for us!! Hey I can give up my Kentucky lease!

Lots of pics of this guy over the last two years...NO its an abandon Apple Orchard...

Doc, great response...I think the flood of people you will see will be those bow hunters who had to hang their bows up on the mantle either due to age or injury. The fact is the effective range of a crossbow is no longer than a compound and probably a tad shorter due to the weight of the arrow. Its still about getting inside that bucks safe zone his area where all his senses are on full alert. Its not a rifle or shotgun where you see him cross a field at 200 yards and put a bullet into his heart. He has to be in that same zone as he needs to be as any bow hunter. You here him breath hell you see his nostrils flare at your scent trail! This isn't something you just walk into the woods and do its the part of bow hunting that most of us have fallen in love with. A great gun hunter doesn't have to make even an ok bow hunter. To get in bow range is the challenge, the nuts of a bow hunter and that holds true if you are toting a crossbow as well. As far as the progress part and crossbow eliminating the pureness of the bow world. That pureness has and will continue to pollute archery on its own. That progress I stated was how the compound has evolved and continues to evolve...our compound is more and more a no brainer when it comes to a killing machine than we ever thought possible. With Today's bows a newbie can walk into a pro shop pick up his bow for the first time and be shooting consistent groups in no time with some good instruction. Is that bad or is that good? I guess that depends on who you talk to??? That doesn't have to do with, crossbows, guns or anything else but the evolution of the compound bow. I agree with you about setting boundaries for yourself. I went back to instinctive shooting on my late father's old lemon wood longbow. I pulled it out during the season and had a blast a few years ago! It didn't matter what the guy down the road was using as long as it was legal.