VT Outfitter

Good call Doc. It is the right thing to do. I also will drag a deer away from the tree stand area so when the coyotes come in to clean up the pile, they wont spook the deer from the area if I plan on setting someone else in that stand soon. Maybe it doesn't matter, but it seems to make sense to me.

That looks like a true beast! Good luck hunting with it.

Were you able to fluff up the dirt a lot or only a little bit? How much seed did you cast? How much sun does the plot get each day? Is it moist or damp or dry soil? How far into the dirt did you plant the seed? Did you cultipack or roll the seed down after you spread the seed? How old was the seed you spread? Where is the plot located, I mean like upstate NY or southern NY, not the actual address cause that would be just plain rude of me to ask directions to your hunting spot...LOL! Clover, when planted in the northern region, is best planted in the spring to allow time for the roots to grow through the season. After the snow has melted off and the ground warms into the 50's consistent temperature with the spring rains. No matter when you plant clover it will sprout. But in order to grow tall and lush it needs the proper sunlight, moisture, and temperature which is provided naturally in the spring in the north. It is the same as your clover in your lawn. In the spring and early summer you have to mow the grass every 6-7 days. Later in the summer once every 2 weeks. In the fall once every 3-4 weeks. The grass, clover included, has a cycle of growth. Its goal is to grow as well as the conditions will allow, then go to seed for future crop expansion, then go dormant to protect itself for winter. The amount of sun and nutrients tells the plant what to do and when. So when you plant clover in the late summer, nature tells the seed to sprout and take root and the sun tells the clover to prepare to shut down for winter. Not to worry, you will get some growth for clover forage this fall, then in the spring you can fertilize the plot again and spread a bit more seed, around 5 lbs per acre, to get it to come in for next years plot. Brassica, is a late summer planting in the northern region. Like the clover, brassica should be planted about 1/2 inch down into the dirt for good soil contact. Brassica loves fertilizer, and fertilizer can make a brassica plot ,where the soil is fluffed up good, look really awesome and be waist high or more. You should have seen some small brassica growth after about 10 days with damp soil conditions when you seeded it down. Brassica loves sunlight, the more the better. It needs 6 hours of direct sun or more to grow well. Brassica also needs regular watering by you or rain to grow well. If its too dry it will grow a bit, but will short and spares. If you have never planted brassica before, be warned, the deer wont visit the plot for to feed on the brassica much until the freeze comes. After that the deer will chew it to the ground. Your choice of clover/brassica is a great combination to get the into a routine of visiting the area for the clover so it will be easy for them to utilize and find the brassica when the time is right. Brassica does not come back like the clover will next spring so you will have to re seed it next season. If need be adjust your planting time to get the results your looking for. I have made just about every food plot mistake that can be done I think. I just kept at it, did more research with different kinds of seed companies, talked with many farmers that grow crops until I got it somewhere close to what I needed for a result. There is no such thing as wasted time when building a food plot for hunting. You may not get the results you were looking for, but you learn and modify. Once a plot is established, it just a matter of maintaining it, which is a lot less work than the initial build. Good luck to you, if you want some help or tips just give me a shout.

Anyone an official scorer? I guessed and broke him down like this for a field score: G1-4 G2-10 G3-10 G4-6 G5-2 Mass-15 Beam-20 __________ Total 67 per side X 2 =134 Plus inside spread of 16 ------------------- Total field judging score of 150. He is weak on G6, so +/-. Maybe 9 inch 2&3's, So +/-. I think he could have 22 inch beams each side, so +/-. I think 15 per side mass is on the low side, so +/-. All of the +/-'s make it a wash.

I don't think you are bashing anyone. You stated what you do and that you don't bow hunt. Yes there is a difference between bow a gun hunting. You have to be close with a bow. I am just saying an argument about NOT controlling your scent is just as effective as being over cautious, is just plain silly. Why do some of these members wait for a hunter to ask for help, and when members offer advice, they just say how stupid and wrong the advice is. But they never offer any advice themselves to others. Because they cant is why. I wish they would crawl back under their Anti rock and stay.

Perfect advice for a beginning hunter. No need of convincing a new hunter to sit all day. They will just get discourage when they don't see deer all day, rather suggesting the high movement times is great advice. I would add target practice as being important for any hunter, not just a beginner. You have to know your abilities and your weapon.

The thread was started to get ideas of how others control their scent and store their clothes and such. NOT asking if you can bash someone response that is trying to offer help to those that ask. Which guy is going to have a better chance of success in the deer woods. The guys that just got out of work from his diesel mechanic job stinking like fuel and sweat, smoking a cig, and crossing 3 deer trails on his way to stand while thinking he knows where the deer are coming from and the wind is in his favor? Or the cautious guy fresh from the shower, scent free clothes, scent free spray, not crossing any deer trails on his way to stand, and he thinks he knows where the deer are coming from and the wind may be in his favor? Because everyone knows that deer will come from the same place and arrive at the same destination every single time, right? Ever see a pack of Marb's on fire feeding their way through the woods while you were hunting? Sounds ridiculous to ask. Just as ridiculous to expect to be successful deer hunting with cig burning in your lips. Yeah, I know, lighting starts fires naturally. But forest fires don't smell like a cig burning nor do they attract deer so don't even argue the point. Do what you do, I'll do what I do. No need of bashing someone's confidence booster

Here is a pic of him kinds head on. I know that a buck with 4" G1's, 10" G2's, 10" G3's, 4" G4's, beams to the nose, average Mass of 30", ISS of 16"-17" will measure up to a 150 class buck. Plus he has a G5 on the right side and left, though the left side might not be score able in the pic, in it measures 1" from point of origin it counts. I am not one that is stuck on score before I shoot a buck. If it was a great hunt that morning, and if the buck is legal 2 points on one side, he is definitely in trouble in front of me. That's if buck fever doesn't bust up my nerves and miss my shot, yeah it happens. That's why I love hunting. There is no greater feeling than the excitement of a deer coming in.

How far apart are those steps going up the feeder? He is standing right under the feeder, so could we use the step spacing for tine length? And yes, that is a booner rabbit!

The buck under the feeder. I believe he is a 12 point

This is not one of my bucks. This is a pic of a nice buck in Texas. I am currently in a debate with a few people on a forum down south. Some posted that heonly scores 110. Others say 140. The average answer is 130 range. My estimation is 150. I explained my measurements to them and got completely shot down. What do you guys score him at?

That is just.......awesome. True love is eternal. Happy birthday turkeyfeather's mom.

I wash my ScentBlocker gear regularly through the season with scent free detergent. I shower before every hunt with scent free soap. I put on my ScentBlocker layer one base layer at the house fresh out of the shower minutes before leaving. I avoid non woodsy smells like gas, breakfast, my beagles. I spray my rubber boots liberally inside the night before and use my boot dryer to dry them over night. I put on my boots and spray them wet before I leave the truck for the hunt. I use, you guessed it, ScentBlocker field spray. I store my ScentBlocker pants and coat in an old pillow zipper bag that comes with the pillow when you buy it. They stay in the truck on warm days, and in the house on cold ones. I only open the bag when I put the clothes in the bag from the dryer or when I am getting dressed in the field. I regularly spray the inside of the truck cab and cap covered bed with field spray. When I get to where I am hunting, I put on my pants and spray down everything with field spray. For short stand hikes on cold days I will also put on my coat, but usually my hikes are 1/2 mile to mile from the truck so I put my coat, face mask, gloves in my pack. I always bring a small spray bottle with field spray and apply as I enter the tree stand area. I use the spray to cool off the hot zones like my head and face. Ultimately, I try to not sweat on my way to stand, but sometimes it is impossible hence the spraying regiment. Human sweat that is drying and human mouth odors are, I believe, the most alerting smells. So I try to keep those smells as controlled as I can. When I get to stand, after I cool down, I put on the rest of my gear. As I sit in stand I occasionally spray the field spray into the wind to try to eliminate any odors that have blown off me. I always set stands according to the prevailing winds, with some sets for those off wind days. I plan and mark my routes to stand to not give my scent to deer down wind of my stand on my approach. I will not hunt a stand if the wind is wrong for that spot. So having other options is important. I sit on stand as still as I can with no unnecessary movements. I cant recall the last time I got busted by a deer while in stand. I have shot many deer from stand that came in directly down wind of me, responding to rattling or grunting and bleating. My methods work for me, and I have to do this routine in order to be confident in the woods. Nothing is ever fool proof. I have had deer come into stand that absolutely knew I was there at some point, I believe that my routine reduces my scent enough to appear that I had been there yesterday. So when they don't see anything moving, they proceed through the area. These deer that come in on alert are due to something I did wrong, or missed, or stepped in something on my way to stand. But most days I go undetected. I hope this helps and good luck to you.

We need a new pic. Anyone got a good pic to post?

Possible that it could be mange. Also on the second pic,on her back looks like maybe a group of ticks. She seems fat and healthy. So I don't know. It looks like bare skin to me. Looks to me that she already has her summer coat on. If you can, switch the camera to video, if she is scratching at herself more than a deer normally would then it must be a skin condition.

My guess would be you will find it works better with a solid frame rather than a chain on each side. But it is a very low cost experiment, so if it don't work, try modifying it a bit. Have some fun with it and I hope it helps you put in some great plots for this fall.

When I find a good deal on a small Farmall tractor, this is exactly what I am going to make. Actually make a 3 or 4 of them and just leave them on site. Great idea, I hope it works for you. Do you think that the ridges will make much of a difference as opposed to smooth? I know a traditional cultipacker is designed that way, but so far I have not seen a bad trait from using the smooth barrel roller that I made. Good luck this fall!

I am not sure of your building steps. But I think if I understand right, you want to connect the log ends to the tractor with chains. My guess is the log would dig the plot up when cornering. If you made steel arms for connections to the tractor, it should work. The log should be heavy enough to bed the seed, problem is it might be a bit cumbersome to move around by hand. But if you use the tractor bucket to move it around then no issues. Good idea.

I see that there is a spoon in this collection. I have a question that maybe some of you can answer. I have a good friend that is a licensed diver. At the bottom of a lake around 50 feet deep he found a spoon, a very old spoon. He brought it to the surface and placed the soon on the dock to dry out so he could inspect it closer. When he return a day later to check out his spoon, when he touched it literally turned into dust in his hands. He told me this very unfortunate story and asked me hold old I thought it might be based on the reaction of a metal spoon turning to dust. Anyone have an answer?

That is a great collection, very nice.

"I need a vacation"

"I better get paid for raking the leaves this time, Doc"

Very good question. And I am happy to share my ideas with anyone that asks. A few days ago I made a post in the management/food plot section about my homemade towable food plot roller. So, when I was rigging this seeder contraption, I made the seeder throw out the front of the ATV on the prepared seed bed so I can roll the seed down with the roller in tow with one pass. It helps get the job done quicker so I can move on to the next project, plus with rolling the seed in, the germination rate go's way up for me. Coupled with Biologic food plot seed and adding Biologic ph fertilizer with seed coat additive yields some great looking and effective food plots. If anyone wants specific details, just ask and I will give you my step-by-step.

I have not tried this method of cleaning. I have taken a soap free scrub in the brook, river, or lake before. I also have used the field wipe method, but prefer heating up 1 gallon of water and mixing with 1 gallon of cold water to dump over my head to rinse off after soaping. Very creative idea though, I might try this.

That sounds like a cool rig! Thanks for reading.