phade

Minerals in summer yes. We only have two feeders and only one that we move a lot of corn through. I think I hunted “over” it twice and my partner twice. Boring sits. For the Stump we’ve just emptied partial bags on it. Black Magic powder, some of the loose granule trophy rock, and I think some Big and J powder mineral. All partial bags on whatever we had or bought on clearance. I won’t pay full money for that stuff lol. We have one Amish neighbor who is Cornholio the great. Hub blind, bucket and a 50lb bag of corn on the ground every single day from Sept to Jan. Pile is 10 feet from our fence line. I came close to connecting on a buck last year over a loose pile of corn. Interesting spot next to the farm driveway that had a bowl in it. I was 15 feet in a stand but was eye level with the driveway about 60 yards behind. Bucks were working a fence line to the edge of the bowl moving between two wood lots. I tossed corn out there since it was close to driveway and easy to set a cam and it ended up being one of the best spots all season for bucks in daylight. I suspect it’s an overlooked place based on what you see there but the map shows it to be the likely point bucks move between the lots. I figured bucks would show at night there but they were moving all hours. Hoping the trend is the same this year as I’ll be ready.

In the yard seems like a hard no. Have taken plenty of deer and even good bucks from stand and sit positions within view of a home (that I do not own). Doesn't seem like a big area of conflict for me to really consider. If someone does and is legal, that is fine by me. I might think less of someone's accomplishment who saw the deer, ran out back and shot a 150" with the rifle vs a 150" shot on pressured public, but in the end, it doesn't matter what I think.

Likely bedding pretty close to your camera given the daylight images - look around the edges of that inlet. They can take up beds around the bends or areas where the expanse behind them is inaccessible or impossible to approach without disruption with the wind coming back to front. If you were to put a watchdial bullseye on your cam spot, my guess the bedding area is within 50-100 yards from the 3-7 position on a watch dial.

Correct, Ohio.

Nice job and wall!

If I had to pick one time to plant brassica mix here (roughly same latitude as you), I'd do end of the first week in August. So many people prefer mid to end of July or very early in August. We've done that and I think it's a touch early every single time. Remember, even Radish has a shorter maturity date than say PTT. If we're doing straight radish, I'd have no concerns planting radish mid-August or even third week. After that, I'd still plant but just be aware of reduced tonnage. You'll still get the attraction, arguably better in some instances, but it just won't be as long as the plot gets eaten faster. I know some people will disagree with me, but let's be real, we haven't had brutal cold snaps (which is a trigger for attraction) that early on in October, save for a few seasons ago mid-month. Mid August puts 45 days to Oct 1 give or take. Late July makes that plant now 2-2.5 weeks older. Doesn't always mean better attraction and it's often dry as heck then. Worst case...crop failure. Labor Day weekend, you sow oats, wheat, winter rye, and still have a great draw option. We did oats in earnest last year for the first time, and wow, were they ever an attraction. We - again - planted this too early though. Palatability drops after 30 ish days, so we'd go Labor Day this time. We planted on or around start of last week in August. Draw died out around October 5-6. Deer were hammering that plot the first 30 days.

If you are around in August, I'd plan on re-tilling or spraying and re-seeding if the ground isn't compacted. Reason being is you have some stuff that'll be immature (sugar beets) and some stuff that if it grows, it may be at risk of bolt (the brassicas), or having issues dealing with the summer heat. There are more poor outcomes likely vs good ones, even if the plants "look good." In the off chance you don't need to plant, then all the better. Managed expectations, ha! Rape is included because it is a brassica where leafs will get sweeter as the season goes on. They're cheap seed and still effective at what most people want. It drives up profit margins. If you're down to say Labor Day and need to make a call, buy oats and seed that monoculture for early season draw. Then do a brassica mixed with say a wheat or even a clover. People will say it is too late to plant brassica then but I whole-heartedly disagree. You won't have the magazine photos, but what you will have is good, tender growth and a small bulb, which IMO deer prefer. The last ones to be browsed heavily are usually the big ones in my plots. 200lbs of 10-10-10 per acre and you should be good to go. People overcomplicate plots. As long as you time seeding right, get effective seed contact/germination, and have adequate soil/amendments, you will be fine. Some people LOSE themselves in plotting, I mean LOSE themselves...either they enjoy it more than hunting, or analysis paralysis. Usually that group has pretty photos of plots but empty freezers.

DER can be valuable - in most cases I've planted that very late and it does well vs say PTT. The plant focuses on leaf growth vs splitting w bulb, so a late planting situation, it can be helpful. It obviously won't be as useful long through winter as a bulb but when you're late, you make due with what you got. I agree that it wouldn't be my first choice, but it's not the end of the world.

I hope for the best for you. I personally have little to no desire to plan brassicas in July any longer. We have much better luck with August plantings. Every plot failure I've had consistently has been with early seeding or over-grazing (in part to early seeding). Sugar beets historically are planted in the spring time for fall use - I think they don't get as much attention from hunters because of the challenges growing them as an annual vs planting all within a short window for most fall annuals (August/Sept). I've tried planting sugar beets and and I likely won't again. What is hopeful is that you have some shade there it looks like, so I am hoping the best for you!

I probably will if I feel like I just got my lifetime buck. But outside of that, I haven't elected to do so. I don't think the rate of those who do not enter into books changes much geographically. That point stays constant IMO.

Summer scouting might not be as directly related to success as people think, but there is value. We did some work on our Ohio farms yesterday. Here are some useful things I learned that may be a factor: Dry conditions - creek beds are dry in most all areas short of a few water holes that remain and are concentrating deer in an area that they typically don't. Two fields were extremely wet in spring leading to a very late planting of beans. These fields are now on the radar for opening weekend of archery as a potential place to target. Farmer cleared a tractor path up a hill that hadn't existed in one section of the farm. This area is very thick, had some bedding but also alot of transitional edge (briars to conifers, to a field edge, and starting from a creek bottom). It's about a month old but we can see tracks quite clearly now and set a cam to monitor use. Apple trees are not as strong as they were last year in terms of fruit bearing. This area was a good spot for the first two weeks of the season. We'll monitor the fruit drop. We jumped a buck in a small creek bend where we had elevation advantage and watched his escape route, which confirmed what we thought happens. We found the bed in early April prior to turkey season. It's near an entry-exit point for us, so now we're educated as to how to avoid it.

Thanks everyone, it was a good day!

Life happens. Job change, family change, health change, etc. Hopefully you guys get what you want.

I used my griddle for the first time - is it me or does this require immensely more prep/conditioning/clean-up than a grill?

Athena - English Bulldog Indie - English/American Bulldog mix Charlotte - French Bulldog Stuff gets chewed around here. But it's all good. I have to keep an eye on the sheds I find or they literally disappear lol. Always wanted an English bulldog. Have to say this far in, the French bulldogs are in a league of their own in terms of disposition and maintenance. I was not super excited about adding a third dog to the mix and a "Frenchie" at that. Boy, was I wrong. We'll likely be in the French bulldog category going forward.

Heard similar about Seneca fishery going downhill. It is a much larger lakes comparatively thus bots spread out makes sense. But Cayuga has been known to be the best for the past few years. The new SR won't help it see any less pressure.

Apparently some of the Michigan Ford team is out here in Phoenix testing out a few vehicles. They have a few Ranger Raptors and a trio of covered cars - presumably next Gen mustangs. Long front end. Staying at the same hotel. I was allowed to snap shots of the Ranger Raptors. Figured I would share. Both of the Raptors were right hand drive but they’re testing the engine and transmission in the heat and running them hard off road they said.

For sure. I like some of the old guard stocks from an opportunity POV. Walmart, Apple, Toyota, etc. are all places where one could look at a long-term play and invest with some degree of confidence. Hard to imagine their balance sheet can't weather the storm of the next 12-24 months and rebound well enough for shareholders to look back and be pleased on returns. Most of these pay dividends, too.

one year old.

Well come on now - that would have positively impacted global supply levels, which are the driving issue at hand here w/pricing. Gas isn't just expensive here, it's expensive everywhere other than Saudi Arabia, etc. It's facetious to say that it wouldn't have positively impacted the American public....

I got into USO back in march. Wish it was a larger sum, but it sure has been nice. This will be an interesting ride.

Alot of this is self-inflicted. Shutting down pipeline development that first week was an omen. I'm not in the camp of placing all blame one way or the other, but there was alot of stuff that got out of whack and it's all supply/demand right now IMO. I was in NYC Wed-Fri and the price increases there were insane from 2021 levels. One probably has to keep the long game in mind should they have time. I pity those who do not and are not diversified with income streams or where they store/incubate their wealth.

Oddly enough I was thinking about a reply and it dealt with Oatka Creek, which along with Black Creek are neighboring watersheds. Buzz baits have proven to be the one lure that has allowed me to catch fish in stretches where they're not supposed to be. Oatka jumps back and forth into cold and warm water fishery, and using a buzz bait, I've pulled large and smallies out of the coldwater stretch where normally you'd find mainly trout. Those Walmart specials can do the trick. Strike King though definitely my go to when I'm on a dedicated bass trip.

Good lesson to learn and good conclusion. We've had mixed interactions w/Amish. Good apples and bad apples in every bunch I suppose but admittedly I can see where stereotypes come from.