stubborn1VT

You can think what you want. No friggin way is a fawn over 100lbs at 5.5 MONTHS old.

I hear ya. Better to park it outside though?

Not necessarily true. When they are old enough to rub the velvet off their antler nubs they aren't this year's fawn. I have pictures of this doe and 2 fawns from last year too. First deer I ever shot with a Xbow was a 107lb button buck. Was that a fawn too?

Spread about 30lbs of fertilizer on my plot, since I had it. Everything is growing ok. Like most of you, I struggled with dry conditions. Now about half of my plot is too darn wet. Some parts are great. Some parts are squishy. Some parts are covered in standing water. It'll be what it'll be. Trimmed out my natural blind in the hedgerow. Paced out 35 yards in two shooting lanes and marked them with some ash branches that still had leaves on them. Checked two cameras. Big doe, medium doe, last year's fawns (one's a button) and 2 eight pointers. One is 2.5 and the other is 3.5. At least that's what I think, since I have pics of them from last year. Also a small flock of hens and poults. I plan on hunting here at the house early season. Partly because I still have some work to get done and partly because those bucks are hanging around. I don't have any great bucks on camera at our family farm, yet. Plenty of deer over there, so I'm hoping to take a doe or maybe two from the several hundred acres I can hunt in that area. Hard to believe it's almost the best time of year! Went to the apple orchard and got some cider, apples, and apple cider donuts. Shot the Xbow. Worked on firewood. If I can just get a couple more jobs finished up - the rest of the fall will be MINE!

THIS. Years like this we get more hay out of shady sections of fields. On a more normal year, we get more hay away from the shade because it gets more sun.

Looks like it's pinned, so it could be folded down.

I agree with this. I learned alot from partial plot failure. I have weeds and orchard grass. I planted based on a forecast of 3 days of rain. We got one brief shower. Managed to salvage the plot by overseeding before a batch of rain 2 weeks after the original planting and got decent germination out of that. The only areas that don't look good are along the edges where the tree roots reach under the plot and rob moisture. Dust bowl. Don't think you're rusty. It was a brutal summer. A few things I think might have helped me are: 1) using high end/ coated seed. I think it would have helped with germination 2) over packing the soil with a roller hurts germination. As dry as it was, I made too hard of a seed bed. 3) As dry as it was, I now wish I hadn't tilled up so much of the plot. I had grasses, clover and trefoil that I could have simply mowed, limed and maybe hit with a little low N fertilizer. Especially around the edges of the plot. Would sure beat bare dirt. We'll see how things look in a week. I overseeded bare spots with oats and a tiny bit of Hunter brassicas yesterday morning and then we got THREE+ inches of rain yesterday. My plots may turn out well after all!

We got rain last Friday and again last night. I lightly overseeded on Thursday evening. Checked this morning and there is promising germination. Plots are going to be grassy and weedy, but it looks like there will be something there!

Jealous. I probably shouldn't have even tried to plant. I guess there is a chance my seed will germinate and take off, but it's not looking good! Glad somebody got results. Ah well. That's Nature.

Went to the farm for the first time in ages. Maybe since turkey season. Cut some paths with the walk-behind brushhog. Way more apples than I expected, since the farm is in a real drought. Apples were small, but pretty plentiful and starting to drop already. Cameras showed quite a few deer, lots of bears, coons and coyotes too. My brother has seen plenty of hens and poults. I'm hoping they get some rains. The morning dews are already helping, but they could use some soakers. Not a whole lot to do as far as getting ready to hunt. Check a few stands/straps. Maybe buy a couple cheap cams to add to the mix. I need to hang one more vine for a mock scrape. Other than that, it's just hurry up and wait.

Some bucks shift, some don't. It depends on tons of factors.

3-4 days if it got a good soaking IMO.

Welcome to farming. Now imagine that your livelyhood depended on the weather.

In my experience, drought/dry weather is a real flavor killer. I haven't had any sweet corn yet. There is almost none locally, thanks to dry conditions. Maybe in 2 or 3 weeks.

Just checked the plot after almost 7 days. Guess the .20" of rain wasn't enough. Almost no germination. There's 3 days with a chance of precipitation this week (same as last week) so there's hope, I guess. Looking back, I should have planted earlier, but it's hard to put together a plan when the forecasts are so inaccurate. I'm confident the plot will be ok if I get germination. The dews will keep it going. But I have to get it to sprout first! Seems like I shouldn't need irrigation, but it's certainly drier than it used to be. Oh well.

Ground nests are always worse on a dry year. Those yellowjackets are ANGRY! Never thought of using Sevin. Good to know.

I changed my mind. No more well wishes for you jokers (except for Rob).

Like many of you, I watched the yellow and orange rain cells go around me yesterday. Hoping today is better. Supposed to be light rain all afternoon, more rain tonight and some tomorrow morning. Guess we'll see. Wishing you all steady rain on your plots, gardens and fields. I'm done with summer. Bring on fall. LFG!

Planted my plots yesterday. .82 acres split into strips, plus some grass/clover that I left and a narrow strip of field corn that I planted for screen/cover. Pretty dry, but we've been getting a good amount of dew lately. My forecast was/is the same as Belo's. 3 days of forecasted rain became one small shower on Wednesday night. Maybe. I've had a bachelor group of bucks hanging around this summer. Be nice to get one of them early season. Either way, I love having the plot at the house so I can watch deer. Hope everyone's plots make it through this dry stretch and do well. It's alot of work, but so worth it.

It should. That's a good machine, but WAY bigger than what most homeowners need. A guy I work with has one that's 80HP with a canopy. I really like running it. Shuttle shift is super nice on any loader tractor.

That's what I have. My best friend bought an L4400 last year and it cost him dearly. It's a great machine and it will last him the rest of his life, but he had to take out a loan. I paid cash for mine.

Could, but then the hook is hanging out there to catch on things. He's okay with the D rings. I hate them.

Dealer wouldn't drill holes for the bolts. Not on a brand new bucket that was under warranty.

Another method I use is to split my seed in half. It's a bit of a pain in the butt, but it can keep you from running out of seed. I try to cover the plot in one direction (north to south, say) and then go over it again (east to west). I almost always use this method with really small seed like clover and brassicas.

You do. Many people prefer it over spring planting because you get much less weed pressure in the fall. Also there tends to more available moisture and cooler temps during the fall.