stubborn1VT

It sure is lively around the Ponderosa! I didn't see anyone whining about legal shooting hours. I believe he asked why most other states do it differently. I'm not sure why NY is more dangerous, but it sure seems to be. If more daylight and blaze orange aren't the answers, then I don't have any suggestions. Have you ever considered moving Grow?

But how does Bigfoot feel about crossbows and ARs!?

I get what you're saying, but I don't think bucks can count to 28!

I'm guessing there is a difference between the kale in a brassica mix and the kale in a garden. My buddy claims that his kale keeps growing even when the deer start chewing on it. I will have to do more research. I'm talking about kale that gets 2-3 feet tall. Just an idea.

Has anybody planted kale for deer? I mean the kale you would grow in your garden that gets really big and keeps growing in the cold. Over the years I have seen deer go after kale that has been left in gardens or on small vegetable farms. I'm thinking of trying it on a very rough piece of ground that I hunt. I wouldn't till it or harrow it or anything. I would just transplant a bunch of kale right into this area full of rocks, stumps, wood etc. It gets decent sunlight. The only risk would be if the deer killed it before the season. I suppose that is probably what would happen, but I'm still toying with the idea. I have always wanted to put in a brassica plot here, but it's so rough that I would need to clear it with a bulldozer first. And I don't have access to a dozer. If anyone has any experience with this, I would love to hear about it.

I could use a new pop up blind. I would like a new scope for the muzzleloader. You can never have too many stands, or sets of climbing sticks. I've been eyeing a new Badlands backpack, since I carry so much dang stuff with me. If I had a Fox Pro I might try to lower the local coyote population. In all honesty, I have all the gear I need, and I only buy the essentials. But if Santa wanted to bring me a stainless 7MM08 with a synthetic stock...

Tall Tines are a Whitetail Institute product, I believe.

I agree at this point. I don't know what post I read it in, but somebody wrote that they wish they had just mowed and fertilized. That is the conclusion I have come to basically. I would have mowed, limed, and done a little fertilizer. I think I could gain just as much with lime as anything, other than a chainsaw. My focus will be more on chainsaw work, improving my access routes, using brush to steer movement, creating browse, maintaining apple trees etc. I'm hoping to transition most of my plots into clover because it's low maintenance. I will still mess around with soybeans. I think they are a game changer in some places. I am also putting in a small orchard. It will be multi purpose. I want to have apples for deer, but I also want apples for eating, cider and cobbler. I'm only talking 12-15 trees, but I have seen how significant one good tree can be. Good luck with your plots. They can be pretty rewarding. In hindsight, I feel like I could have made better use of my time and energy. It's all part of the process, and it sure is fun to keep "hunting" all year long.

My buddy has 100 acres of well managed family land. They took a couple nice bucks out of there and now he is just running 5 or 6 trail cameras. He says the deer are really moving, and still doing quite a bit of chasing. He has some food in his plots, but he claims the buck aren't really putting the feedbag on yet. He also says he had 8 new bucks show up on camera since Sunday. He is in central Vermont, so it may not have much to do with where you are. I just thought it was interesting, and it changed my outlook for this weekend.!

I agree. I grew up on a small farm, and worked on a number of larger farms. There is usually a big difference between the ground farms grow hay, corn or soybeans, and the ground you plant your plots. The plows, harrows, and culitipacker that I ran on the farm next door won't even fit in the plots I have at my house. Even scaled down versions of these implements won't do the job around the rocks and stumps in my woods plots. Bill Winke of Midwest Whitetail (you can watch his show on Youtube) plants what he calls "poor man plots" with glyphosate, controlled burns, and a hand spreader. He might cut a few trees with a chainsaw, but otherwise does these plantings by hand. I'm not discouraging anyone from good farming practices, but agree that less is more, especially when you are starting out.

It helps the beer mock lactose intolerant people.! Don't ask me why. Seems kinda mean.

Hoping to give away half of my muzzleloader deer. If I am lucky enough to shoot one that is.

It's funny. I spend a lot of time while I'm on stand thinking about improvements. I really should look into pears. Deer love them. I don't really have that much acreage in plots, so 50lbs of forage oats goes quite a ways. I'm realizing that my woods plots are all too small, which is tough, since it took so darn much work to make them. I don't have a problem with access, though many people do. I still worry about it though, so I am trying to make each little spot as good as I can.

I have places I can still use the tiller. I have a soybean plot at my house that I found one rock in. Just the one. But for the woods I think a chain or spring tooth would be a whole lot more durable. I get sick of replacing tiller teeth! I like your idea of keeping something growing. I'm looking forward to getting into a good crop rotation. It's nice to build the soil up and see the results. Planting turnips and radishes in the clay soil has been great for breaking it up and adding organic material. I have another soybean plot that I want to put field corn on. I'm turning my older brassica plots into WI Fusion and Extreme. Also putting work into rehabbing older apple trees and planting new ones as well. Sorry to ramble. Our deer season is nearly over here in VT, so habitat improvement has been on my mind.

I'm 205. The problem is I wear them working. I buy them because they are comfortable when they are new, and I can't find a work boot that is truly waterproof. They wear out because they don't fit quite right and I put a ton of miles on working. I have also tried Bogs. I think the issue is my feet are pretty small and my calves are pretty big. When I first bought Mucks they were made in the USA and were less than half the price they are now. I got a solid year out of them "back in the day", and wore them every day for 80% of the year. The insides usually go to hell before they actually leak, although my last 2 pair did leak before the year was up. I wish I could find an alternative. I wear insulated Chippewa boots in the winter with wool socks. I wear LL Bean hiking boots in the summer when it's dry. So Mucks wear out in 100-150 days of work and hunting. That makes them overpriced in my mind. I do like them for hunting, and buy a pair every fall when I start scouting. As a young man I spent a couple years selling shoes & boots, and I can't honestly find a suitable replacement. I guess I just miss my first pair that I bought for about $40 and got a full year out of.

I guess you enjoyed the "test drive". Congrats!

I wear the the original Muck Chore boots. I can't wear the taller ones because the don't fit my calves. Maybe the other models are better? I like mine, and find them pretty warm, even though they are uninsulated. I like them, but they don't last. For ice fishing I wear Baffin Trappers. If my Muck boots lasted my 8 or 9 years I could afford a brand new muzzleloader!

I have a tractor and tiller, but I'm hoping to do most of my plots with a 4 wheeler, chain harrows, and a poly lawn roller. I hope to put less wear and tear on the poor tiller. We'll see how much I can get done with a $200 set of chain harrows. A whole lot less moving parts.

That's pretty normal. I would suggest making your mock scrapes well before the season. They aren't fool proof, but it's another way to put them in a specific spot. I made 3 mock scrapes this year, and two got used heavily. My rifle buck had just walked from a scrape. My biggest buck I shot walking to a scrape. I like the fact that does and bucks both check them. I didn't make one at my house this year, because I don't often hunt here. I will next year, since my plots and habitat work are starting to bring more deer around. Good luck with it. I just find it to be another tool I can use to up my odds. If I can attract more deer by scratching around with a stick and adding a little pee I'll do it!

Good info Moog. I will have to look around online. I usually don't buy on ebay. I think I would be all set if they had half sizes. A smaller size would be tight and therefor cold. I wear the larger size and it makes the heel sloppy and it chews the guys out of the inside of the boot. Either that or I get a hole punched in them, and then they leak. I shouldn't badmouth Muck too bad, but I imagine they are making a killing on their Chinese made boots. "Wish a Ford and a Chevy would last ten years like they should."

They are decent and comfortable. I wear them for work in the spring,fall, winter and I barely get a year out of them. I like them, and keep buying them, but I don't love them. They are overpriced and don't come in half sizes. If they did, then I wouldn't wear them out so fast. Even if I wore them just for hunting there is no way they would last me 10 years.

Pretty life-like. I had read decoy in the post earlier, and then forgot about it. My bad. I always wanted to try a doe decoy. Maybe next season.

How did you get this pic? I just noticed the set of legs in the background, after seeing it umpteen times.

I don't disagree. With the amount of grain they put in cheap dog food these days, however, I'm not totally sure.

Oh sure, blame the screen brightness!