iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

Wildlife Food Crops

Started by Magicman, October 27, 2013, 07:17:07 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Magicman

We have no White Oak acorns this year probably due to our April rains.  Since this year's Red Oak acorns were set last year, it will be interesting to see what we have.  Hopefully it will not be a lean year because acorns are a major food source for our wildlife.

The wildlife is really whopping my planted food plots.  There were about a dozen deer and also a flock of turkeys in the plot visible from the Cabin yesterday evening.  One very nice mature 10 point.   ;D
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

drobertson

No question about it, no acorns means heavy field usage.  Our mast is very isolated as well, some spots covered in white oak acorns, and others, where other ridges and bottoms nothing.  The rains did help the browse, but as for mast, spotty,    david
only have a few chain saws I'm not suppose to use, but will at times, one dog Dolly, pretty good dog, just not sure what for yet,  working on getting the gardening back in order, and kinda thinking on maybe a small bbq bizz,  thinking about it,

Peter Drouin

We have a lot of acorns w and r , but they're small in size this year.
We did have a very wet spring.
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

VT_Forestry

We've also had a pretty poor acorn crop this year.  Been seeing lots of deer in the bean fields and cut corn fields, but it's going to get hard on them when those food sources eventually go away
Forester - Newport News Waterworks

chain

Deer are absolutely eating our soybean crop up along the edges of fields. The bucks are fighting and leaving circles of trampled soybeans too. No one wants to kill the does, the hunters are after the 'super bucks'; they have their cameras, their feeders, their food plots and all [hunters] have four wheel drives ripping and rutting our roads to impassable for our grain tucks. We have had to cart out each and every bushel from up to a mile and a half to the levee.

This has been a hardship on us, tough on our equipment and added labor fatigue, you will not find a conservation officer near. This adjacent area is USDA privately held Wetlands...need I say more? Yes, I will. Now, according to a news release, in a Missouri publication, this so-called "wetland" is being returned to original swamp, fields of river cane are being planted and cultivated in hopes of making good swamp rabbit and cane-brake rattlesnake habitat. Honestly, if the tax paying public knew what the millions of tax dollars are being wasted for..... >:(

.

ET

Im still surrounded by standing cornfields. One of my new plots have been hit hard (chickory) but no stands near it, i could put in a ground blind but not my favorite way to hunt.

This morning there was a news bulletin on tv about lots of deer vehicle collisions so be careful when driving. The rut is on here in northern Ohio, i need to take time now to maybe get one.

Trail cams have spotted several bucks but nothing like what MM has down south.
Lucas 1030, Slabber attachment, Husky 550XP, Ford 555B hoe, Blaze King Ultra, Vermeer chipper, 70 acres with 40 acres Woods.

Peter Drouin

You guys in the south have it made , shooting deer over bate, up here you can't do that.
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

thecfarm

Guess my garden counts for a food plot???  :D  They only go in when it's dark.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Magicman

Quote from: Peter Drouin on October 28, 2013, 10:29:38 PM
You guys in the south have it made , shooting deer over bate, up here you can't do that. 
Not in Mississippi.  Probably Texas is the only state that allows any hunting over bait.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

VT_Forestry

Same here in VA, that's a big no no
Forester - Newport News Waterworks

chevytaHOE5674

Michigan you are allowed to hunt over bait if you want.

Peter Drouin

Well sitting in a tree stand in front of an apple  or acorn tree is ok  :D :D
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

orion388

Count Western part of Virginia in the "NO" mast crop this year also... The deer are already hungry, eating everything in site around the house.
LT35HD, Kubota L4330, Stihl 361, 026, Massey Fersuson 55, Ventrac, Grasshopper, Small dumptruck and a huge yearning for knowledge from this forum.

Magicman

I started thinking about the acorn crop when I saw our dismal Pecan crop.   :-\
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Bogue Chitto

 

 
Quote from: Magicman on October 29, 2013, 08:11:19 AM
Quote from: Peter Drouin on October 28, 2013, 10:29:38 PM
You guys in the south have it made , shooting deer over bate, up here you can't do that. 
Not in Mississippi.  Probably Texas is the only state that allows any hunting over bait.
We can in Louisiana. ::)

terry f

    We can't even hunt bears over bait, or use hounds, something I don't disagree with.

chain

We had a heavy white oak acorn crop only on top the ridges. I was surprised as the acorns fell later than usual and a reason a big buck stayed over in the white oak grove and wouldn't come past my stand. Doe + acorns, what ever else would a buck want?

But this time of winter I begin watching the post oaks upon the higher south & west facing areas. The PO acorns seem variable as when they fall and to last much longer than white oak. Squirrels and turkey can tattle tale where the best acorns are and, with the recent heavy snow and ice, the critters have to be hungry...muzzle loader season should be a blast!


coxy

we had tons of apples and tons of beech nuts don't know about the rest don't have any oak with in 2miles of here

SLawyer Dave

The second Friday of every month, (today), I volunteer to sit as a temporary judge for the "Traffic Calendar" for those people cited for infractions, (they don't trust me to handle cases where I can send people to jail).  Probably a good thing.   ;)

A number of "Fish and Wildlife" tickets also get thrown in.  Today I had my first "deer ticket" of the season.  Reading this thread, I thought it was pretty coincidental.  The officer ticketed the hunter for "baiting" deer, which is no-no here in California.  According to the officer, he heard a shot and upon investigating, found the hunter dressing out a legal buck who had been eating apples that had been placed on the ground as bait.  The hunter's defense; he has been hunting there for years, as it is an old abandoned cabin/homestead that has a couple of apple trees.  The officer cited that while there are a couple of "half dead" old fruit trees, there were no apples on the trees, and that the apples he found on the ground were large and of a modern variety.  The officer admitted that he did not see the hunter place the apples in the area.  When I asked the officer if he found any stickers, stamps or other imprinted marks on the apples, he looked confused and said no.  He really didn't seem to understand when I tried to point out to him that without such identifying evidence proving that the apples had been purchased, that there was no way I could find beyond a reasonable doubt that the apples constituted an illegal bait.  He kept focusing on the idea that the apples he found could not have come from the trees, even though he could not identify the varietal of the apple tree, nor even the varietal of the apples on the ground.  He also didn't seem to like my sense of humor when I mentioned that while I am sure he deals with a lot of "fruitcakes", that I doubted he would meet the criteria for a state certified expert on "fruit". 

In the end, I found the defendant Not Guilty.  I doubt the matter is over however, as the officer also confiscated the deer as an "illegal take".  While apparently the head may still be frozen in an evidence locker, the officer believes the rest of the deer was disposed of.  Incredulous to me that an agency would dispose of any portion of such evidence, especially when the propriety of confiscating such is still at issue.  So I am not sure my order to release the carcass to the hunter is going to solve the situation.  I wonder what the fair market value is for a mature black tail deer?

coxy

I don't live in CA nor have I ever shot a black tail deer( but) how do you put a price on some thing like that    to the hunter it could be priceless  its all about the memories  jmop

Magicman

Being guilty and being proven guilty are two different things.  Hopefully the officer learned a lesson and will be more thorough with his evidence collecting in the future.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

WDH

He might not have the deer, but he did not get a hefty fine for baiting, even though the evidence was not complete enough to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.  So, he came out OK. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

chain

Quote from: Magicman on December 14, 2013, 07:44:19 AM
Being guilty and being proven guilty are two different things.  Hopefully the officer learned a lesson and will be more thorough with his evidence collecting in the future.

And you might say, "being accused and not being guilty". Many of our wildlife officers today and also Federal agents often accuse  individuals of violations, it's a mind game they play.

Once while pheasant -quail hunting a officer came up and said, "I know you have birds, let's see them." "No," I said,
I haven't even fired a shot" Well let's see your gun and check the mag". As I turned to set my gun down, he punched around in my game bag. Don't think that didn't fire me up.

But the Feds are really pro at that scheme, "circumstantial evidence", they often try to prove.

thecfarm

I asked my step son about food plots. If I grow it in the woods,fields I can hunt over it. But I can not carry something in, like apples,and put them under a pine tree and have a pine apple tree.  ;D   I can grow carrots and beets in the woods and put a tree stand by it and hunt over it and be legal. I know the deer like carrots and beets and string beans too. But the string beans would not live because of the frost. I do not hunt and he does not do this. The game warden had  2 people in cuffs on the tar road below me,about 2 weeks ago. Night hunting,or really early morning hunting.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Claybraker

In Georgia, you can hunt deer over bait in the southern zone.

Also, it's a common practice for the DNR to donate illegally harvested game to a local food bank. I would suspect Cali does the same.

Apples, if purchased by the bushel, typically won't have bar code stickers on them. The officer may not have been able to articulate his case to your satisfaction, but it's sorta like a rock sitting on a fence post. It's pretty obvious somebody put it there.

Thank You Sponsors!