Shed Season, Coyote Hunt, A Walk, Etc

Although there are a few days of archery season left, the bucks have already started dropping their antlers.  This one was in the field right in front of the driveway stand.

 There was another one in the field right in front of the high-rise stand.

The shed in the front is pretty large.  The brow tine has alot of mass and it has a sticker on the G-2.  It looked kind of familiar and I finally identified it as the typical side on the mutant buck.

There has been alot of rain recently and the pond was close to overflowing.

It was really windy so I went for a walk down in the valley.  I just figured that I'd follow some deer trails and see if I found anymore sheds. I didn't.

There is alot of wind damage.  I'm always amazed when 20" trees are sheared off 8' above the ground.

There were also a few that were just completely uprooted.

There are some rock ledges with little caves on the hillsides above the creeks.  I wonder if this might be where the fox or coyote den.

Rotten trees get picked apart by somebody - possums or coons looking for bugs?

Nice size timber when logged sometime in the past.

There are a few huge beech.  They tend to rot in the middle and aren't much good for timber.  But they are home to all kinds of things - coons, woodpeckers, etc. The north and east slopes at the farm tend to be predominantly maple and beech.  The south and west slopes are mostly oak and hickory.

Saturday evening I tried to call in coyotes.  I used and electronic caller and a motion device.  I set up a couple different places with no success.  It was really windy and not ideal conditions for the dogs to be moving.

This is the Mojo-Critter.  It spins and flops around to simulate a tail of a dying critter while I use the call.  I've got all the toys and nothing to show for it.

Sunrise on Sunday.

Van fixed up the shooting bench (that I knocked over with the bushhog). We're trying spike post holders to see if that will make the bench sturdier.

Van did a major rehab on the front gate.  The post that it was mounted on was wallowing out it's hole because it was stuck in a drainage ditch.  He moved it to the other side of the driveway, planted a new post, and tied it off to a couple of augers.

The ground was so wet that the deer prints were very distinct.

This buck-bomb was in contention for poop of the week.

But I decided to go with the coyote pile.  The main part has been washed away and I find these piles of hair and fur.

And they are always so kind to leave them right off the porch.

There must be some bucks left with antlers because these rubs were still fresh.

A bunny wabbit.

A fox looking for a bunny wabbit.

Pretty sure that this is a buck that has already dropped his antlers.

The Elk Head Debate

Joan and I have been discussing where the elk head mount will go when it arrives this summer.  She has been suggesting my office or apartment in Lexington.  Or maybe the farm.  I have been suggesting that there are numerous cathedral ceilings in Mason that would be perfect.  For example, the family room



We have been kicking these ideas around since my return from Utah in September.  I thought that I was making some progress when the subject came up of a 2012 elk hunt in Colorado.  This has complicated the discussion because, if I were to be successful again, where would that head go?  And, upon closer examination, I suspect that the ceiling fan in the family room might hit the elk in the nose.

So, I'm now considering "Plan B."  There are no cathedral ceilings at the farm and the ceilings are all a standard eight feet.  The elk head will be significantly larger than the bucks that are already hanging at the farm.  So, the solution is obvious - we need farm "cabin expansion phase 3."

The green rug area in the picture above was all a part of "cabin expansion phase 1."  We could knock out that whole wall behind the tv and build a new high-ceiling room that would be perfect for an expanding collection of trophy mounts.  There's only one problem - that area has the stairway to the attic (where the furnace is located). 

I think it's 14' to the truss in the barn so if we just get rid of that stairway, a new 13' x 18' room could be added with 12'+ ceilings (could handle a small giraffe).  It could even have a window or two out onto the porch.  Now I just have to convince Joan that I'm doing this so that she has room to set up her sewing table.  I never go up into the attic much anyway.  Furnace filters last a long time.

Home In Mason This Weekend

Joan has some stuff going on and the weather is kind of yucky so we're not heading to the farm.  We had some snow/sleet/ice overnight so it's probably just as well.  Anyway, I was just looking at a few interesting websites that I thought I would share.

Southern Ohio Forrestry Association  This is a group of local landowners out near the farm who meet and discuss how to manage their property.  They are supported by the State Forresters.  I have never made it to a meeting but I enjoy reading their newsletter and minutes.  They sometimes have some interesting nature tidbits and recipes.

Woodlands TV From the UK I learned about this website from the SOFA newsletter.  It has a collection of short videos with interesting things like how to skin and eat a squirrel or how to choose a chainsaw.

Arkive I'm not sure who sent me this link but it's got some really neat videos.  The one that caught my attention was the osprey feeding on bigger and bigger fish.

Randy Sanders This website is for another property owner in Pike County.  I've met Randy and we have some of his handy-work hanging on our wall at the farm.  He does some milling of timber.

Quality Deer Management Association The QDMA has a really good magazine and has been the champion for sustainable management of wild deer herds.  There's lots of good resources on deer, property management, etc.

Midwest Whitetail - Winke This is a blog by the outdoor writer Bill Winke.

TED Talks Deviating from the outdoor theme a little bit, this website has videos of interesting speakers on a wide range of topics (not always speakers that I agree with but interesting none the less).

RSA Animate This is another series of talks that I don't always agree with but find interesting and enjoyable to watch.

Dan Long Website My son Eric went to school with a set of twins who were born on the same day as him.  Creigh has been out hunting at the farm with me this year.  His brother Dan now lives in Jackson Hole WY and he is a rock climber/photographer.  I am not particularly comfortable at heights (understatement) and some of his photos make me break out in a sweat.

Anyway, how's that for an eclectic collection of websites on a Saturday morning?

Blog 101 - How to use this blog

A number of people have asked me when I was going to send them another update from the blog.  Actually, the blog is always there and you can go to it anytime.  The easiest way to do that is to bookmark (save as a favorite) this link:

http://tomsfarmblog.blogspot.com/

That link address will always take you to the newest post.  Depending on what you're using to view the blog and how interested you are in knowing when it's updated, there are some other navigation features and tools that you may want to use.  Here's some of the basic features that you may be interested in using.  The features are dependent on what device you will be using to view the blog.

From a Computer

If you go to the farm blog webside via the link listed above, your browser will display the full version of the blog.  The main body of the blog will be displaying the newest post.  If you keep scrolling down, the next 2 or 3 older posts will also show up.  If you ever see a picture that you would like to look at more closely, all you have to do is put your curser on that picture and click.  That picture will expand to full screen.  When you're done looking at that picture, click on the "x" in the upper right and you will be returned to the blog main page.

On the right margin of the blog there are some other tools that you can use.

This picture shows these tools including:

1.) Popular Posts

2.) Follow By Email

3.) Blog Archive

4.) Followers













Popular posts is a listing of the 6 posts that have been visited the most by blog readers.  It displays the title and a little teaser about the post. If you click on the title, the whole post will be displayed.  When you're done with that post, if you want to go back to the main blog page, you have two choices.  You can hit your browser's "back" arrow or you can click on the "Laurel Ridge Farm" title at the top of the page.

The Follow By Email feature allows you to sign up to receive an email anytime a new post is published.  In order to use this feature, you enter your email address into the little box and hit the submit button.  It will then give you instructions on how to confirm this email address.  When a new blog post is published, an email will be sent to your address and the email will contain the content from the latest blog post.  It looks a little different than visiting the blog via your browser but it's the same stuff.  After you receive the email, if you want to go to the actual blog, all you have to do is click on the "Laurel Ridge Farm" title and it will take you to the blog.  If you sign up for this feature and later decide that you want it to stop, there is an "unsubscribe" button on the bottom of each email.  Here's what the emails look like:



Back to the blog in your browser, in the right margin is the Blog Archive.  This is a listing by month since the blog was started.  If you click on one of the months, a list of blog titles from that month will appear.  If you click on any of those titles, that blog entry will be displayed.  You can always get back to the blog home page by clicking on the "Laurel Ridge Farm" title at the top of any post.

The Followers section lists those people who have signed up to be followers of the blog.  I don't know if there's any major advantage to do this.  I think that it is useful for people who use Google Reader to visit many different blogs.  There may be some other advantages that I haven't figured out yet.

From a Mobile Device

If you use a smart phone (Iphone, Android, etc) or tablet (Ipad etc) to view the blog, the operating systems on these devices don't display all of the functions/tools that are displayed via the computer browser.  None of the functions listed above (archive, email, etc) are displayed in the mobile version.  Typically the mobile version shows a short summary of the most recent 2 or 3 posts.  If you select that post, it shows the full post.  While viewing that post, if you  select one of the pictures, it will expand to full screen.

I hope that this description is useful for you.  If you've read this far, you've at least found your way to the blog.  I hope that the other posts are a little more interesting than this one is - but maybe this will help some with navigation.


Brrr...It's Cold!

Joan and I drove out Saturday morning and it was 20 degrees.  Overnight it was down into the teens.  And Sunday it was back up to the 20's but sunny and nice - no real wind.  We had a few snow flurries so everything was lightly dusted.

Upon arrival, I made the spin on an atv to check all the cameras.

Not much showed up on the cameras (except me).  I decided that it was so cold that I would wait until one hour before sunset before I headed to a stand.

I went to the ladder stand and sat until 6:00.

Here's a view from the stand - there wasn't anything moving.  Not even a squirrel.  Joan saw two does in the barn field while I was out in the woods.

On my way in. Joan had meatloaf waiting for me made from elk meat.

Sunday morning the thermometer said 18 degrees at sunrise. The fields were completely frozen.  I decided that nothing would be moving and I stayed in to cook breakfast.

It was a bright sunny morning but you know it was cold when there's ice on the pond.

I went out for a frolic with Sydney and Chloe.  They love to chase a ball.  Even Chloe is getting the hang of chasing and picking up the ball.  Neither one is any good at giving it back.

Sydney with a mouth full of frozen rubber ball. 

Chloe getting ready to bolt down the driveway.

Author's retraction:
In a previous post, I observed these streaks on pine trees by the driveway stand.  I attributed them to roosting turkeys.  When Bruce was out last week he said that this was tree sap - he knew because during his mis-spent youth, he ignited some of the sap streaks and it enabled him to meet the Fire Marshall.  Upon closer examination, Bruce is absolutely right - these streaks are gooey pine sap.  I'm not sure why they decided to run this year.

 Some closer views of pine sap (not turkey poop).

 After the dogs run, I loaded up the 223 and went for a walk looking for coyotes. First I went up in the hi-rise stand and used the electronic caller.  I tried that for about 45 minutes and then decided to go for a walk.  I walked down past the barn stand and over the hill to the atv trail.  I walked thru the woods over to the driveway stand.  I crossed the main field to the ladder stand.  Then I went back to the ladder stand and the 100 yard bench.

Along this walk, I passed the cameras again.

Here's the 223 and the electronic caller.  I was using the cottontail rabbit squeal.

Speaking of coyotes, I read an article in a magazine about coyotes attacking an adult deer.  It was all caught on a trailcam.  This is really unusual - they attack fawns frequently but rarely bother adults.  Anyway, Leo sent me this link to the article and photos.  It's a little guesome but is nature at work.

http://www.deeranddeerhunting.com/coyote-kill

I took a few shots from the 100 yard bench to be sure that I was still zero'd in.  It was shooting fine.

On the walk I noticed these rubs right beside the hi-rise stand.  Some buck has sure claimed this territory.  This is where my Glendale Buck got beat up last week.

 

Here's a few trailcams from this week - nothing too exciting.  This is a doe wandering up to the driveway stand at about when I was sitting in the ladder stand.

This appears to be the mutant buck.  He has already shed his right antler - it was a typical 4 point.  His mutant 2 point is still intact.