Now The Slow Season

Deer hunting (even archery) has ended. Turkey season doesn't open until April. You can't plow or plant anything. This is the slow time at the farm. I'll be able to hunt shed antlers soon. And it's easy to get thru the woods to do things like marking the property lines.

The dogs always go crazy when we first arrive at the farm.  They sniff and fuss all around the door and porch.  I always suspect coyotes marking their territory and I have found some pretty gnarly scat.  This week there were clear footprints on the porch - dog or coyote?  I can't tell.

The previous post showed some of the coyote traffic - we also get dog traffic.

This black lab is a regular.  He showed up outside the dining room window this morning causing Sydney and Chloe to go nuts.

I don't usually supplementally feed the deer but I thought I'd give them a mid-winter snack (in front of my cameras).  Corn.

I decided to hunt the hi-rise stand for coyotes on Saturday at sunset.

I used an electronic caller - this is the remote control for it.  I tried rabbit squeals, coyote pup calls, and coyote howls.  Nada.  No deer either (wonder why...).

It was a pretty evening with a nice sundown.

The brassica is pretty well done.

A 360 degree tour from the hi-rise.

Sunday morning was 18 degrees.  I planned to go for a walk.  I normally do that before breakfast but this week I waited for things to warm up a little.

 

Nice sunrise though.

Jim and I booked our elk hunt for the first week of October.  We're going to northern New Mexico (near Chama).  We'll be staying at the Silvertop camp which is 30 miles off the pavement.  No power at the camp but it does have hot and cold running water (they pump creek water to a 500 gallon tank on the roof and use a propane water heater).   This is the website for the Outfitter.  2013 New Mexico Elk Hunt

 

On Sunday, Jim and I visited our friend Ed who lives out near the farm.  That's a picture of Jim and Ed from an elk hunting trip a few years ago.  Ed is kind of a mountain man and is who Jim went elk hunting with in 2012.  They did a DIY public land elk hunt via mule back in Colorado.  Ed trailered his mules out. 

Ed severly broke his leg 37 years ago and has been living with extreme pain for years.  He's had custom boots and other accomodations.  He's tried all kinds of pain management but finally decided to have it amputated shortly after New Year.  We stopped in to see him today and he is pretty amazing.  It's been 3 weeks since the surgery and he's getting around on crutches.  He showed us around his blacksmith shop.  His left leg was amputated below the knee and he will eventually get a prosthetic.  He's selected the model already - it's a tactical one (of course).

Amy and Doug got me a "bacon of the month club" for Christmas.  This is this month's selection - 10 slices in a pound.  It was really good.

After breakfast I went for a walk and refreshed the paint spots on some of the property lines.

I found a new hunting stand on the neighbor's property below the ridge stand.



The Season's Survivors

It's been two weeks so the cameras had a fair amount of activity.  Most of the bucks haven't started to shed their antlers so it's not a bad time to take inventory for next year.

I would definitely like to see this guy next year - he looks like 11 points this year with nice mass everywhere.

This might be a different guy than the one above.

I continue to get both red and gray foxes on camera.  I've only ever gotten a glimpse of them in person.

Two coyotes - I hear these all the time and occasionally see them.  As you'll see in another post, I try (unsuccessfully) to hunt them.

This shot is 30 seconds after the one above.  If you look closely, you can see that there were actually 4 coyotes.

A young buck that did shed its antlers early.

A cute little spike buck.  I never saw him this year.

We took 5 does off the property this year.  There are still alot around.  Two in the field and one in front of the camera here.

A healthy looking doe for late January.

Annoying distracters when hunting deer - they're looking healthy too.

Surprise!

No farm this weekend - Amy and Doug were in town.  The Heritage Club ladies had a baby shower for Amy.  The guys (Doug, Steve and I) went to try out a new indoor shooting range (Point Blank) but it was mobbed (thanks Barrack and Diane).  We then tried the old indoor range (Target World) and it was also mobbed.

Part of the 2 hour wait for a shooting lane at Point Blank.

Amy organizing and repacking to get the pink stuff home to Peoria.  They're hoping to move to the DC area by late February.  She's due April 11.

Pam, Creigh and baby Alex visited for a little while.  Cynthia, Steve and Katie were also in town from TN.

This looks like more fun than the farm, doesn't it?

Rainy Weekend

Joan bought these two desk chairs on an online auction for $36 total - it will be more comfortable in stand next year.

 

Jim and I are starting to work on an elk hunt for this fall - this is currently the leading candidate.  New Mexico Outfitter Under Consideration for 2013 Hunt

 



View from the hi-rise.  I was burning some cardboard in the pit.

 

The brassica is still hanging in there.

 

The clover below the hi-rise.

 

The driveway stand is eroding with all this heavy rain.  The clover that I planted didn't really get started before the frost hit.

 

Main field clover.

 

I made venison jerky on Sunday morning while it was raining.  I use ground meat and the "jerky blaster" gun.

 

I like the jerky this way better - it's not quite as tough as strips.

 

The strips go into the dehydrator for about 4 hours.

 

Four levels use up about 4 pounds of meat.

 

While the jerky cooked, I went for a walk.  I found the prizewinner pumpkin deflated.  The rain paused for the whole walk and I probably covered 3 or so miles.

 

I took the 223 in case I ran into a coyote or fox.  I stopped at the range to see if it was still sighted in. Not bad from 100 yards - I was actually aiming under it because I thought I left set up 2" high.  The Heineken is about 8 years old - a good target.

 

I relocated a couple of the cameras to just watch the trails.  I walked down to the ridge stand and then went down over the cliff to the left.

 

It's really very steep - picture doesn't do it justice.

 

I crossed the creek at the bottom.

 

This beech tree is on the back property line. The paint slashes need refreshed.

 

It's like they're taunting me - there's buck rubs everywhere that I look.

 

After all of the rain, the creeks were running full.  It was slippery crossing them.

 

This camera now looks back toward the valley stand.

 

I got in the valley stand to close it up for the season.  My foot almost went thru the floor - appears to be rotten.

 

From the atv trail looking back at the hi-rise.

 

Earlier camera checks.

 

This spot is where the deer parade was last week.  Three does and two bucks all came out this trail below the driveway stand. I walked their path.

 

A random rotting beech tree seen on the walk.

 

 

New camera locations tested with a Ranger drive-by.