It has been a much better week here at the Preserve. We had just over two inches of rain this week and a cold front moved through which has brought the temps down into the fifties at night. The humidity is also much lower and things have become much more comfortable. (I think you have to be a deer hunter to appreciate the feelings you get this time of year when the temps start to drop!) The deer are much more active with the cooler temps and we have been getting a lot of trophy buck pictures in the last couple of days. Judging by the trail camera pictures it is going to be a great year of hunting this fall. We have several mature bucks ranging from eight to twelve point main frames and they are all very unique. It will soon be time to start getting some stand time to determine some scores and see just how many mature trophy bucks we really have this year. Trail cameras have added greatly to the scouting but there is just no replacing the actual time needed in the woods.
We will be starting the fall food plots this weekend and it is time to get them growing. We are going to plant Buck Forage Oats and ladino clover this fall. There are plenty of accorns and apples this year so I am more concerned with protein than tonage. Both of these crops will give us higher protein levels and a good attraction for later in the fall and early winter.
July 30, 2010
Fall Planting Time
July 20, 2010
Dog Days
The hunting preserve has been having it’s share of hot weather this summer. It has been really hot and dry for the last couple of weeks and it keeps the deer from moving around much during the day. We had our first cooler evening last night and finally were able to see some of our trophy bucks moving around the food plots. We have one really nice young non-typical buck and also have added a couple new drop tine bucks to the mix. The two new drop tine bucks are nice but the drops are a little on the thinner side and will be much more easily lost once the fighting begins. Most of the bucks still are showing some signs of possible additional growth although most of the tines and stickers should already be visible. There are several trophy bucks that show 10 point main frames and it should be a great hunting season come this fall.
We were also able to see ten new fawns last night during the cooler evening. This was the first time that there were so many moving around in the same night and I am guessing that the older age will have them moving every night from here on out.
Our food plots are doing good inspite of the dry weather and it will soon be time to begin planting the fall plots. We are planning on adding several oat/clover patches this year. We are trying for something a little more frost tolerant and also providing higher proteins going into the winter. The apples are all loaded and most of the trees are being checked nightly for anything that has dropped that day. The oaks are showing a good crop as well this year although they are dropping some right now because of the drier weather.
July 6, 2010
Fence Buck
You could easily ID this buck with his two G-2 stickers.
[/caption]In the summer of 2008, we decided that we would move forward with our plans to start a hunting preserve on my family farm. This decision brought with it a year like we have never had before in our nineteen years together. We began by laying out the perimeter fence and meeting with the soil and water advisor from our county. Once we had the layout ,it was time to begin the project and try to stay on schedule to meet our goal of hunting in the Fall of 2009.
Our first step was hiring a local track hoe operator to help us clear and level over two miles of ground and install the twenty five plus culverts that would be needed to navigate our streams. While the progress was moving along very well, it became harder for me everyday as the archery season had started and for the first time since early high school I wasn’t able to hunt. As late October came upon us it also brought with it the rain and early snow which caused us to miss our first day of work in about six weeks. Since we were not able to work for a couple of days it only seemed right that I would try to spend a day in a tree stand.
The following morning I was up in my tree well before daylight and as it was just breaking light my cell phone went off. (I then understood the mistake of having it with me in the tree!) It was Curtis, our track hoe operator, and since we were not able to work the day before he wanted to work thru the weather today. An hour later we were hauling diesel fuel back to the track hoe and prepping for the day’s work. As Curtis worked on top of the hoe he got excited and said, “Look at that buck!”. There not more than fifty yards away stood the buck that I had wanted to hunt all year. He was covered in mud, neck swollen, and head straight out. He walked within twenty five yards of us and never even gave us a glance. I told Curtis that I had several trail camera photos of this buck and you could easily identify him by the two stickers coming off of his right G-2.
This was almost more than I could take. Once we had finished the fueling, I told Curtis to get started with- out me for awhile and that I wanted to make a couple of swings up the ridges. My good friend and hunting buddy, Don Graham, was hunting in my “Condo Stand” that morning and I had hopes of pushing this buck his way. I took the Ranger back to the house and grabbed my crossbow and headed back to the area where the buck had been headed when we last saw him. Parking the Ranger I headed back our main south trail on foot. The woods on the south half of our property is thick with a series of ridges and sharp ravines and I figured on walking each ridge out progressing toward the north and Don’s location.
I had slowly walked about two hundred yards and was looking for a good place to cross the first ravine when I spotted a deer. It was about seventy five yards out and with all the brush all I could tell was that it was a deer. I had grabbed my grunt call when I went for my crossbow so I thought I’d give it a try. I hit the grunt and the deer immediately raised its head and I could see antlers. I was still not sure if it was the buck I was after and gave two more short grunts. The buck spun on a dime and headed my way! As it came my way I was trying to decide on which side of the ravine it would travel. Can I find an opening to shoot thru? Will I be able to stop him when the time comes in the opening? This all seemed to take forever and I could not decide on the best option. Finally I knelt on one knee and held the crossbow in place for him to pass down the north side. When the buck was twenty yards out he crossed to my side of the ravine. Now I was screwed, everything was set for him to go right and he went left! I decided it didn’t matter it was either going to happen or not. I stood up turned left and picked an opening. He was still coming and I couldn’t believe it. This buck was the one I had all the photos of and now he was walking right to me! When he was broadside he stopped suddenly and looked directly at me but it was too late. (I figured he could hear my heart pounding.) I pulled the trigger and watched as the arrow blew thru him right behind his front shoulder. He jumped, kicked and was gone. I had watched him travel out of sight some fifty yards out and I could see the blood spraying from both sides.
Was this really happening? It was like a dream and I had not done anything to even remotely deserve this buck. I was on the ground walking, wearing my red Ohio State hat, dressed in my Carhartt work clothes, smelled of diesel fuel and this buck walked to within thirteen steps. I know that you cannot take off directly after a buck you shoot with a bow but I was in serious need of something to hold me down.
I phoned my brother Scott and asked him if he could give me a hand tracking a buck I had just shot. He asked if I had a good shot and I told him, “ I know I killed him but need a reason to stand here for awhile to be sure he’s down”. Scott and my niece Siera came down on their four wheeler and the first words my niece said were, “ Are those Scent-lok Carhartts?
We found the buck after a short and quick blood trail. He scored 141” SCI with twelve scorable points and was a main frame eight point. Once we had him loaded I called Don and told him to get ready I would be driving the buck by him in the next few minutes. As we approached the “Condo”, I could see Don climbing down. While I can’t actually tell you what he said about my call, I can tell you he was glad that I had killed the buck.
I think that this buck was a good omen and that it was a sign that our dream of having a hunting preserve was the right one for us. I call the buck the “Fence Buck” and he now hangs on the wall of our new lodge. What a great way to enjoy your one day of hunting for the year!
June 24, 2010
Summer Arrives
The weather in NE Ohio has been showing the effects of summer time arriving. We have been really humid and temps reaching into the ninties. I know that by our southern friends standards this would be a cool break but in NE Ohio that is getting hot. The deer tend to lay pretty low on these hot days and it makes them easier to watch in the early mornings and late evenings. We have been doing our preserve chores as late as possible and it is always exciting to approach a food plot and see who is feeding.
The older fawns are all out following mom in the evening and they are really fun to watch. Their energy is like that of a puppy and they do not stand in one place very long. We have seen a couple of the yearling does that look like they are getting close to dropping their additions. This timing would put the second rut somewhere toward the end of December or early January.
Our bucks are all adding quickly now and the main beans are pretty much where they will finish. All of the growth now seems to be on the tine length and we are seeing several strong eight points and a few that have already started the ninth and tenth points. We have seen one buck that is going to be a main frame twelve point and he looks really great. I also had one trail camera picture this last week of a heavy eight point that clearly shows a drop tine starting on his right beam. This is very special and if he can keep it growing it looks heavy enough that he shouldn’t break it off fighting right away this fall.
We did post some new buck pictures this past week on the “2010 Photos” page and I will keep adding them as I get more quality pictures.
June 17, 2010
Growing Season
The preserve is looking like a jungle right now with all of the wet warm weather. Everything is green and lush from the food plots to the briars and trees. The deer are also doing great and their growth is coming right in line with the abundant food supply. We saw our first fawn following mom last night night. It was keeping pace very well and also showing off and playing while she grazed. I would guess that within the next couple of weeks there will be more and more fawns moving around and joining in the daily rituals.
The bucks were out in full force last evening and it looks like we are going to have a great group of trophy bucks this fall! It is still way to early to predict any scores as there are still three months of growth but the antlers are really coming into the potential. We saw three exceptional bucks last night. They all three have heavy mass and ranged from about 18-20″+ in width. The tines are still on the short side but you could see that there were two with g4’s and another that was showing a potential drop tine. We are far enough along now to be able to start identifying bucks that we see fairly regular. Single Brow, Double Brow, and Wide Rack are just a few that we know when we spot them.
I have been having some issues with my trail cameras but I hope to be getting that worked out sometime in the near future so that I can add additional pictures to the photo gallery. I am also going to start spending some stand time with my camera to see if I can get some early evening shots or video.
June 1, 2010
New Arrivals
The last ten days has brought us several new arrivals hear at Oak Ridge. I have seen three different fawns and at least four does that have had their fawns. These new additions are very tough to locate and even when I have an idea of where they should be they can not be easily seen. I finally was able to get a few pictures yesterday and I’m sorry in advance for the lighting problems. These little guys are not often found laying in the wide open and usually it makes for some pretty tough photos.
I can tell you that the majority of the older does all dropped their fawns within about five days of each other. While I have only seen about five that I know have had their fawns I would guess that they are all either close or finished. This goes right along with the one week of peek rut that we all see in early November. It will also be interesting to see when the yearling does start to have fawns.
Our bucks in the preserve are also coming along great and they have been hiding pretty well themselves. I did post some new trail camera photos this last week on the 2010 Photo Gallery so you can keep up with the progress. The weather has been quite warm and the bucks or any any of the deer do not move around much when it is very warm.
May 19, 2010
Noah?
Well some much for Mother Nature cooperating with the weather for the food plots. I was starting to think that we we going to need to hire Noah to help with the re-planting as we have had nothing but rain and cool weather for the past week to ten days. The sun has finally decided to shine on the preserve for the first time since Sunday and if we can only get out of the fifties for a day or two we still might be able to get something to grow! I have checked a lot of the seeds and they are sprouted under the surface and I am hoping that they will start to pop thru sometime in the next couple of days. The up side to all of the weather is that the apple crop seems to be very good and I am sure that they will all make it thru at this point.
The bucks continue to add to their antlers and they are all quite visible now even from a distance. With the sunshining now I hope to be able to add some new photos by the end of the week. I have had the trail cameras out for a little over a week now and they have taken over three hundred photos. All of them to this point have been low quality because of the rain. We have yet to see any fawns and I am still seeing several does that look to be getting really close. The longer they can wait the better as the cool weather would also be rough on a new born fawn.
May 11, 2010
Late Frost
Four Year Old
Sonya has seen one doe that looked like she had had her fawns but we have not seen any new borns yet. I think that they will have to become a little active before we will actually be able to see them as the cover in the preserve has already become very thick. We did see a nice group of bucks this week that was mainly two-four year olds and the antlers are really starting to develop now. I was able to get a few quick pictures last week and they should be added to our 2010 photo gallery very soon. I have put out a couple of trail cameras on food plots and once I get some decent pictures I will also add them to the new gallery.
May 5, 2010
The Table is Set
The spring food plots have been completed. We are hoping for a bit of help from mother nature and it should make for some great food plots this year. We tried some new seed this year and have planted about two acres of the Whitetail Institutes Power Plant. The Power Plant is made up of forage beans, cowpeas, sunflower and sorgum. Since I can never plant a straight food plot product alone I customized it by adding a small amount of chuffa and also by overplanting corn on about one third of the ground. My intention is to have the corn add cover to the food plots as well as add a growing aid to the forage beans. The only question is whether or not it is to early to plant beans in NE Ohio. With a little luck and mother natures help it should turn out great. Most of the mast trees have matured beyond the frost stage and there are several trees now starting the apples for this fall. This will add to the late September and early October hunts as the apples are always a big drawing to the deer once they begin to fall.
The deer are all adding weight now and everyone looks to be good and healthy going into the late spring. The bucks are all well into the antlers now and you can easily pick out this falls trophy bucks already. The biggest difference is the mass at the base of the antlers right now. I have seen several 4-5 year old bucks that are bigger than your wrist at the base and this should make a great foundation for the big racks to come. All of the does are getting closer and we expect to have some of the older doe drop within the next week to ten days. It is a very exciting time here at Oak Ridge between the antlers and the fawns.
April 27, 2010
Spring
Ralphie
The bucks are all showing the antlers from a distance now and I was able to see a couple that are starting brow tines and actually one that has started to come around on the main beam. It should not be to much longer until they all show us some main frame development. They are still in the process of losing their winter hair and look a bit ragged right now but that will continue to change as the warmer weather finds its way back to Ohio.
We have found a few grouse in the preserve and there is one that seems intent on becoming quite friendly. I have been able to get a few photos of him and he is always fun to watch as I move throughout the evening chores.