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 19, 2010
Noah?
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.