September is usually one of the most exciting months for deer hunters (next to November). The mornings are beginning to become cooler and the grass is filled with dew. As archers, we are shooting our bows now more than probably any other time of the year. We want to ensure our equipment is on its mark and building our confidence for that moment when the big one steps out. I also look forward to the early season evening hunts. The deer don't know that the season has begun and they are still fairly predictable in their feeding patterns.
However, September is also a month that has two days that are personally challenging for me. One day that I obviously struggle with, as a firefighter, is Patriot Day. Just like you, I reflect back on that horrible day on 9-11-01 when our country was cheap shotted by a bunch of cowards. I ache for the firefighters and their families that had their lives turned upside down with the loss of 343 of our brothers and sisters in the fire service. Not to mention the loss our country felt from the additional thousands of victims that died that day. I happened to be working on shift this year for the 10 year anniversary of Patriot Day. We had numerous families stop by the station to express their gratitude and bring us food. One lady said to me that she was so grateful for the sacrifices that firefighters made that day. I replied that although I did feel a special bond to our lost 343, I feel Patriot Day is truly about Americans and not just firefighters. She replied, "what do you mean?" I continued that there were no firefighters on Flight 93 but those passengers were truly heroes as they attempted to reclaim the plane from their attackers. They saved hundreds or thousands of lives that day. There are countless stories about ordinary people who stepped up that day to do courageous things, saving lives. They are as much a Patriot as as I am as a firefighters and they displayed the true courage and pride that all Americans should have inside their hearts. Today we are free but we should never stop defending that freedom. We should never stop thanking those soldiers that have, or currently are, defending that freedom for us. Please- don't let a soldier, or previous soldier, walk by without thanking them for their sacrifices. It is the least we can do!
The second day that I struggle with each year in September is today. Eight years ago on September 19th I received a phone call at the fire house while I was finishing my shift. It was my father who struggled to maintain his composure as he explained that my grandfather had passed away. I still vividly remember how he struggled to get the words out and how hard it was for me to comprehend and accept the information. You see, my Grandpa Fred had been one of my best friends and hunting buddies. So I actually lost three people that day. A grandpa, a best friend and a hunting buddy! I still often feel his loss, eight years later.
So, what does this have to do with hunting? Actually it has a lot to do with hunting. Patriot Day should be a day that we morn the loss of heroes and Americans. It is also a day that we should be thankful that we are Americans and have the freedom to hunt animals and pursue our passions. Think of all those soldiers that are protecting us when many of them would rather be hunting just like us.
September 19th is a day that I lost a loved one who was responsible (in conjunction with my father) for sharing the outdoors with me. I am a hunter because of his influence. How did you get into hunting? Have you taken the time to thank those that introduced you into hunting? Better yet, have you tried to return the favor by taking them hunting or fishing? Have you introduced someone new to hunting? I am not oblivious to the fact that we are all going to experience loss in our lives. What is important is that we cherish what we have and who we have in our lives today with no regrets tomorrow.
Thanks Grandpa Fred! We miss you and know your in a better place.
(The last picture taken of grandpa, before he passed on, is at the bottom of this page to the right)
Monday, September 19, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Fall Food Plots Have Been Planted
Today my Dad and I headed down to the farm to re-cooperate some of our fields that were choked out with weeds this summer. We still have some standing corn left but the deer and coons hammered it this summer. Three weeks ago we brush hogged the fields, sprayed them, and disked them. We have been waiting three weeks for some rain but could not wait any longer. Although there were areas that still had a lot of dead grass on them, we didn't have to do to much to get them ready. I disked all the fields twice to chop up any remaining dead grass and prepare the seed bed while Dad drove to a nearby farmers to borrow his culti-packer (I am hopeful that we can buy it).
Once the fields were prepared I couldn't help myself and had to go check the trail cameras that I had out. I got a few more pictures of Sling Shot and Lucky #7 out of velvet (he should go 170") but I accidentally deleted them trying to move them to my specific 2011 trail camera file (sorry). They sure seem to be somewhat photogenic. I also had two pictures of the neighbor driving his 4-wheeler along the property line. Hmmmm.
Most farmers have already harvested their corn. They tell us that the soybean fields are green but have very few pods on them. This is going to be a bad year for farmers in our area. We will have to see how it affects our hunting. I remember two years ago when it was December and farmers still had standing corn in the fields.
I did get pictures of three new bucks on a pond that hasn't dried up yet. One buck is a mainframe 10 and the other two are nine pointers.
Once Dad arrived we fertilized, seeded and rolled approximately 5.5 acres. We planted Whitetail Institutes Chickory Clover and Pure Attraction. We also planted Mossy Oak Biologic Maximum and Green Patch Plus. I can't wait to see what they can do but we really need some rain. The ground is cracking and the creeks are dried up.
We are only 10 days away from opening day. I can't wait to get out there at the end of the month and hunt some early season bucks. I think there is a good chance that one of us could see Lucky#7. Get your stands up, hunting clothes washed, and broadheads shot in. It is almost deer season!!!
Once the fields were prepared I couldn't help myself and had to go check the trail cameras that I had out. I got a few more pictures of Sling Shot and Lucky #7 out of velvet (he should go 170") but I accidentally deleted them trying to move them to my specific 2011 trail camera file (sorry). They sure seem to be somewhat photogenic. I also had two pictures of the neighbor driving his 4-wheeler along the property line. Hmmmm.
Most farmers have already harvested their corn. They tell us that the soybean fields are green but have very few pods on them. This is going to be a bad year for farmers in our area. We will have to see how it affects our hunting. I remember two years ago when it was December and farmers still had standing corn in the fields.
I did get pictures of three new bucks on a pond that hasn't dried up yet. One buck is a mainframe 10 and the other two are nine pointers.
Once Dad arrived we fertilized, seeded and rolled approximately 5.5 acres. We planted Whitetail Institutes Chickory Clover and Pure Attraction. We also planted Mossy Oak Biologic Maximum and Green Patch Plus. I can't wait to see what they can do but we really need some rain. The ground is cracking and the creeks are dried up.
We are only 10 days away from opening day. I can't wait to get out there at the end of the month and hunt some early season bucks. I think there is a good chance that one of us could see Lucky#7. Get your stands up, hunting clothes washed, and broadheads shot in. It is almost deer season!!!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
More August Trail Camera Pictures
Five days ago Dad went down to the farm and sprayed our fall food plots for weeds and grasses a few days after we brush hogged. So, today we went down there to start discing the fields to prepare them for planting before our next rain (not sure when that is going to happen). The grass was dead but still pretty thick. I hope our seed will be able to penetrate the grass and make good soil contact when we do get to plant. Maybe we can plant next week if we can just get some rain to move in. The fields are extremely dry right now.
While we were there I checked some of our cameras. I did get 6 more pictures of Lucky #7 and his bachelor group on a food plot called Field #3. I had placed some Whitetail Institute Kraze mineral attractant. The bucks just love the stuff! I also put up some snow fencing on one side of this field to funnel them through the food plot. Lucky #7 was still in velvet as of yesterday but bucks are starting to show up out of velvet already. In fact, the more I look at the pictures of Can Opener from last week, the more I think he was already out of velvet.
There was no sign of Can Opener on the cameras this time (bummer). So, I decided to move all of the cameras around to new locations to scout other parts of the farm. I probably won't check them for 4 weeks unless I have time to check them after we finish planting next week. My Dad and Cousin think that Can Opener is going to be hard to kill because he moves at night and is skittish. Lucky #7 could push him off the farm if they start establishing their dominance. Do mature bucks battle for territory and push one another out of an area completely? I am not sure. We need to shoot Can Opener before the rut though because those long brow tines are bound to get broken once he starts fighting with other bucks.
On our way home, Dad and I decided to stop and check some of the other cameras that have been up for the last 3 weeks at our other farms. It looks like our newest farm has a couple of shooters on it. That is exciting considering the cameras were not located near any food sources. Here is what they look like:
I call this buck Lefty because he has 7 points on his left side and only 4 main points on his right side. He seems to be a mature buck and is pictured in the 3 photos above.
There are actually three bucks in these 2 pictures. The 2 shooters in front (on the left) with a smaller buck to the right. Both of the larger bucks are difficult to make out but I know they are not Lefty. They appear to be over the 140"+ class. Hopefully I can get more pictures of them to determine what they really are.
This is a group of younger bucks that were hanging out together on another farm. The larger of the 3 will be nice in a couple of years with a lot of character.
While we were there I checked some of our cameras. I did get 6 more pictures of Lucky #7 and his bachelor group on a food plot called Field #3. I had placed some Whitetail Institute Kraze mineral attractant. The bucks just love the stuff! I also put up some snow fencing on one side of this field to funnel them through the food plot. Lucky #7 was still in velvet as of yesterday but bucks are starting to show up out of velvet already. In fact, the more I look at the pictures of Can Opener from last week, the more I think he was already out of velvet.
There was no sign of Can Opener on the cameras this time (bummer). So, I decided to move all of the cameras around to new locations to scout other parts of the farm. I probably won't check them for 4 weeks unless I have time to check them after we finish planting next week. My Dad and Cousin think that Can Opener is going to be hard to kill because he moves at night and is skittish. Lucky #7 could push him off the farm if they start establishing their dominance. Do mature bucks battle for territory and push one another out of an area completely? I am not sure. We need to shoot Can Opener before the rut though because those long brow tines are bound to get broken once he starts fighting with other bucks.
On our way home, Dad and I decided to stop and check some of the other cameras that have been up for the last 3 weeks at our other farms. It looks like our newest farm has a couple of shooters on it. That is exciting considering the cameras were not located near any food sources. Here is what they look like:
I call this buck Lefty because he has 7 points on his left side and only 4 main points on his right side. He seems to be a mature buck and is pictured in the 3 photos above.
There are actually three bucks in these 2 pictures. The 2 shooters in front (on the left) with a smaller buck to the right. Both of the larger bucks are difficult to make out but I know they are not Lefty. They appear to be over the 140"+ class. Hopefully I can get more pictures of them to determine what they really are.
This is a group of younger bucks that were hanging out together on another farm. The larger of the 3 will be nice in a couple of years with a lot of character.
Monday, August 22, 2011
August Velvet Pictures
Well, I went down to one of our hunting farms this weekend to do some brush hogging with my Dad. Unfortunately we are going to be replanting half of our food plots on that farm due to a wet spring (weeds) and a miserably hot summer. I do enjoy working the fields with my Dad though. We have a good time together and it is fun to experience the anticipation on how well the food plots will do later in the fall.
I had previously put up 4 trail cameras on that farm, 10 days ago, to start our deer inventory. When I returned home to check the 4 SD cards I had 2400 pictures. It took me half the night to go through all of them. I baited the picture sights with Trophy Rock and corn. Most of the pictures were does and their spotted fawns. However, there were some young bucks and 3 shooter bucks. I always struggle trying to score deer on trail cameras when they are in velvet. Many times the deer end up being larger than they appear on trail cameras, however, sometimes the opposite is true and they end up smaller. This is especially true of velvet pictures.
Here just a few of the pictures that I found on the cameras. I would be curious to here what you think they will score. Let me know what your best guess would be.
1. Slingshot- I believe this deer is a 3 year old. He was a huge 4 point last year. I am not sure he is good to have around with his lack of points (poor genetics) but he is interesting, none the less. He looks like a mule deer.
2. Crab Claw- This buck is pictured last year under the 2010 tab of the blog (November). His G-2's have split and he has added some length to his beams. This buck should also be taken out because he won't amount to much more. I believe he is 4 years old.
3. Can Opener- I do have a picture of a large 8 pointer last winter that had a lot of trash on his bases but I am not sure it is the same deer as this one. I call this deer can opener because his super tall G-1's are split and look like can openers. I'm guessing they are 8" long. This buck seams to be spooky and only moved at dark around 2 o'clock in the morning. He may be hard to kill. He was by himself (not in a bachelor group) and appears to be out of velvet already.
4. Lucky #7- My wife named this deer because he has 7 points on each side and is a typical 14 point. WOW! I have a picture of him as a mainframe 10 last year walking in the sun (see August 24, 2010 posting). I didn't recognize him at first from previous pictures but he seems to be related to the crab claw buck, and another 10 point the property owner killed last season, with his crab claw-like points. He added 4 points this year. This buck was fairly photogenic and walked by 3 of the 4 cameras that I had out.
I can't wait to finish planting the food plots in the next couple of weeks. Then I can focus on practicing with my bow and getting ready for early season. It is only a month away! Once I check them, I will post any pictures that I get from the other cameras that we have out. Take care.
I had previously put up 4 trail cameras on that farm, 10 days ago, to start our deer inventory. When I returned home to check the 4 SD cards I had 2400 pictures. It took me half the night to go through all of them. I baited the picture sights with Trophy Rock and corn. Most of the pictures were does and their spotted fawns. However, there were some young bucks and 3 shooter bucks. I always struggle trying to score deer on trail cameras when they are in velvet. Many times the deer end up being larger than they appear on trail cameras, however, sometimes the opposite is true and they end up smaller. This is especially true of velvet pictures.
Here just a few of the pictures that I found on the cameras. I would be curious to here what you think they will score. Let me know what your best guess would be.
1. Slingshot- I believe this deer is a 3 year old. He was a huge 4 point last year. I am not sure he is good to have around with his lack of points (poor genetics) but he is interesting, none the less. He looks like a mule deer.
2. Crab Claw- This buck is pictured last year under the 2010 tab of the blog (November). His G-2's have split and he has added some length to his beams. This buck should also be taken out because he won't amount to much more. I believe he is 4 years old.
3. Can Opener- I do have a picture of a large 8 pointer last winter that had a lot of trash on his bases but I am not sure it is the same deer as this one. I call this deer can opener because his super tall G-1's are split and look like can openers. I'm guessing they are 8" long. This buck seams to be spooky and only moved at dark around 2 o'clock in the morning. He may be hard to kill. He was by himself (not in a bachelor group) and appears to be out of velvet already.
4. Lucky #7- My wife named this deer because he has 7 points on each side and is a typical 14 point. WOW! I have a picture of him as a mainframe 10 last year walking in the sun (see August 24, 2010 posting). I didn't recognize him at first from previous pictures but he seems to be related to the crab claw buck, and another 10 point the property owner killed last season, with his crab claw-like points. He added 4 points this year. This buck was fairly photogenic and walked by 3 of the 4 cameras that I had out.
I can't wait to finish planting the food plots in the next couple of weeks. Then I can focus on practicing with my bow and getting ready for early season. It is only a month away! Once I check them, I will post any pictures that I get from the other cameras that we have out. Take care.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Pictures of fishing in Wisconsin
Steve's bass
Ryder's 5 lb. largemouth bass (caught all by himself). Actually, he picked the spot to fish too.
My brother Ben
Liz's smallmouth bass
Grandma's bass (she still can fish!)
The Cabin
Monday, August 15, 2011
I'm Back!
Well, I have to apologize if you have checked my blog in the last couple of months and found no updates. I have been pretty busy with work, school, vacation and the family life. Last week I put out 8 trail cameras so I should have some pictures to post in a couple of weeks. Hopefully there will be a couple huge bucks to get excited about. I put some corn down to help the deer find the Trophy Rock in front of the cameras. A friend of mine has placed 2- 25 gallon drums of water by his Trophy Rock and they have been producing a lot of pictures for him in this dry Kansas heat. Unfortunately we lost one of our farms to hunt this summer but there are still 6 for us to hunt.
Kansas had a ton of rain this spring to feed the weeds and then July came with no heat and temperatures over 100 for the majority of the month. I have never seen our creeks dried up before (except for the deeper pools) on our farms. We missed our 3 weeks straight of 100 degree days while we were in Wisconsin (pictures to come). It was 75 up there and hard to come back to the miserable heat. The fields look bad down south for corn but the soybeans seem to be doing okay. They are just a little shorter than usual. The local seed distributors here tell me that a lot of farmers are already starting to combine corn fields (for silage) because the are all dried out. When I checked our corn at the farm last week (to put out cameras) I found them in pretty good shape. Here is what our food plots look like:
Field #1- Corn looks good, except on the west side of the plot. The corn didn't grow well on that side and the weeds choked it out a bit. We are going to plant an annual there this month (probably Biologic Maximum). The coons are hitting this corn pretty hard. Any suggestions to get rid of them? We have traps but we aren't down there enough this time of year. The existing clover that is on the north side of this field looks dormant. We will have to fertilize it and try to get it to come back as the weather cools and we get some rain.
Field #2- This spring we broadcast 2.5 acres of soybeans and planted the rest in corn seed from last year. The corn didn't make it and the weeds choked out the soybeans so we are going to leave the weeds/corn on the perimeter of the field and plant whitetail clover and Maximum in the middle 2.5 acres of it.
Field #3- Deer ate the clover down making room for the current weed patch. I have talked with 2 separate experts from the Whitetail Institute and Mossy Oak Biologic and I am going to have to except the fact that a perinial just won't make it in this field. From now on we will only plant annual plots on field #3. With the current PH, we will be planting Maximum.
Field #4- Corn looks great in the field (except for the far west corner. So we are going to replant the west corner with Wintergreens (Whitetail Institute).
Well, considering our drought this summer I am pleased that most of our corn made it. Actually I saw a corn field a few miles away that had an irrigation system for it and it still looked no better than ours. Unfortunately we have to plant almost half of our 13 acres of food plots thanks to the Kansas weather/summer. Farmers tell me they sprayed their fields 2-3 times this year and still couldn't kill all the weeds. We should have the fields planted by the end of the month with the new annual plots. After that I will start checking the cameras. I am excited about this fall because we should have an abundance of late season food for the deer. Most of the crops should come off early around us pulling the deer in. The Wintergreens and Maximum are late season plots that we chose because we already have clover. We wanted something to hold deer in addition to the corn for late season. It should be good during the rut also.
It is going to take some work and money this month but we could still salvage our fields and make them deer magnets. It will be up to God and the weather.
Kansas had a ton of rain this spring to feed the weeds and then July came with no heat and temperatures over 100 for the majority of the month. I have never seen our creeks dried up before (except for the deeper pools) on our farms. We missed our 3 weeks straight of 100 degree days while we were in Wisconsin (pictures to come). It was 75 up there and hard to come back to the miserable heat. The fields look bad down south for corn but the soybeans seem to be doing okay. They are just a little shorter than usual. The local seed distributors here tell me that a lot of farmers are already starting to combine corn fields (for silage) because the are all dried out. When I checked our corn at the farm last week (to put out cameras) I found them in pretty good shape. Here is what our food plots look like:
Field #1- Corn looks good, except on the west side of the plot. The corn didn't grow well on that side and the weeds choked it out a bit. We are going to plant an annual there this month (probably Biologic Maximum). The coons are hitting this corn pretty hard. Any suggestions to get rid of them? We have traps but we aren't down there enough this time of year. The existing clover that is on the north side of this field looks dormant. We will have to fertilize it and try to get it to come back as the weather cools and we get some rain.
Field #2- This spring we broadcast 2.5 acres of soybeans and planted the rest in corn seed from last year. The corn didn't make it and the weeds choked out the soybeans so we are going to leave the weeds/corn on the perimeter of the field and plant whitetail clover and Maximum in the middle 2.5 acres of it.
Field #3- Deer ate the clover down making room for the current weed patch. I have talked with 2 separate experts from the Whitetail Institute and Mossy Oak Biologic and I am going to have to except the fact that a perinial just won't make it in this field. From now on we will only plant annual plots on field #3. With the current PH, we will be planting Maximum.
Field #4- Corn looks great in the field (except for the far west corner. So we are going to replant the west corner with Wintergreens (Whitetail Institute).
Well, considering our drought this summer I am pleased that most of our corn made it. Actually I saw a corn field a few miles away that had an irrigation system for it and it still looked no better than ours. Unfortunately we have to plant almost half of our 13 acres of food plots thanks to the Kansas weather/summer. Farmers tell me they sprayed their fields 2-3 times this year and still couldn't kill all the weeds. We should have the fields planted by the end of the month with the new annual plots. After that I will start checking the cameras. I am excited about this fall because we should have an abundance of late season food for the deer. Most of the crops should come off early around us pulling the deer in. The Wintergreens and Maximum are late season plots that we chose because we already have clover. We wanted something to hold deer in addition to the corn for late season. It should be good during the rut also.
It is going to take some work and money this month but we could still salvage our fields and make them deer magnets. It will be up to God and the weather.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
(P) Ben shows us how it's done!
Last weekend was a great time for the Mains boys. My Dad, three brothers and I head down to our hunting farms for 2 days to attempt to kill some turkeys. We had been planning the trip for approximately 6 months. One of my brothers (Ben) had never hunted turkeys before so this was a new experience for him. I also wanted to help my Dad harvest his first thunder chicken.
The first morning rained on us and the birds were not cooperative. So we hung a few deer stands during the middle of the day then headed out in the evening to put some birds to bed. We located a few toms in the back of a field which made a great ambush spot for the next morning. After that we all went out to dinner and strategized for the next day.
The next morning was also frustrating. We had 4 gobblers roosted within 200 yards of us at day break but they flew down to another field and worked away from us. For the afternoon hunt we split up into 3 groups to cover more ground. I saw 5 hens that afternoon but no toms. Dustin and Dad saw a couple of toms but they wouldn't come close enough to the ground blind for a shot.
Ben and Jeff headed to a field edge where I had witnessed numerous toms visiting before heading to their nightly roost. Around 7 pm they called in a huge tom into their Primos decoy set and Ben shot him. The bird had good spurs, a 10" + main beard , with a total of 4 separate beards. WOW!! I have never heard of such a thing. Ben was really excited and told me that he finally understands why we like to hunt so much. He talked about the camaraderie, adrenaline rush, hard work, team work, and sense of accomplishment. Congratulations Ben and welcome to the hunting club. That truly is a remarkable bird.
Ben plans to have a full body mount of the turkey. Sorry, it was too dark for pictures.
The first morning rained on us and the birds were not cooperative. So we hung a few deer stands during the middle of the day then headed out in the evening to put some birds to bed. We located a few toms in the back of a field which made a great ambush spot for the next morning. After that we all went out to dinner and strategized for the next day.
The next morning was also frustrating. We had 4 gobblers roosted within 200 yards of us at day break but they flew down to another field and worked away from us. For the afternoon hunt we split up into 3 groups to cover more ground. I saw 5 hens that afternoon but no toms. Dustin and Dad saw a couple of toms but they wouldn't come close enough to the ground blind for a shot.
Ben and Jeff headed to a field edge where I had witnessed numerous toms visiting before heading to their nightly roost. Around 7 pm they called in a huge tom into their Primos decoy set and Ben shot him. The bird had good spurs, a 10" + main beard , with a total of 4 separate beards. WOW!! I have never heard of such a thing. Ben was really excited and told me that he finally understands why we like to hunt so much. He talked about the camaraderie, adrenaline rush, hard work, team work, and sense of accomplishment. Congratulations Ben and welcome to the hunting club. That truly is a remarkable bird.
Ben plans to have a full body mount of the turkey. Sorry, it was too dark for pictures.
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