darkeagle10x

Running 4 Tactacams. No issues.

On 1/6/2023 at 8:57 AM, dvdegeorge said:

The Lead sled is a rest and won't cause an issue until you start loading up with weight preventing from moving 

I agree. This is very true BUT many guys that use them keep adding weight to "tame it down" and eventually put on too much weight. That is when trouble can start. A little weight to help isn't an issue. Too much can be.

Yes, I know this is last years topic but I'm bringing it back up for this season.

I planted Buckwheat with fertilizer and had a nice crop coming along. Then no rain. It made it about 8-9 inches and looked wilted. We got a little rain and it perked up, but I noticed it wasn't getting any taller (I can see it from the house) so I went out to check and I found it had been grazed off like you took scissors and clipped it all at the same height. The buckwheat is about 10 inches tall and it's a stalk with no top. I still plan to plant in it and flatten it with a cultipacker but was hoping for some more mass and better growth to choke out more weeds. All in all I'm glad I went this route. Now seeing 5-6 deer there regularly keeping it mowed down. 

15 minutes ago, idn713 said:

It was the same for me last year, got absolutely pounded. This year shockingly the brassica has seen good use but not quite as much. I have so many huge bulbs though (that they are already eating), so late season should be tremendous. I will say that winter rye was huge for me last year too and it is so easy to plant. Don’t overlook simple stuff and just skip straight to brassica. 

Good info. That led me to this article about the winter rye - good quick read: Winter Rye for Dummies

3 hours ago, idn713 said:

A buddy of mine does big and beasty every year without fail and it never is an issue for him. That said I will rotate out to other things just for deer draw and to be different from the neighbors. For instance my neighbors don’t do clover so I changed my front food plot to a perennial clover plot and guess which plot is being hammered? I’m not super worried about crop rotation, with the buckwheat and fertilizer, I feel I am putting enough back into the soil. 

Thanks for the info. The deer here eat the turnips/radishes like they are on crack so I really want to have some here every year but am only working an acre total. With a third of it in clover.

Pretty much every type of tuber seed says not to plant more than 2 consecutive years in the same place due to possible disease and of course nutrients in the ground. Do you feel this method allows you to plant the same thing every year?

Thanks for keeping us posted with an honest play by play and pictures. I am going to do this next year. I am tired of the weeds and all the additional prep work.

I've had a bunch of messages with some great info. Thank you all for helping me out. I'll be talking with my friend and let him pick from a list I have compiled from everything posted and PMed.

  I'll try to keep it short. My best friend/fishing/hunting buddy is going through a tough time in life and really needs to get away for (at least) a day. We are bass fishermen for the most part, once in a while jig for lakers or perch. We have done a charter in the past trolling for walleye on lake Erie. We caught plenty of fish but it was boring just trolling and pulling up a diver or heavy weight not even feeling the fish fight. I call that a meat run and yes, it was delicious eating but not like hands on fishing we are used to. After a bit we took over running the lines just to stay busy and feel we had something to do with catching the fish.

  I know trolling is considered the most effective but I would like to take him were you jig or use live bait or maybe even planer boards on top with light setups if that is doable for walleye. Not opposed to driving a few hours; we are located in the Watkins Glen/Corning area.

  Looking at charters online is overwhelming. This forum has been a wealth of information over the years with a good group of guys sharing knowledge. Maybe someone can give me a direction on finding a reputable charter? Any help would be appreciated.

Definitely worth the time to watch!

10 hours ago, machzrcr said:

Got my official score for the books Gross 176 2/8. Net 166 1/8!

WOW. How about a picture here so I don't have to look through 88 pages to see it.

  Long time reader and never post but I think after reading 87 pages of this that I will comment.

  If I went by my normal signs and methods for hunting, I would say yes, with the drought we had this year something has happened and the deer population is way down. All my fellow hunters saying the same thing. BUT changing my hunting method I absolutely disagree. I used to sit in watch over a food plot and would be able to fill the freezer every year. It was warm and comfy in my blind. With the drought this year, the food plot didn't fair well and the sit and watch didn't do me any good. My game cameras showed a few deer but they wouldn't come out where I could see them and it was the same few deer over and over. A couple does and a couple trash rack small bucks.

  I decided to change things and moved back into the woods a short ways and instantly started seeing deer. I also noticed the does were coming right up to my cameras (located off to the side of trails) and giving me nose and ear pictures which meant they weren't as hidden or secretive as I had thought when I put them out. If the does were finding them then surely the big bucks know they are there and that would be why I wasn't getting many pictures of them. When I did, it was just once and never again. I then started checking after dark on those snow covered nights with the moon bright and to my surprise it was not unusual to see 15 to 20 deer in what little food was left in the plot - night after night. They had gone nocturnal (entering the field anyway) and avoided my cameras quite well. When I sat on stand back into the woods I was seeing deer staging to enter the food plot.

  Talking to a local butcher shop, the guy there said he had 400 deer in the first three days of season and had to turn them away after that not having enough freezer space. He is located in 8R but of course takes deer from all over.

 So, I believe they are still there but their patterns have changed this year. Maybe just in my little area (8W) but that's what I have seen. My season ended with the freezer full once again after I moved back into the woods a bit. Just my thoughts on it for what it's worth. Maybe others have seen similar this year.