Making a wildlife Food Plot

[kide]

Kraig:
Looks like dad was an elk....(or are those REALLY some of those trick foam antlers you get at the store??)

 

[kmcconaughey]

Gerry, if only there were some elk genes in the whitetail population around here.

That would be Velvet, and not the Elvis kind...

 

[aschumacher]

Oh...not a elk daddy. Velvet? That mean he didn't go thru puberty yet??

 

[bbowman]

Kraig:

Looks like at least a 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 year old deer,and well outside the ears.I'd say maybe an 18-inch spread,with good mass?!
Looks like you got yourself a "wall hanger"!

Course you probably just gonna' let him grow,right?
Bobby B.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Bobby, ummm, me thinks that given the opportunity during the hunting season he'll end up on a wall. My daughter will have the first opportunity in early October during the youth hunt. Though I could start bow hunting around mid September but as of now I think I will hold off until after the youth hunt. I wish his antlers had a little more mass, in past years they look good until he polishes the velvet off then they look kind of slim. Perhaps this year will be different.

 

[mhomrighausen]

 

[bbowman]

Kraig;

Me thinks he ain't done growing yet! From one series of pics to the next he seems to have more mass and tine length.
He's a shooter.
Bobby B.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Art, Bobby, check this out!

3 deer and 3 turkeys in a Trail CAM video

BTW, last night I was at the farm and the same three bucks in the video walked right through the yard behind the house. The video was taken July 30th, Friday morning around 10:30 am.

 

[kmcconaughey]

 

[kmcconaughey]

Here's some photos of the 3 deer in the video I posted that just archived. The biggest of the 3 took an interest in the camera.

 

[wshytle]

Kraig-

Is that a pond to the left of the deer in the last pic? There's a bird in that dead branch above that looks to be waiting for the deer to get in target range. The deer must have eaten something the bird wanted.

Nice pics!

 

[kmcconaughey]

Wayne, that is chicken wire formed into a circle to protect a small patch of the food plot from grazing to gauge how much the deer are eating the clover down. If you look at the recently archived page you can see it in the background of some of the photos. No pond, however, there is a small plastic tub buried out in the food plot, the 3 deer are drinking from it in video I just posted on the archived page. Wish I could take credit for the photos, pure happenstance as to what walks by and when.

 

[aaytay]

Kraig-
I just noticed something about these deer, and it's not good.

They seem to have a very strong knack for presenting anything BUT a broadside shot!!!

 

[kmcconaughey]

Art, what was it you were saying?

 

[aaytay]

Kraig-
OK, I'm ready!!

 

[kmcconaughey]

Ready? Your arrow's not even nocked!

 

[junderwood]

Kraig,

It's ok. Remember, this is the guy that puts bar tires on backwards. He'll be ready when the time comes. He just takes a different path than the rest of us.

 

[wshytle]

Kraig-

I have a couple more ?s. I notice the hair on the buck in the very clear pic is sparse in places. Is that from fighting already or some type of skin disorder? And, do you have CWD in your area? It's getting close to us here in the Carolinas since I think last year they found it in Virginia.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Wayne, I'm not sure what is up with the hair around that one's neck. Probably scraping himself on trees, fence posts or whatever, to itch bug bites. No fighting this time of year while they are still in the bachelor groups. The fighting won't start until late August or early September, and even then it's not too violent until the rut really gets going. I suppose it could be a form of mange.

So far no CWD in this portion of Wisconsin. It's been in the southern portion of Wisconsin for several years now. I sure hope it doesn't make it's way up here.

 

[aaytay]

John-
I may put my tires on "backwards" as you say, but I get REALLY GOOD traction in reverse!