Welcome to TheOhioOutdoors
Wanting to join the rest of our members? Login or sign up today!
Login / Join

K's Spot - Creating Something from Nothing

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Over the years I've come to enjoy the process of managing a particular piece of property as much, if not more than I do actually hunting it. When dad acquired our 80 acre farm back in 2005, it started the ball rolling on what has become one of my favorite hobbies. Part of managing a property is creating something from nothing. I've had success in creating food plots in areas that were formerly weed patches and a decade later, I'm really starting to see the payoff. I've been thinking about the project I'm calling K's Spot for almost a year now and it's time to start laying the ground work for what I feel will become the most rewarding project on the entire farm.

The reason I'm naming this K's Spot is that this is going to be my daughter's primary hunting spot for years to come. She will turn 3 on 12/31 and I set a goal when she was born to get her to harvest her first deer on/around her 6th birthday. She already loves watching deer and I can see a blossoming hunter in the making. When we go for drives in the evenings, she sits in the back with her "glasses" and watches for deer. She loves going to the farm to check on the food plots and check cameras. With my wife also hunting, I've never had any fear that Kaydence would lack interest in deer hunting. She's not even 3 and I can tell she's on the hook! Knowing how fast time flies and that I want this project to have a couple years to mellow so that the deer get accustom to it, I need to get this thing off the ground now and completed in the spring.

Here is a look at what I'm working with...



Our farm is shaped like an L and I have generally ignored the southern end of the north/south running holler. In my first full year on the farm, I was getting good pictures of an 8 point that was using what has always been the best trail on the property which comes off the corner of the fence and drops down in to the bottom where I have "New Food Plot". After seeing that buck in the pasture near the oak fence line one morning, I hunt a set in between the sanctuaries and that evening, my cousin got a shot at him. That was 2006. The following year, I starting getting pictures of Deuce in this bottom and in January of 2008, I spent almost 40 hours hunting down there trying to kill him on his way to a bait pile on up the holler. It never worked out and as a result, I started leaving this area alone. Over the years, it has grown up and needs some serious TLC. As you can see from the map, there are some great topographical features that funnel deer in to this bottom, along with food, cover and water.

Right now that plan is to build a box blind (design still in progress) that would allow for easy access from the hay field above. It's nearly flawless access. The food plot in the bottom is going to be a clover/chicory blend. I plan to had a gravity feeder and some soft mast trees along the edge. I'll need to do a good bit of work with the chainsaw and weedeater to open things up looking N down the holler. There are several trails that cross the bottom from E/W anywhere from 30 to 200 yards down the holler. The food plot will provide shots inside 30 yards and will be built so that I could also bowhunt out of it in bad weather.

I'm really excited about this project and will document it well so those who want to follow along, can do so. With the season in full swing, the habitat portion will have to wait. Right now the big project is box blind design, so I'm welcome to any suggestions you all have on that front!
 
A great project that should pay big in the future. How big of a box blind will you need? My buddy bought a 4X6 peaked roof yard shed and made a great box blind out of it. It is big enough to accommodate a father and daughter. And as she grows old enough to hunt solo it would still suit her needs well.
 

Attachments

  • jeffstand4.jpg
    jeffstand4.jpg
    258 KB · Views: 187

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
I'm thinking of something bigger than that, although that is pretty sweet!

I'd like to be able to hunt 3 adults and a child so that when we do start taking her, Tracie and my dad can join us. I'm thinking 8'x10' right now. That should give us plenty of room.
 

jeremy44230

Senior Member
2,370
76
Medina County
This is awesome Jesse! The whole thing....

I'd love someday to have a place where I could "build" the land as you have.

Good luck and enjoy the heck out of your hard work. It will payoff in more than deer harvesting. It's priceless time with your family that is the true reward.
 

Bigslam51

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
25,778
127
Stark County
Good stuff, Jesse! I also enjoy doing habitat improvements but I'm kind of limited as we only own 7 acres. I'm excited to see your progress!
 

Mooosie

Junior Member
162
32
I have 70 acres in SE Ohio and yours looks similar . My son has gotten into growing deer and we are seeing great results on trail cams. Grand kids are starting to get into it too , great fun enjoy yours[emoji2]
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
I have 70 acres in SE Ohio and yours looks similar . My son has gotten into growing deer and we are seeing great results on trail cams. Grand kids are starting to get into it too , great fun enjoy yours[emoji2]
I'm in SE Ohio as well and I love this type of terrain. It's a lot of fun to get out there and mess around. Seeing the next generation enjoy the outdoors is icing on the cake!

There were some fears we'd lose the farm a few years back. A few short months after buying the farm, my mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Things were touch and go for a while as dad's plan was to sell their house and build on the farm. Mom beat cancer, but has never been the same. After realizing building and moving were probably out of the question, dad was considering selling out. He held on to it knowing how much I loved it and then my wife got pregnant with our first, and the first grandchild. Around the same time he leased the minerals and that was enough to get him free and clear of all debts. That was really the saving grace and the farm is going to be and round for my grandkids from the looks of it. I'm only 33, so I hope that's a LONG ways off! Although I do have a cousin (who I don't claim) who just turned 35 and is a grandpa, but that's a whole different story!
 

huntn2

Senior Member
6,090
157
Hudson, OH
I can envision this on the parent front and on the property and see the joy of many seasons to come. Just make sure to put the blind on 4x4 sled type design so you can pull it with the tractor to reposition as needed as time passes.
 
Last edited:

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Dad and I had a chance to talk about this project a little bit last week and his response was: "Let's make it happen." I've been fooling with a few different blind designs and looking at components. I found some really cool windows for a great price that I think will end up in the blind. I'm going to order 4 of these to put in the front corners of the blind for bowhunting purposes. You can get a 12"W x 48" L version and that will be perfect. I can arrange them so that they open towards one another.

http://deerviewwindows.com/hinge-window-3/
 

giles

Cull buck specialist
Supporting Member
35 and a grandpa…Thats how old I am!!!

Good luck moving forward on this project, 3 years goes by fast.

Something to think about and kinda interest me too, how many years did it take to build up the doe population? Do you think taking a couple this year will effect anything in 3 years? I think if I was to take anything off the property for meat, it would be fawns. Let the breeders live, you can get plenty of meat off a fawn in late season.
 

runhunter

Junior Member
323
38
what a set up man, all the tough patches make ya appreciate things like that. One day she will grow up to realize what it all means, and what work went into it. Pretty awesome man...
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Something to think about and kinda interest me too, how many years did it take to build up the doe population? Do you think taking a couple this year will effect anything in 3 years? I think if I was to take anything off the property for meat, it would be fawns. Let the breeders live, you can get plenty of meat off a fawn in late season.

During the muzzleloader season of the 2005-2006 season, I watched 12 does and a lone buck work along the ridge one evening. As the years progressed, the population slowly declined. Going in to the 2011 season, I was already concerned with the lack of deer and towards the end of that season, I was lucky to get 4-5 does on camera in the late season. So in the span of 4 years, we've built things back up to what it was in 2005. How much of that is due to the work we've put in habitat wise, and how much is it truly a rebounding population, I can't say.

I only plan to kill one doe off there this year and have no fear about what that will do to the population. I have a mature doe on camera with a split ear that I'm fairly positive did not have a fawn, or at least couldn't keep hers alive. She's the only one I plan on killing.