Jesse's 2015 Season Journal

HAHA. We will probably go out there on Monday. I'm off and the wife works, so we will have all day to goof off.

Thanks to one of the wettest Junes on record, corn never got planted in the bottom. That means I need to plant my two plots down there if I want a good food source in the central part of the farm. Just placed my order for some of Merit's 12-Point Buck blend. It's a blend of Merit Platinum Ladino Clover, Jumbo Ladino Clover, Alsike Clover, Ruby Red Clover, Alfalfa and Chicory. I've never planted anything like this, so I'm anxious to see how it does. Ordered enough to frost seed if it looks like it needs it.

Need to get my ass out there and hang some stands. Finding free time for stands is like me finding sheds. Zilch!

Spent the day at the farm reclaiming the jungle and getting it ready for planting. We managed to do all our hogging, opened up several trails that had been closed due to brush/dead falls, pulled and rehung a set, checked two more sets and got my plots ready for planting. Very productive day and it looks much better out there!

The cab on the tractor is 8.5' and the corn dwarfed it. I'll have a wheat/oat plot right here.



I made sure the scrape branches were ready for action and we cleared out around a nice young crabapple.





Since the big bottom didn't see corn, we decided to mow it completely off for the first time in two years. I'll come back and spray in a week or so and she'll be ready to plant in a few weeks.

After a very enjoyable week in Ocean Isle, it was time to get serious about the upcoming season. I still have lots to do and spent most of yesterday getting things done with my future hunting buddy in tow. The deer herd close to our house is reminiscent of old times, so my daughter gets to see deer just about every day. I decided we needed to have a good place to "practice" our hunting and the backyard is the perfect place for that. So she help me get the feeder set up, hang a camera, and then we put up our "tent" so that we could "hide from the deers". She had a blast and it was some of the most fun I've ever had prepping for deer season.







When we were done with that, we went to the farm and took care of spraying the plots. I picked up a pull-behind spreader yesterday and used it to put down the lime/fertilizer for next weekend's planting. She had fun riding the "four-liter" with me.



If you look in the upper-right of this picture, you can see the straps for my new stand. This is one of my favorite places to hunt as it overlooks our big creek bottom. I moved this stand 100 yards east to get better access. It sits directly in the middle of a 1/3 acre food plot. I'll snap some pics from it while we plant next weekend.



I had one other project on my hands and that was spraying the Paradise Plot. I have not planted this in a couple years, but decided to do so this year. We bought a walk behind tiller for the garden and it will be perfect for this spot. This sits on my parent's 11 acres and is at the intersection of 4 hollers. There is always a ton of traffic back here and this has always been one of my best spots. It is pretty overgrown right now, but will look like a champ here in a couple weeks!