So I like to grow things....

There is a lot more to deer hunting than just taking a weapon out and shooting something. Yes, some people do that and that is ok (if they practice a bunch first). BUT for me it is a 365 day obsession that seems to grow more every year. There is:

Practicing with my bow and gun.
Year round scouting - bino's and cams.
Tree stand placments and trimming.
Ground blinds to set up and build.
Coyotes to shoot.
Path to stand sites to clear.
and.... food plots.

The following pics are of my Biologic clover/chickory plot that is just under 1/2 acre.

A couple visitors. The coyote shows its face it will be ventilated. Two nice bucks and I look forward to seeing what they become throughout the Summer.

Turkeys + bass = memories

Well, last week finally the weather broke and we had a few good sunny days.

Last Friday I went with Andy Roberts to one of his "honey holes". We got to the woods before daylight hoping to hear some turkeys gobbling on the roost. Turkey are pretty hard to hunt when silent. They end up seeing you and bust out of the area. Well, no gobblers were gobbling so we decided to set up on a small finger of woods sticking out into the field. We put out a few decoys. Turkeys are a very visual bird and sometimes seeing a decoy is all it takes.... case and point - this hunt.

After watching several deer pass us by we were beginning to wonder if any birds would come out. After several series of soft-calling on my slate, Andy whispers, "Tom coming!!"  I hit the call and his head turns and locks in on the decs. He comes straight to the decoys and never made a sound or strutted. Andy shoots him at 25 yards. It wieghed 23 pounds, had a 10 inch beard, and 28mm spurs. His first turkey was a nice one.

Now the fishing. Rachel, Luke and I went to a private pond on Saturday. We caught about 100 bass. Luke caught two on one lure - one bass on each treble hook. That is the 3rd time he has done that in his young life. I have NEVER done it. Rachel became a master fishing a floating 4" Rapala. What a great day. We kept 20 for eating. I am not a bass fan but these were pretty good and the pond owner asked us to remove them. Here are some pics: