I am a terrible blogger....

I am asked constantly to share/blog about our outdoor adventures. "Our" as in Luke and me - Julie and the girls have different likes and passions. I found this old blog I started years ago to try the "blogging" thing. Last entry: sometime in 2012. Pretty bad huh? There are several reasons why I am not good at it:

1. I hate to write. Julie says I am good at it and should write more. I have actually thought about writing a book paralleling archery and growing as a believer. You know: a good solid base, anchor point, follow though, etc etc... maybe one day!

2. I am too busy. It is hard to find time or make time necessary to sit and write. I have family, church, bees, and usually a hunting/fishing season going on. Why write about it when I can experience it right?

3. I receive joy in other ways. Some people LOVE to sit and journal or write. Yuck!! Why sit at a pc or iPad when I can be in a tree, catching a bass, or doing a bee removal?

4. I am not required to do this. It is voluntary and just "another thing" to have to do. I have enough "things" that require may attention.


Needless to say, I am a terrible blogger. I have tried - a few times. It has never worked out for very long. I have never followed through. Things get in the way. More important things come up. I forget. I am too tired to think about what to write.

Sorta sounds like the excuses we make for church or personal alone time with God doesn't it? You put your excuse right here _______________________________. I have my own and it is usually the same reasons I hate blogging. Bottom line if I want to succeed - I have to be intentional. Make it a priority. Create margin in my life and cut some things out or re-prioritize.

Soooo.... all of that to say this: I am going to try again. Follow along if you want. It will be sporadic and hurried sometimes. After all - squirrel season starts today!!!!

Shooters

There is a lot preference that comes into play when shooting a deer. Some think, "If it's brown - its down" and others tend to be very picky. Depending on what you want to experience during your hunting will depend where you fall. For me I will not shoot any bucks under the age of 3 1/2 and will shoot about any size doe early/late in the season. For Luke he has the green light to shoot whatever he wants to. I have no desire to shoot a spike or a "basket 8" but that is just me.

To hunt a mature whitetail is very challenging. Shooting those 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 year old's are pretty easy to do since they act like teenage boys (read between the lines).

Here are a couple bucks I am after for this year:

Age, genetics, and nutrition are crucial for mature bucks. I got nutrition and genetics - now to let the small ones pass.

Preparation is key...

I was talking to a friend last week while at Boy's Camp (UPBC) and we were chattin' about deer hunting. I made a comment, "We hunt 365 days for deer at our house." He questioned my ethics in a fun sorta way since he didn't understand what I meant.

When I say "We hunt 365 days" it means more than just killing. It means preparation before and after the hunting season. Let me take you through it:

Post season: After the season closes and Winter sets in we (Luke and I) like to scout in the snow. You can see a lot better w/ snow on the ground and "fine tune" your tree stand sets, find new travel corridors, or add new stand locations. We also turn from deer hunting to coyote hunting. Coyotes are really hard on deer and especially fawns.

Spring season: During this time we shed hunt, put out trail cams and Trophy Rocks, and work the food plots.

Summer season: This time is all about trail cams and watching those bucks grow. You would be surprised how fast antlers grow. Here is a buck we call Mr. Ugly. Notice the trailcam dates. Mr. Ugly is on the right in 2nd pic.

Summer also means lots of sweat equity by trimming shooting lanes, mowing food plots, and hanging new stands. Sweat now = success in October.

Shooting. Shooting. Shooting is also key for getting ready. Luke is shooting 3-4 times  days to get ready and strong enough to be legal (35#).  I get to share a whole season with my son. How cool is that????

Then comes Oct 1st and opening day. We hunt for real and when it is over we start all over again. Deer hunting is about the experiences, time alone w/ God, and sharing memories w/ family and friends. Why only do it for a weekend? If you do - you are missing out.

Luke's 2011 Youth Deer Hunt written by JBWHTAIL

We had a great time with all who attended. Six youth hunters attended, we started with four and a fifth to arrive after a football game on Saturday morning. Our sixth hunter was a surprise, Travis, Brownsburg archer's son. Travis decided mid-day Saturday to give the 20 gauge Remington youth model a try, one shot and he was hooked!

Here is a picture of the youth, back row, Adam, Cameron, Craig, Chris (future Marine) Front row Travis and Luke (the "provider")

    







Bean and his son Luke arrived early Friday afternoon and Luke of course wanted to try a little squirrel hunting.........

Then he and dad was off to fish, story is dad caught the most but Luke caught the biggest. A three pound largemouth bass.

Saturday Morning four youth are up and ready to go, biscuits and gravy down away they go. By nine thirty we have one deer down (Cameron) and one clean miss (Craig). The shooting houses we built a few years back really helped as it rained all of Saturday morning.

   






Lunch is served, and the youth are ready to roll again. Luke and dad are back at deer hunting, the rain has stopped and they are in an oak grove, no deer but lots of squirrels and a flock of Tom turkeys. The rest of the youth are shooting guns and our scheduled fifth hunter shows up. Travis has now shot the 20 gauge and is deciding if the recoil is too much. As we prepare to send the youth out for the evening Travis decides he will try deer hunting. The evening hunt produced 2 more deer.

Our hunter who had a football game in the morning came back with a nice doe.

Luke and dad decided to try the "Donnie Baker blind" on my encouragement. This is a pop up blind that sets on top of a boat trailer. On Friday night I had seen several deer feeding in a field below it. Around six pm I sneak out to a ridge about five hundred yards away and watch the field with binoculars. It isn't long until I see a nice 8 point buck feeding in front of the blind. I text Bean and say "nice buck in front of you”, Bean is surprised I'm watching. Over the next 90 minutes several deer are walking around them and then comes the text...” SHOWTIME”!  A doe is directly in front of the blind at 70 yards and needs to move closer for Luke to be comfortable. Bean asks how much time left and I say ten minutes, if on que the doe moves closer and the shot is taken. We leave the area and return to the house for additional light (coleman lantern). Less than 50 yards from the shot we find the doe with a perfect shoulder/heart shot. Here is Luke and his doe, the largest deer taken.

Sunday we had the remaining three hunters hunt the morning with no shots offered. This is Chris's last hunt as a youth with us as he is soon to be 18 and we hear off to enlist in the Marines. We lost one of our youth hunters and gain another in Travis.

Cedar Branch Farms enjoys both our youth hunts (turkey and deer) it is great to experience the youth as they begin their hunting journey. I've got to relate a comment told to me by Bean.

Bean had given Luke a choice he could hunt near home for a buck or a doe, or he could go to the youth hunt on Cedar Branch where it is antlerless only, Luke chose Cedar Branch Farms.

With youth it isn't about buck or doe it is a chance to hunt with family and friends. We hope at Cedar Branch Farms all our guests become like family, we have the friend’s part down pat.

A special thanks goes out to Brownsburg archer, Tom comes down each hunt just to help out. We appreciate the volunteer time and I think we created a new hunter this weekend. I see some youth gun in Santa's bag already!

Ground blind project

Well, with deer deason still 3 months away it is time for Summer projects. I saw this ground blind on a forum from Texas and thought the concept was really good. A good ground blind runs $100-350.00 and the one will cost about $80.00 and last a lot longer than the kind you can buy. Some guys have used them 7-8 years already and still going strong. The only downside to it is it is semi-mobile where the others will take down easier. Not worried about that as it will stay where it is.

The materials are:
18' x 5' cattle panel: $18.99
2 7' t-post: $4.25 each
3 1" x 8' pvc pipe: $2.00 each
scrap wire
plastic sheet
outdoor carpet

First I cut off the bottom wire of the panel and that leftspikes that we will shove into the ground for support. The I bent the panel into a circle and used the long wire I cut off the bottom and made a header and footer for the door. You do not connect the ends of the panel together but leave about 3-4 feet then wire the header and footer which will give you your doorway.

I then attached the pvc pipe by cutting then bending wires at the top of the panel. I connected the panel and pvc pipe by sliding the pipe on top of the bent wire and wiring is secure.

   








This what the shell looks like. I have yet to get the carpet and plastic. They will go on next week. Pretty neat idea but very cost effective and dry.The carpet will go on and then we will cut out sections for shooting lanes. Will update when finished.

cam update

Got a few pics on the cam to share. Got four different bucks showing up so far. None are really that big but fun to watch grow.

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.