We are officially less than 2 months from opening day of bow season and I'm really starting to get excited. I took off from work a bit early on Friday and headed down to the cabin. I didn't have a lot of work to get done but was still looking forward to checking on the food plots that I planted 3 weeks ago. Like most places in central and southern Iowa, my property is a drought and has received very little rain this year. Luckily, it seems that a few timely rains has managed to keep things growing and will allow us to have some food plots for hunting season.
Upon arriving, I was surprised to see that the grass was still green and actually needed mowed. Part of me was excited because it meant that I got to use the "new" riding lawn mower. After spraying off the remainder of the small field to prepare for planting on Labor Day weekend, that is exactly what I did.
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| This is the life |
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| That little John Deere rider really does a good job |
The soybean food plot on the big field grew as well as I had hoped, but the deer did a good job of keeping it mowed down. Even with all of the pressure, most of the plants have grown pods so I didn't want to till them under. With rain forecast on Tuesday/Wednesday of next week I decided to spread a combination of red clover, rye, rape, and purple top turnips into the standing soybeans. I have heard of other food plotters using this tactic in thin bean fields before and am hoping that it pays off.
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| Soybean food plot doing well considering all the deer browse pressure |
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| Most of the plants have grown pods but all have been nipped off several times |
I spent the remainder of the evening checking on everything around the property including the other food plots, fruit orchard, and overgrown garden.
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| Managed to find 2 zucchini in the overgrown garden |
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| Brassicas planted in the small field is the only food plot not doing great |
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| Clover on the ridge food plot is growing well in spite of heavy browse pressure |
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| Brassicas planted on 1/4 acre of the big field are growing very well |
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| Brassicas planted in the middle of the big field are doing absolutely amazing |
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| Although not a bumper crop, about 3/4 of my fruit trees grew something this year |
With all of my planned work done, I enjoyed some peace and quite while I read a book on the porch for awhile before heading into bed. With some extra time this morning, I decided to start on some of the work that is normally saved for Labor Day weekend. I loaded up the wagon and headed off to clear paths to tree stands and work on cutting up a tree that fell on the ridge food plot. I did find that a few of our tree stands are in need of new ropes and/or ratchet straps but we will take care of that in a few weeks. It was a humid morning so it didn't take long for the sweat to start flowing but I was happy to get some of that work done.
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| Supplies all loaded and ready to work |
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| Fallen tree covering up one of our main shooting lanes |
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| I managed to clear to top half but the main log will wait until I have help |
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| Over-grown path to the big field stand |
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| That's better |
The last thing that I did before heading home was to set up my archery targets and get some longer range practice in. I shot a couple dozen arrows at 30 yards then 40 yards. My 30 yard shooting was very good while my 40 yard still needs some work. I guess I know what I'll be doing over the next few weeks.
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| The most important part of preparing for the season |
It is no secret that I've had some troubles running trail cameras this year. From stolen cards to a stolen camera and cameras malfunctioning and running out of battery power right after I left. The good news is that all 3 cameras that I had out functioned properly over the past 3 weeks and I had an excellent card pull. There was a lot of deer activity on the property (especially in the soybeans) as well as a lot of turkeys as well. I have about 4-5 different bucks on camera that I would shoot and most of the big ones won't show up until October or November. Looking through the 3,000+ pictures really got me fired up. Only 1 trip left, on Labor Day weekend, prior to hunting season and I think I'm ready.
