Finally Feel Like a Farmer

As we all know, this spring has been making an already difficult job next to impossible for those of us wanting to build in destination plots for our whitetails. I need to begin this post with a big thank you to QDM4life, Bob B. and many others on IDO that make this the most valuable hunting resource I could ever imagine having access to.

With the help of Bob and Ben, I bit off quite a bit this year but I’m still chewing and might be able to breathe again soon. One of the big goals this year was to finally add destination plots into our land’s management plan and to give the deer as much food as we could afford throughout as many seasons as possible.

The first three pictures below are what we, the Hansens, call the homestead plot that is roughly 5 acres divided by a natural drainage ditch surrounded by bedding areas to the south and west. There is a narrow strip of hardwoods separating this plot from a large (freshly planted) corn field to the north and a hardwood ridge to the east. This plot, like most of the others on our land, has been planted with 3 rows of 2 different maturity soybeans next to three rows of round up ready corn around the whole thing. This plot was planted with corn for around 2 years (approx. 2000-2002) when we originally started practicing QDM but then the equipment was stolen and I had not yet been bitten by the whitetail bug. I got bit hard when I did in 2008 and it was the best thing that has ever happened to me!

The next three pictures are of a 12 acre plot that a local farmer friend has been doing all the tractor work on to grow and harvest for his cattle. There is a pretty wide rock bed strip and then a 4 acre plot we will buy from him and leave standing all year. This was the first field that we were able to get tilled and planted, the corn is about 4″ tall right now.

The next picture is a 4 acre plot on high ground half surrounded by swamp and the other half is adjacent to a narrow strip of woods that has had exceptional deer activity throughout the last decade. This is another 3 and 3 rows of corn and beans. I am expecting this to be one of our new best areas this fall (2011)!

The last picture is of a different part of the land that is a nice secluded 6 acre field where I have planted 1 acre of it in years passed but am planting the entire 6 acres this year with mostly corn and beans. This plot will have a 20 yard stretch of clover running parallel with the tree line on the south side as well that will be planted in early july. It wasn’t worked by last weekend when the picture was taken but the seed went down this evening!

This is the first year I have tried to plant large acreage and spring is not my favorite time of year, I have not paid as close attention to the weather in years passed as I did this but hopefully it will only get easier from now on. Bob B. or Ben will not admit it but both have to be sick of listening to me whine and cry about every little problem, I am sick of hearing myself! Thanks for your patience and reassurance guys!

I am also putting in 6 different 1/2 acre kill plots this summer and am very excited to get those in place. The seed is in the ground and I can’t wait to hit it with some roundup and watch it grow. Thanks for reading!

Very nice!!

Todd I think your new user name should be “FARM BOY” You have a great piece of property and have really spent allot of time planing your long term strategies This year has been a very difficult one for anyone that far north I am very impressed that you stuck with your commitment to make these very huge and important changes to your property This will have been the toughest year having to turn this virgin soil into plots, it will only get easier from now on. You are also lucky to have a great .
friend like Ben QDM4LIFE to help out. he has a wealth of foodplot knowledge and is more than willing to share freely
Todd, I know this has been a long journey for you… you did a great job now just sit back and enjoy watching your plots grow. Thanks for letting me be a very small part of your journey
Congrats on a job well done

Great stuff. You are right, we are truly blessed to have guys like Ben and Bob around here to share their vast knowledge.

Lookin AWSOME pal!! as Bob stated its been a tuff year, I have laid a seed down yet!! After this year it should be way easier!! I can’t wait to see your harvest photos this fall, and hopefully your not filled out by the time I make it up there!! Its an amazing farm and its awsome to see someone with no agricultural back ground to develope such a thirst, so many properties go underutilized its sick, this however is not one of those farms!! The pics are awsome BUT they don’t do it justice, you gotta show some before photos that’s alotta land to clear/clean up!!

Looking good!

Way to go Todd! Feels good doesn’t it? I was in your same position a couple of years ago and thanks to many guys on this site and especially Bob, our MN property is now producing some great bucks with 4 being killed over the last 2 years between 140-160 inches. Like others have already stated, your property should produce better crops as it matures and as you continue to learn more about farming.

I hope I can see it some day neighbor!

nice job and great read now bring on the bucks!!

If it were not for the IDO community I would still be three or four steps back from ground zero With this wealth of knowledge I was able to take a couple of very large, very important steps forward in one spring Thank you all for the help and I can’t wait to post some pics of the crop when it comes up a foot or two.

Nice work! This spring has not been any easy one, especially if you are talking about clearing and establishing large chunks of land like you. Looks like you put some serious work into making sure you accomplished your goals It will pay off bigger than Dallas!

As it has been said, the first year and the wet years, are always the most troublesome. Looks like you have prevailed over both so now the years to come will just bring less work and better rewards. Good luck with your harvest plots, keep us posted

I wanted to give a little update with some photos of the destination plots and their progress as of early august.
Some of them are looking great and some of the others are only O.K. but still producing plenty of food for our four legged friends. Sorry about the photo quality but my camera is becoming a little too smart for me!
The first two pictures are of the homestead plot with corn and beans. It was struggling about a month ago in the corn rows so we very lightly spread some brassicas over the whole plot to help produce a little more forage. The beans are being tore up and the corn is short but starting to cobb so all is well.
Picture 3 and 4 is of our farmer friends 17 acre plot which is looking great and our 4 acre plot which is the best corn on the property this year. This is also the plot that recently had 3/4 acre planted in brassicas around a spot that was too wet this spring.
Picture 5 is the high ground surrounded by swamp that is corn and beans with a light seeding of brassicas similar to the homestead plot. There is no good vantage point to take a picture from but this area will be buzzing with whitetail activity this fall!
Picture 6 is a plot we planted 3/4’s of with corn and beans and later had to replant the corn rows with beans because of a very heavy rain. More corn grew than we expected and the field has some serious tonage growing now. We also just seeded the other 1/4 with a row of clover and a row of brassicas and it is already sprouting .
The last picture is a demonstration of how hungry our deer must be, I can’t wait until everything is ready for them to eat and they can put the feed bags on.
Thanks for reading and I hope everyone has a great fall!

Next year things will be better imagine if the seeder had worked properly