The Planning Season

As usual, I think many of us are in the off season slumber, but for me at least, this winter season has become all about the planning. With family logistics, more complicated tag draws, booking guides and lodging, etc, etc, winter is no longer the “off” season for hunting, it’s just a different kind of busy.

So what kind of plans are YOU making? Anybody working up any new rifles or have other hunting-related workshop projects going on?

Personally, I’ve got a couple of trips in the works this year:

Hunting

1. After missing last year due to work commitments, it’s game on again for my annual varmint trip to South Dakota. My guide is booked and lodging is figured out. Also, I finally got my newish .22-250 Savage figured out and that thing is shooting like she should. I believe this will be the last trip for my father’s much-loved Tikka, however. He bought the Tikka the first year they were available here, so it’s got some age and that rifle currently has over 4000 rounds on the clock, so after this trip I believe we’ll be retiring that rifle before the barrel is completely burned up. It will be a fine coyote rifle for the rest of its life.

2. I’m finally getting in the game for Pronghorn! If, of course, we actually draw tags. We’re not heading for the major leagues, this, too, will be a South Dakota hunt. The problem besides the logistics of drawing a big ticket tag in WY or NM is that I just can’t afford the time to travel to these far flung destinations, which often adds 2-4 days to the overall hunt. So if luck goes our way, we’ll be cutting our teeth on SD Speed Goats and you just never know. They have good ones too.

Projects

1. I’m passing ever free night trying to get my reloading done for the P-Dog trip. From my multi-year averages, I need to load at least 200 rounds per shooter per day as our 3 year actually shot average has been just over 300 rounds per day fired by each 2 man team of a shooter and spotter. On top of that, there’s a 100 round per day extra margin, plus I load extra for each rifle in case one of our other rifles breaks down and therefore we end up shooting other rifles more than intended. Bottom line is I need about 1500-1700 finished rounds, and I’m a couple of evenings short of the goal.

2. I’ll be putting up a hunting cabin this year on my property, so I have to get some building projects done in advance of that. First off is that I need a generator enclosure so I can just set up the generator up there and leave it. I also want this shed to provide some sound reduction so we’re not always yelling over the generator noise. Both the contractor and I will need power up there on a constant basis, so I want this generator shed up and ready for the building season as it’s one less thing I’ll have the time to do this summer.

What are you working on in the “off” season?

Grouse

Well Grouse for me an many others there isn’t a off season, just different seasons. . . .Right now its rabbits an squirrels tying up Walleye rigs for friends an myself on the COLD days. Ice fishing an when it warms up E-Nuff for a old timer I will put the boat back in the BIG creek. … rrr

Food plot planning is consuming me this time of year. I may be over the top, but I need to have all the plots figured out, seed ordered, fertilizer figured out and start making the strategy well in advance of the spring thaw. I have to say I am way behind last year at this point

I am consumed by sledding this time of year. I am either looking forward to riding the upcoming weekend or wishing for more snow.

Head down in the basement, plug in the lead pot and cast, resize & lube handgun bullets. Great wintertime activity for those -20 deg. days.

sticker wrote:

Food plot planning is consuming me this time of year. I may be over the top, but I need to have all the plots figured out, seed ordered, fertilizer figured out and start making the strategy well in advance of the spring thaw. I have to say I am way behind last year at this point

….Unfortunately for me I do not have a place for “FOOD Plots”…. But butt I have plenty of places that I could put a little corn on the ground. BUt They say that that’s a “illegal FOOD Plot”. . . Now I do NOT want my grand kids to shoot there 1st Deer just standing there with a Turnip in his mouth from a heated fort with or with out TV……. I want them to learn how to hunt, via putting some effort into there hunt by learning how to scout. An learn Deer sign an how to read it. Find the different trails from a bedding area to a feeding areas. Not Turnips tho. Learn what they are feeding on be it acorns apples maple leaves corn beans etc. Learn where to put up stands for the different Wind directions. Maybe make a setup at a pinch point or funnel etc etc. An when they do get a chance to shoot they know they ERAND it. Weather its there 1st deer or 2nd 3rd or 4th Deer they will feel Good about it, because they are hunters that errand there deer.!! …….Now would you please turn up the Heat grandpa an change the channel on the TV .OOOH wait grandpa there is a Deer walking right down the middle of the field.! Grandpa what is that he is eating.?? …. … rrr PS just my 2cents. So don’t let your Thin Skin get your Undies in a Bunch.

So RRR, since you always have to jump into these posts. What are you doing to help the deer herd?
DT

deertracker wrote:

So RRR, since you always have to jump into these posts, what are you doing to help the deer herd?
DT

…Thin-un the Herd. I hunt SE MINN. an where I hunt there is a 5 deer Limit. … It would be a rare rare winter for it effect the DEER here to any major degree. So I go ice fishing. … rrr

I assume there is corn everywhere down there. Do you not hunt it then or is that different? Just wondering.
DT

Great topic.

So far this winter I’ve completed a 50% box blind build in SD. Need to get out there for a yote trip and complete the last two walls and roof.

I’ve completed the base build on a Mn box blind and taken it up north. We will need to get the legs and steps built this spring. Can’t wait to get out in the woods setting it up. We have 3 others we want to get completed this spring also.

I’m 50% of the way into my AR build. Just waiting on some back order components. Have to find the BCG I want and I’ll have enough parts to get it to fire. Still need optics also.

Besides the normal house/family stuff, I also am doing a minor remodel of my garage to provide more work area.

Last, I’m researching some spot stalk archery opportunities. The need to keep the states close is a key factor so I can optimize my limited time spent in the field instead of behind the windshield.

Shed hunting and spring turkey will be here before I know it.

I’m getting ready on the food plots too. I’ve been doing a lot of research on seed varieties and I’m getting ready to place my orders in February. If anybody is looking for food plots seeds, let me know.

On my hunting property, I need to clear the cabin location of trees, so I think I have 1-2 more days left of tree cutting up there. Will probably go up this weekend as it looks like the weather will be good. I’m assembling a heck of a fire wood pile, I should have years and years of it by the time we’re done.

Grouse

actually RRR, my skin is pretty thick from being in the field countless hours planting food for the deer to better the health of the herd. The amount of time, effort and money that goes into that I believe I have earned each deer I shoot. Like Dt said, it’s no different hunting a trail to a food plot than it is hunting a trail to an ag field EXCEPT, the farmer harvests the ag field and I leave the crop in the food plot all winter long for the deer.

Wow Kooty, you have been a busy boy!!! When do you sleep?

It’s this dam job that is the problem taking up 8-10 hours a day of my most productive time!! Hahaha.

It never ends….
Food plots take a lot of time and money. For me…it’s what I do.
Winter is tough, even this one that didn’t start until dam near January.
I have a decent resident herd and they burned thru the majority of about 8 acres already.
I started feeding them about a week ago and will keep it up until I think it’s no longer needed. I throw out hay this time of year and sprinkle calf starter over it. Keep in mine, I’m not trying to fatten ’em up, just keep ’em alive. Besides that, I can sit and watch these deer for hours and they are basically there, 24 x 7. It’s amazing how they browse in it for a while and then leave to make room for the next bunch. Some cranky old does too.
I’ll post a video below and apologize cuz I’m not the best at making movies.

Looks like a great place to find sheds too. That one buck already shed one side.

deertracker wrote:

I assume there is corn everywhere down there. Do you not hunt it then or is that different? Just wondering.
DT

….Yes DT there is plenty of food for the Deer in se mn. from normal farm practices. There is corn beans alfalfa hay oats etc. etc. There are numerous apple orchards scattered thru out the Bluff Country. An yes I believe that normal farm practices is different from “Food Plots”. …… Now if a guy would go out pick a bucket of his legal Turnips then walks in to the woods 15yrds an dumps them on the ground. Now those legal are now illegal turnips. Right.? But 15yrds. away there is a field full of Turnips……….. If it was ILLAGEL to hunt over “Food Plots” would you still plant the Food Plots.?? Just wondering. … rrr

river rat randy wrote:

If it was ILLAGEL to hunt over “Food Plots” would you still plant the Food Plots.?? Just wondering. … rrr

Just the fact that you seem to think that planting food plots makes hunting “easy” is proof enough to me that you’ve never actually done it. Your equating food plots to a bait pile is laughably off base and inaccurate. Obviously, the reason it’s illegal to hunt over a pile of turnips is that you’ve just concentrated the food supply and interfered in the deer’s natural feeding practices.

And to answer your question, yes I would still be planting food plots. As many of us long have known and a lot of casual hunters have suddenly come to realize in the past few years, having deer to hunt is NOT a given. A lot of casual hunters believed that 5 deer limits and super-high densities were, and would forever be, “normal” without having to lift a finger. Boy did Mother Nature prove them wrong.

My property is managed for deer and wildlife in general, not just to provide fall hunting. My goal is provide the habitat and nutrition to foster a healthy deer herd year-around, even in the face of declining wildlife habitat in the surrounding area.

My food plots also feed the turkeys, the birds, the bears, and everything else. I put up wood duck boxes and I’ve left the beaver alone to do what they do instead of trapping them out like a farmer would because they have a place as well.

Grouse

sticker wrote:

Looks like a great place to find sheds too. That one buck already shed one side.

… Not sure about this.? When the camera was panning back an forth I thought I saw a antler laying on the ground.? … rrr

Man, you guys are motivated! We’ve been slowly but surely working on finishing our basement when we have the extra funds. We have paint on the walls and I’m starting to be able to picture what it will look like! We did make it a point to replace part of the outhouse at the deer shack this winter. No way that would make a fun summer job! Whew! And we took advantage of the old guys not being there for the weekend and we threw out a bunch of junk that was laying around. There was an old TV behind one of the woodsheds… had a dial on it like I’ve never seen before. It went from A – G or something. I didn’t keep spinning it to see how far it went. It looked OLD.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

I’m assembling a heck of a fire wood pile, I should have years and years of it by the time we’re done.

Awesome! It’s been a while since we’ve seen the back of our woodsheds. One of these days I’d love to rip off the back and take out that last row and burn it up. A few weekends ago we spent some time hauling in wood before we left the shack and it feels nice to know that the wood is stacked for the next time up.

In Dec I crossed off an item that I had been meaning to do for a long time – I typed a list of all the DVDs we have. It took a while but it’s nice to know what we have and and don’t have. We gave away some of the duplicates we ended up with and I made a list of some we are missing from a series. My goal is to keep them alphabetized now, but we’ll see how long I can keep that up.

river rat randy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>sticker wrote:</div>
Looks like a great place to find sheds too. That one buck already shed one side.

… Not sure about this.? When the camera was panning back an forth I thought I saw a antler laying on the ground.? … rrr

Yep he is missing 1 side but that’s not an antler on the ground.
It’s a corn stalk. I had a corn food plot there but they ate it all so I knocked it down.
I’ve seen several smaller bucks that have lost 1 side in the last week. In the last couple days, quite a few with no sides, just scabs.
The big guys are still hanging on to their head gear from what I’m seeing.
I try not to put those bigger deer in the vids…just in case the neighbors see this !!

I find almost all the sheds up in the pine trees where they bed.