Iluv2hunt, just got back from Atl., grandson's birthday. Noticed your observation and question about the rut last Fri. Historically, according to the biologist, our peak is the 3rd week of Jan. Most of the deer we kill in late Jan. and into Feb. late M/L season still have plenty of stain and odor like they're still going at it. Don't know about the little feller in the pic, but if I get the chance we'll check them tarsal glands real close! Treefarmer
Day 278 Corn patch food plot
Another slow week to report. Left home last Fri. morning, went to Atl. for grandsons' birthday. Came home Monday afternoon.
Went to corn patch yesterday afternoon about 4:45, light rain, had 3 come through the planted pines into the plot, right in line with a big bushy cedar tree. One was a button buck and the other two never moved enough to get a look at their heads. All the corn is now on the ground, there is an overabundance of dove birds!
Been checking prices of clover, was at Bass Pro in Atl. and didn't give it a thought.
We are getting wet in the woods, field work is on hold as it is "too wet to plow". We have had a little over 4 inches in the last week with another big band about an hour away this afternoon. Driving from town at noon today, we noticed "clouds" of yellow pollen in the air, have never seen such a quantity before, everything is yellow! There was a big spot of yellow pollen on the lens of the game camera that showed up in the pictures. Same old bunch crossing the fence, but one was really surprised by the camera as you can see in the picture! There has to be a noise that is made when it triggers that got her attention.
M/L starts next week for 7days then it's finally over!
Treefarmer
Wish were were getting wet down here in Tampa. We are getting the first measurable rainfall since I can remember. I bet we have had less than 1" since October
As for the cameras, some definitely make a "clanking" noise when they take a pic in infrared mode. Something to do with the shutter. Not sure what brand Moultrie you are using. I have an M80 and a D55IR, and neither make the noise. However my two WGI cameras do make it. One of them is actually loud. I also know the Primos cams are notorious for it as well
Day 285 Corn patch food plot
Rifle season ended last Sunday and M/L started Monday morning and I haven't been in the woods with the smoke pole. When you are retired, old and it's cold or raining you just don't go at it like we did a few years back. We have had another 1/2 inch of rain yesterday morning, Monday morning the temperature was in the 20's. All the local rivers have made it to flood stage the last few days, Choctawhatchee, Chipola and the Apalachicola from the big rains in Alabama and Georgia. I have been working on some equipment that needed some attention. Took an axle out of a back section of a 10' disk and had it straightened after hooking a pine tree last fall. Still working on replacing the front axle pivot pin on my old MF 175 and there is a broken blade on my John Deere off-set harrow that I need to replace. Maybe I'll get to the woods a couple of times before its over. The doves are still thick in the corn patch and I had a couple of does in the plot last Thursday afternoon. There is still a lot of traffic by the camera, night and day. Looks like I need to hide behind the camera and catch him with a dip net. :rolleyes
Treefarmer
Day 292 Corn patch food plot
The season is finally over and if I were to give the Corn patch food plot a score on a scale of 0-10 it would probably get a 3 or a 4. There are a lot of things that effect the success of a food plot and I'm not sure I have understood all I observed during this season. This food plot has been very successful in the past, always seeing a lot of deer and killing at least 2 or 3 each season. Sometimes we gauge our success by comparing it to previous seasons, where everything went well. I killed 2 bucks in the corn patch and saw a few deer all along, then some dry spells but the camera revealed that there were always deer close by and tracks showed they were in the plot but not at the same time I was there. My conclusion is that deer don't seem to flock to the standing corn in the Florida panhandle as they do on TV in the mid west. I had "visions of sugar plums" when I decided to plant the patch last year. The night time sightings in the old Mennonite's corn field was enough to convience me that deer would go for it, but the reality is they seem to work it after dark. Rye grain, oats and clover has always provided early morning and late afternoon sightings in this plot, so maybe I learned something as far as a plot to hunt over. This being said, there is always enough agricultural crops and natural browse to raise deer but something like a green field seems to draw them during hunting season.
Since Friday the 22nd, we poured out 10.7 inches of rain from our gauge. All the big rivers are at least 5 or 6 foot above flood stage this afternoon. It will be several weeks before I can put a tractor in the food plot, even the 4-wheel drive tractor. I was hoping to get started on getting a seed bed for an acre of clover before it gets too warm. We are supposed to have a very cold week end, down in the 20's.
Nothing on the game camera worth showing but took a few pictures after the rain showing what the "mess" looks like after a big rain and proof that they are still working on it.
Treefarmer
