Bossman, we'll bring y'all up to speed when things get leveled out in a day or so.
Treefarmer
We are all familiar with the sayin', "The best laid plans of mice and men...".
All this started back in the spring when the grandsons helped build a small shooting house on skids. The small food plot was planted with Iron and Clay peas and it did well, then we cut the peas in and planted Rye grain in hopes that it would rain and be about a foot high come Thanksgiving Day. No rain since it was planted. (Today is the 70th day without measurable rainfall on our place. But it is looking like we are going to get some soon according to the radar.) The Rye came up in the shady sides of the plot and on the shade side of the trees in the plot but has failed to come up in the major portion of the patch. If we get this rain, we will know in a few days if the other seed in the ground is still good.
There is a automatic feeder that feeds twice a day, 7am and 4pm, the deer know where it is, as a camera shows lots of activity The 1st hunt with #1 grandson was Thanksgiving Day beginning around 3:45. A neighbor decided at the same time to zero in some kind of a gun, he shot almost till dark. One big doe came out kinda' late, walked from the south up the middle of the plot and on to the feeder. She was very nervous, she knew something wasn't quite right but never winded us in the ground level shooting house. I don't know if #1 could have quietly gotten his rifle up if it had been a buck. He was pretty quiet but still moved way too much for it to be perfect. We went again on Friday morning for a little while but it was totally void of any critters or birds.
On Friday afternoon it was #2's turn to hunt. He is 11, #1 is 12. On the way to the plot he said, "Granddaddy, I don't think I want to shoot a deer." I said that's okay but then asked what changed his mind? He told me he was listening to a conversation his dad and another man were having (on speaker phone) concerning the man's son that had crippled a deer several weeks ago up in Georgia and how they had finally finished him off. #2 said, "Granddaddy, I don't want to take that chance." This little feller was exploding milk jugs filled with water at 100 yards with a .243 and still wasn't sure of his ability, his decision made me very proud! We were rewarded with a visit from a grey fox. It came to the feeder and then crossed the plot and was about 20 feet from us as it passed by the stand. We really got a good look at the fox.
Regular rifle season comes back in on December 10, maybe I'll be motivated enough to get after Bambi by then.
Here's a few pictures of our Thanksgiving hunt.
Treefarmer
Good Stuff farmer! I remember when my girls decided not to shot a hog because it was poor and they wanted to let it fatten up a little. The one thing that I missed was Thanksgiving days menu. Like on Hee Haw when Grandpaw Jones (I think that was who would do it) would always tell everybody what was for dinner. UMMM UMMM!
Great story and good job raising good parents for them grandkids.
Since I didn't start a separate tale about the other food plot, I'll just continue both on this thread, as I will be sittin' in the boy's shootin' house from time to time.
The wheat planted in the bigger plot during the drought is finally coming up. Only a small portion germinated at first but since the drought has broken we're seein' what looks to be a pretty fair stand. The deer are workin' on it pretty hard even thought it should be close to a foot high by now. Maybe it will be more palatable later in the season as it sometimes is seeding out by the middle of February. This afternoon 2 does and a yearling came wading across the muddy bottom pickin' at the new sprouts. They came into the field from behind me and hit my scent from the condo and got real nervous for a while. Usually they show up about a hundred yards from the stand and scent control is not such a problem. I did notice the tarsal glands on the 2 does were staring to darken, so the rut is fixin' to start in this part of Florida.
I'm adding a couple of pictures of what's going on.
Treefarmer
