Blood, Sweat, and Tears

Posted by Bo Parker | Posted in , | Posted on Tuesday, June 01, 2010

A little over a week ago, Scott and I spent a little time turkey hunting with our friends Lee and Chris Schmidt. They are our KS neighbors and are quite the father/son hunting tandem. Unfortunately, luck was not on our side and the turkey hunting was the slowest it has been all year. The birds just weren't there. Nevertheless, we had a really nice time and it was good to hunt with friends. We spent the majority of the morning touring their property and doing some sporadic calling. What a beautiful place they have!

After our uneventful morning hunt, Scott and I split up from Lee and Chris to get some work done on our lease. Our 80 acre farm consists of a little timber, 55 acres of native grasses enrolled in CRP, and a bit of brush. For the first time ever, we are allowed to put in food plots. We're hoping that the addition of a few plots will make our already good property even better.


We hired a local farmer to come in at the beginning of April to do some discing for us. He tilled up about an acre and a half for us and did a really nice job. The week before we went down to plant, Lee and I sprayed roundup on the new weed growth that had attacked the plots. When we went down this time, I hooked up the Groundhog Max disc to my 4 wheeler and redisced it to loosen the soil up again.

After I retilled the soil, Scott loaded up the seeder and broadcast some Roundup Ready Soybeans into this 3/4 acre plot. I then disced it again in order to cover the beans. With any luck, the deer will leave some of them be during their early stages of growth so that we'll have a nice stand of them to hunt over in the fall. There isn't much out there that is any better than late season standing soybeans! We plan on overseeding some rye into this plot in August to give the deer something to munch on during the drying period that the beans will go through.

After planting the beans, we planted another plot with some whitetail and ladino clover. We're hoping that this plot will last a few years. We have intentions of adding 3 or 4 more plots to the property this fall.

Once the Spring food plotting was done, it was time to put out some minerals and hang the first trail cam of the year. We had a trophy rock in this spot last year and the deer really devoured it. We're hoping that they take a liking to these minerals and will pose for the camera. It will likely be July before we make it back down, so we're hoping for a memory card full of shooter bucks when we make it back down to the property.

Deer season is really a year round sport for Scott and I. It's true that the season only lasts a few months, but the preparation and scouting that we put into it literally lasts 52 weeks a year. We really never take a break, even during turkey season. It was actually quite funny the number of times that Scott and I started talking deer hunting in the turkey blind this season. If it ever got slow, one of us would start talking. "I bet there's a good trail just inside the woodline of that inside corner over there. We should get a set hung in there this summer..." That's just how it goes with us hardcore bowhunters. We eat, sleep, and breathe this stuff and love every stinkin' minute of it. The blood, sweat, and tears are a very small price to pay for the enjoyment and satisfaction that we get out of the hunting. We thank the Good Lord for giving us the opportunity to chase these wonderful critters. There is nothing we love to do more!

Comments (4)

  1. Amen to that!!! nice pics/blog entry! im enjoying this a lot! when the plots are grown, take some pictures so we can see how they look

    Clint .. .. .. www.warsawwhitetail.blogspot.com

  2. Next time Mom and I come down we'll bring a used J.D 24 row planter so you guys can plant that in a short time. The way the pictures look you might have to cut a few trees down to get it in there. Do you think Bo's new tractor can pull it? Just giving you guys some s***. You should build some feed bunks or get some mineral feeders so the rain keeps off the mineral blocks and corn.

  3. Well you've screwed yourself now Dad. You'd better start looking for that 24 row planter now cause we'll need it in the next couple of weeks. Not sure if Bo's tractor can pull it or not but we'll figure something out.

  4. Yep, a free 24 row planter sounds like the perfect excuse to buy an even bigger tractor!

    Clint, your blog is coming along nicely. Keep up the good work!

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