Waiting on Fall

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Ranch Dog
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Waiting on Fall

Post by Ranch Dog »

I thought that I would get a break for reloading and shooting during the heat of the summer, but that just didn't happen. I ended up with several summertime projects that included a wildlife water system across the ranch, continued work on my native grass restoration (bobwhite project), and a few others. I think I'm finally at a point where it all grinds to a halt. The food plots are prepped and waiting for a daytime temperature in the mid-80s and nighttime temps in the mid-60s. With that happening, ahead of the next rain-bearing front, the seed will go into the ground, and my critters will soon have their winter food supply.

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I've got a couple of new pieces of equipment this year; a drop spreader for either fertilizer or lime, and a no-till seeder.

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The spreader is 6' wide and has a 2000 lb capacity. I bought it because it is road worthy so I can go into town and fill it with bulk fertilizer at the Farmer's Co-Op. I put lime out about a month ago; only one three-year-old plot needed it. I have to go one town further, about 35 miles to get lime so realizing that retailers are facing the end of the season, I called our Tractor Supply to see if they wanted to rid themselves of their bagged lime at bulk prices. They did, so they loaded the pallets on my trailer. It saved me about two hours of driving because the spreader should not be towed faster than 35 mph, but lifting and dumping forty 50 lb bags was a killer with the temperature 102°!

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The No-Till seeder is a Land Pride NTS2507. The tiller based planter I imported from China went to the consignment lot, I had some heartache making this change but that planter was not capable of seeding native grass which is akin to dropping small feathers. That takes specialized equipment, and the Land Pride seeder has that seedbox with the appropriate augers and plumbing. It has three seedboxes with the front two being of interest to a food plotter. The front box drops mixed seeds, the pre-mixed food plot blends and the middle box seeds such as alfalfa, oats, rye, wheat, etc. Both boxes operate independently, each at their required rates. So they can be used individually or in conjunction with each other. Starting this winter, I will start prepping additional ground for planting the native prairie/savannah grasses the last week of August 2018.

As far as hunting goes; I received my Managed Land Antlerless Permits, two of them, a couple of days ago and that season starts on the last Saturday of September and runs through the last Sunday of February! This change is new this year. The extended season makes it a bit anti-climatic to me for some reason. The buck season starts the first Saturday of November and runs through the first Sunday of January. I will attempt to kill one buck, a buck that is five-years-old or older.

In that I'm looking at taking three deer, I think I will hunt with my three Model 94 Winchester scouts; a 30-30 Win, 35-30, and a 44 Mag.

The Wildlife Management Area public hunting draw was yesterday. Bummer... didn't get anything. Mule deer is the 15th of next month. I didn't put in for nilgai; I need to find a younger, fit hunter as a partner. I served my time with older guys now I need the help to get the bull out of the brush.
Michael
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akuser47
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Re: Waiting on Fall

Post by akuser47 »

Great looking equipment I bet it will make it all go alot faster as well.
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