At The Shed, we work daily throughout the year - getting ready for YOU. This is the time of year when we begin to turn our thoughts toward the fall and winter deer hunting season. Since we have 8,000 acres for deer hunting, our work seems to never end. We're spending much of our time now "limbing" the roads out and grating the roads, making them better than passable for the coming season. That also has to be done in order to clear the way for our next undertaking, spraying the fields to prepare our green fields. The completion of one job simply leads to the beginning of the next one, but I'm surely not complaining - because every day in those woods is one day we're closer to the day we're ALL waiting for...OPENING DAY!!! As the days go by, I'll update this page so you can keep up with what we're doing to get ready for this season and so you can get "revved" up right along with me... Don't forget to bookmark this page so you can visit it often to see "What's Up At The Shed..."
Thurs., 7/30 - I put my deer cams out last week, and collected some early photos yesterday. It's still hot, and they're not stirring around too much, but I did get a peek at a doe... Last year, somebody shot and missed a big ole 8-point...I'm biding my time, waiting to see what he looks like this year! When I get something on my camera, I'll post that for you to see....In the meantime, I'm out and about, I'm checking for early signs - and I'm finding oak trees with clusters of big, fat acorns that look like grape clusters hanging heavy on the vine. Now those areas should really begin to see some activity in the days to come...
Sat., 8/2 - Yesterday and today were spent building ten (you heard me - TEN) new shootin' houses. Brian (Clavery) and his family came up and spear-headed that project - at least Brian did. (His wife and kids went to the water park for a day of fun in the sun and the water and on the slides while we slaved in the heat! - Is something wrong with this picture?!) Anyway, we did build some FINE shootin'houses, if I do say so myself! And Brian agrees with me because I asked him! He, Gray, and I have cut, hammered, and screwed for two days, knowing that every cut and every screw and every nail was bringing us that much closer to more dry, comfortable deer hunting and turkey hunting! We have one more to put a roof on...
Tue., 8/5 - The wind's been right; so Gray and I have spent the days since this past Saturday evening spraying the green fields. (When you spray your fields before you plant them - far enough in advance and in preparation for planting them - you ensure that whatever you do plant will not have to fight with weeds for nourishment. This is just one way WE ensure healthy, lush, green fields.) I sprayed all day today as well - making that about forty green fields so far... I wish sprayin' was all I had had to do. Unfortunately, as is bound to happen sooner or later, the engine cooling fan went out on one of the Rangers; so one morning was spent online trying to find a new one and that afternoon doing some very *!?%*# creative "mechanic-ing" when we found nowhere to order one from!!! (By the way, what do you get when you cross a Ranger with a Honda fan?...............I'm not sure either - but it worked!!!) Anyway, I did finally get back to the original job of sprayin'. Of course - I have to do some walkin' around between fields (I mean that IS part of my job, too...RIGHT?!?)... And man, am I seein' some signs...I found a trail today that's really being used. And I found another white oak tree, whew, that thing has moreacorns on it than the one I found the other day. I mean, lots of trees have 'em, it's just some really have 'em, and this one DOES! This tree is really not that big a tree, but it does forevermore have the acorns on it. Somethin' else I'm seein' is a lot of fruit on the trees. The persimmon trees on the property are just full, and you know those deerlove those persimmons. All of that makes for great deer hunting conditions. And it's gettin' closer, y'all - closer by the day...Stay with me...
Image:
Just a few of the millions of cluster of acorns
Wed., 8/6 - 6:00 a.m. - Oh well! No spraying today...the wind's supposed to be 5 to 10 mph all day. ...guess it's back to the job of limbin' roads in the piney woods that I haven't gotten to yet...and I plan to go back and get some pictures of those oaks for you to see...
8:00 p.m. - As promised, pictures of those acorns to the left!!! I had three spots for acorns, but then I found those new deer trails - so I filled two spots with the trails! Definitely worthy, don't you think? These are new trails that are being heavily used... They were not there last year... I was so excited when I found these. Of course, there's tons of acorns too. But to see the new activity... These trails are coming onto our property from the main road. I didn't have time to scout it out today, but you can bet I'll be back another day to find out where on our property that trail leads. ...might be a good place for a climber or a lock-on. I'll let you know later what I find... AND, while I was out today, I saw some baby turkeys - just hatched out this past spring. It's exciting to see the turkey population growing...almost as exciting as seeing a tom in full strut...maybe....
A new deer trail
Another deer trail
Sat., 8/9: The wind was up yesterday, so I went to another section to finish out some limbin'. Today, I was able to go out and finish sprayin' the section I was in since the wind decided to cooperate. Larry and I talked today, just about what we've accomplished and what yet needs to be done. Our next big project, aside from fertilizin' and plantin', is to make The Lodge and about five or six of our shootin' houses handicap accessible. We already have some ground blinds, but we're excited about tryin' to get some of the shootin' houses up to speed. The Lodge is almost there, but we have some details to finish up. So if you, or someone you know, is looking for a lodge that is handicap accessible but doesn't limit you to mediocre hunting or simple pop-up ground blinds, we're the place to call. Just go to our contacts page to book a hunt for this comin' season or just to ask some questions...
8/20: Larry and I went over to Thomasville last night to a meeting on land management that was hosted by one of our lessors. We heard some very interesting speakers. This particular lessor has their own biologist on staff who brought all leasees up to speed on their recommendations, some of which are planting wheat, oats, winter peas, etc. (rye does not serve the nutritional needs of deer herds), summertime planting, etc. They discussed ground ph for growing clover in order to properly nourish the does while pregnant and the bucks for horn growth. We found that we already do much of what was discussed, but certainly gained some valuable information and ideas for more that we can do - and we will. At The Shed, our primary concern is proper nutrition for our deer population in order to get the maximum amount of growth - both in numbers and in size of the deer and antlers.
8/25: I've been VERY busy lately...but here's a quick run-down of what's happened at The Shed lately...
I've finished spraying everything. Brian came up a week or so ago - he, Gray, and I finished seven more morning shootin' houses. More recently, I had a hunting expo to attend in Lafayette, Louisiana this past weekend, so I spent the entire week before that gettin' everything together for the show. It was a very successful weekend. I went down Thursday and set everything up at the Cajun Dome. Brian and his brother, Gus, met me there Friday to help work the show. We booked several couple's hunts, youth hunts, and rifle hunts. We have others "penciled in" that won't be "confirmed" until the deposit is received. Our calendar is fillin' up; so hurry and book your hunt...We don't want to miss out on havin' you here...
Now that the shows are over and "Faye" is on her way out, we're on to bush-hoggin'' and discin' fields - weather permitting - and tacklin' our handicap accessible projects!
The Shed's booth at the Hunting Expo in Lafayette, Louisiana
9/01 - We have spent the last week making preparations for Hurricane Gustav. We opened The Shed's doors (at not cost of course) to as many people as our combined housing facilities would hold, and ALL are full. We even have several RV's set up on the property. All of our "guests" are from Louisiana, where they HAVE definitely felt Gustav. In Choctaw County, Alabama, we have wound up not being right in the path, though we are getting action from those outer bands. We do have tornadoe warnings, flood warnings, etc. We continue to watch - and of course, won't get back to the business of getting ready for hunting season until this is well over, and we've seen our "guests" safely home.
Fri. 9/12: Well, we survived Gustav and Ike. Neither was hard on us here at all. Our friends who stayed during Gustav found their homes in tact when they got back home, but many were without electricity for weeks. Things are finally back to normal around here, and we plan to start planting tomorrow.
Wed., 9/22: We started plantin' on the the 13th. The fields that we've planted, we've also fertilized. As of today, we have only 10 fields left to plant. We should be able to knock those out this comin' week. The grass we've planted in most of the fields has already come up. We've had good rain; so that's helped. In movin' from field to field, I found several sheds... I've also been seein' tracks- doe and bucks... I don't know about you, but I'm really beginnin' to feel the fever... I've got my game camera out... I'll check it sometime this week... If we've caught anything on film, I'll be sure and post it for you to see...
9/29: The other day, I went out to check to see how the green fields looked, and most looked good. Unfortunately, some of the turkey population on parts of the property thought they looked good right after the seed was put out. They tore - it - up...eating all the seed!!! So, today, I went out and re-planted those fields. We'll be talking to those turkeys long about March 14th!!!
10/07: Today we put out six new mornin' stands - 4 ft. x 4 ft. shootin' houses. We still have four left to put out. No worries, though...we'll "git 'er done!"
10/11-13: Larry and I started opening up the shootin' houses. We've been cleaning them out, sweepin' them out...you know the kinds of "stuff" that hides away over the off-season months in shootin' houses. Well - they hide no more! All the houses are open, clean, and waiting... They won't have to wait much longer - we have hunters coming in the weekend of Oct. 31st. It's ON.....
10/18: Brian and Gus came up - an old friend, Alan, too. Between them, and Gray, Larry, and me, we tackled the handicapped ramp. It's great. We also finished gettin' the inside of The Lodge handicap accessible. We are proud to say we are now completely handicap accessible - including one of our bedrooms along with its private bathroom. We are honored to have booked our first - but certainly not our last - hunt that will utilize our handicap facilities. We welcome this new phase in our outfit, and are looking forward to those to come.
10/29: The temperatures have dropped in West Central Alabama, and the wildlife population is on the move. NICE, huh? And look closely. That's not two pictures of the same buck. No, sir. That's two different bucks. (But they both make my mouth water the same!!!) These pictures were taken this past weekend by guide, David Trotter, on the property. He was scouting, lookin' around, and LOOK what he found. Trotter had his camera with him, and snapped these pictures for your viewing pleasure. Of course, we've "enjoyed" them over and over ourselves!!! The deer are here - it's just a matter of whether or not you'll be here at the exact same time they happen to be out and about... It's gonna be a great season... I sure hope you spend some of it with us!!!
11/12: We've had bowhunters for two weekends now. October 31st - November 2nd, we were fortunate enough to host a father and son from Africa on the son's first ever whitetail bowhunt. He saw several, passed on some. This past weekend, we had two couples in. They also saw several - one doe was taken. This coming weekend, we have a full weekend scheduled for our annual youth hunt. We certainly wish our youth hunters great luck and will certainly do our part to put them on some deer. Check us out - we have some dates still open - mainly in December. We'd love to put you something too... Happy hunting...
