Saturday, December 31, 2005
Looking Ahead To A New Year
Planning ahead is the theme for people like me. Each new year comes with a completely different set of problems, and a new round of decisions and solutions.
I, for one, look forward to the new year. Running a big deer ranch on 1,000 acres requires a great deal of work. Hunting blinds need to be repaired, tree stands adjusted, at least one pit blind needs a drain plug to keep it dry, and new locations are needed for some stand changes.
One would think all of these things could be accomplished in a month’s time. There’s no way everything can be done during the spring and summer, and we often go into the new hunting season wishing we had had more time to fully complete all of our tasks.
One wooden elevated coop had the ideal opening for a hunter to shoot through, but one guy decided it just wasn’t big enough and made a shooting window four feet tall by three feet wide. It never did produce a buck or doe for him.
The pit blind mentioned above has always been a good hunting spot, but for some reason, it seems to have sprung a leak. The last hunter who sat there had forgotten his tall rubber boots, and sat in it with his street shoes on. Both feet were soaking wet and muddy at the end of his hunt.
We shifted locations with two or three ground coops during hunting season, and I’m not thoroughly convinced yet that we have them right. We’ll take another look at them in the spring, and see what can be done to make them for productive.
Every year, during the spring, we’ll have two or three shed hunts. Bucks drop their antlers at various times during the winter, and we usually find the sheds near bedding areas, but some antlers have been found in some very unusual places.
I used to have two or three hay-bale blinds scattered around in strategic locations, and we finally laid them to rest several years ago. I’m considering building one or two new ones because one of my friends, even though he has hay fever, loved to hunt from them.
Tree stands and elevated tree coops require work every year to keep them safe for hunter use. Trees grow, winds blow, and ladders can weaken and supports for the stands can get wobbly. Strengthening these stands is a must-do project.
A few spots on my ranch roads needs work. More gravel will firm them up, and that takes time. Money, too.
The deer always needs care. We inspect our herd often, and it’s important to make certain they are fed properly and are healthy.
We have a 3-D Shoot on weekends during the summer. We get a number of people every weekend who come to shoot the course, and the combination of being constantly shot at and the weather, can create havoc with targets. Some need to be replaced every year.
One summer problem we have is that many of our wooden ground or elevated coops get infested with hornets or wasps. Cleaning them out, and having them free of stinging insects, requires a great deal of time.
We have over 40 ground and elevated stands, and each one must be thoroughly inspected. We always inspect the railings along the edges of the steps going up to elevated coops, and some may need repair.
Our walk-in cooler must be checked, our Gate House where hunting guests stay, normally requires very little upkeep. We are always watchful during wind storms, and twice this year had to go out into a nasty storm with a chain saw, more fencing and posts to repair a break.
A falling tree can take out a large portion of fence, and let our deer out or allow free-roaming deer to jump in over the downed fence. We get right on that situation, even in the middle of the night.
Running a deer ranch has its advantages and disadvantages. These things don’t run themselves; it requires far more work to keep them up and running properly than most people think.
So, as the clock ticks down tonight, my thoughts are not on New York City’s Times Square and the countdown to midnight. My thoughts are much more practical, and they concern making wise and efficient use of our ranch.
So, if you’ll excuse me now, I’ve just thought of something else that needs fixing and we’ll get to it tomorrow.
Have a safe and Happy New Year, and thank you for becoming a regular visitor during your search for more in-depth whitetail hunting information.—The Whitetail Wizard