Pinetag's Plot - 43 acres in Virginia

[pinetag]

I have about 24 hours of faith in meteorologists. Beyond that, I trust them about as much as a psychic. If you don't live at your property, I find this site much more useful: https://water.weather.gov/precip/ While it doesn't predict anything, I find it pretty accurate. Looking back for a week or so gives me clues about my soil moisture without traveling to the farm.

I use a combination of apps to track precip and I’ve used this site as well. My preferred app is Fieldview because it not only shows the yearly total, but I can view the individual rainfall reports which gives the total for that day.


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[yoderjac]

I use a combination of apps to track precip and I’ve used this site as well. My preferred app is Fieldview because it not only shows the yearly total, but I can view the individual rainfall reports which gives the total for that day.


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The thing I like about the site is that you can look back cumulatively. So, I can see how much we have had for the last week or two.

 

[pinetag]

The thing I like about the site is that you can look back cumulatively. So, I can see how much we have had for the last week or two.

Agreed, I do like that you have a variety of ways to filter on the site .

I was lucky and got .10 last night with more predicted today/tomorrow. Wish I had gotten some additional seed out yesterday.


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[yoderjac]

It looks like my place only got .10 yesterday as well.

 

[pinetag]

Our bow season opened this weekend, but I am holding off until a little later in Oct. The cold front that passed through spurred good movement yesterday so perhaps I should have hunted. Lol. Some decent bucks have been on their feet during daylight too.

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[pinetag]

Another daylight mover that looks fairly mature!

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[weekender21]

A few good looking deer walking around!


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[pinetag]

Second weekend in a row with an unusual early season cold front and the second Saturday in a row with a good daylight buck. I’m starting to second guess my wait until late October tactic and may try to get out one evening over the next couple days with the decreasing temps.

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[yoderjac]

With that forecast, I'm not hunting today, but plan to be out Sun-Tue now that my crossbow has been repaired. Saw nothing on Friday evening.

 

[pinetag]

With that forecast, I'm not hunting today, but plan to be out Sun-Tue now that my crossbow has been repaired. Saw nothing on Friday evening.

Glad you got your crossbow issues sorted out. Yea, the last few days my cameras have been slower with the warmer weather, but I expect more activity after the rain pushes out tonight.


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[pinetag]

I hadn’t gotten any pictures of this buck since early September so I was glad to see him show back up recently. I thought he might have a couple more points near the end of his right main beam, but I could never really make them out in previous pics. So it looks like he has 12 points total! Hopefully as the rut gets closer he’ll show during daylight.

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[yoderjac]

I hadn’t gotten any pictures of this buck since early September so I was glad to see him show back up recently. I thought he might have a couple more points near the end of his right main beam, but I could never really make them out in previous pics. So it looks like he has 12 points total! Hopefully as the rut gets closer he’ll show during daylight.

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Nice looking buck!

 

[pinetag]

October 20th seems to be a magical day almost every year! For the last four seasons I’ve gotten a nice daylight buck (2022 was at last light) on camera. The sad part is I was originally planning to take today off and hunt because of those past camera observations, but changed my mind due to the warmer temps and incoming rain. Looks like that may have been the wrong call as my biggest buck made his first daytime appearance.

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[yoderjac]

October 20th seems to be a magical day almost every year! For the last four seasons I’ve gotten a nice daylight buck (2022 was at last light) on camera. The sad part is I was originally planning to take today off and hunt because of those past camera observations, but changed my mind due to the warmer temps and incoming rain. Looks like that may have been the wrong call as my biggest buck made his first daytime appearance.

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I saw nothing yesterday. I too skipped today given the weather.

 

[pinetag]

I saw nothing yesterday. I too skipped today given the weather.

Cameras have only shown small bucks the last two days for me. I got a blurry pic of a decent looking buck on Tue morning but I think we need some cooler temps… which is why I’m hoping for some luck on Monday. Hopefully you’ll have some luck too!


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[yoderjac]

We normally restrict logging activities from Oct-Dec. Unfortunately, we need to get it finished. The loggers only got 1/2 of the property done this spring. They took our pulp and pole timber from the area we were having a first thinning done. They couldn't get sufficient quotas from the mills to sell our saw logs from heavy second thinning we are having done on the other half of the property. Loggers start on Monday.

So, this year is going to be a crap shoot.

 

[pinetag]

We normally restrict logging activities from Oct-Dec. Unfortunately, we need to get it finished. The loggers only got 1/2 of the property done this spring. They took our pulp and pole timber from the area we were having a first thinning done. They couldn't get sufficient quotas from the mills to sell our saw logs from heavy second thinning we are having done on the other half of the property. Loggers start on Monday.

So, this year is going to be a crap shoot.

I had similar last fall. It was a last minute decision to get 8 acres logged because they were already cutting on the neighbor’s place so it was a now or never type of situation. They were supposed to start with mine around mid Oct and work their way back into the neighbor’s, but for some reason they cut up to my property line first and then started on my logging in early Nov. The overall operation did affect buck movement some and it definitely limited my stand options for a bit. Daytime movement picked back up a couple weeks later but unfortunately the rut was fading at that point.


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[yoderjac]

I had similar last fall. It was a last minute decision to get 8 acres logged because they were already cutting on the neighbor’s place so it was a now or never type of situation. They were supposed to start with mine around mid Oct and work their way back into the neighbor’s, but for some reason they cut up to my property line first and then started on my logging in early Nov. The overall operation did affect buck movement some and it definitely limited my stand options for a bit. Daytime movement picked back up a couple weeks later but unfortunately the rut was fading at that point.


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Yes, not only does the on-going operation impact deer movement, but in our case, where we have a couple hundred acres involved, the large scale change in habitat changes how deer related to the property. Last time we had a logging operation over 10 years ago, we had to completely relearn deer patterns. I'm sure we will be doing that again for a year or two after this.

 

[pinetag]

Yes, not only does the on-going operation impact deer movement, but in our case, where we have a couple hundred acres involved, the large scale change in habitat changes how deer related to the property. Last time we had a logging operation over 10 years ago, we had to completely relearn deer patterns. I'm sure we will be doing that again for a year or two after this.

Yea, I expected changes in movement as well but it’s worth it for the long term benefits.


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[yoderjac]

Yea, I expected changes in movement as well but it’s worth it for the long term benefits.


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Absolutely! I think of how much money we put into food plots and the amount of quality food they produce. I compare that to Timber management which creates a much higher quantity of quality native foods for a much larger positive impact. On top of that, instead of being a financial drain like food plots, it is an income producing source. While we will always have some food plots, timber management provides a much better bang for the buck in more ways than one.