Well I got out for a few stands today. I drove out to the farm I hunt deer on; we heard some yotes howling in the wee hours during the deer season so I wanted to concentrate some time on this area. As I drove up to the farm I could tell things were not as I expected. Dec 12th and I'm seeing corn on the stalks??? Most of the fields I was planning to hunt still have uncut corn in them. As I drive up to the homestead I can see some patches cut and Mr. Farmer out in his combine, in the snow no less, cutting one of the furthest fields. It's a beautiful day, skies are clear, light winds, and about -10....I'm gonna hunt no matter what. So I decide to set up in a corner where I could see down two sides of one of the cornfields. One of the farmers’ older uncles told me that he could hear the yotes in that field a few nights ago. I spent about 45 minutes there calling with a jackrabbit distress before moving to a wooded area. Visibility in the woods was great since the leaves have fallen. I found a great spot on a rocky outcropping overlooking a small valley that has a meandering creek below. Sitting among the rocks listening to the wind blowing through the trees was very relaxing. I tried howls mixed with the distress call for about an hour.
I heard the combine getting closer to the farm and decided to go see what was up with cutting corn in the snow. Unfortunately, this year’s harvest never dried enough to be harvested; it was so humid that drying it was unfeasible as the cost of drying vs. the market value made the whole operation moot. Now his insurance company is telling him not to cut.....so the corn is starting to rot.....then they tell him to cut samples.....the adjuster says the crop is a bust but his bosses are not sure if they will pay off yet. He has already had 3 buyers tell him that they wouldn’t touch his crop and he is pissed that he pays for his insurance but now he’s getting the run around.
Anyway, he tells me that he saw some yote tracks in the field he just cut. He just drove the combine out of there but I decided to give it a shot anyways. I set up on a knoll overlooking the field, had a good crosswind and a nice view. The only thing I called in was a hawk
I watched it hunt for a while and called it a day.
Here are a few pics from my last stand today.
If you can imagine the last two pics together it will give you a pretty good idea of the view I had.
After this stand I went to have a chat with the farmer and asked if I could set up a meatsickle on the farm. He said we could do better than that. He asked that I call him in advance the next time I go there and he would set it up so that we could go see his buddy that has a pig farm. We will pick up 3 or 4 dead pigs and set up a nice big bait pile! We chatted for a while and before I took my leave he gave me some sausage he had made with this years whitetail....yummy!
I heard the combine getting closer to the farm and decided to go see what was up with cutting corn in the snow. Unfortunately, this year’s harvest never dried enough to be harvested; it was so humid that drying it was unfeasible as the cost of drying vs. the market value made the whole operation moot. Now his insurance company is telling him not to cut.....so the corn is starting to rot.....then they tell him to cut samples.....the adjuster says the crop is a bust but his bosses are not sure if they will pay off yet. He has already had 3 buyers tell him that they wouldn’t touch his crop and he is pissed that he pays for his insurance but now he’s getting the run around.
Anyway, he tells me that he saw some yote tracks in the field he just cut. He just drove the combine out of there but I decided to give it a shot anyways. I set up on a knoll overlooking the field, had a good crosswind and a nice view. The only thing I called in was a hawk
I watched it hunt for a while and called it a day. Here are a few pics from my last stand today.
If you can imagine the last two pics together it will give you a pretty good idea of the view I had.
After this stand I went to have a chat with the farmer and asked if I could set up a meatsickle on the farm. He said we could do better than that. He asked that I call him in advance the next time I go there and he would set it up so that we could go see his buddy that has a pig farm. We will pick up 3 or 4 dead pigs and set up a nice big bait pile! We chatted for a while and before I took my leave he gave me some sausage he had made with this years whitetail....yummy!
