Food Plots - Habitat Management Videography & Editing

Spring planting is completed, planted forage beans and corn. We practice 2 year rotation with beans to corn so we don't deplete the soil. Now all we need is mother nature to supply rain and heat. This property is 98 acres and has 5 food plots that support the deer  with food 365 days a year. 2 of the plots are planted with HB Seed's Luck O' Blend of Clover I also add chicory to the plot, 1 of the other plots is  Alfalfa. These plot are around 1/2 acres each in size and offer great spring to fall nutrition. The other 2 plots are planted in ether forage beans or corn depending on the rotation year. they are 3 acres each in size. Beans offer very good nutrition from early summer with large green leaves to winter with dried pods that can last throughout the winter. Corn is a good food source for late fall until it runs out in late winter. 

Tommy Brandenburg  Put the smack down on two Illinois turkeys over the weekend. Here's what Tommy had to say about one of the birds he shot.

" He managed to elude me yesterday after I called him in several times but would not come close enough. This morning I won the chess match! So much fun "

We are excited to announce our acceptance to the NEXUS Outdoors Ambassador program (makers of Scentlok and Blocker Outdoors).  Scentlok is the leading world designer, marketer, and distributor of performance, hunting and casual odor-controlling apparel, footwear and equipment. Scentlok is the only company with access to all scent-controlling technologies including their patented activated carbon technology, which is consistently proven to outperform other technologies tested.

Check out the full line of Scentlok products at www.scentlok.com or Blocker Outdoors at www.blockeroutdoors.com 

Spring scouting paid off over the weekend with a nice match set of sheds. As I walked a clover plot checking spring growth, I notice a shed at the end of the plot and 10 yards away laid the other side. I’m looking forward to see how much this buck grows over the summer.  

Spring is a great time to walk your property to see how deer are using it. Trails are well defined and easy to walk. This is the only time of year that I’ll walk the edges of bedding areas to see what kind of sign the deer are leaving. Its also a great time to make buck beds and make other improvements to bedding areas. Some people say never go into your bedding areas, my thought is if you don’t go in you’ll never know if your hard work is paying off (note: this is the only time of the year I will enter a bedding area).  

For more information go to our Habitat & Management page 

I finally made it out shed hunting today and found a few. It was hard walking in the woods because of the snow depth. next weekend should be easier walking with 50’s all week. 

Early Spring is also a great time of year to frost seed clover. I'm planning to frost seed two plots that were planted last year (this will help fill in any spots that are thin). The key to weed free clover plots is to have them thick so weed can establish. This will also cut the cost of expensive herbicides. When frost seeding existing plots broadcast 4 pounds per acer works great. If your trying to thicken an older plot increase your seeding rate to 5 to 6 pounds per acer.  

Congratulation Tommy Brandenburg on tagging out with 2 mature bucks in two days. This just shows you how persistent and determined Tommy is and therefore he consistently harvest mature deer year after year. Read more about his hunts in the posts below.

Tommy Brandenburg crushed a monster buck. The ultimate chess match is finally over. Tommy never put in so much time and dedication to harvest one buck ever. He's been on him all season but he always seemed to get lucky! Tommy missed him back in November when he was locked on a doe. Dozens of encounters drove Tommy crazy!! Lucky enough to take 2 months off work to focus on him 2 splits finally made a mistake yesterday. What a incredible animal!  The body size of this old busier is insane! Tommy said Stay persistent, hunt smart and never give up on your goal! 

Congratulations Tommy Brandenburg

The week started off with most bucks in lockdown mode. Younger bucks were still running any doe they came across. We are in the last week of the early archery season and gun season opening on the 21st. Team member Greg Syvrud punched his Wisconsin archery tag on Friday the 13thwith an awesome buck. After having an early season encounter and miss with his number one hit list buck Greg put in the hour and it all paid off. 

Both Greg and myself are now gearing up for this weekends gun deer season. Our goal is to harvest a few doe to help out our management plan. This is also a great time to put some venison in the freezer. With the increase in deer processing we made the decision to purchase a grinder and mixer along with some other equipment and go back to processing our on deer. We looking forward to making snack sticks, sausage, jerky, bacon, Italian sausage and ground burger. We'll post some of the processing and making of different products that we do. Its fun to experiment with different spices and mixes. 

I hope everyone is having a great hunting season and remember to be safe. 

I punched my Wisconsin Archery tag on October 2 with a 5-year-old buck. It’s bittersweet to fill my tag this early in the season but on the other hand it means all the hard work paid off. I hunted this buck on a food plot that was planted with HB Seed Companies seed blend called Tagged Out and it lived up to its name. October 2nd was our first morning seeing temperatures in the low 30’s. The cooler temps had mature bucks up and moving early in the afternoon. I got in the stand at 3:00pm and around 4:00pm my number 1 buck come in and feed in the plot but was just out of range, so I didn’t get a shot. 30 minutes later my number 2 buck walked into the plot, I ranged him with my Vortex Optics Ranger rangefinder at 20 yards and let the arrow fly. The Crown Broadhead by Thorn Broadheads did its job and the buck piled up 30 yards away. I can’t saw enough about the products we use and the great companies behind every product that make hunting so enjoyable. I’m looking forward to getting back out to do some doe management. I hope everyone is having a fun, safe and successful season.