I've been unbelievably busy the past week. After several days of torrential downpour at the end of last month, the fields finally dried out enough for me to begin planting food plots. Unfortunately, I suffered several setbacks, namely that my truck, four wheeler, and tractor all quit working at the same time. In spite of this, I managed to get some soil samples in for testing and got enough lime, fertilizer, and seed. Thankfully, my uncle let me borrow his tractor. Long story short:





I finally got both the west and east plots planted using the same no-till method I perfected last year. This year, I went all out on my seed mix, hoping to cover all the bases. Oats for immediate forage; ladino clover, common red clover, and Austrian winter peas for the early part of the season; and canola, kale, and purple top turnips in case it turns as cold as it did during the late season last year. Now, I'm just waiting on this cold front to bring some rain.

Additionally, I did something I haven't done in years. I put in a brand new food plot:



There's a little opening in the the corner of the barn lot where we store hay and equipment, about a third of an acre in size. It's quite rough and full of weeds and undesirable grasses, so it's never been cut for hay. However, it's also within a hundred yards of a buck bedding area in a nearby creek floodplain. Additionally, anything that enters the small plot will be within range of even my shortest range handguns.

I've had my eye on a few bucks. Number one on my list so far:



There's also this one. Although not as impressive of a rack, he appears to be a mature buck. I hope I can see him in person and get a better look at him.



Finally, there's this guy:



He's not really all that great in any respect, but my interest in him is that he's this buck from last year:



I'm going to watch him, but I'll likely give him another year.



Muzzleloader season starts November 3rd, and I'm itching to get back out there.