Life on the Farm

[Pappy]

Looking good BJ as always. Bob tell Matt and Bruce I said ha, hope yall get a bunch of squirrels and I know you will have a good time.
 Pappy

[bjrogg]

Been very busy. I know much of the east coast has been receiving way to much rain, but we are still in a dry streak. The hurricane didn’t come this far north and we have been busy with harvest.

We finished up my son’s black beans and then our neighbors.

I planted all our wheat except the last field that still has some replanted beans of our that aren’t quite ready yet.

Bjrogg

[bjrogg]

My wife spent the weekend with her sisters and I was going to get ready for opening day but as I was enjoying the view from my favorite tree stand I got a call from my son. The chopper was coming to chop his corn.

So I climbed down from my tree and went to my truck.  The sun was going down and I knew there was a chopper in this field somewhere.

Oh there it is.

Bjrogg

PS fill er up

[bjrogg]

The chopper crew wanted to chop hay in the morning so we chopped corn thru the night until we had the bunker full.

The next day we moved the edge to the top and straightened it out. Then we covered it up with plastic and put lime on top to hold the plastic down.

Glad that job is done. In a few weeks we will probably be filling the other half of bunker with shelled high moisture corn.

Bjrogg

[chamookman]

Work is never done. Didn't miss much on the opener - real quiet around here.  Bob.

[bjrogg]

Work is never done. Didn't miss much on the opener - real quiet around here.  Bob.

For sure Bob. I did sneak out yesterday about 11:30. I had my “hunting clothes “ on while helped replace a new leaf spring for semi trailer. My camo pattern blended in with a dirty shop floor really good by the time I got to go to the woods.

The wind was warm and out of the south when I went to my tree stand. The weather was going to change quickly.

Within a hour it was blowing from the west. Then it cooled right off and I had to put some extra layers on. Then it switched to from the north and it was strong and drizzling.

I got out of my tree and sat on the ground for a bit but it was too windy to shoot so I went to the beach for awhile.

Was hoping it would get a little nicer but it didn’t

Bjrogg

[bjrogg]

I waited for awhile but the weather wasn’t improving so I decided to go home. I got there just in time to see the last two batters of the Tigers game. I have been telling my brother that this year is like a movie and the movie continues. What an exciting game.

This morning I went out and very quietly got to my stand. As I put my hand on my ladder I looked around really good. In the morning darkness I could barely see two darker shapes. I couldn’t climb my stand so I very slowly backed up and got behind a tree. The wind was right and I don’t think they saw me.

My bow wasn’t strung . After awhile it got light enough I could see the one was a decent buck. Still pretty dark but I could see a rack .

I tried to string my bow. The buck must have seen me somewhere along the line and he started that dreaded stare. I don’t think he really knew what I was but he got nervous enough he trotted off.

I got in my tree. After that it was just raccoons and a sunrise.

Bjrogg

[bjrogg]

The weather has been good here this fall for getting lots of work done. Sorry I didn’t get pictures of it all.

We did fill my son’s bunker with high moisture shelled, cracked, packed and covered corn. It went really good.

We finished planting wheat, and rye for seed. Did tillage and seeded cover crops. Got soybeans harvested and everything ready for sugar beet harvest. We even have the combines cleaned up and stored away.

Only thing left is sugar beet harvest. It’s started but on hold again now. We need to pile beets at temperatures above freezing but below 53 degrees. We have been digging mostly early morning to mid afternoon. One morning temperatures to low so we had to wait till we got the ok.

Some pretty sunrises . I love watching the darkness give way to the light.

Bjrogg

[bjrogg]

We have taken advantage of the hours we were able to dig. Our personal yields are very good. Sugar content is still lower than hoping for, but we delivered good quality, clean beets that hopefully will store well.

Had a warm front come through so no digging until at least Friday morning.

Maybe I can get some hunting in but it’s been very windy. Went out last night but didn’t get a shot. Still was nice to sit in my tree.

Bjrogg

[Pappy]

Ya hot and windy here also BJ for late October, bucks still do their thing but mostly at night, looks like you are having a good year with crops. Ours here really suck, not sure if they will wast time and fuel to pick the beans, don’t know what happened but they are bad. Good luck with the hunting, got Eddie and Florida buddies come in late week so should be fun. Pappy

[chamookman]

Glad to hear things went well with the Crops - looks like alot of rain coming. Hope it doesn't mess up getting the Beets out of the ground All the Corn around here is gone - the Deer are really moving. Bruces Son Brent got His second Deer with a Selfbow - fat 4pt. The Rut is going good.  Bob.

[bjrogg]

Ya hot and windy here also BJ for late October, bucks still do their thing but mostly at night, looks like you are having a good year with crops. Ours here really suck, not sure if they will wast time and fuel to pick the beans, don’t know what happened but they are bad. Good luck with the hunting, got Eddie and Florida buddies come in late week so should be fun. Pappy

Our personal crops were so far very good, but generally they are all over the place. Some good and some very poor. We might have done something right, but it never hurts to get lucky .

The soybean prices are really poor. Hope your farmer can get by. Poor crops and poor prices are a poor combination.

Bjrogg

PS tell Eddie hello for me

[bjrogg]

Glad to hear things went well with the Crops - looks like alot of rain coming. Hope it doesn't mess up getting the Beets out of the ground All the Corn around here is gone - the Deer are really moving. Bruces Son Brent got His second Deer with a Selfbow - fat 4pt. The Rut is going good.  Bob.

Congrats to Bruce’s son. That’s pretty awesome. They are definitely a good hunting family from top to bottom. Miss them all.

Yes we had .8” the other day. Going to get more today and sounds like at least the first three days of next week.

It seems like it always averages out so I’m thinking it’s going to start raining and not stop. Time will tell.


I’m hoping to dig beets again tomorrow morning.

Bjrogg

[WhistlingBadger]

Morning, BJ.  Haven't caught up on goings on in Michigan for a while.  Glad the farming is going well, and I hope you can get your beets in then put a few deer in the freezer.  How many deer can you take out there?  If we ever pull the trigger and move out that way I would really miss elk hunting, but the prospect of harvesting multiple animals over a drawn-out season does have its appeal.  Around here, you get one kill from each species, assuming you've been lucky enough to draw decent tags, and you're done.

Beet harvest is all over around here, but I bet they had to really rush it.  It went from highs in the 80s to lows below freezing in just a few days.

[bjrogg]

I think you would like it here WB. It’s a really nice state with lots of different environments. I’m not even sure how many animals you can take. I tend to eat more tag soup than I would like, but it’s because of how I hunt and my busy work schedule. I know we are allowed 2 bucks, but one must have at least 4 points on one side. Also doe tags and I really don’t know what the limits are for them.

We have bear, coyotes and fox. Deer and turkeys. We have geese and ducks. We have good fishing and trapping. And if you want to plenty of ground hogs to sharpen up your shooting skills all summer.

It really is the place for me. And I especially like the area I live in. It’s not touristy and I’m not sure why, but that’s fine by me. If you prefer touristy places there are plenty of those to.

If you ever move out here please let me know.

Bjrogg