Crazy Idea for Hunting from Front Porch

[spencerhenry]

I manage a 640 acre "ranch". We have a couple hundred elk on the property with regularity, and maybe a dozen deer. Usually a bear or two or three feed their way through, recently a turkey hen and chick have taken up residence. And we often have a lion hanging around and some coyotes. I get to hunt it, and one of the owners likes to bow hunt for elk as well. Other than his bowhunt, I get to use it to my desires.
In the last 10 years, I have built a 4000 square foot shop, a 4000 sqft machinery "shed", horse shelter, and hay storage building. I installed a windmill on a well I found in the pasture. I have dredged all 6 ponds on the property. I got a grant from the state to clean up the woods and in 2011 I removed all dead and downed wood from 120 acres. In the last two years, I have chipped dead and diseased trees on the areas that were not cleaned up in 2011.
We tilled and seeded the "pasture" in 2013, netting about 220 acres of new grass that had been mostly sage. In the successive years, I have tilled and seeded every bit of ground that is not full of rocks or heavily forested. I plant grasses as well as some legumes. Ever since the pasture was seeded, we have had more elk than any property around.
It has been a wonderful success, it brings me great satisfaction to see the results.

But, I could not have done it if the property owners did not have the resources. I currently have at my disposal a multitude of machinery. I have a 9620T tractor that pulls the 16' pasture aerator, a 7200R row crop tractor that I use with the 15' no till drill, 24' harrow, 835 moco, and round baler. I also have a 50d mini-excavator, a 333E skidsteer, 548E skidder, and most recently a Morbark 20/36 mountain goat chipper.
It is only a part time job for me, but I spend a lot of time at it. If not for their machinery, I would only have been able to do the forestry work, with my machines.
I kill one good bull and most years a cow elk, both with a bow. Most years I kill 6 to 8 coyotes off the property too. Twice I have taken cull bucks. Waiting for the turkeys to populate. I would kill the lion if I ever saw him during the season.

But, the single best part of the whole deal is exemplified by days like last Saturday. I watched as 4 6 point bulls ran around chasing each other and the 195 other elk out in the pasture. One bull goes 330, the others were in the low 300's. Not to mention the other 4 and 5 point raghorns.

 

[clunker]

I manage a 640 acre "ranch". We have a couple hundred elk on the property with regularity, and maybe a dozen deer. Usually a bear or two or three feed their way through, recently a turkey hen and chick have taken up residence. And we often have a lion hanging around and some coyotes. I get to hunt it, and one of the owners likes to bow hunt for elk as well. Other than his bowhunt, I get to use it to my desires.
In the last 10 years, I have built a 4000 square foot shop, a 4000 sqft machinery "shed", horse shelter, and hay storage building. I installed a windmill on a well I found in the pasture. I have dredged all 6 ponds on the property. I got a grant from the state to clean up the woods and in 2011 I removed all dead and downed wood from 120 acres. In the last two years, I have chipped dead and diseased trees on the areas that were not cleaned up in 2011.
We tilled and seeded the "pasture" in 2013, netting about 220 acres of new grass that had been mostly sage. In the successive years, I have tilled and seeded every bit of ground that is not full of rocks or heavily forested. I plant grasses as well as some legumes. Ever since the pasture was seeded, we have had more elk than any property around.
It has been a wonderful success, it brings me great satisfaction to see the results.

But, I could not have done it if the property owners did not have the resources. I currently have at my disposal a multitude of machinery. I have a 9620T tractor that pulls the 16' pasture aerator, a 7200R row crop tractor that I use with the 15' no till drill, 24' harrow, 835 moco, and round baler. I also have a 50d mini-excavator, a 333E skidsteer, 548E skidder, and most recently a Morbark 20/36 mountain goat chipper.
It is only a part time job for me, but I spend a lot of time at it. If not for their machinery, I would only have been able to do the forestry work, with my machines.
I kill one good bull and most years a cow elk, both with a bow. Most years I kill 6 to 8 coyotes off the property too. Twice I have taken cull bucks. Waiting for the turkeys to populate. I would kill the lion if I ever saw him during the season.

But, the single best part of the whole deal is exemplified by days like last Saturday. I watched as 4 6 point bulls ran around chasing each other and the 195 other elk out in the pasture. One bull goes 330, the others were in the low 300's. Not to mention the other 4 and 5 point raghorns.

You are my hero!

 

[hogpatrol]

This thread is too funny. Ethics police, moral high grounders, anti-hunters and hunting purists. What's the difference between bait and a food plot? They are both put there by people to attract and kill game. I think we should take the moral high ground and get rid of guns, bows and all their accessories that make it unfair and go back to real hunting with loincloths and spears.

(Caution: May not be suitable for all audiences, has Godzilla background music).

 

[hogpatrol]

I've been looking for land for probably close to a year. Everything that looks good is ridiculously overpriced. Pullman has a shortage of housing, and they can't build houses fast enough to keep up with demand, so all the neighboring towns have inflated values as well. We are almost totally surrounded by farmland, and acreage without CC&R's is hard to find. I'm maxed out at $50k (or maybe slightly more if a good well and/or septic are already in place. Can't find anything under $70k.

How much land for that price?

 

[JRS]

Thanks for the tip. I already have a very good agent, but I am trying to not waste anyone's time until there is something worth looking at. I check the MLS regularly, so there isn't much that any agent or broker can do for me unless they own land and want to sell.

There is a substantial amount of land for sale in the areas you are searching. All of which is far beyond your price range. For instance... Ferry County - 11.83 acres - $75K

 

[fredo]

What's the difference between bait and a food plot? They are both put there by people to attract and kill game.

Without delving into ethics, I'd simply point out that a "food plot" can be any number of square footage, or acrage. Whereas, a bait pile is most likely concentrated in one very small area...
With that logic established, its not so easy to correlate one to the other, based on "attractant" value, alone...

Surely you're not asserting that dumpin' a pile of corn (or whatever) @ X location with a stand 20yds from it, allows the same 'challenge' as setting a stand somewhere at the edge of a even a 1 acre food plot?

Not disagreeing with your premise, entirely. Rather, tryin' to add some perspective to avoid overly generalizing as a means of justification...

To OP, you're certainly not breaking new ground with your endeavor. As long as you're legal, you don't have to answer to anyone here, only yourself...

 

[pirate ammo]

Without delving into ethics, I'd simply point out that a "food plot" can be any number of square footage, or acrage. Whereas, a bait pile is most likely concentrated in one very small area...
With that logic established, its not so easy to correlate one to the other, based on "attractant" value, alone...

Surely you're not asserting that dumpin' a pile of corn (or whatever) @ X location with a stand 20yds from it, allows the same 'challenge' as setting a stand somewhere at the edge of a even a 1 acre food plot?

Not disagreeing with your premise, entirely. Rather, tryin' to add some perspective to avoid overly generalizing as a means of justification...

To OP, you're certainly not breaking new ground with your endeavor. As long as you're legal, you don't have to answer to anyone here, only yourself...

so I guess my feeder set up for a 25 yard shot out the back door with one of my security cameras pointed at it and showing up on my monitor so I can sit in the A/C and watch for pigs
just might be cheating a wee bit,,,

 

[hogpatrol]

Without delving into ethics, I'd simply point out that a "food plot" can be any number of square footage, or acrage. Whereas, a bait pile is most likely concentrated in one very small area...
With that logic established, its not so easy to correlate one to the other, based on "attractant" value, alone...

Surely you're not asserting that dumpin' a pile of corn (or whatever) @ X location with a stand 20yds from it, allows the same 'challenge' as setting a stand somewhere at the edge of a even a 1 acre food plot?


Not disagreeing with your premise, entirely. Rather, tryin' to add some perspective to avoid overly generalizing as a means of justification...

To OP, you're certainly not breaking new ground with your endeavor. As long as you're legal, you don't have to answer to anyone here, only yourself...[/QUOTE

so I guess my feeder set up for a 25 yard shot out the back door with one of my security cameras pointed at it and showing up on my monitor so I can sit in the A/C and watch for pigs
just might be cheating a wee bit,,,

You're hunting, just using different means to achieve the same goal, a dead animal.

 

[pirate ammo]

You're hunting, just using different means to achieve the same goal, a dead animal.

I missed the bait pile thing,,fredo uses to big of words for me,,

 

[dellet]

I have never quite figured out what to do in situations like these, but hunting from the porch is just a bit difficult at times

 

[onelastshot]

There is a very fine line between the concepts of hunting and killing; where that line falls depends on a person's expectations and personal choices. There is little if any difference between visiting a lodge where all the preliminary work has been done for you and creating your own hunting site where food has been planted and stands established.

Some of us prefer spot and stalking or silent hunting on remote tracks of land while others choose to hunt over crops they have planted. The more you remove fair chase and create artificial stands and food plots, the less you leave to chance the closer you get to the line where it becomes killing rather than hunting.

Everyone has to decide for themselves what type of experience they choose to engage in. I prefer stalking and silently working my way through the woods attempting to sneak up on deer beds, I have no desire to sit over a food plot someone else planted in a blind someone else built. It's just my personal choice.

I guess the important thing is to appreciate the fact that everyone has their own standards and choices. At the end of the day some judge their hunting experience on what they put into the freezer while others are content to experience the outdoors and prefer to come home empty handed rather than hunt in artificial situations. I respect others choice and methodology, I just have my own definition of what fair chase is.

 

[pirate ammo]

There is a very fine line between the concepts of hunting and killing; where that line falls depends on a person's expectations and personal choices. There is little if any difference between visiting a lodge where all the preliminary work has been done for you and creating your own hunting site where food has been planted and stands established.

Some of us prefer spot and stalking or silent hunting on remote tracks of land while others choose to hunt over crops they have planted. The more you remove fair chase and create artificial stands and food plots, the less you leave to chance the closer you get to the line where it becomes killing rather than hunting.

Everyone has to decide for themselves what type of experience they choose to engage in. I prefer stalking and silently working my way through the woods attempting to sneak up on deer beds, I have no desire to sit over a food plot someone else planted in a blind someone else built. It's just my personal choice.

I guess the important thing is to appreciate the fact that everyone has their own standards and choices. At the end of the day some judge their hunting experience on what they put into the freezer while others are content to experience the outdoors and prefer to come home empty handed rather than hunt in artificial situations. I respect others choice and methodology, I just have my own definition of what fair chase is.

its hard to sneak up on these rascals

 

[hogpatrol]

I have never quite figured out what to do in situations like these, but hunting from the porch is just a bit difficult at times
View attachment 1064557 View attachment 1064558 View attachment 1064559

Not going to make a friend here but it looks like they saw your targets.

 

[pirate ammo]

Not going to make a friend here but it looks like they saw your targets.

one looked like it was laughing at him,,

 

[timeout]

Backstraps and nice racks! Bow season in 8 more days!! Only thing better is rifle season!!!

 

[mr45man]

This thread is too funny. Ethics police, moral high grounders, anti-hunters and hunting purists. What's the difference between bait and a food plot? They are both put there by people to attract and kill game. I think we should take the moral high ground and get rid of guns, bows and all their accessories that make it unfair and go back to real hunting with loincloths and spears.

(Caution: May not be suitable for all audiences, has Godzilla background music).

So much for gun control.
I stopped watching at the elephant.
One 577 in the brain would be much less traumatic
Than a spear in the eye.

 

[dellet]

Not going to make a friend here but it looks like they saw your targets.

In my defense the bear saw that all I had at the time was field points

one looked like it was laughing at him,,

Nah, she was giving instructions to the new trainee


It is interesting to see how they react to suppressed fire, there is a second deer on the left above the plow.


I waited until they had both crossed the lane before shooting. First doe is now by the tree on the right. The earlier photo was the trailing doe who stopped and turned to look back toward the berm where the bullet hit.

 

[pirate ammo]

In my defense the bear saw that all I had at the time was field points



Nah, she was giving instructions to the new trainee
View attachment 1064571

It is interesting to see how they react to suppressed fire, there is a second deer on the left above the plow.
View attachment 1064573

I waited until they had both crossed the lane before shooting. First doe is now by the tree on the right. The earlier photo was the trailing doe who stopped and turned to look back toward the berm where the bullet hit.
View attachment 1064574

they are playing games with you,,

 

[clunker]

How much land for that price?

Totally undeveloped acreage within my commuting limits is listed at $10k per acre. If I were willing to drive 1.5 hours to work every day and live in a much hotter wasteland, I could get property at less than half that. I want a minimum of 5 acres, but so far the only properties around that size are in communities with available utilities and CC&R's. Those are priced at about $20k per acre.

 

[snert]

Totally undeveloped acreage within my commuting limits is listed at $10k per acre. If I were willing to drive 1.5 hours to work every day and live in a much hotter wasteland, I could get property at less than half that. I want a minimum of 5 acres, but so far the only properties around that size are in communities with available utilities and CC&R's. Those are priced at about $20k per acre.

"farmland" in CNY is going for $1000-1500 an acre...includes hillsides, rocks and oak trees. 20 years ago it went for $500.