Crazy Idea for Hunting from Front Porch

[pdhntr]

Dear Jesus, pdhntr! That is breathtaking property. The small sacrifice that I speak of was meant to describe the one buck that goes in the chest freezer, so the rest of the herd can thrive. I do not discount for one second the amount of effort it will take on my part.

You are spot on with what it takes to maintain the land. I am fortunate to work in agriculture, and being a researcher, I have access to seed that is not available anywhere else in the world. My chickpeas are irresistible to deer, and they do not require any fertilizer (mesorhizobium provides all the nitrogen you ever need). Chickpeas also repel ticks and most insects, although the beneficial pollinators seem unaffected. The deer can rely on my chickpeas until a hard freeze, and after that, fir trees should do the job. No need to buy corn, but if you have the space, field corn is easy to grow. Just get a short season variety for this region. Of course, corn likes lots of fertilizer and water, so it might not pencil.

I will have to buy a tractor, and I have budgeted about $15k. The other implements are virtually free (except for the loader) if you know farmers in other programs and don't mind doing a bit of maintenance. There's a decent drill I could take home tomorrow if I had a place to store it. Fencing will be expensive, but I only intend to surround my garden and livestock.

Not all of this will happen in the first year. After 5 years, I should be ready to start building a house. Student loans will be paid off, and I can finally be 100% debt-free and self-sufficient. At least that's the dream. We all know that stuff happens, and I don't pretend to believe that there won't be complications.

I put in mostly rutabaga, and some forage radish. I plant in late June, early July. This year we had some dry weather so I irrigated using a trailer with a 300 gallon tote and pump. I go down to the creek and fill it up. Irrigating takes more water than I ever expected. Don't want to use my well. I have pumped 1500 gallons in one day on the lawn and deer plots when needed.

Rutabaga works very well in this area. I pull the fences mid September, and the deer feed heavily on the tops until winter. In the spring when they need the nourishment the most, they will spend hours digging the bulbs up. The bulbs winter very well.

Good luck with your adventure.

Jim

 

[Bc'z]

Just checked the stealthcams, pepperonis on the hoof!!! A dandy 4x4, and a real nice 4x3.
Now to wait for this full moon to pass so as they start coming out earlier.

 

[JRS]

Have you found and purchased your land?

 

[clunker]

Have you found and purchased your land?

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.

 

[Papa Charlie]

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.

We are looking for our retirement homestead. Finding the same thing as you with regards to properties and pricing. All the best luck in your search. Unfortunately, Washington State is one of the fastest growing states in the union with all the new jobs up here.
Our hope is to find something in Oregon that is away from people, but offers some of the amenities within a reasonable distance.

 

[JRS]

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.

My brother is a Real Estate Broker there. If you are interested, I can PM his office number to you.

 

[clunker]

My brother is a Real Estate Broker there. If you are interested, I can PM his office number to you.

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.

 

[alinwa]

Saturday, on the driveway to the 300yd target butts...... so not QUITE in the yard..... but you can see it from there

 

[pirate ammo]

Saturday, on the driveway to the 300yd target butts...... so not QUITE in the yard..... but you can see it from there View attachment 1064116

bear skin rug on the move,,

 

[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?

 

[JFrank]

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.

You may need to look in upper NE Wa. or ID. I for one am heading to Montana "

 

[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