04 NOV 2024
This last week, despite the unseasonably warm weather, we still saw an increase in buck activity. In many areas around the farm, we noticed bucks chasing does. Two hunters in particular reported multiple bucks chasing solitary does. Nothing better than that as our Hunt Manager also witnessed the same activity in areas he'd traveled through and hunted throughout the week.
That brings us to the concept we employ here at Mound Hill and it's the effectiveness of having our Hunt Managers in the field observing/hunting while our guests are in their stands. Over years of testing the concept, it has proven effective as it is another set of eyes and different experiences out and about making decisions and managing hunters to best increase their odds for success. A prime example of this was last week. Our Hunt Manager observed a beautiful 10 pt buck in an area and quickly shifted a hunter from his morning stand to this one. That evening, the 10 pt came in and the client released his arrow at 25 yds towards, "One of the Biggest Bucks he's ever seen." Unfortunately, as does occur in archery (and in other forms of hunting, but predominantly in archery) there was a small branch in the arrow's path and it was deflected away from its intended target. Thankfully, it was a clean miss, as validated by the Hunt Manager and the Hunter himself. Regardless, this wouldn't have happened had our Hunt Manager not been in the field and we employed our dynamic efforts of moving hunters to the best place possible if their initial locations aren't proving productive after Two days. Three of Four hunters in the field last week saw and released arrows at bucks. Two shots were misses and one hunter connected on a nice 8pt. 75% opportunity on bucks during an archery hunt is unheard of yet it occurred last week. We're just waiting for it to get good!
October 10, 2024 We've been busy on Mound Hill preparing for this year's hunting season and are now able to post a bit to keep everyone up to date. On 23 Sep we had a forestry mulcher brought in to open up a few areas. Sometimes a tractor/mower combination isn't enough and larger equipment is necessary. It's always amazing to get out and reestablish connectivity between our properties and a more aggressive approach at removing larger debris was necessary in this instance. As everyone is aware, there have been numerous storms on the East Coast and Southern Ohio experienced the effects also. Those storms blew down large amounts of debris that is not easily cleared by the traditional hand methods well known in the outdoor world, hence our bringing in the forestry mulcher. We've gotten everything taken care of and were ready for the Archery opener on 28 Sep. The irony of the tractor work is that there are myriad perspectives on how limited presence impacts deer (the key here is limited). Within several hours of work completion, deer quickly began using the areas just finished by the tractor. Enjoy the quick video of the tractor in action and also enjoy the picture of a nice young buck coming in and enjoying a site near one of our stands.
July 8, 2024
Corn plots seem to be a fixture for all serious trophy whitetail managers! Below are dates of some of our 2024 plots.
Mowed May 10 Sprayed May 18 Planted May 25 Growth June 8 Growth June 26
December 12, 2023 We have found that sometimes placing only mineral and salt blocks in areas with heavy row crop farming can provide a welcomed change up for whitetail since they have heavy diets of grain.
Planted May 25
Growth June 8
Growth June 26
