Minny Pre-Season 2010 Begins

I made it out to the Annandale Property on Saturday, April 3. I walked the entire property looking for sign and just checking things out. I also set out four 50# trace mineral blocks and set up both of my Cuddyback camera’s. I added a new flash Cuddyback to my arsenal this spring. Next, I staked off the area I will be planting my two food plots this coming spring. I am planning a mix of clover and brassica this year. I finished the day by loosening all of the straps on my portables. Below are a couple photos of my mineral block locations. You can see the deer have been keeping them clean.


Below is a photo of my food plot location . I made it a little bigger this year. The grass on the right side will be tilled under in the coming weeks.

Overall the property looked great. The location I had my Rock mineral block last year is getting completely torn up. The spot I had the rock sitting now has a 6 inch deep hole from the deer working over the area. I found plenty of deer sign. I also have a spot picked out for a new stand location on the Northeast side of the property. I plan to monitor the area throughout the spring and summer with one of the Cuddybacks and see if it will be worth hunting. The new Cuddyback is keeping an eye on it right now.

Jake and I returned to the Annandale property on Tuesday, 4/6/10. The goal for the day was to recover my harness (which I left on Saturday) setup two Trophy Rock mineral locations and mark the trail to my new ground blind location. Mission complete!

I also stopped by and talked to the farmer about prepping my food plot areas. Farmer Jack said he would have the plot locations tilled and ready to plant for me by May 1. Nothing beats just showing up with fertilizer and seed and putting them right in the ground!

Below are pictures of my Trophy Rock locations. The first picture is my Cuddyback setup from last year. The Cuddyback is already monitoring the same area in hopes of spotting una-buck again.

Here is a photo of my new ground blind setup. The area is drop dead sexy. The blind its self is made from a fallen tree. The root area is standing up and makes a perfect wall to my right (west)when sitting. The tree fell on top of some willows, which have grown around the tree ends and make perfect cover. The creek runs directly in front of the blind with a long strip of CRP in front of the that. A large cornfield sits on the back side of the CRP. The CRP field and directly behind the blind location are tore up with deer trails. This will be a deadly area for management tags in the fall!

Jake and I spent the rest of the afternoon walking the woods and checking things out. We walked by the money stand just before leaving and I came across a huge rub. Below are a couple pictures of the rub. I am hoping this guy made it through the winter and comes back to the area this summer!

I will be back out around May 1 to pull my first camera cards of the year and plant my food plots.