Now What???

Toad

Toad

Active member
Pheasant season ended on the Kansas forum like a bad date. We all just said, "see ya!" and never called back... :laugh:

I've got some firewood to cut, and hack down some cedars at the farm, but it's just tough to get too excited about anything in February... I've got a ton of stuff to do this Spring, but I wish I could just hibernate until March. :laugh:

Normally I would be hooked on college basketball, but my Cats have gone straight down the toilet this season and it is almost too depressing to watch. Most years I'll watch as many B12 games as I can, but seeing as how KSU will be lucky to make the NIT this year, I have kind of lost interest in the rest of the conference. :eek:

Anybody got any good ideas to pass time in late Winter???
 
Been doing quite a bit of goose hunting, but that will be over this weekend. Feb is quite depressing, but it's also kind of nice to catch my breath and actually sleep in a little on the weekends. Got tomorrow off, heading out to do some coyote hunting. Will sit and watch the sunrise (good for the soul) and see if I can call in one or two. After that will check deer cameras and do a little shed hunting. Time to start thinking about Spring Turkey so will do a little scouting for that as well.
 
As a teacher, Feb, is quite possibly the longest month. I hate this stretch.
And the Cats are terrible. That's depressing too.
 
I need to go check the deer cameras as well. I need to pull down the stands. I just lack motivation to get that done. I have a slight phobia of the spring storms wadding up the trees my stands are in, so I like to take them down. With a little luck this weekends' Goose hunting will be a couple of hunts for the ages... Then there is the Snow Goose migration which I think will be over before it ever starts with the amount of birds I saw blowing through last weekend.

I heard/saw a few crappie being caught, but all my poles are still up in the rafters. I need to get started on my gardening. Time to get the peas in the ground...;)
 
Predator control...

Some people give the coyotes a break here soon for mating season and what not, but if you have them thick and want to work on the numbers now is a great time to call. Also, if your fox season is out check your game laws as in many states you can still call them on private property with written permission from the land owner that they are a nuisance.
 
I'll be getting my new hunt test lab pup this weekend. Will be getting the old girl out and tuned up and of course I'll work Obie on pigeons and run him some. Milo hangs out in the yard watching gardening.

Training days start next month with the club. Spring turkey season and growing my garden. Then of course keeping up with the grass cutting. May have time to go fishng a couple times but that's a window of opportunity type deal.

Toad you can always watch wsu play.
 
February stinks. I do get seeds started inside for the summer garden this time of year. Nice to see something springing into life. Down in the dungeon, I've got some fly rod poppers to finish, flies to tie, and a fly rod that needs to be finished.
 
chewi004 said:
Predator control...

Some people give the coyotes a break here soon for mating season and what not, but if you have them thick and want to work on the numbers now is a great time to call. Also, if your fox season is out check your game laws as in many states you can still call them on private property with written permission from the land owner that they are a nuisance.
Click to expand...

Read my mind. Load bullets and feed em to the coyotes at 3,000 FPS. :D
 
I need to get an expansion done on my pigeon coop. Between family and friends we have 4 to 5 pups under a year that need work.

There is also a lot of habitat work that needs done on my place.
 
FCSpringer said:
Read my mind. Load bullets and feed em to the coyotes at 3,000 FPS. :D
Click to expand...

Had one standing in my little pasture not 50 yrds from my dog pens this afternoon. Big yote. Had to look twice to make sure it wasnt a dog. By the time I got my AR he was in neighbors pasture among cattle so he lived.
 
Anyone that is bored can swing by the W/A to help prepare fire breaks and burn!!! Plenty to keep you focused with a 20 foot wall of fire in the neighborhood. If that's too hot for you, there is plenty of fence to mend. The wetlands need drained and I'm sure you could fill a month just pulling illegal tree stands! There are roads to grade, the weekly toilet/trash run at the lake, metal to cut out of the new rip rap on the dam, beavers to trap in the ponds, and equipment to repair and maintain. If you like flying solo, you could just drive and walk the fence lines and timber stands cutting feral cedars. I'm always willing to help when folks are blue and don't know what to do! :)
 
You guys have to made we are looking at highs this weekend of 2 on Saturday and Sunday.......Troy I think we need to do an interstate burn team exchange!
 
I guess I find it odd. I have a visitation of 90,000 on this area and I don't have 1 person on a volunteer list to come help with any kind of project. The Kansas Muzzleloaders came out for years and did a work day completing many quality projects. However, like many groups, they haven't picked up young members and many of them have gotten to the point that my projects are getting impossible for them. Maybe I'm weird, I would have paid to do projects like these when I was on the outside looking in. I have a few folks that do things on their own like picking up trash and leaving it for me in a sack by the toilet. If I had as many volunteers as I have folks coming to tear things up, boy, what I could get done!

Tom, I have a woodland burn where I cut all the understory cedars out I need to do and I'm too afraid of it to light the torch. The cedars are in piles and windrows some 6 feet high after 5-6 years with a small stream on the south and west side, a fescue meadow to the east, and a road to the north. Across the road is mostly tilled into green wheat though a small corral of fescue and the accompanying barn are on the NW corner. It will burn for weeks, so I'm afraid it has too much opportunity for bad wind and rekindled, brand throwing antics. I had a guy supposed to chip it all originally and he dodged me. It's 55 acres! I figure May/June might be the best time although a north wind would be better. Snow cover would be great, but it rarely lasts very long this far south. It is a thorn in my paw! Had a forester and a professional prescribed fire contractor look at it, thhhhht, nuttin!
 
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Don't think this will help much, but a neighbor had a much smaller bit of property which needed to be burned according to CRP contract. He had the local fire department conduct the burn, probably for a fee...but I didn't ask about the financial arrangement.

His situation was different because he gets income from the property and the burn would be deductible, I'd guess.

But you probably already asked the local fire department folks.

Best wishes.
 
Prairie Drifter said:
I guess I find it odd. I have a visitation of 90,000 on this area and I don't have 1 person on a volunteer list to come help with any kind of project. The Kansas Muzzleloaders came out for years and did a work day completing many quality projects. However, like many groups, they haven't picked up young members and many of them have gotten to the point that my projects are getting impossible for them. Maybe I'm weird, I would have paid to do projects like these when I was on the outside looking in. I have a few folks that do things on their own like picking up trash and leaving it for me in a sack by the toilet. If I had as many volunteers as I have folks coming to tear things up, boy, what I could get done!

Tom, I have a woodland burn where I cut all the understory cedars out I need to do and I'm too afraid of it to light the torch. The cedars are in piles and windrows some 6 feet high after 5-6 years with a small stream on the south and west side, a fescue meadow to the east, and a road to the north. Across the road is mostly tilled into green wheat though a small corral of fescue and the accompanying barn are on the NW corner. It will burn for weeks, so I'm afraid it has too much opportunity for bad wind and rekindled, brand throwing antics. I had a guy supposed to chip it all originally and he dodged me. It's 55 acres! I figure May/June might be the best time although a north wind would be better. Snow cover would be great, but it rarely lasts very long this far south. It is a thorn in my paw! Had a forester and a professional prescribed fire contractor look at it, thhhhht, nuttin!
Click to expand...

Troy, seems like the local high schools Vo Ag class would be willing to volunteer a day, assuming they still have Vo Ag classes. Here our high school students are required to complete 40 hours of community service and the type of work you are doing would apply, sure you have explored all these options.....

Regarding the burn yeah no problem let'er rip! Your concerns are very valid and your would have to pick a day with the right winds, depending on your equipment available, you might consider spreading the windrow out with a dozer this would allow them to burn and make your mop up easier, you may have a couple of days of mop up. We deal with a lot of slash that is left at the landing site from the harvest, if concentrated we will spread out prior to ignition and during mop up just poor the water to them. A lot of possibilities and ways to treat that area. Nothing wrong with being cautious. Easy for me to say no problem, a fire like this we would have at minimum 1 dozer, 2 800+ water tankers, local VFD's as a water source, 1 skidder, and a UTV equipped for suppression then probably 5-8 guys with torches lighting strips and possibly a plane in the air. It will be a great burn!
 
Thumb twiddling till spring turkey, April 15th. Maybe some Kansas trout fishing.
 
Dang, Tom, I need to transfer to Michigan!!! We couldn't come up with that much equipment and personnel by putting 3 regions of the 5 together:) My biggest worry is that this will burn for a month and I have to prepare it for every wind direction. As for the vo-ag class, at that age, I'd get more work done getting the home-ec class! I had the carpentry class build my new office on '07. Talk about grab a## and wasted nails! Most of the rough work looked ok, but sheet rock should never be done by 17-18 year olds:) There are screws popping mud everywhere! I did the trim and painting myself. No use asking for a disaster!
 
Don't any of you shoot trap, skeet, or sporting clays? Shooting, dog work, yard work, and upcoming turkey hunt will keep me busy.
 
Cowen,

Yes, to all your suggestions, but it seems honey-dos take up most if the time, then trout season comes in and we start to chase Browns for the summer. I also have started running field trials with my pup last fall and will start that up again this spring. My only problem is our fire season starts about that same time, I typically work a lot of overtime during the fire season (april - June). Once that quiets down the I get back to the fun stuff.
 
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