Frank's outdoors...

So, what rituals and things do you do to prepare?  Here is my breakdown of things I have been doing this month to get ready for the season (in no particular order). I have been going out every week or so to pull SD cards from my cameras in anticipation!  Trying to figure out when the deer are coming/going as well as WHAT deer are coming/going.  It certainly hasn't helped my buck fever. Sighted in the guns.  My brother and I went to the range and made sure all the guns were still on target.  We each shot the 3 rifles we'll use this season to ensure we are both seeing the same results.  We are using: Marlin .30-30 with a Leupold VX2 4-12x40 scope.  Real nice brush gun, but I want to put a 3-9x50 scope on it.  I have shot maybe 2 deer with this gun. Remington 700 ADL .270 with a Leupold VX2 3-9x50 scope.  My first gun, and it has been a solid rifle for years.  I have taken MANY deer with this gun. Remington 700 SPS .308 Left handed ...

Got some interesting pics of a nice buck running some does...

Alright, we are 4 weeks from opening day of rifle season here in Texas, and I have everything ready.  I went out to the lease on Sunday afternoon during the first major rain in over 6 months!  Finally got my Polaris "muddy". On Friday, my buddy Mark and his friend Gary took a tractor and brush hog and cut down my field at a finishing cut length, which looked fantastic.  On Sunday, when I got there I took my new harrow, dragged it over the field with the needles down to really scratch the wet, muddy dirt/sand mixture.  It was a lot muddier than I thought.  I believed it was primarily sand, but the amount of soil is quite surprising and a pleasant one at that.  After that it was seeding time.  I used the Whitetail Institute - Imperial Whitetail Extreme seed and that covered half of my field.  The other half I covered with Evolved Harvest Throw & Grow .  Both of these I picked up at Gander Mountain.  Now it was time to fertilize....

Below are some pictures of a couple bucks I have on camera... Nice buck 8 or 10 pt Spike, similar to other spikes we've seen on this property Another real nice buck And the coyotes...

The mineral lick I put out at the Culdesac blind is getting some attention!  Pretty cool, I always wondered if they would go near these things...  Proof is in the pudding:

My buddy Mark and I spent all Saturday morning working on my back blind setup today.  The goal was to get the "rough" food plot done by using the drag harrow, spreading seed, and laying fertilizer as well as preparing some shooting lanes. When we got out there, we got straight to work opening up the main viewing lane down to the feeder.  It was grueling work.  Lots of vines, baby yaupon trees, and oak saplings.  There were several areas where the trees have bent completely over and other trees and dead brush have continued to fall upon them forming a natural bivouac or lean-to shelter.  These things were upwards of 10 feet tall and took us a long time to break down. Food plot and widened view to the feeder  You can see in the food plot picture that there is a significant difference from the way it was originally.  It is very dry and dusty, so we'll need to some rain to get growth for sure.  Also, I put down some lime/fertilizer mixture to ...