Frank's outdoors...

Finally got the plow after a shipping debacle with UPS.  First, this thing was relatively easy to put together, even though the instructions were complete garbage.  The directions were on a small piece of paper with an even smaller diagram with numbers pointing to illegible numbers relating to part numbers... disaster.  But as a relatively bright individual, I was able to figure it out :)  haha. Anyway, for the cost, it is pretty darn heavy and should do what I need it to do.  I am quite certain it will not fair well from a "weather proof" perspective, and I think will rust.  Will have to keep an eye on it. Just need to throw 2 or 3 cinder blocks on the tray for extra weight when needed, and lower the wheels using the bar to drop the tines into the dirt.  I plan on using this to prep the soil by first mowing.  Then I'll use the plow to churn up the ground, then throw down the seed & fertilizer, and finally use the drag harrow to smooth the...

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 ...

One of the things I wanted to get done this year was to prepare a "poor man's" quality food plot.  I don't have a tractor, I don't have a disc, I don't have a [fill in the blank].  I can't remember if I posted this previously, but I found out about a device called the " Plotmaster ".  You can buy one of these bad boys for around $4K, but that is not the route I wanted to go for sure.  I figured I would be able to rent of these from the local rental agencies (US Rental, Allied, Sunbelt, etc.) but none of them had even heard of such a device. So, my plan has been focused on how to reasonably prepare my foodplot.  Last year, I had to do a major overhaul on my field as it was overgrown with tall grass and pine tree saplings.  This year, I intend to mow the grass short, possibly till it, then use a drag harrow to level and smooth the seed into the dirt.  The cost of renting a tiller/mower compared to purchasing is a no brainer at the moment, however...

First off, I love this 4wheeler.  Part of the reason I love it is due to the fact that I needed it so badly to do work on my lease, the other reason is that it has all the features I wanted and then some.  The Polaris Sportsman 550 is a very big rig.  Bigger than I realized in fact.  I have had it now for approximately 4 months, and taken it on many trips to the lease.  The pros: 1)  It is very strong.  There is no doubt it has the muscle.  Towing a trailer full of corn, me, a passenger, and 2 cargo racks full of gear was effortless.  Keep in mind that when I was shopping for a 4wheeler, I was thinking I could get a 350 or 400 size rig that had an automatic tranny, but this was not true (or I didn't see one), so the Polaris 550 was the smallest motor that had an automatic, and I happen to like the Polaris look/feel. 2)  I like the composite rack and with the lock & ride accessory items.  I have the gun boot and this new car...

Took my father's day present to the lease today, a Polar 800 atv trailer! Carried 12 bags of corn and a feeder around the property and it worked great!  It was VERY hot, but we got a lot of work done clearing out the trails and changing batteries on our feeders.  I decided to feed all summer this year, and with a lack of water, I hope it is a decent substitute for a food source.  And, its a good reason to get up to the lease and play.  Took Trevor with me, and he enjoyed hanging with me and Mark riding around on the 4-wheelers.

Been shopping for a while, and finally bought a new 4 wheeler this weekend.  Purchased a 2011 Polaris Sportsman 550 XP.  It is awesome, has all the works, 4x4, Automatic, and Electronic Fuel Injection. I went straight to Gander Mountain and purchased a set of tri-fold  ramps to get the rig in/out of my truck.  Its a tight fit, but it fits in there.  I was a bit nervous backing it out of the truck, but it did fine...