Frank's outdoors...

Finally got my Ranch Hand Summit front end , and it is fantastic!  Custom painted to match my 2-tone rig, and couldn't be happier.  No more close calls with brush and limbs at the lease!  Also stuck on 2 KC Slim Lites driving lamps to get better sight on/off road. Rear bumper is next!  Maybe a birthday present :)

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...

The last 2 years on the lease have seen time and time again tons of raccoons making off with our corn and tearing up our feeders.  Its time to start a predator management plan. We are targeting: Raccoons by trapping only Possums by trapping only Coyotes by calling, stand hunting, and trapping Hogs by hunting and pen trapping (not a varmint, but still trying to rid them) To begin this plan, last year we started by building a hog pen/trap, and have yet to have any success, and I believe a major part of that is due to the gate design.  Plainly, it was a custom job by a friend of my buddy and doesn't stay closed.  Its heavy duty, but the closing mechanism needs to re-engineering.  The door rebounds when the springs close the door, and the pigs have gotten out each time. This year, I am focusing less on the pigs, and more on the smaller predators and varmints, primarily raccoons (pictured above).  I purchased 8 Duke DP Coon Traps .  I will bai...

Purchased an ATV plow to better prep my plots in the areas where breaking up the soil requires more than just my drag harrow.  I saw this one on The Sportsman's Guide site .  For the price, I think it will do the job, and the reviews say it is heavy and rugged enough.  My Polaris Sportsman should pull it without a problem.  From the looks of it, I can put 3 or 4 cinder blocks on it, and attache my drag harrow right behind that and do a twofer. I will take some pictures once I get it and get it assembled.  I will also take some pictures of the work I do in the field with it. Anyone have recommendations on a seeder/broadcast spreader?

Turkey season lasts the duration of April in most states that I know of, and it is just around the corner.  I follow the blog of Toxie Givens (primarily for his deer blogs/videos of the Reality Hunt Club), and he post this post a week or so ago of some turkeys in his backyard !  It really got me fired up!  I need to find a place to get on some birds this year (and next year for sure if I can't make it happen this April). Turkey hunting is one of those experiences that are so unique and invigorating that its is truly hard to describe.  I have hunted turkeys maybe about 5-7 times, and harvested only one.  All but one of those hunts were in South Carolina with my Uncle Jim hunting the Eastern species.  That is some tough hunting!  When a big Tom gobbler is within 50 yards and hammers down gobbling it makes your rib cage vibrate, and it is quite intense as you wait for the opportunity to see the bird and get a shot.  Her is the picture of a double m...

Sorry I am so late on this post, but nevertheless here it is... My brother and I sat in the stand on Saturday morning for the final weekend of black powder season in our neck of Texas.  As my brother doesn't currently own a black powder rifle, he was borrowing one of my very generous friends Thompson Center Omega with open sights. We had agreed beforehand that we wanted to take a single doe (or my brother would take a legal buck if the opportunity presented itself).  So, the first one to have an opportunity would shoot and we'd be done.  Well, we got to the lease around 5:45am, and it was a brisk 30 degrees, that quickly dropped to 26 degrees at sunrise (according to weather.com).  I didn't see a single thing all morning, but my brother was surrounded by action.  He had 2 small 4 points eating under the feeder for about 45 minutes, including a bit of sparring.  They eventually moved on, and around 7:30am some does came out.  My brother decided to...

So the black powder season started on Monday (1/3/2012) in Texas.  Pretty much you get one shot during the sit in the stand.  I went out on Monday evening, and had a pretty exciting sit.  I have my Thompson Center Pro Hunter that I got for Christmas last year.  Around 5:15pm, 3 does shot out from right beside my blind and went every which way in front of me.  Not sure if they caught my scent or heard me move from inside, but they blew out from beside me.  After a bit of snorting, they re-entered the field from all sides, and there were 5 in total.  I saw a doe (or yearling) that had an injured front hoof, and was waiting for an opportunity to take her. Unfortunately, it never presented a shot opportunity.  I had MANY other shots I could have taken, and in hindsight I probably should have.  Either way, it was an exciting evening hunt, with lots of deer activity on my food plot. After the hunt, I gathered my SD card from the camera, and ...