Spring has sprung!

The temperatures are flirting with the upper 60’s. Almost all of the snow is gone. The willow tree buds are starting to poke out (usually the first sign of life on the farm)

Our day on the farm was spent hauling branches that broke off the great white pine, opening up the farm house windows, checking our trail cams that were placed a couple weeks prior, and having fun shooting some skeet/trap with our shotguns.

When we arrived, we were greeted to a fresh layer of fallen branches from the great white pines in the yard of the house. Some of the branches were 4” in diameter and 20’ long! Ethyn decided to use the ATV and chain to haul them down to the gravel pit. He wants to save all the good branches/wood for a bomb fire that will be lit during his going-away party for the US Army next year. He made several runs to the gravel pit, hauling many broken branches. It should be a wonderful bomb fire!

Since the outside air was warmer than the air inside the farmhouse, we opened up most of the windows. The house has been sealed up since late November, so it was nice to get fresh air circulating inside. The sun beaming in through the windows made the farmhouse feel alive again. I love this feeling. We brought a fresh supply of bottled water for our day trips out to the farm.

After unloading the ATV from the trailer, we took a ride to the north 40 to check my Cuddeback – AttackIR trail cam. There appeared to be fresh sign of deer everywhere (droppings and hoof prints imbedded into the mud and leaves). We expected to find a lot of new pictures of Wisconsin Whitetail crossing the trail cam’s view. To our surprise, there was only one. All the other pictures were of us hanging the camera and clearing brush from the future pictures.

Next, we took off and headed out to the west 40. All of our land is blessed with many different species of wildlife. This 40 acres seems to be the most active. I was certain to retrieve many photos captured by one of my Cuddeback – Expert. It’s an older camera, but still takes wonderful pictures, especially at night. This camera uses a traditional flash, not an IR flash, therefore the images at night are in full color. The bright flash does startle the wildlife, but not as much as you would think. The trail cam had a great deal of photos. Mostly deer, but there is one of a bear. Small bear, but I am sure he is very hungry after the long, cold winter. Also, we were a little surprised by how much water is still in the woods. The ATV ride back to the camera was a blast. I took a couple of videos of Ethyn tearing down the trails.

Finally, we had some fun with our trap launcher. The first use after a long winter proved to me that it needed some lubrication. I took off the main launcher of my Do-All Trap Dual Launcher (half-cock) and smeared fresh grease on the pivot shaft. Earlier we picked up a couple boxes of biodegradable clay pigeons (traps/clays) and a 4 boxes of 12 gauge shells. Ethyn and I shot a box of shells at the clays. Good thing we started practicing early. We both did rather poorly. After we were done, Ethyn went out and picked up all the unbroken clays and he came back with over 50% of the clays we launched. This was proof we suck – for now! After a bag of BBQ potato ships, 2 boxes of shells and many unbroken clays, we called it a day.

The farm is showing signs of spring, and I am getting very excited for our new adventures on the land. With new fruit and nut trees, revitalized vegetable garden, and planned earthworks, the farm will never be the same. This a good thing. I am finally building a future on our farm. A sustainable bounty and a place to live forever. This is an exciting journey, I am happy you are along for the ride.