Springtime is the busiest time of year. There’s a small window of time to get done lots of things. We were able to do some good prescribed burns in February. The first burn was the coastal field. It burned much better than I thought it would, despite there having been calves on it for 6 weeks prior. The head fire went fast and was over in seconds. We burned Pugmore Pasture next, in two stages. The first was the section up against the neighbors fence line. We had to be extra cautious at this time because the neighbor has old cedar piles stacked near the fence and we had more than just a little breeze. Everything went really well though and no fire jumped. This year we killed a lot more juniper and top killed many Baccharis Willows, so I was pleased about that. The humidity was low enough too that many limb fall and logs were burned up. The coastal field, along with Pugmore Pasture was neon green within days, and still is despite no rain.

Jerry spent a good deal of time in the Sudan Field. The cows have been grazing off the oats since early Fall, so they really had that soil compacted. It took many times across with a disc to get the clods busted. We planted the same seed as we did last year, a Sudan Hybrid called “Pasto Dulce”. I have the soil tests back and will fertilize accordingly. The soil needs a little Potash but needs a whole lot of Nitrogen. I guess the 6 foot tall Sudan we grew last year used up all of that N. Next for the tractor is a ton of shredding and weed spraying. I’m thinking about borrowing another tractor just to speed things up a bit.

The Horses have been kept in the large horse pens 24/7 ever since the last freeze and I plan to keep it that way until the front pastures are healthy enough. Tracie has been working daily to keep all of them exercised. I even taught Tracie how to drive the small tractor which she uses to pull the manure spreader which is used for cleaning out stalls. She’s been a huge help.

We had an awesome day at the sale barn with those calves. The steers averaged 1.64/lb. and the heifers averaged 1.59/lb. They all weighed an average of about 715 lbs.

I’ve been conducting a wildlife survey in the Red House pasture via motion camera. I’ve used alfalfa as well as a protein feeder. I’ve got what I think are some good numbers on all the species in there. Black Buck Antelope: 10 Males and 12 Females. Axis: 2 Males. Fallow: One Male. White Tail: 3 Males, 3 Females. I’ve also noticed some heavy predation going on in this pasture. The past two weeks I’ve found several fresh kills, mostly of antelope, but at least one axis. I know there used to be at least 3 Axis females in there too, but I haven’t seen a single one on camera or with my own eyes. There’s a chance they just haven’t come in to the feed yet, but this seems unlikely. I even got a photo of a coyote and have found what appears to be some excellent den sites. I’m not too fussed about the predation of the Antelope because their numbers are too strong, so culling of the herd is taking place naturally to some degree. I’m really happy about the low White Tail numbers because this will make it very easy to start up a fresh herd with enhanced genetics. Currently I’m getting as much education on a White Tail breeder operation as I can. Once I’ve gotten a plan formulated, we can try our hand at raising some real trophies. You can see a summary of the photos from the survey under the members section title “Red House Wildlife Survey”.

Remember the story we heard from a neighbor about the Stage Coach Robbery and where they hid the loot? Well, I found the hole! It’s going to take some silt and dirt excavation to see just how deep and wide it gets, but I’ve crawled down into the hole and removed several buckets. I can see already that the narrow hole opens up into a decent sized cavern which you can’t see from ground level. It truly would be a good hiding spot for some treasure.

Other than that, the latest news is the Website is up! Which you’ve probably gathered already because you are reading this. --Adam

Honey Hole