Conservation Activities

• 2009 Recap

   The seasons brought a parade of different species of wildlife to view.

  January & February - 2009

  The cold, snowy winter resulted in 5,000 or more ducks and geese wintering at the farm due to the open water and abundance of food. They lifted off the lakes, flew 100 yards or so, and fed on our wheat. Five trumpeter swans also visited for several weeks.

  March & April - 2009

  Turkey seem to be strutting in every field that adjoins a woods. While hunting for sheds, we found that a number of bucks have been killed by mysterious sources.  Bass and crappie fishing received a lot of attention between the storms and floods. We repaired spillways on 2 of the 4 new lakes due to damage from the storms.  Stocking of red ear, crappie, channel cats and forage fish occurred in March.

  May & June - 2009

  Observers on roads around the farm saw the farming equipment slow or stop unexpectedly, on occasion.  Coveys of newly hatched quail don't move very quickly when the chicks are 1-2 inches tall. In late June, the slow downs were due to the fawns that were bedded in the wheat.  Several pairs of bald eagles were seen on a regular basis, and the broods of ducks and geese that nested on the farm lakes have learned to fly.  Food plots and hayfields have been mowed or baled.

  July & August - 2009

  The beavers are having another good year!  They are building dams everywhere it seems. The quail have raised their chicks and the chicks are flying. Young turkeys and fawns are growing rapidly and are visible along the field roads. We also saw a bobcat with several kits. The huge rainfalls and flooding don't seem to be having any impact on the critters.  

  September & October - 2009

  Both the bucks and the hunters seem to be looking forward to deer season!  The bucks are in velvet in early September and are visible in the soybean fields. The hunters are also visible, stopping on the roads to look at them!  The L.L. Bean whitetail hunt filmed at White Walnut Farms in 2008, has begun airing on the Outdoor Channel.

  November & December - 2009

  November began with poacher problems! Otherwise, the deer season was a great time for the family. We took nice bucks and watched a number of other nice bucks of the future walk by. Saw several bobcats during the season, and we noticed that the County was removing one of the beaver dams along the road. During the last two weeks of December, frigid weather and hundreds of ducks and geese arrived.

  In summary, the wildlife is healthy and thriving.

• January & February - 2010

  The struggle against prolonged spells of bitter cold was vividly displayed.  Ducks and geese teamed up to keep small patches of water open while coyotes stood a short distance away on the ice.  Hawks and owls seemed to be hunting 24 hours a day for mice and rabbits buried in the snow and ice.  Deer were found in large herds - much like the deer yards of the north woods.  And, bucks seemed to lose their horns early in the frigid conditions.

  March & April - 2010

  The frigid weather broke in mid-March and the wildlife was slow to respond.  Unlike previous years, spotting turkey, deer and other critters from the roads was more difficult.  The exception was coyotes, which seemed to be everywhere.  Fifteen or more coyotes surrounding the house on a night with a full moon create music that you will always remember!  A very pleasant surprise was the survival rate for quail.  The pairs seemed to be everywhere.  Fish stockings this year consisted of putting bass in lakes that were stocked with forage fish last year.

  May & June - 2010

  Fishing was exceptional!  No winter kill due to the ice. The does seemed to have more single fawns this year with a lower percentage of twins and no triplets.  The bobcats had another good spring and sightings of burly, adult bobcats a common event.  Baby quail seemed to be everywhere!  Food plots were mowed or mowed and bailed.

  July & August - 2010

  The heat was stifling and the critters are visible in mid-day moving to water holes.  This included a bobcat drinking from the lake in front of the farmhouse.  We replanted food plots, built some fancy deer stands and installed one of them in 100 degree heat!

  September & October - 2010

  The drought continues through October and everything is a tinder-box.  Everyone, outdoorsmen and farmers alike, are being very careful and no significant fires have occurred.  We are alert for outbreaks of "blue tongue" in the deer herd; however, none is apparent.
  
  Our plans for a great dove shoot around Labor Day didn't produce.  The early harvest created food everywhere.  Doves were dispersed, so we focused on the harvest and bass fishing.

  November & December - 2010

  Our trail cameras have produced great pictures of critters and trespassers.  One of the pictures is of, what appears to be, a wolf.  We are working with conservation officers on its/their identification.
  
  The acorn crop is exceptional, and the deer are congregated in the oak trees along the creek bottoms on the farm.  The early harvest allowed us to work on deer stands, and it paid off with a number of nice bucks.  The turkeys were a pain due to their tendency to gather in 30 to 50 bird flocks.  They used all of those eyes to pick off the orange clad, deer hunters.
  
  Cold weather brought in the ducks and geese by mid-December, and layout blinds and robo-ducks produced well.  We never got around to quail hunting, although they seemed to have a good year too.

• January & February - 2011

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  March & April - 2011

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  May & June - 2011

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  July & August - 2011

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  September & October - 2011

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  November & December - 2011

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