Millmans new ranch (long term project)

[breese]

Skinning shed update

Concrete poured and new electric hoist is up.
We are not concrete finishers. LOL

[BrianG]

I like it!

[Texas Grown]

I like how the crane also supports the roof too.
I could use one of those here at the house. Slab too.

[zach_pendleton]

This thread is amazing. Keep us updated!

[breese]

I like how the crane also supports the roof too.
I could use one of those here at the house. Slab too.

Yep sure beats cleaning animals in the mud.

[breese]

Heading out Friday morning. I haven't really had a chance to hunt yet this year.

[Chitchyaoutdoor]

Place is coming along nicely

[PBFrijoles]

That is one heck of a nice looking place there amigos. Congrats.

[TildenHunter]

How's it going out there?


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[breese]

Haven't had a chance to hunt much with the work schedule. Saving all the time for December.

[millman]

How's it going out there?


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I have been wanting to start a thread in management section and haven't yet(sometimes the reactions to certain threads get out of hand with folks who "know") BUT.....it has been a tough year! We have not talked about it much on TBH due to several factors....biggest being the lack of a definite conclusion to what happened. We started off the year finding sheds of a couple of our bigger deer which we had high hopes for in 2016. We added cottonseed to our feed plan and were going through about a ton a month along with 5+ tons protein. By the first of June we had TC pics that had us really excited. We had great spring rain and it was still raining on a steady clip. Then the third week of June "IT" happened.....a phone call from the ranch hand that the neighbor had lost some bulls and a few deer. Concerned, we started making phone calls to the folks we thought we should. We were told there had been a EHD break out SE of us and that it sounded to them that was what was happening to us….. We contacted all the neighbors and tried to figure out if anyone else was experiencing the same. Countless hours studying, calling and talking to everyone we could get to listen ended with more questions than answers. The hardest to understand was how EHD had not affected cattle anywhere else in the country or world. By the first week of July we were hit by "IT" so hard there were no words to describe what was going on. By July 15th the sky was black with buzzards, you couldn’t drive the ranch without the stench of dead deer almost making you sick. You would drive by a deer that looked fine only to find him or her dead hours later. We had lost several cows and hundreds of deer. Blood tests from several deer and cows had given us no answers. By the end of September the 12 mile survey path that normally counted 30-40 deer had produced 0,0,2 and 5 deer over 4 evening surveys. The 1000lb protein feeders that were being filled every 10-12 days were filled last in early August and still have protein in them.

We have tried to take it all in stride…. Tallies from our first 2 hunts show we have lost 95% plus of our deer over 2 yrs old. We have not been able to figure out loss numbers on the younger ages yet but we're working on it. One of the weirdest things of the aftermath so far is the amount of fawns that come to feeders without mommas……I am amazed how they have survived. Now if they can hang on another 5-6 years.

[XBOW STALKER]

Ouch. Im sick to my stomach for ya'll brother

[TildenHunter]

I have been wanting to start a thread in management section and haven't yet(sometimes the reactions to certain threads get out of hand with folks who "know") BUT.....it has been a tough year! We have not talked about it much on TBH due to several factors....biggest being the lack of a definite conclusion to what happened. We started off the year finding sheds of a couple of our bigger deer which we had high hopes for in 2016. We added cottonseed to our feed plan and were going through about a ton a month along with 5+ tons protein. By the first of June we had TC pics that had us really excited. We had great spring rain and it was still raining on a steady clip. Then the third week of June "IT" happened.....a phone call from the ranch hand that the neighbor had lost some bulls and a few deer. Concerned, we started making phone calls to the folks we thought we should. We were told there had been a EHD break out SE of us and that it sounded to them that was what was happening to us….. We contacted all the neighbors and tried to figure out if anyone else was experiencing the same. Countless hours studying, calling and talking to everyone we could get to listen ended with more questions than answers. The hardest to understand was how EHD had not affected cattle anywhere else in the country or world. By the first week of July we were hit by "IT" so hard there were no words to describe what was going on. By July 15th the sky was black with buzzards, you couldn’t drive the ranch without the stench of dead deer almost making you sick. You would drive by a deer that looked fine only to find him or her dead hours later. We had lost several cows and hundreds of deer. Blood tests from several deer and cows had given us no answers. By the end of September the 12 mile survey path that normally counted 30-40 deer had produced 0,0,2 and 5 deer over 4 evening surveys. The 1000lb protein feeders that were being filled every 10-12 days were filled last in early August and still have protein in them.

We have tried to take it all in stride…. Tallies from our first 2 hunts show we have lost 95% plus of our deer over 2 yrs old. We have not been able to figure out loss numbers on the younger ages yet but we're working on it. One of the weirdest things of the aftermath so far is the amount of fawns that come to feeders without mommas……I am amazed how they have survived. Now if they can hang on another 5-6 years.

I am at a loss for words. I hadn't heard anything about this in this area. All you can do is be patient and keep after it. Going to take a while but you seem to have a good outlook on everything. Mother Nature can be cruel but in the end it should correct itself. You have a beautiful place out there from everything I have seen. Keep doing what you are doing and enjoy the pigs and turkeys in the meantime! It will get better with time.

[BrianG]

WOW!!! First I've heard of this.


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[88 Bound]

Oh my! Hate to hear this sir. I hope this means that the future will shine brighter than the past.