10 October Blinds
We are down to the last 5 blinds to cover.
What it is all about, greenheads coming in.
9 October TealA fine morning hunting with my dad on Mid-America property.
Thank you Danny for the courtesy of sending in your picture and a hunt description that says a lot.
8 October Missouri Firearms DeerWe've preached for years about the amount of small acreage farms and land with sparse timber that are getting overlooked by our hunters, especially during the Missouri firearms deer season. I apologize for being out of the office recently, but it's definitely to everyone’s benefit to have me working the land rather than answering phones. Since I'll be in and out quite a bit the next two weeks, I thought I'd compile a list of farms in Missouri that are getting overlooked with quality deer hunting opportunity. Please do some research on your own with Google Earth or Terra Server to determine which, if any of the farms listed are suitable to your habitat desires or hunting needs.
One of the biggest problems our members have is narrowing down a handful of farms with hundreds to choose from. The larger acreages with a large amount of timber attract the majority of the member’s attention, leaving a lot of refuge areas for the deer to find once the firearms deer season opens. A vast majority of deer hunters everywhere focus on the larger timber areas and mature bucks and doe as well understand that. After a couple of hours or a day or two, they move to areas without hunters to survive and that’s how they get old. I'm far from a proven trophy deer hunter or specialist in the field, but I’ve been around enough farms and deer hunters over the past 26 years to understand the sport from both the animals and deer hunters’ point of view.
A fair amount of our hunters are trophy hunters, but it’s sure nice to see the majority don’t measure their success by the inches on the rack. Deer hunting is a sacred event that the state of Missouri has been fortunate enough to share with thousands of hunters each fall. MAHA is proud to be part of this tradition.
Below is a list of the most underutilized farms we have leased in Missouri. Obviously, the farms not listed are higher in demand and some are proven more productive These are all farms that I have personally walked bird hunting, viewed while posting, studied after with aerials or scouted by vehicle with landowners while negotiating the lease.
Overlooked MAHA deer land Andrew A- the north ½ of 16 and 1 have not been hunted the last 3 seasons. Atchison B- was new last year and has not seen much attention to scout or bow hunt this year. All of Atchison C- has not been used much. It’s all crop with timbered ditches and draws in a one of the most populated whitetail deer regions the club has to offer. Atchison D- 4 the landowner requested we shoot as many does as possible since they are damaging his crops. Bates B- 1b is a sleeper. No row crops, just a good funnel between 2 blocks of timber. Buchanan A- the back side of the levees in 16 and 20. Clinton A- is new and not discovered by the members at this time. It’s thick CRP with a nice timbered creek ditch going through the center and row crops to the south. They plan to convert the crp to crop in 08. Davies B- 35 was overlooked last year. It’s crop with a creek running through large timer adjoining the south. Davies C- 34, 6 and 7 have not been hunted in years. 6 and 7 have long tree lines that who knows what runs them. 34 is crop adjoining a nice block of timber in a quality deer region. Daviess D- 24 and 25 don’t get hunted but the average local hunter in the area would jump all over either one. DeKalb A- is an 80 that definitely needs to be hunted, but no one has showed any interest yet. Gentry A- 12 was overlooked in 06 and it looked real good when we posted it. It’s surrounded with some real nice cover. 27 h, g, 25, 25 and 3 are small acreage with quality habitat, a mixture of crop, timber and crp. Gentry B- 22, 6 and the back side of 15 were overlooked in 06,but they are quality MO deer hunting farms. Gentry C is 160 acres of crp and brush with crop adjoining. It was not hunted by a gun hunter in 06. Harrison A- 4 and 8 are 2 quality crp 80’s, especially 4. Check the land adjoining 4 to the north and east. Harrison B- 12 and 14 are on the Thompson River bottoms. 14 has 40 acres of timber that cannot be seen from the road. Harrison C- 27 is good for both deer and turkey and it’s been overlooked for years. Harrison D- 26a is crp, crop and timber and 22 is crop with a creek. They both have a lot of deer. Harrison I- 24 and 23 are new. 23 is crop with a creek on the back side. 24 is crop and the back side has some timber that cannot be seen from the road. 20 and 21 are 2 80’s that were not gun hunted in 06. The south side of 20 is a good deer spot. Harrison I is crop with a creek bordered with heavy timber where there is not much crop. There is no reason this farm should get overlooked. Holt F 27 has some good cover on the back side that cannot be seen from the road. It’s bigger than it looks and has a lot of deer. Knox A and B have been pretty quiet recently. They are both large river bottom farms surrounded by big timber in a trophy deer region. Linn C- 11 was not gun hunted in 06. We don’t know much about it, except the guy that hunted it before we leased it threw a fit when he lost access. It’s river bottom with heavy timber to the north and south. Livingston B- 28 hasn’t been gun hunted in years. It has a small patch of woods off the road that could hold a good buck. Livingston E- it’s an open river bottom farm. The deer use the back side of the levees and there are a lot of them. Mercer B- 31, 8, 17, 19, 20 and 29 have been overlooked recently because everyone wants to hunt 32. They have a lot of deer and the habitat includes crp, crop and timber. Nodaway C- was not hunted in 06 and it’s very huntable. Nodaway E- 7 is a prime 40 in prime territory with crp grass and creek. Polk A- get’s a lot of attention during spring turkey, but recently it’s been pretty quiet. 2- 140 inch plus bucks have been harvested from this farm and one was an archery kill by a 14 year old boy, so the genes are there. Putnam A- was not gun hunted in 06. It’s all crp and 8a has a nice timbered ditch running through. The back side of b adjoins some prime habitat in a prime region of the state. Ray C- is new and close to KC. There are a lot of houses nearby, the land has a good deer population and the hunting was controlled for years prior to the lease. 35b has timber that cannot be seen from the road. In 36, a, b and c have the best deer habitat. Saline A- 11 doesn’t look like much, it’s crop surrounded with heavy timber, a prime opening morning spot. 28 doesn’t look like much from the road, but a and b have a lot of deer in prime deer territory. 1 is pretty clean but quality deer have been known to use it. Taney A- is the clubs largest Missouri contiguous deer lease but the usage during the gun season has been slim since it’s located in southern MO. This farm is due to produce a couple of quality deer. Vernon A- 15, the back side of 23 and 24 have good deer habitat and have not been gun hunted in over 5 years. Worth A- is new and it’s in prime territory. The landowner provides lodging to the members. His number will be given through the office. Jon Nee 6 October Conditions Of MembershipThe title of the MAHA rules should be enough to say it all and all the Conditions Of Membership exist for the 1% of the membership that needs additional discipline to be good members. We have had opportunity this early in the season to exercise the immutable feature of the Conditions Of Membership and do not hesitate to do so. All members are asked if they observe something that just does not seem right relative to the Conditions Of Membership to continue to inform us of the details.
Upland BirdEarly upland bird hunting reservations followed similar to early duck in that there are folks anxious to hunt. We can already predict the opening weekend upland bird reports that will follow the course of the last several years most notably the weather will be warm with poor scenting conditions and the standing crops difficult to hunt. Seasoned members recognize this and most wait until the cooler weather for the better hunts. New members, you are encouraged to hunt as much as you can with the agreement the better bird hunts are yet to come. With our private land and prohibition against drive/gang hunts our bird pressure will be minimal the early season with plenty of untested birds come the cooler weather. For where to hunt our upland bird forecast should serve that need. Our forecast also has links to the original 2007 pheasant and quail forecast documents from Iowa, Kansas and Missouri State. |
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