At the Livermore-Pleasanton MDF banquet/auction, Marty Sexton purchased a turkey hunt for him and his 14-year old son, Nickolas. We finally scheduled the hunt for Saturday April 26th and started early in an attempt to call a gobbler in at daylight.
The early-morning approach meant getting up at 3:00 AM to be exact. We met on [...]
Archive for April, 2008
Two Exciting Turkey Hunts Near Livermore Last Week
Posted in Archery hunting, Hunting, outdoors, turkey, tagged turkey hunting on April 27, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Do High Gas Prices Mean Fewer Mallards in 2008?
Posted in Ecology, Hunting, Wildlife habitat, outdoors, wildlife, wildlife conservation, wildlife management, tagged Conservation, Duck hunting on April 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Looks like ethanol production is causing more than just a shortage of corn for cattle feed. Not only is the price of gas going up, but so is the price of food. Increased food prices means more corn and wheat production this year.
These prices are good for farmers, in fact they may be too good [...]
First Fawn – First Rattler
Posted in Ecology, Endangered species, Wildlife habitat, blacktail deer, wildlife conservation, wildlife management on April 21, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Saw a pair of fawns yesterday. First of the year for me. Whenever I see my first fawn of the season, I can’t help but count back to the date it was conceived. I’ve been told that the blacktail gestation period is about 7 months. Various internet sites say it’s about 200 days. That sounds [...]
Thoughts on Managing a Ranch for Native Wildlife, Hunting and Value
Posted in Ecology, Endangered species, Hunting, Land Ownership, Wildlife habitat, blacktail deer, deer, outdoors, wildlife conservation, wildlife management on April 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Our Alameda County ranch, like most ranches, has a variety of habitat types – oak woodland, oak grassland, riparian and chaparral. One thing that’s clear to me is that the effects one can have upon habitat in the hills are more subtile than the results one sees on valley farm ground. Our delta property responds quickly and [...]
Turkey Season So Far
Posted in Hunting, outdoors, turkey on April 18, 2008 | 1 Comment »
These turkeys greeted us upon our arrival at the ranch.
So far turkey season has consisted of an opening day attempt. The turkeys were there and I had my chances. Choosing my bow, but not wanting to set up my blind, I chose to float and shoot from the sitting position while leaning against an oak [...]
Time to Buy a Ranch or Duck Club?
Posted in Land Ownership, outdoors, purchasing real estate, real estate, selling land on April 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Is this the time to buy a ranch? Duck club? Maybe not, but it is definitely the time to make serious progress towards buying hunting property. Here are some ideas to get you started.
If you want a hunting ranch, you must have the means to buy it and you probably won’t get enough money to buy [...]
How to Bait a Mountain Lion
Posted in Big game hunting, Hunting, outdoors, wildlife on April 12, 2008 | 1 Comment »
About 15 years ago, an Oregon archer and bow hunting consultant, Neil Summers, told me about this mountain lion encounter.
While hunting for elk in the Eagle Cap Wilderness Area of Oregon, Summers heard the loud growl of a lion. Standing in the depression of a rotted log, Summers looked up into the face of a [...]
Near-Disaster Goose Hunt
Posted in California Delta, goose, outdoors on April 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The fog was thick.
How thick was it?
If you looked up into the air you might fall over from vertigo. It was the type of tule fog that would prevent us from reaching our duck club on Webb Tract before daylight, in fact we didn’t even leave the dock until nearly first light.
We’d crossed Frank’s Tract [...]
Partition – How We Ended Co-ownership with a Deceased Person (part 2)
Posted in Land Ownership, Partnerships, co-ownership, ending co-ownership, real estate on April 5, 2008 | 1 Comment »
When initiating our partition action, we knew that one of the owners had died unexpectedly, but we didn’t know the rest of the story – that he died intestate (without a will), that he was married and that his estate had not been probated even though he’d be deceased for over ten years.
We could not probate [...]
Partition Action – How We Ended Co-ownership with a Deceased Person (part one).
Posted in co-ownership, ending co-ownership, real estate on April 3, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Sometimes you just can’t continue to co-own property with certain individuals. It’s similar to getting a divorce, but you may hardly know the person you’re “divorcing.”
I recently participated in a partition action on a ranch which I own approximately a twenty percent interest. As the petitioners my partners and I named the other co-owners in [...]
