All About Pocket Knives

We do get a hawk every once in a while but the rooster for the most part keeps them safe .
Our biggest predator is a bobcat, he has taken around 6 chickens that I know of in the last few years but I haven’t seen him in probably 6 months now .

Mike

Paladin wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2025 3:59 am

ScoutKnives wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2025 2:36 am Very nice John , great to see other setups .

This is my wife’s hobby,
We have a flock of 54 chickens right now , we try to make them as maintenance easy as possible , auto water , large gravity feeder , just open the door around 7 am to free range all day and they will go in the coop at dusk . Just keep one wing clipped so they can’t fly over our fence .

We’re currently getting around 20-30 eggs daily .
We need to fill the feeder up about every 3 days and change the nesting boxes hay once a week .

Mike

Looks like a good setup. Are hawks ever a problem?

Ray

ScoutKnives wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2025 2:36 am Very nice John , great to see other setups .

This is my wife’s hobby,
We have a flock of 54 chickens right now , we try to make them as maintenance easy as possible , auto water , large gravity feeder , just open the door around 7 am to free range all day and they will go in the coop at dusk . Just keep one wing clipped so they can’t fly over our fence .

We’re currently getting around 20-30 eggs daily .
We need to fill the feeder up about every 3 days and change the nesting boxes hay once a week .

Mike

Nice setup, Mike! And it looks like you don't have major weather or predator issues to deal with.



Also, Jerry, unwashed eggs will keep 3 months in the refrigerator, and a few weeks unrefrigerated and unwashed.

We don't have chickens anymore but we still have bobcats in the woods. I may have shown these before, here are a couple of pices from the game cameras back a few months ago: Last evening I got a call from the youngest deacon in our church. Several months ago he decided to try his hand at deer hunting. He asked if the next time I got a deer to call him and he would come and watch how I dressed him out. So I made the call but he was at work, he's a fire fighter down in Bay County. We never made the time together until last evening.
He had killed a buck and wondered if I would help him dress it. No problem, come on over. He and 2 of his little boys show up with a fine buck and it's raining. My skinning procedure is almost always out side under a big oak behind my shop. Too much rain to work out side so under one of the sheds where we've hung a few in times past. I asked him what do you want to do with the head? He wasn't sure, I told him, taxidermy cost are pretty steep. I was encouraging him to do a skull plate or a European mount but no, he said Maybe I can have it mounted. Skinning one to preserve the cape is a whole different ball game than we normally do. We got it done, under the shed, out of the rain and I reckon he was going to wrap the hide and head in a garbage bag and put it in the freezer till he could talk his school teacher wife into having it mounted. We can come back and make him a decent display if that doesn't fly with mamma.
Here is our friend with his nice buck, his second. Hadn't killed one since high school. Treefarmer

Nice to see happy hunters,
Especially when the children are involved.
I don’t prefer to ice fish David and I did it a couple of times years ago. My younger brother who will be the last of mom’s children to reach 60 in July has been ice fishing with his son a bunch. David and I went out on Sunday. David caught a bluegill and I caught a decent smallmouth. Worst part was you couldn’t see him jump always the best part of catching them.
We both enjoyed it. No more ice now.

Cool pictures, gents!

Ditto, what redrider said.

Quick Steel wrote: ↑Fri Mar 07, 2025 6:40 pm Ditto, what redrider said.

Wife and I got up to see the eclipse and Blood Moon last night. Glad we did. The moon took on a very deep red hue. Very interesting to watch. Anyone else see it?

9 new baby chicks fresh out of the incubator .
Probably going to start another batch this weekend .

Mike

Y'all know it's been a month since anyone stirred the water here on the Outdoorsman Thread!
Let me kick off again with a little different take on the outdoors.
Do y'all know the word maceration?
This is my 2nd year of using maceration to clean up deer skulls. Let me say that out of respect to the deer I've killed my whole life, I've always tried to keep the racks no matter what size they happened to be. I've given lots away to different people, little grandsons, Folks using antler in crafts, etc. We only have one shoulder mounted deer on the wall. There are 7 different racks displayed in the living room in a tasteful manner. The utility room has many racks screwed to the wall and on the shop porch they are hanging helter-skelter.
Cleaning the skull plate is tedious, time consuming work, that is removing the hide and tissue to make it presentable for display. Some taxiderist use beetles to clean the skulls, in the past we skinned and the boiled them, then we just skinned and let them dry. But thanks to the internet we discovered maceration. A few months in a container of water and everything is gone! Still getting weekly pictures from the deer woods, some bucks are still wearing antlers, some have shed. We'll post a few of the more interesting later on.
Y'all enjoy the outdoors all year if you can.
Treefarmer

ScoutKnives wrote: ↑Fri Mar 14, 2025 6:33 pm 9 new baby chicks fresh out of the incubator .
Probably going to start another batch this weekend .

Mike

Very cute! Are these egg layers, meat or "ornamental" chickens?

Egg layers for the most part , we do have a few jersey giants which are meat chickens but they will lay every other day .
Here’s another batch of 24 , they are 12 days old right now .
My wife puts the newly hatched ones in a box for a few hours so they don’t get picked on .

Mike

1967redrider wrote: ↑Sun Apr 13, 2025 3:58 pm

ScoutKnives wrote: ↑Fri Mar 14, 2025 6:33 pm 9 new baby chicks fresh out of the incubator .
Probably going to start another batch this weekend .

Mike

Very cute! Are these egg layers, meat or "ornamental" chickens?

ScoutKnives wrote: ↑Sun Apr 13, 2025 4:03 pm Egg layers for the most part , we do have a few jersey giants which are meat chickens but they will lay every other day .
Here’s another batch of 24 , they are 12 days old right now .
My wife puts the newly hatched ones in a box for a few hours so they don’t get picked on .

Mike

1967redrider wrote: ↑Sun Apr 13, 2025 3:58 pm

ScoutKnives wrote: ↑Fri Mar 14, 2025 6:33 pm 9 new baby chicks fresh out of the incubator .
Probably going to start another batch this weekend .

Mike

Very cute! Are these egg layers, meat or "ornamental" chickens?

Very cool. Yes, they are lifelong little cannibals, I have learned.

Treefarmer, I enjoyed your display and collection of antlers. I thought I knew the meaning of the word maceration. I did not .

Nice TF

Nice TF.

My buddies kid was at work the other day, and he stepped outside his warehouse to get something off a shelf. As he stepped near the shelf, he thought he heard a compressor kick on. Turned out to not be a compressor, but an irritated 4 ft diamondback under the bottom shelf. The snake was dispatched, and his Dad and I skinned it out Tuesday night. Came out to a little under 4 feet minus the head and rattles.

Unk wrote: ↑Wed Apr 16, 2025 4:09 pm Nice TF.

My buddies kid was at work the other day, and he stepped outside his warehouse to get something off a shelf. As he stepped near the shelf, he thought he heard a compressor kick on. Turned out to not be a compressor, but an irritated 4 ft diamondback under the bottom shelf. The snake was dispatched, and his Dad and I skinned it out Tuesday night. Came out to a little under 4 feet minus the head and rattles.

Weatherford living isn't for the faint of heart!

Spring is in the air here at the farm in the WMD. A shot of my workhorse from above. The grass snakes are out too, and hungry. This guy might have bitten off more than he can chew.

Great scenery in the 1st picture! Being a flat woods dweller all my life, I enjoy seeing land like y'all have.
I'll bet that old barn in the middle could tell some tales about what went on before the "big house" on the hill got planted!
Workhorse looks like it is well stocked and ready for a ride. The snake may have a time swallowing that toad lookin' critter.
Enjoyed the tour!
Treefarmer

1967redrider wrote: ↑Sat Apr 19, 2025 3:23 pm Spring is in the air here at the farm in the WMD. A shot of my workhorse from above. The grass snakes are out too, and hungry. This guy might have bitten off more than he can chew.

I Always enjoy your place and pics.

Thanks, tree and dog.

Not sure how the snake made out, they're gone now. That old barn is mostly Chestnut.

Great pictures!
Looks like a BIG grass snake .
Nice old Honda work horse , they make a great machine .

Mike

1967redrider wrote: ↑Sat Apr 19, 2025 3:23 pm Spring is in the air here at the farm in the WMD. A shot of my workhorse from above. The grass snakes are out too, and hungry. This guy might have bitten off more than he can chew.

ScoutKnives wrote: ↑Sat Apr 19, 2025 10:49 pm Great pictures!
Looks like a BIG grass snake .
Nice old Honda work horse , they make a great machine .

Mike

1967redrider wrote: ↑Sat Apr 19, 2025 3:23 pm Spring is in the air here at the farm in the WMD. A shot of my workhorse from above. The grass snakes are out too, and hungry. This guy might have bitten off more than he can chew.

She's a 2005, last year with the carburetor, and runs great.

1967redrider wrote: ↑Sat Apr 19, 2025 3:23 pm Spring is in the air here at the farm in the WMD. A shot of my workhorse from above. The grass snakes are out too, and hungry. This guy might have bitten off more than he can chew.

Beautiful place RR!

Corn Creek Cutlery wrote: ↑Sun Apr 20, 2025 12:26 am

1967redrider wrote: ↑Sat Apr 19, 2025 3:23 pm Spring is in the air here at the farm in the WMD. A shot of my workhorse from above. The grass snakes are out too, and hungry. This guy might have bitten off more than he can chew.

Beautiful place RR!

Thanks, CCC.

God's country right there RR. x10
Bunnies everywhere this morning but no Easter eggs to be found. Course I didn't look very hard.