Wildlife Habitat Forum

I’m from northwest Illinois. There have always been a few badgers around but I don’t see them or sign of them very often and always thought they were interesting animals. Recently started to see badger sized holes and would put a camera on it and not get any pics. Backing up a little, a few years ago I started to see an occasional ground squirrel when I was mowing. Started seeing them down by the road. They were always around the edges of my warm season grass plot. When they started... Read more

Im wondering about straight edged spades. Meaning the bottom is straight across vs. Ones with a pointed bottom. Anyone use the straight ones for planting? Do they dig ok? The place ive bought pointed ones before no longer makes the pointed one and ive never used the other style. Thanks for any input.

Absentee land management? "No till", no nothing. I edited the first two posts to change this intro to better explain my situation. 20 some odd acres of overgrown mess in central NY. Sandwiched between open field and seasonal houses, not all of it is really huntable. It's property I've had access to off and on my whole life, but have only recently come to own. In my youth it was 3/4 open "lawn" with a small cottage, 1/4 woods, with some mixed briar and brush in... Read more

Was reading a doom and gloom piece yesterday about the effects of AI on labor and lately the market has been selling off on the idea that ai is going to replace a lot more workers than ever imagined. Elon has mentioned needing a universal income because there will be no need for employment. But…so far are you seeing ai provide many tangible benefits to your occupation/life. I’m not saying it won’t by any means but so far I’ve seen zero, granted I’m not in a tech heavy field. Outside of... Read more

So Bill has asked me to build another prize. It maybe a while before I can get to it. But I'm again looking for suggestion on what you guy may want? Carbon, Stainless or Damascus blade? Wood or Polycarbonate/Synthetic handle material, profile or design ideas are welcome. I also want to thank Bill again for allowing me to do this.

Looking to expand our farm down the road a bit. Around 75 acres. 22 was cleared and planted in red pine rows (I believe red pine) between 1960-1970. State forester told me it is ready to harvest but unfortunately, here in northern Indiana he is not sure if there are any mills that even want it or will take pine. I would say a solid 17-18 of that 22 probably needs to get harvested. Just trying to figure out what I would do next with it. Plant back oaks or some other hardwood for... kids or... Read more

Is anyone using the new WIFI hub? They state the R3 Pro camera will connect to it up to 3000 feet away. If this is real world numbers it would be perfect for me.

Hoping someone can point me in the right direction. Looking for a granular broadleaf preemergent herbicide. For spring application in a native warm season grass field. Had a invasive Vetch move in and have been spot spraying this summer/fall with 2,4 d Amine and clopyralid (Stinger) to get it knocked back and kill off the root system. most of the agronomists around me don't know jack. Hoping someone might have used something similar before with success. Asked Google Gemini and got... Read more

Over the last couple decades, I’ve established stands of native warmseason grasses and forbs on four previous occasions. Though things sometimes looked rocky, all were successful, and I was quite satisfied with the results. This year, the plan was to plant an assortment warmseason grasses and a ridiculous amount of flowers (3.5#/acre forb content) in three separate fields, totaling thirty acres. This is in south central Michigan, about 20 miles NE of where OH, IN, and MI border each... Read more

Going a different direction with my former hayfield plots at my in-laws. Just put in a big merit order of a couple different kinds/mixes of clover and 2 of their brassica mixes. My FIL mowed both plots about 2 weeks ago, but my sprayer is out of commission (stupid Chapin drain plug got lost and I cant find a replacement anywhere)...so I'm just not spraying it! (crazy I know)..plan is to broadcast this weekend before some heavy T storms then have my FIL mow it in another week before the... Read more

Photos submitted for the contest must have been taken by a trail camera during the current month or the month prior. Example= To be eligible for the June 2026 contest, the photo must have been taken with a trail camera during May 2026 or June 2026. Photos must be submitted on or before the last day of the month for the contest to be eligible. Example= March 31st is the last day to enter a photo in the March contest. The winner is decided by the photo that receives the most... Read more

First mater of the year getting ripe, am so ready for BLTs and salsa. A lot of storms the past few days, everything is looking good though.