# wildlife in alfala.



## IAhaymakr (Jun 4, 2008)

Had some friends in the hayfield today while merging.


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## Uphayman (Oct 31, 2014)

My wife was raking Sunday afternoon . called me up and said she had a spectator in her field. I saw it again the next morning, as I was bringing home the last machinery, from the field. Thinking 125 #-150 # range. The grey wolf is the best at deer control. They leave no prisoners. One of three sighted on the farm Sunday.


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## ARD Farm (Jul 12, 2012)

Best Michigan deer control is a 308 IMO. Least you can cut and bale, down here it;s continuous rain every other day it seems like.


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## PackMan2170 (Oct 6, 2014)

Shot a big male coyote off the hand railing of the swather yesterday with my .17! Does that count for wildlife in hay?


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## Nitram (Apr 2, 2011)

IA with friends like that who needs enemies? Swathing Sunday had a yote leading me just casual as could be... Yep no firearms aboard :-( He knew


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## Coondle (Aug 28, 2013)

Uphayman said:


> My wife was raking Sunday afternoon . called me up and said she had a spectator in her field. I saw it again the next morning, as I was bringing home the last machinery, from the field. Thinking 125 #-150 # range. The grey wolf is the best at deer control. They leave no prisoners. One of three sighted on the farm Sunday.


Fine looking wolf. Obviously they are making a comeback.

Is it unusual to see one in clear daylight?

Best I can do is a a bunch of kangaroos and ared fox or two. By the time I see fox it is well and truly on the move and wouldn't stop for anything. Work them into the centre as the crop comes down and when too small for their comfort they hightail it to cover.

Kangaroos usually stay under trees during the day (largely but not exclusively nocturnal).

If they take up residence in a crop of oats they eat some and knock a lot down just laying around in the spring sunshine.

I'll try and get some photos , best chance is around dusk but they are wary and usually like a couple hundred yards buffer.

No natural predators and a protected species unless with a permit. Up to 35 coming over from next door and preying on my crop. There is better eating on my place than at their home. Do not mind up to a dozen but near 3 dozen is a bit rich.

Wanted to see wolf when I visited North America. Best I could do was to hear a couple of them talking to the moon up near Algonquin National Park in Canada.


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## Fossil02818 (May 31, 2010)

Have you ever heard of the "Angel's Share"? Thats when distillers lose a small portion of their production to evaporation in aging. We used to think of the deer taking an angels share of our alfalfa fields. Well there are so many deer that we no longer call it that. However, the wildlife viewing is still one of the side benefits of haying. Love seeing the photos you guys are posting.


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## Uphayman (Oct 31, 2014)

PackMan2170 said:


> Shot a big male coyote off the hand railing of the swather yesterday with my .17! Does that count for wildlife in hay?


Sure does. Maybe with an asterisk though. As in "dead wildlife in hay." Nice shot.
Ard farm : same weather patterns up here... 15 days of continuous no cut in June. My personal armament is Ruger 243 varmint with 8-32 bushnell 4200 elite, shooting hand loaded nosler ballistic tips @ 4000 fps. I like to "reach out and touch someone" as AT&T says.

Coondle : they introduced the grey here about 20 years ago, in the last 5 years they really took off. We pounded the deer population on our farm for 40 years with hunting pressure, with little effect . They just kept pouring in. The greys took care of the overpopulation issue in 6 months. Not complaining about the wolf, they eliminated the whole crop loss issue.

Good day !


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## hayray (Feb 23, 2009)

I wish we could have wolves down here, hunting has little effect on our deer herd and coyotes sure aren't much of a control on deer. I don,t shoot at coyotes on my farm, more the better far as I'm concerned they control woodchucks and ***** as I grow afew acres of sweet corn.. I heard a wolf howl on Isle Royal once but never seen one all the times I used to camp in the UP.


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## Bags (Nov 17, 2013)

1st picture is a spring time bunch headed for the smooth brome.

2nd is after hay is up in the fall. I named that buck "Dinner" for some reason.


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## azmike (Jan 4, 2015)

My truck gun is a Taurus Tracker .17hmr. bright light post scope. 9 shots (I need plenty) and these big blackmailed jacks at least get sand in their eyes if not worse!


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

hayray said:


> I wish we could have wolves down here, hunting has little effect on our deer herd and coyotes sure aren't much of a control on deer. I don,t shoot at coyotes on my farm, more the better far as I'm concerned they control woodchucks and ***** as I grow afew acres of sweet corn.. I heard a wolf howl on Isle Royal once but never seen one all the times I used to camp in the UP.


Wolves were introduced into northern MN,now they are getting some cattle.And dogs.They had a season on them last yr and mid season tree huggers got it stopped.Be carefull what you wish for any cattle guy in northern MN hates them.http://kstp.com/article/stories/s3755671.shtml


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## hayray (Feb 23, 2009)

There are some cattle killed in Michigan also. We had a season 2 years ago, a buddy of mine got a tag, only 50 percent of targeted harvest was reached.


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## hayray (Feb 23, 2009)

A correction about wolf reintroduction - the Great Lakes population was not a reintroduced population like in the Rockies


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

swmnhay said:


> Wolves were introduced into northern MN,now they are getting some cattle.And dogs.They had a season on them last yr and mid season tree huggers got it stopped.Be carefull what you wish for any cattle guy in northern MN hates them.http://kstp.com/article/stories/s3755671.shtml


As well as anyone hunting north of cloquet. No deer. Lots of wolves.

I know a lot of people who have had their deer hunting go bad the last few years. No good. Then they closed wolf hunting.


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## Hokelund Farm (Feb 4, 2014)

IAhaymakr said:


> Had some friends in the hayfield today while merging.


With all the flooding last Spring we had a family of skunks move into the farmyard. Caught two big ones, then the babies just started wandering around. The babies are kind of cute and quite comical to watch mosey around the yard, but they still stink. Ended up getting 11 last year.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Hokelund Farm said:


> With all the flooding last Spring we had a family of skunks move into the farmyard. Caught two big ones, then the babies just started wandering around. The babies are kind of cute and quite comical to watch mosey around the yard, but they still stink. Ended up getting 11 last year.


You caught them? What the hell do you do with a caught skunk? Stay as far away as possible?


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## reede (May 17, 2010)

IAhaymakr said:


> Had some friends in the hayfield today while merging.


Baled one of those 2 years ago. Bumped him with the disc mower when cutting, and he stumbled of like he was drunk. Didn't see anything else until I dumped the bale basket at the barn a couple of days later, and there was the skunk poking his head out of the bale. Really a cute pose, he was dead of course, but looked like he was looking out of a den, or something.


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## Hokelund Farm (Feb 4, 2014)

somedevildawg said:


> You caught them? What the hell do you do with a caught skunk? Stay as far away as possible?


Yes, we caught them. Something was eating our chickens so we set a live trap. Caught skunks, *****, possum, and fox. Shot the skunks from 30 yards out and then 10 seconds later a wave of stink just slaps you in the face. When you have to get up close and personal to get them out of the trap its a whole nother level. It doesn't smell like skunk its something beyond stink. there is no way to describe it, you just need to experience it. I was told if you hit their neck and break their back they won't let out the stink, I'm not that good of shot from 30 yards out.

A coyote tried to get in the trap and then tore it apart. We even had a lost black bear two Springs ago wander through the farm, which is really rare for southern MN. Made me nervous for a few days going out to feed the animals as the sun was coming up.

Whats funny is that after catching all these wild animals, my inlaws dog from 2 miles up the road found the chickens and killed all but 5, that pretty much put an end to my flock. Ironically a couple days later the dog got ran over by a car - everyone asks if it was my car - but it wasn't


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

That's your story and you're stickin to it......don't blame ya'.....regardless, deep down, they think you did it


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## JMT (Aug 10, 2013)

Hokelund Farm said:


> When you have to get up close and personal to get them out of the trap its a whole nother level. It doesn't smell like skunk its something beyond stink. there is no way to describe it, you just need to experience it.


I will just take your word for it.


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## Coondle (Aug 28, 2013)

Hokelund Farm said:


> Yes, we caught them. Something was eating our chickens so we set a live trap. Caught skunks, *****, possum, and fox. Shot the skunks from 30 yards out and then 10 seconds later a wave of stink just slaps you in the face. When you have to get up close and personal to get them out of the trap its a whole nother level. It doesn't smell like skunk its something beyond stink. there is no way to describe it, you just need to experience it. I was told if you hit their neck and break their back they won't let out the stink, I'm not that good of shot from 30 yards out.
> 
> A coyote tried to get in the trap and then tore it apart. We even had a lost black bear two Springs ago wander through the farm, which is really rare for southern MN. Made me nervous for a few days going out to feed the animals as the sun was coming up.
> 
> Whats funny is that after catching all these wild animals, my inlaws dog from 2 miles up the road found the chickens and killed all but 5, that pretty much put an end to my flock. Ironically a couple days later the dog got ran over by a car - everyone asks if it was my car - but it wasn't


No Hokelund I do not need to experience the stink, I am quite happy for you to relay the feeling and depth of the experience to me. True knowledge is learning from others experiences and mistakes.

In regard to the dog, a line from Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act III Scene II springs to mind with the necessary gender modification;

"The man thou doth protest too much."


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Hokelund Farm said:


> I was told if you hit their neck and break their back they won't let out the stink,


Unfortunately that is not true.....when they die they relax their glandular muscles and the fragrance escapes.

Regards, Mike


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## PackMan2170 (Oct 6, 2014)

Ha ha ha! Just got back to the house from irrigating, saw 8 javelina chowing down in one of my alfalfa fields. I did NOT shoot 5 of them, that would be illegal!!!!


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## Thorim (Jan 19, 2015)

PackMan2170 said:


> Ha ha ha! Just got back to the house from irrigating, saw 8 javelina chowing down in one of my alfalfa fields. I did NOT shoot 5 of them, that would be illegal!!!!


Only illegal if you get caught hehe


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## PackMan2170 (Oct 6, 2014)

Thorim said:


> Only illegal if you get caught hehe


My motto for life in general

Sidenote: it was the same field where I took my Profile Pic


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## Colby (Mar 5, 2012)

You gotta shoot them with a big gun so they blow up, they won't spray then lol.


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## Nitram (Apr 2, 2011)

PackMan2170 said:


> Ha ha ha! Just got back to the house from irrigating, saw 8 javelina chowing down in one of my alfalfa fields. I did NOT shoot 5 of them, that would be illegal!!!!


Was it a group suicide?


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## PackMan2170 (Oct 6, 2014)

Nitram said:


> Was it a group suicide?


Must've been. Like lemmings off a cliff, baby!


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## Hawk40 (Jun 28, 2015)

Have had to fence off most of my fields because they are rotated to strawberry plant nursery and the elk are really bad.
If it weren't for that I wouldn't bother, however I suspect 15-20 elk feeding in a 40ac block every night has to reduce the yield


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## Nitram (Apr 2, 2011)

Awe... But they're so cute! And tasty!!!


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## Bags (Nov 17, 2013)

The Elk are a pain here "every" year. They are masters at tear'in fences to pieces and I figure each one chows down about 15 pounds of hay when they hit the fields.

One of my biggest b!tches about them is--- they cant just come by and rip a fence or two down, eat some of the hay and leave--- NO--- they have to bed down in 2 foot tall brome. All those beds make sections of the field look like a roller was ran across it--- try mow'in that!!!!.

Maybe it wouldn't upset me as much, if I couldn't see them from the front porch (where pic was taken).


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

They look tasty.


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