Steve’s Farm is a 137 acre parcel of land located between Mora and Hinkley, MN. The property is an active farm used for the production of apples. Currently 23 of the 137 acres are used for apple production and the remaining 114 acres are mixed forest, wetlands, food plots and wildlife apple trees. The 5 acre field at the southwest corner of the property is used entirely as a smorgasbord of food plots containing of corn, soybeans, oats, sugar beets, daikon radish, brassica mix and other food sources. The crops in this field will remain available to wildlife throughout the year, no harvest of this field will occur.
Steve’s Vision/Mission
|
Steve’s farm has been a 12 year labor of love to provide the best habitat, food sources, and minimal human intrusion for the development of Trophy Class Whitetail Deer and abundant Turkey populations. Our goal is to provide very high quality hunting opportunities.
Steve is an avid bow hunter and will be sharing the Farm with you as he pursues another trophy buck. "I am very selective about bucks that I shoot and have passed up numerous bucks that would have scored 150 and below." |
What You Get and What You Don’t
|
You will get access to the best parcel of hunting land in the entire area. For the bow hunters, we maintain about 14 permanent tree stands, strategically located in the prime hunting areas. These locations have been selected based on thousands of hours of field experience to provide the highest probability of encountering one of the properties Trophy Bucks. The property is known locally as the “Deer Sanctuary” and for good reason. The deer are never pressured, never hunted with guns and given every reason to stay on the property.
|
|
|
Turkey hunters will have access to between 7 and 10 ground blinds that we put out in early April. We also provide a swivel chair that you move from blind to blind as you hunt various locations. Most blind locations will overlook food plots or fields, but some are tucked away in the woods along known feeding corridors. We can relocate blinds if the birds are not cooperating. High quality decoys do help, we encourage you to bring your own decoys. You may also bring your own blind if you wish. Stalking the property for Turkeys is discouraged as it tends to push the birds off the property.
|
|
What you don’t get is a guide service, a game retrieval and processing service, lodging, camping or food. We are not trying to be a hunting service or outfitter, instead we are trying to put all our efforts in land and wildlife management to provide the absolute best hunting opportunity and experience.
We will give you advice though on which stands have better odds of seeing Trophy Bucks or the best blind locations for the Gobblers. We maintain trail cameras and will provide you with updates of wildlife activity. |
|
Food Plots
|
Every year we plant food plots for the benefit of wildlife. We currently have five food plots that are planted with various food sources. Our typical food plot consists of corn, soybeans and a brassica mix. We have also converted the 5 acre field at near the south end of the property into a large food plot. This field will contain, Corn, Soybeans, Oats, Sugar Beet, Turnip, Kale, Rapeseed, Daikon Radish and several varieties of Brassicas. None of these fields are harvested leaving food for wildlife into the winter months. These food plots are a powerful deer and turkey attractant especially as cold weather sets in and other food sources dry up or are harvested.
|
Year Round Wildlife Management
|
Food plots provide a beneficial source of food during the fall and winter. As winter progresses, our Deer Herd and Turkey Flocks expand due to the attraction of the standing corn and other crops located in our food plots. To alleviate the pressure placed on the food resources we have started a winter feeding program to keep our Deer and Turkey in good health. This leads to larger Turkey flocks, healthier fawns, and bucks that start developing antlers earlier that grow larger.
To help our wildlife though the tough times of winter, we added a supplemental food source through the use of two 105 bushel fully automated feeders. The feeders are filled with corn and then started in mid-winter. Putting out over a bushel of corn each day on a timed schedule the Deer and Turkey, have a reliable food source to assist them through the worst of winter.
Recent DNR restrictions on deer feeding have caused us to leave our feeders off in recent years, we hope these restrictions are lifted in the near future. |
Apple Orchards
|
If you have ever been to or heard about unprotected apple orchards located in deer country, you know how powerful this fruit can be for attracting deer. For the past decade we have been learning through the school of hard knocks how to raise and care for apple trees. We have had many failures and some successes and feel that we are starting to turn the corner in maintaining healthy apple trees.
Currently we have 42 apple trees and 7 different varieties planted in four locations. In the end, we believe that these efforts will pay off and make our property the premier deer habitat in the area. While apple trees have created challenges, we believe that the orchards will prove to be an attractive force that will bring large numbers of Does to the property earlier in the fall setting the stage for outstanding rut activity. One thing we know for certain, where there are Does there will be Bucks, and the largest concentration of Does will attract the most dominant and largest Bucks in the area. |
|
Minerals
|
Antler development and the production of healthy fawns is greatly enhanced by the addition of vitamins and minerals to the diets of the Does, Bucks and Fawns. To supplement the nutritional needs of the deer herd, we maintain on a year round basis mineral blocks formulated by an animal nutrition company that provide these vital nutrients. We have seen first hand the difference deer nutrition can make and are believers.
Not only are the mineral blocks good for the wildlife, they are also another attractant that sets our property apart. Our philosophy is simple; if one mineral block site is good, two must be better! Two mineral sites also spreads the pressure out and reduces the competition between the deer. |
