firearm season opens on saturday morning here.
hoping for some excitement.
got a great deal on an older but great condition woods M5 brush hog this fall and cut a couple new shooting lanes this year after we had our woods select harvest veneer maple thinned 2 years back.
gear box oil was nice and clean - and being stored outside i had to knock lichen off the gear box fill bolt, so i know it wasnt shenanigan's. not a drip at any of the seals, and the blades were in great shape. Previous owner used to use it 1-2x a season on a 7 acre pasture behind his house, so its basically been a lawnmower most of its life.
the raspberries were thick as well as small undergrowth coming in. so i opened up a couple nice travel lanes right into my hunting area to give them a couple nice lazy paths to walk where i want them to

found several spots that were being used as bedding areas, which made me very happy to discover back there.
ive got a great new 135 yd shooting lane directly to my north thats about 15-20' wide that ive been dreaming to make happen for the last 4 or 5 seasons. with the select harvest and the brush hog i was finally able to make that a reality. next season its gonna have 65-75 yds of food plot planted along it, especially down at the end where there's a bit of a clearing. i also hope to be able to widen it a bit more... maybe another pass or two if i can. 2 or 3 apple trees will go along the eastern edge.
also cut in a small food plot about 60 yds west of my stand - just some rye this fall, but will be a multi-section food plot next season with some apple trees on its western perimeter.
i wasnt able to take advantage of this kind of opportunity 20 years ago when we did did a storm damage clearing, so i'm doing my best to make some high quality long term hunting habitat back there.