I know it’s the heart of the fishing season, but I wanted to circle back to planting season, specifically May 24. I was recruited by Big River Rich to help out with some deer food plots. It didn’t take any convincing because the payback is in the form of some late season deer hunting. Even without that generous offer, I would honestly still help him because it’s doing fun stuff. 

I come from a long line of non-farmers: my Grandpa Wally was a cheese maker and a deer hunter and my dad was a commercial fisherman. Obviously, I am not a farmer. I can barely grow a Chia Pet. Nonetheless, Big River Rich recruited me and if he was willing to lower his standards, who am I to disagree?

The first thing that I had to do was break up new ground. The small area was a good time and place for a refresher course on driving tractor. Now I started driving a boat with a motor around the age of eight. I could do it in my sleep. Honest to goodness, when I was a young pup I took the Wisconsin DNR Boating Safety class but I passed on tractor safety because I didn’t think that I would ever need it. When it comes to tractors, well, my experience is pretty limited. It took a while, but I worked the ground with the drag and soon the green pasture area was looking more like the infield of a baseball diamond.  

After I finished up the turnip patch it was time to move onto beans. Not that I ever had planting soy beans on my bucket list but if I did, I could now check that box. I’m pretty sure that the rows weren’t as straight as Big River Rich would have had them but the most important thing was that at the end of the day, the beans were all underground and that is where they were supposed to be. 

This story is far from over, but I will jump ahead about a month after that initial planting. It seems that the neighbors approved of my work and a guy can’t help but feel optimistic about what could potentially happen there this fall.

For now, I can focus on fishing, but I will return to the Big River Valley later this year to check on the food plot. I will provide an update on the fields and what the deer think of Dave as a farmer.

Didn’t get enough Dave this week? Visit “Outdoor Trails and Tales with Dave Beck” on Facebook for photos and video of Dave’s adventures. You can share your own photos and video with him there as well, or by emailing him at dave@piercecountyjournal.news Also, check out OTT content on Instagram @thepiercecountyjournal