Recent content by shaman

That's just it. I've got 8 acres currently planted in various food plots fairly near those cedars. On the other hand, everywhere I look, I've got 20+ yr old cedar thickets. The one thing I don't have currently is habitat that encourages the larger bucks to stick around during rifle season.

When we got the place back in 2001, there was a disused 1.5 acre pasture about 200 yards from the house. It is 300 yards long and about 25 yards wide. It had an old fenceline running across the top and it presented a gentle south-facing slope that ran from a pond on the west to the edge of the...

I thought I'd give y'all a post-mortem on how the food plots did. First off, the final take: Six hunters took 4 bucks over 2 weeks + 1 ML weekend in October. Most of us had opportunities at doe, but it was still early in season. That's sub-par for our camp. Now for the plots. Here is...

Huzzah! Last week we got about 2+ inches of rain over 4 days and I was out at the plots about 12 hours later. When I first looked at Friday noon, you had to kinda cock your head funny to see a hint of green. By Saturday morning, there was no doubt that germination had happened. The tallest...

I woke up this AM with about an inch of rain on the ground and another inch predicted. Golly! What a relief. I spent all of Labor Day Weekend with #2 son, Moose, working on the plots.We had 32 1/4 plots. When we started Saturday AM, he still had a couple to till up and I had some that had not...

I published an update on the food plots on my weblog. I thought y'all would like to see it: Catching Up on Food Plots

Just so y'all know, my land was subsistence farmed since the early 1810s. After WWII they converted to tobacco and cows and hay. It's generally great for deer and turkey hunting, but fertility is not its strong suit. What's done well in the past is ladino clover and wheat.

I'm trying a mix with alfalfa in it this year, just to see. What I've heard is that alfalfa does not do well in our local soils, and guys who try it end up sinking too much money into soil amendments to make it work. We'll see. I've had good luck with perennial clovers like ladino in the...

Thanks all.

I have a new spot to deal with. I was not expecting this to come up. In the process of clearing for the new house, the bulldozer guy cleared off a fenceline for me that had grown up with red cedar. I had not expected this much disturbed, but I now have 150 yards of old pasture opened up...

I concur. This is the exact opposite of my current situation. I'm swimming. I was due to get the hay mowed this week, but there has not been two days without rain in weeks. Rain last night. It's due to rain today and for the rest of the week.

Crimpers-- that reminds me of a question I've been meaning to ask. Can someone explain why crimping is better than mowing? With a bush hog? With a hay mower? The former, I already have. A hay mower I can borrow easily. What does crimping buy me?

I thought oxygen in the soil was a good thing. Isn't it necessary for legumes to bond nitrogen?

Yoderjac: That's interesting. I hadn't thought of it like that before. In the past, I've had a couple plots tilled up for me. The guy just went in and tilled as deep as he could and I never sprayed or anything and got fairly decent plots. How long should I wait after tilling to apply gly?

It's nearing the deadline I gave the guy doing my hay to be done. It's probably going to have to slide. There won't be 2 dry days to rub together in the next two weeks. However, I wanted to get things right in my head before it happens. 1) How long after haying should I spray gly? Usually...