As close to the dream property as I am going to get, at least for now
- Thread starter CTM1
- Start date
Chainsaw
Well-Known Member
I think you are on the right track CTM1 with planting a turnips, radish. rye plot. The LC mix in each plot is even better, at least it is here. We have cut our clover down to just twenty-five ft. or so strips (sometimes less) planted on the shady side running the length of the plots. When we used to plant single items in each plot the deer got off our clover around Oct.10;I'm thinking your season doesn't even begin there yet.
The turnip/rye/radish section keeps the deer coming back through our long season.
I'm with you on the tractors;a new one or two is a must AFTER one is done buying land. Chainsaws though that's another story because they are the real workhorses of managing our habitat to the deer's SECURITY(cover) and liking.
EDIT-THE CHAINSAW RECOMMENDATION goes with attendance at a game of logging class first--not just because of your tractor mishaps but one person only has so much luck.
The turnip/rye/radish section keeps the deer coming back through our long season.
I'm with you on the tractors;a new one or two is a must AFTER one is done buying land. Chainsaws though that's another story because they are the real workhorses of managing our habitat to the deer's SECURITY(cover) and liking.
EDIT-THE CHAINSAW RECOMMENDATION goes with attendance at a game of logging class first--not just because of your tractor mishaps but one person only has so much luck.
CTM1
Active Member
It has been a while but life had me in another part of the state for quite some time. A two week window finally opened up to get home and do some plotting, but as always a mechanical setback put an end to it. On my first day back the brakes on the truck decided to go. At first I thought it was just pads but it wound up being the entire deal, pads, rotors and calipers. It took a week and half to get an appointment with my local guy. When Jim (shop owner) handed me the bill I told him this cuts into my food plotting fund. Jim laughed and said it is cheaper just to buy steak 
As I was walking out the door he said do not spend all of your money on them deer plots as you will need rear shocks soon.
Well I finally mounted the disc and loaded up the evil orange tractor and headed for the 150 for another year of fun filled ups and downs.
As you can see field 2A & 2B is filled with Rye that is headed out but there is lots of red and white clover down below. The far end near the tree line had heavy water runoff and is filled with grass.
As I found out from last year I knew without the tiller (broken from last year) that the disc would never cut through this, but I decided to run one area with several passes just for fun. Right after that it was back to field 3 to swap out the disc for the hog. I hogged field 3 and then decided to hog field 4 which had not been done in years.
The plan for field 2A & 2B is to demo it all and go with radish, turnips, and little rape coupled with rye again. Skipping the oats as they never seem to grow.
As I was walking out the door he said do not spend all of your money on them deer plots as you will need rear shocks soon. Well I finally mounted the disc and loaded up the evil orange tractor and headed for the 150 for another year of fun filled ups and downs.
As you can see field 2A & 2B is filled with Rye that is headed out but there is lots of red and white clover down below. The far end near the tree line had heavy water runoff and is filled with grass.
As I found out from last year I knew without the tiller (broken from last year) that the disc would never cut through this, but I decided to run one area with several passes just for fun. Right after that it was back to field 3 to swap out the disc for the hog. I hogged field 3 and then decided to hog field 4 which had not been done in years.
The plan for field 2A & 2B is to demo it all and go with radish, turnips, and little rape coupled with rye again. Skipping the oats as they never seem to grow.
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CTM1
Active Member
Field 1 grows nothing but weeds. Despite frost seeding with red and white clover nothing grew, heck even the rye did not really come back. I have yet to do a soil test on this one, but I imagine it is worse then the others. There is a weed that can be seen in the bottom left of the first pic which is at the top of the field that I have nuked with roundup twice and it still comes back.
This is the bottom of field 1 and while it has a little rye headed out there should have been a lot more based on the amount of seed I put down.
To all those that say rye will grow in and on anything here is some proof that it has met its match with this fields soil.
This is the bottom of field 1 and while it has a little rye headed out there should have been a lot more based on the amount of seed I put down.
To all those that say rye will grow in and on anything here is some proof that it has met its match with this fields soil.
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CTM1
Active Member
I am embarking on a seven hour round trip tomorrow to hopefully pick up an affordable Spring Tooth Chisel Plow as recommended by OkieKubota last year. I just wish I would have found one sooner. If all goes well hopefully I will be ripping up the soil on Wed as I am running out of time but I am still ahead of last year by about three weeks.
CTM1
Active Member
Through the years I have had a number of up close and personal experiences with bears, including sows and cubs. Some of the males have resulted in taxidermy bills and bear meat for friends. Other encounters were pure joy, like seeing three bear cubs wrestling on my lawn or looking in my windows. Well today was one of the enjoyable days with what sadly is an orphan bear cub. I started seeing this little one as soon as I returned home. The cub is roaming around the house every day and it spends more time on my front deck then I do. Today was a rainy day so I was a couch potato and around 2:30 pm I looked out the front window toward to reservoir and something catches my eye, something black up in a tree. I walk over to the windows and sure enough it is my little orphan cub taking a nap in the tree in front of the house on a rainy do nothing day. I wish I could have zoomed in further but this was all the camera could muster. The little one slept until about 4:30 and then woke. It was comical to watch him stretching after his nap and then even funnier watching him/her try to climb off its perch frontwards. The little one quickly realized going backwards was much easier. Half hour later he was wondering around the property doing his thing and up on the deck. 
and right before dark this cubs antics had me laughing. Here he is trying to get through the glass, perhaps to eat the deer or other animals inside or to get to the other bears inside, maybe he thought one was Mom or Dad.
Here the cub is showing a little teeth.
Here you can see the little guy with his paw pressed against the glass.
Here is what he is looking in on.
If this little one does not quickly learn that man is bad for its health and well being I fear its life will be short lived. I am wondering if I should start running it off every time it is near the house to put a little fear into it. Without a mother to teach it the ways of the world I wonder if it will make it even if it avoids man or a fast moving Chevy.
and right before dark this cubs antics had me laughing. Here he is trying to get through the glass, perhaps to eat the deer or other animals inside or to get to the other bears inside, maybe he thought one was Mom or Dad.Here the cub is showing a little teeth.
Here you can see the little guy with his paw pressed against the glass.Here is what he is looking in on.
If this little one does not quickly learn that man is bad for its health and well being I fear its life will be short lived. I am wondering if I should start running it off every time it is near the house to put a little fear into it. Without a mother to teach it the ways of the world I wonder if it will make it even if it avoids man or a fast moving Chevy.
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JohnL48
Well-Known Member
Elkaddict
Well-Known Member
CTM, good to see you back. The bear on your deck is not abandoned but one chased away by mama the last several months to learn to fend for itself. It can be harsh but that is nature's way. This age class typically are less afraid of man and are frequently particularly hungry depending on how well they've been trained/learned the last 21/2+ years.
As I look at some of your fields, they cry out for tons of lime. IME, fields where little grows but weeds are almost always a sign of deficient soils.
I'm really struggling to get our plots in as well. I've been so dependent on help that we too are behind.
A chisel plow has been on my list for a while. They can be a lot more efficient than a modest sized disc for exposing soil--something that's particularly import when reviving long fallow plots. Keep us posted.
As I look at some of your fields, they cry out for tons of lime. IME, fields where little grows but weeds are almost always a sign of deficient soils.
I'm really struggling to get our plots in as well. I've been so dependent on help that we too are behind.
A chisel plow has been on my list for a while. They can be a lot more efficient than a modest sized disc for exposing soil--something that's particularly import when reviving long fallow plots. Keep us posted.
CTM1
Active Member
John, but for the two in the middle row on the front wall all came from our area. The two in the middle on the front wall are down state deer.
The one on the top right on the front wall is my biggest from the our hill taken in 09, it scored 134 1/8. It is actually the deer in my avatar.
The second pic is my avatar picture. He was eating apples under Joe's apple trees. As you can see in that picture his body is huge but by the time I got him in Dec he was much thinner and had a split left ear, maybe from fighting.
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CTM1
Active Member
I hear you on the lime. The lime dealer spread 10 ton last year and I was hoping to get another 10 ton + now but the lime dealer said with all of the rain as of late I would be paying for water weight, and with the fields being so wet they are not inclined to drive the lime truck into them.
Been following your thread and I must say you have some good groceries going already, but I guess more is always better.
Be well!
I will second about that being a yearling bear and not a cub. Its probably hanging around the house because its a dead zone in bear territory. The bigger ones stay clear of humans. This one has probably gotten beat up and chased out of just about everywhere since June when the sow came in heat.
I would start scaring away but I don't know anything about having bears around the house.I use a spring tooth and they worth fine for evening ground and doing some breaking up but will pick up grass and weeds.That one looks different but my disc and tiller both tear up the ground better.I used mine to drag mowed grass off firebreaks and thats about it
CTM1
Active Member
Thanks
He paid me another visit today at noon. I have 33 mounts so far with a few more at the taxidermist, the bad part is I am running out of room.
CTM1
Active Member
I know a couple of you guys are saying the bear is a yearling but I still consider that a cub and he is small. I also say orphan because I believe that this is the last surviving cub from a sow that I had know for years.
Well just like every other day the little guy paid me a visit, but he was really early today coming around noon. Unfortunately I left the camera in the truck so I missed getting some day time up close and personal pictures. In any event I had another really good look at him, at one point he was pressed up against my back door. A few other neighbors that have seen him have also said he looks really small and like something is wrong with him, like an old back injury.
As I mentioned we had a sow around here for a number of years and I had know her since she was a yearling, distinctive scar on her right hip. In the years I have known her she went on to have three litters of cubs with each litter being three cubs. Sadly she was killed last year and one of her cubs was also killed at the same time. Both the sow and the cub were confiscated by the DEC and were slated to have DNA samples taken. In NYS you cannot knowingly shoot a cub or a bear from a group of bears. I found out much later that one of her other cubs was also killed by some jerk who tried to claim that he thought it was a legal bear. I am willing to bet that it is her surviving cub from last year. I feel bad for the little guy but as we all know nature can be cruel.
Well just like every other day the little guy paid me a visit, but he was really early today coming around noon. Unfortunately I left the camera in the truck so I missed getting some day time up close and personal pictures. In any event I had another really good look at him, at one point he was pressed up against my back door. A few other neighbors that have seen him have also said he looks really small and like something is wrong with him, like an old back injury.
As I mentioned we had a sow around here for a number of years and I had know her since she was a yearling, distinctive scar on her right hip. In the years I have known her she went on to have three litters of cubs with each litter being three cubs. Sadly she was killed last year and one of her cubs was also killed at the same time. Both the sow and the cub were confiscated by the DEC and were slated to have DNA samples taken. In NYS you cannot knowingly shoot a cub or a bear from a group of bears. I found out much later that one of her other cubs was also killed by some jerk who tried to claim that he thought it was a legal bear. I am willing to bet that it is her surviving cub from last year. I feel bad for the little guy but as we all know nature can be cruel.
CTM1
Active Member
When I moved my hog the other day a few of these guys took off but every time I passed by they were back. They would slither off into the taller grass but come back. They were there again today doing the same thing. Wondering if they have a nest under the dead grass.
PS I hate snakes.
PS I hate snakes.
CTM1
Active Member
Some good looking clover under that rye in field 2A and 2B. This area as well as a couple of others was all matted down. I know another Property Tour poster said that he had the same thing and felt the deer had done it.
Going to do an experiment in field 2A (left side of pic) and 2B (right side of pic). I hogged 2B this afternoon which had a lot more grass then 2A. So I am going to leave 2A along and make another attempt at throw and grow with brassicas into the clover and out going rye. I will spread more clover and come Sept spread more new rye seed.
Going to do an experiment in field 2A (left side of pic) and 2B (right side of pic). I hogged 2B this afternoon which had a lot more grass then 2A. So I am going to leave 2A along and make another attempt at throw and grow with brassicas into the clover and out going rye. I will spread more clover and come Sept spread more new rye seed.
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CTM1
Active Member
On top of hogging field 2B today I also hogged field 1 and then said heck I matter as well to do the roads and parking area. Of course this kept my but on Evil Orange until almost 8:45pm tonight.
Field 1 will get hit that hard with roundup as it is weed city, and that waxy looking plant I posted about in my first year is back with a vengeance. Waiting for the lime to dry out so they can deliver and spread it. I will not waste the clover on this field again, perhaps another try with the rye.
As mentioned above I hogged field 3 and 4 the other day. I will spray 1oz of roundup on field 3 tomorrow in the hopes of killing off the grass etc and only stunting the clover. It will get more clover seed and then more rye in Sept.
Field 4 will just sit as I just wanted to cut back on so many of the new hawthorne trees coming up.
Field 1 will get hit that hard with roundup as it is weed city, and that waxy looking plant I posted about in my first year is back with a vengeance. Waiting for the lime to dry out so they can deliver and spread it. I will not waste the clover on this field again, perhaps another try with the rye.
As mentioned above I hogged field 3 and 4 the other day. I will spray 1oz of roundup on field 3 tomorrow in the hopes of killing off the grass etc and only stunting the clover. It will get more clover seed and then more rye in Sept.
Field 4 will just sit as I just wanted to cut back on so many of the new hawthorne trees coming up.
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