Bowhunter14’s Farm thread

[bowhunter14]

Figured I’d show an update of the shooting house I’m building. 6’ x 6’ octagon made out of all treated lumber. Plan on getting it finished up and in its final resting place by Turkey season. Gonna be standing on an 8 foot tower overlooking the big food plot.

 

[lakngolf]

Figured I’d show an update of the shooting house I’m building. 6’ x 6’ octagon made out of all treated lumber. Plan on getting it finished up and in its final resting place by Turkey season. Gonna be standing on an 8 foot tower overlooking the big food plot.

You've got some $$$ in that project. Looks great. Gonna take some muscle to get it 8 feet

 

[bowhunter14]

@lakngolf yeah I unfortunately do. Trying to be as cheap as possible but if I built it 2 years ago I could have built 2 for 1 lol Thats what family with tractors is for!

 

[Triple C]

bh14 - Welcome to the forum and congrats on the property! Truly a journey that lasts a lifetime and beyond. In to my 12th year on my place and never tire of the habitat work. Look forward to following on your land journey!

 

[bowhunter14]

Sorry guys I haven't posted its been pretty busy out at the farm and at home. But I will give you a update now and follow it up with pictures the next time I am out there.
1. No turkey's were harmed on my place this year, not for lack of trying but I think the bird numbers in our area are really low. Usually I hear three or four toms yearly and all that was heard this year was one lone tom. Keep getting regular pictures of a hen or two here and there.
2. Planted 7 Chickasaw plum seedlings (MDC) and 8 Arrowwood shrubs (mdc) around the edge of the plot and so far have %100 survival on them.
3. Still waiting on the elderberry cuttings that I punched in the ground to show any signs of life.
4. Threw out 400 pounds of gold... I mean fertilizer on the main clover plot. Some rye that I can't remember when I planted came up very randomly throughout the plot. gonna let it all go till September and T&M in more rye and clover.
5. Dozer is gonna be out next week to add in a new 1+ acre plot and hopefully expand my micro kill plot a little.
6. Cut a road for the dozer to get back into the new plot.. Got to save money somewhere and chainsaw gas and sweat is a lot cheaper than paying a dozer to push out a road. hopefully he will be able to unload and get to work.
7. finished the octagon blind as seen in this thread. and got it loaded up on the trailer.

Now the to do list for the upcoming months.
1. Acquire 400 pounds of pelletized lime and 70 pounds of buckwheat seed for the new plot. Then top dress with rye/clover mix and mow in september.
2. Get the blind to its final resting place and in the air on an 8ft tower.
3. Get my new to me 50'' Swisher pull behind mower out the farm and get ready for my throw and mow. Picked this up from an elderly man that had it in pieces for $100. Put it all together and replaced the carb and she runs. Gonna sharpen the blades and replace the tires and use the heck out of it.
4. Clean out the old water hole of leaves and such.
5. Possibly dig in a new water hole in the new plot.

That's all for now... Hopefully I can get you guys some pictures this week!

 

[bowhunter14]

Okay as my mind is always in go mode I came up with this for a next spring project. Look it over and tell me what you think of the layout. Then answer the following questions if you would like to.
What shrub (green circle with red dots) would you plant to make a visual block and to section this plot in half I don't want to lose to much real estate to the shrubs but I would like it to add browse/ cover to the plot. I don't want to deal with suckering shrubs and need something that will make a good screen.
Also do you like the placement of the 3 pear trees? I want to go with Kieffer's if I can order them from a reputable nursery.

 

[KSQ2]

Looks good to me. Wildlife group sells some good looking bareroot pears for a reasonable price. I was very impressed with the root balls on them. We’ve been very happy with ours 2 years out.

 

[bowhunter14]

Arrowwood coming up strong

 

[bowhunter14]

Chickasaw plum is getting a slow start, but as long as it’s green and growing I am good

 

[bowhunter14]

Clover, chickory mix is looking good too. Best looking food plot I have had so far. But it still has a lot of weeds in it. I don’t think my Cleth mix was hot enough. Used 16oz of cleth with 8 ounce of surfactant in a 25 gallon sprayer.

 

[bowhunter14]

The timber is starting to green up and it is looking like good browse and cover.

 

[bowhunter14]

 

[KSQ2]

View attachment 23733 Clover, chickory mix is looking good too. Best looking food plot I have had so far. But it still has a lot of weeds in it. I don’t think my Cleth mix was hot enough. Used 16oz of cleth with 8 ounce of surfactant in a 25 gallon sprayer.

Clethodim won't kill broadleaves, it's a grass killer only. Some weeds in your plot aren't a bad thing though, unless they are taking it over. Most times deer will eat the weeds as much as the clover and chicory. Your plot looks great btw!

 

[bowhunter14]

@KSQ2 Yeah the grass is what's killing me right now. There is a couple big swaths of grasses popping up so I am losing a good bit of ground to grasses. I will probably try and respray cleth and hopefully I can get a better mix on it this time then probably hit it with a broadleaf killer next year.

 

[Native Hunter]

View attachment 23731 Arrowwood coming up strong

When I planted arrowwood on my place there was not any around. Now it has exploded and coming up everywhere from the seeds of the plants I set. It is a great shrub for cover and browsed quite a bit.

 

[bowhunter14]

@Native Hunter I am glad to hear it! I plan on trying to use arrowwood as a cover plant mostly. Any browse is just an added bonus.

 

[KSQ2]

@KSQ2 Yeah the grass is what's killing me right now. There is a couple big swaths of grasses popping up so I am losing a good bit of ground to grasses. I will probably try and respray cleth and hopefully I can get a better mix on it this time then probably hit it with a broadleaf killer next year.

Grasses are a pain, they just aren't easily dealt with in my experience. I would like to eliminate spraying all together, but I'm not sure I'll ever be able to.

 

[Mennoniteman]

@KSQ2 Yeah the grass is what's killing me right now. There is a couple big swaths of grasses popping up so I am losing a good bit of ground to grasses. I will probably try and respray cleth and hopefully I can get a better mix on it this time then probably hit it with a broadleaf killer next year.

Your nitrogen is too high. If nitrogen is high you can spray grass constantly and never really get ahead of it.
Look into planting more small grain into the clover to lower your nitrogen. Tall, thick, grass type crops that need lots of nitrogen like small grain or corn slurping up all the available nitrogen fires up clover big time. And never ever put nitrogen fertilizer on clover. It makes the clover lazy and fires up the grasses. Always put 0-20-20 or something similar on clover.

 

[KSQ2]

Your nitrogen is too high. If nitrogen is high you can spray grass constantly and never really get ahead of it.
Look into planting more small grain into the clover to lower your nitrogen. Tall, thick, grass type crops that need lots of nitrogen like small grain or corn slurping up all the available nitrogen fires up clover big time. And never ever put nitrogen fertilizer on clover. It makes the clover lazy and fires up the grasses. Always put 0-20-20 or something similar on clover.

We put lots of wheat, rye, and oats on it to combat the grasses each fall, it’s a tough battle though when dealing with johnson grass in the mid to late summer. I’m hoping to use my buddy’s no-till drill in the future to put in spring cereals as well, which I think will help.

 

[Mennoniteman]

We put lots of wheat, rye, and oats on it to combat the grasses each fall, it’s a tough battle though when dealing with johnson grass in the mid to late summer. I’m hoping to use my buddy’s no-till drill in the future to put in spring cereals as well, which I think will help.

One of the biggest side issues with growing cereals in clover is finding a window to spray herbicide that has residual effects, and also finding a window to plant cereals that doesn't overlap, with midsummer drought and winter blocking out large areas of the year. Owning a notill drill is huge, having the ability to plant notill oats in midmarch and notill rye on labor day opens up June and August to spray herbicide. If I had to rent a drill it just wouldn't happen. However, I also have some food plots where I manage clover by throw n mow in another county where I don't have a drill, so I can empathize with other people who also don't have one.