Farm and Ranch life

Rusty...Until you came along, I never even associated whitetail's with Mexico. Dang impressive on what you have going on down there.
 
Hey Rusty, you got any pics of a rye on rye thatch layer from one year to the next? I'm curious what your old layer looks like right before you press down the next one.

Great video man. I hardly ever watch videos to the end, but I watch yours till the end.
 
Hey Rusty, you got any pics of a rye on rye thatch layer from one year to the next? I'm curious what your old layer looks like right before you press down the next one.

Great video man. I hardly ever watch videos to the end, but I watch yours till the end.
Interesting question. I'll go dig around in a couple of the fields and see if I can find something photo worthy and post.

And thanks. I appreciate your comments
 
Non stop rain in May makes for difficult planting. Raining again today so decided to create this video, and will circle back around once planting is finished.
Interesting clip on the different combinations that you planted together. (It sounds like your drill needs greased) I'm waiting to see the mixed planting with the beans and stuff once it gains some height.
 
Here's a current look at some of the food plots along with a little experimentation and philosophy
You ever thought about trying a high biomass drought tolerant blend on that sandy hill at the end of the video? I'm thinking fast and high lignin before the heat gets there. Something like sweet clover, soghum-sudan, black oats, chicory maybe. So even if it cooks and dies, something that may leave enough residue to keep the soil from getting a tan until cool weather returned. I wonder if you couldn't get that up before the roaster kicked on.

Also, you have any guess what your deer per square mile is on your place? That walk along your burnt field edge was interesting.
 
Here's a current look at some of the food plots along with a little experimentation and philosophy

Love the video but gotta disagree with your theory and anecdotal evidence about your deer living longer because you don’t spray your food plots. Your deer are protected by a fence - that is not a criticism, just a fact. I would fence my properties in a heart beat if I could, and I guarantee “my” deer would live longer than they do now.
 
You ever thought about trying a high biomass drought tolerant blend on that sandy hill at the end of the video? I'm thinking fast and high lignin before the heat gets there. Something like sweet clover, soghum-sudan, black oats, chicory maybe. So even if it cooks and dies, something that may leave enough residue to keep the soil from getting a tan until cool weather returned. I wonder if you couldn't get that up before the roaster kicked on.

Also, you have any guess what your deer per square mile is on your place? That walk along your burnt field edge was interesting.
I've played with a number of ideas just never got around to doing anything about it. The area is a small part of the field and does grow some portion of the time. Thought about alfalfa there but never did anything about it. Your ideas are appropriate for the spot though.

I have no accurate handle on the number of deer I have. What I have a very good feel for is how the herd balances with the habitat Were I to take a wild swag I would say I'm carrying ~ a deer to 5-6 acres. If anything would be less than that. I pay attention to not letting the herd get ahead of me cause its too much work making a significant reduction in numbers .I could carry on about herd management for way to long but that is something I watch very closely. I don't want to see a lot of deer.
 
Love the video but gotta disagree with your theory and anecdotal evidence about your deer living longer because you don’t spray your food plots. Your deer are protected by a fence - that is not a criticism, just a fact. I would fence my properties in a heart beat if I could, and I guarantee “my” deer would live longer than they do now.
Your absolutely right though I tend to disagree though I could be wrong but have done enough comparatives to believe I'm right.{ I hope thats clear:) } One of the main things a fence does for a manager is create the 'opportunity' for deer to age. If circumstantially that opportunity isn't there and the opportunity for age cant be impacted then exploring tactics to maximize longevity and health are mostly irrelevant . That said wether a deer is inside an enclosed property or on the King Ranch how well they age and their health status is a function of the nutritional plane, social stress, social structure and environmental constraints.

The point I was trying to make is I do believe the deer on my farm perform at a higher level later in life that the typical herds I have been involved in. And I believe it is because of the nutritional plane as well as the subtleties of not having them eating foods drenched in poison as well as population dynamics and the relationship to the habitat. Course if I went and started shooting all the bucks at younger ages that wouldn't matter fence or not.

As an aside we are seeing bucks on the ranch reach very old ages. I have one buck from last year that I know to be a 16 yr old. One of the best bucks I ever took from the ranch was a 10 yr old. We generally look to take trophies in that country between 8-10 when the majority show peak performance. That wasn't so when I first bought the ranch as 6 was considered mature. But after 25 years of intensive protein supplementation the deer live longer and show high quality much later in life.

I can offer corresponding experiences from my time on the King Ranch where the deer peaked out much earlier in life and die offs were more common but I never introduced any nutritional improvements in that country. we focused most resources on quail.

Happy to continue this if it is interesting cause its cool stuff. But as you point out its not relevant to most as most herds in the country simply have almost no chance of full age expression and herd composition.
 
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