Farmhunter's Deer Management and Property Improvements

[farmhunter]

starting to get my fields ready - been hampered by snow - even more tonight actually. It comes and goes. Clover frost seeded is coming to my rye - and I did get the plows ready and started plowing - about 1/3 done at this point - waiting for a little better weather.
Some pictures from the weekend -

 

[farmhunter]

The tree plantings in the pictures I planted between 2000 and 2005. I’m surprised each time I see them how fast the time has gone. I agree the best time to plant trees is as soon as you can don’t put it off

 

[farmhunter]

I've not been hating going to work out of the cabin while my family has been quarantined at home.

Only been hunting once for turkeys - but there are a few around.

Also have seen patches - I think she looks pregnant - and is getting in her summer coat like all the deer are starting to. She will be 12 years old this month!

Happy to see the Yellow Trout Lily in bloom in early May -

On the weekend - I got two apple trees planted (semi dwarf Northern Spy and Macoun) and will follow up with two or three more this weekend as I continue to build habitat from my 15 acre field - its been a 20 year project so far. They will be a semi-circle downwind of the pond and upwind from the South Tower. as the conifer breaks grow and shelter this pond the meadow with apple trees in between the pond and the tower should provide hunting and photography opportunity in the future. Kind of like an oasis in the middle of what used to be a 15 acre field.

Also I enjoyed having morning coffee on the porch and taking pictures of the birds that are all around.

the beavers have been busy

was a beautiful weekend - hoping to get some corn planted next week after the snow on the weekend - and soybeans to follow

 

[Elkaddict]

Love the pictures. Are your soil temps high enough for planting (particularly for beans)?

 

[farmhunter]

Love the pictures. Are your soil temps high enough for planting (particularly for beans)?

no cannot plant anything yet. Farmers around me are ready to plant corn - I follow their lead - looks like maybe next week for corn? We had snow again today, so in a wait and see mode.

Soybeans I like to plant around Memorial day - unless we get a warm week before.

 

[farmhunter]

My 2019 deer is ready for the cabin!

 

[farmhunter]

corn and soybeans in 5/22-5/24. Not too bad - We always try to get corn in by the end of May. Warm weather made us decide to put the beans in now as well.

Most of the corn we got in ahead of a warm rain Friday night. The next day it looked in great shape. Here is one field - I can see some corn kernels that washed out but not most. Corn got planted a little heavier than we wanted - havent really had any adjust for a long time now.

Beans were all done by Sunday morning. if we did it right - we'll have 3+ acres of beans inside three sides of corn (2 acres) in one field - the south tower below will peek over the northern corn strip and just under an acre of corn on the south end of a 2 acre bean block in the other field. Basically destination plots for bow season and a late gun season doe gimmie. the south tower sits at about 1650ft. the high spot on the hill is back in the woods a bit 1689ft. my deer pond sits at about 1630 ft - definitely doesn't drain too many acres.

 

[farmhunter]

End of May - Does are looking ready to drop fawns - I like this picture with a turkey - I always think its neat when multiple species are in the shot. Also looks to me more like Patches might be pregnant - she did not raise a fawn last year, that was the first time she didn't have one. Shes never raises two in one year.. I'm really looking forward to see if she can raise one at 12 years old.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Looks like fawns will be coming shortly. I've seen a little fawn following it's mama, walking out in our field this year already.

 

[KSQ2]

Another great property thread, I love seeing the winter pics from up north! Thanks for sharing, I too am becoming a fan of Patches.

 

[farmhunter]

thanks! Corn and beans are up - 6-4-20
some of the corn was coming up after a week - all the corn and about 12 the beans were up on 6/4. I park farm equipment around int ht corn to discourage the geese from walking up and down the rows to pick the kernels out of the seedlings . It woeks for a whil - hopefull long enough to protect them in this critical week of growth. Starting to think about broadcasting urea and spraying Gly now. might have to do it before June is over with this warm weather.

This section of the field is the most rocky, I kind of gave up trying to pick them here, just the big ones. What I really should do is plant it in grass/clover and never turn it over, especially over by the Jeep. but it really grows good beans in that low spot.

set up a shooting lane and some skeet at the farm this weekend. The kids were up for a couple nights - so we did some shooting.
this top field cannot grow much but grass. Its up by the cabin and it makes a good spot to shoot and not interfere too much.

 

[Elkaddict]

Looks like our fields are at the same stage. Germination was 8 day in 3 different plots. I’ve got more trouble with turkeys than geese this year. They love pulling up the tender new growth. We could use a little more rain than is in the immediate forecast.....

 

[farmhunter]

Looks like our fields are at the same stage. Germination was 8 day in 3 different plots. I’ve got more trouble with turkeys than geese this year. They love pulling up the tender new growth. We could use a little more rain than is in the immediate forecast.....

geese are the most difficult here. The get pretty tame. I swapped the tractor and trailers out for lawn chairs last week - I think I have most of the corn ahead of the geese now. No the deer are all over my soybeans - I may have some feild sections that get tilled back in for turnips in a month. Its hard to keep them out - I don't really want to. just got to get past the critical growth stages and then they do well enough usually

 

[farmhunter]

A month later things are really coming on after a dry spat.

corn for us - if we are knee high by the fourth of july we are lucky - this year we are more than waist high. With the fast growth I almost missed spreading urea over the corn.

The corn responded quickly - but I did have some burning as expected.

Beans are slower to get going because of Dry Conditions - but are on their way now -

Some of the goal bucks are becoming visible -
Buddy8 was #1 or #2 last year and he's added some obvious growth already this year - will be looking forward to watching him grow.
Last year his brows were not 2.5" - but he had 9" G2s and G3s - so fingers crossed.

 

[Elkaddict]

Looking good! Your corn is ahead of ours. Most of our beans have been eaten but the deer have left the corn alone which is the primary reason for adding them. Can’t wait to see the pop after the 2” of rain that’s forecast this weekend. Our brassicas popped this week in one plot and just starting in the next. This is my favorite part of summer because I can finally relax a bit and focus on other chores.

That’s a good looking NY deer. Our bucks are a bit of a mystery. I’ve got 5 or 6 31/2 year olds, but only one that looks older.... Crossing my fingers that a half dozen or so older bucks survived.

 

[Cedar Ridge]

End of May - Does are looking ready to drop fawns - I like this picture with a turkey - I always think its neat when multiple species are in the shot. Also looks to me more like Patches might be pregnant - she did not raise a fawn last year, that was the first time she didn't have one. Shes never raises two in one year.. I'm really looking forward to see if she can raise one at 12 years old.

Love the history with Patches. Any idea if she did have a fawn this year?

 

[farmhunter]

Looking forward to seeing your rutabagas Elk - I've got to try it one year. I put some purple top turnips at the ends of my corn rows last week - and will put our a 1/2 acre plot of soon for the Jan-Mar deer. Its going to be a great corn year around here. This rain this weekend ought to jumpstart everything for us all.

Cedar Ridge - Patches birthed a fawn - she had a milk sack 3 weeks ago - I haven't seen here close since - but I see her almost every day. She's been pretty secretive with her fawns in the past. Most does aren't out with their fawns yet in the day - so we should know soon. Last year she never raised one - it could be it died young -and maybe the same will happen this year? She spends a lot more time in the beans and in the open than when she was younger. I imagine she has no teeth left - she must have to eat more than in the past. Right now she's more tolerant of me than usual. When I was brush hogging the other night she came out with a 1.5 year old deer - that I know isn't her fawn but she acts like its her last year fawn. She crossed the field to feed on the beans away from me - but she didn't go the other way - which is new. She's been a lot of fun to keep track of, any year now could be the last.

 

[farmhunter]

This lopsided buck with some odd points coming on is hanging with Buddy8. The group is 5-7 bucks and at least 3 are 3.5 years old. I don't recognize this one yet.

Looking forward to some better pictures with the trail cams. When these bucks group up - they stay just off my property for the next couple months. Every now and then one will show up in a plot or in a staging area - but I don't get a lot of pics of the older bucks until September. Our area seems to be more of doe breeding area than the older bachelor buck hangout.

 

[farmhunter]

Elk - I've learned that some of the bucks we thought were 2.5 are really 3.5 or even older. not all our bucks get heavy or wide racks as they get older. I don't think its genetics - I think its rough winters and thin soils.

Here's part of the bachelor group - that I've been watching from 400 yds

and here's one of the big does that chases off all the bucks that come to her living room - she's the boss in that favorite spot - in 2 months every buck will show up in this little staging
area corner she calls home.

 

[farmhunter]

on 7-12 I put in a 3/4" plot of red clover - and I mixed in a lb of purple top turnip and some chicory. Its part of my bean/corn/clover rotation in this field. the field is 5.5 acres -and 2 acres stays fallow- gets mowed once every year - the soil is really poor on the high side of the field and the grasses that grow are beneficial. So the remaining 3.5 acres is basically rotated every other year or so.
Sod was good and dead -and soil was soft enough from the rain to disk ups some.

We also got almost 4" of rain on the weekend - so my little field pond almost filled all the way back up.

Starting to see the results of breaking the field up with multiple plots using corn to screen travel corridors for the deer and for hunting. The goal for this 15 acre field was to transform it to a focal point at the center of the property vs the barren open lot it used to be. All the screening makes the field feel a lot bigger than it is. Lots of micro habitat going on here these days. I cannot show it all with one or two pictures. - so here are a few more.