Food plots in the rearview !

[Drycreek]

I finally got the time and the moisture to finish up my food plots. Waiting on rain for months, dodging torrential rains when it finally came, dealing with a wedding, and today we finished the last two of four plots. The top one is Elbon rye, planted November 1, the next rye and wheat, planted November 2. The bare dirt was straight wheat, and of course planted today.

 

[yoderjac]

Nice! Timely rain is always a critical factor.

 

[KSQ2]

Our plots are looking really good finally, rain is everything as we all know. What truly amazed me this year is just how resilient brassicas are if you can get them started right. We got a 2.5” rain in August a couple days after getting them in them ground. We didn’t get another rain until November, but the brassicas kept going, they didn’t get big like normal, but they didn’t die either, and now with the mild temps, they are still putting on a little growth. I’m guessing the temps the end of this week will stop that, but deer are hitting them hard. I just wish we’d planted more.

 

[yoderjac]

Nice! I like the smaller turnips better anyway. They seem less bitter than larger ones. We had plenty of rain after planting our plots and then no rain for over a month. We are finally getting some again. Our plots got established, but since I planted later than normal, our PTT have small bulbs as well.

 

[Drycreek]

Mine finally got going after another little rain.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Mine finally got going after another little rain. View attachment 28901

I hope that fills in nicely for you. With some moisture it should be a nice stand by Christmas.

 

[Drycreek]

It’s loking better every day MM.

 

[Mennoniteman]

It’s loking better every day MM. View attachment 28921

That just intrigues me, because our food plots are almost over, our deer are eating the last of the clover as the almost nightly frosts freeze it down and after that's gone our only thing left is winter rye. Normally we'd have a good crop of radishes left at this time, but our fall drought took care of those. I'm always interested in hearing about your December hunts over your wheat plots, a time when our deer season is almost done.
When are you going to start hunting this?

 

[Drycreek]

We have only had a couple of really good frosts so far, most of our mornings have been comfortable enough that I haven’t lit a heater in a blind. A little unusual even for us. We have a family sandhill crane hunt scheduled for December 14-15 and it will probably be colder than a well digger’s belt buckle. I hate shooting a shotgun in heavy clothes !

 

[yoderjac]

In 7a, I saw my first deer eating PPT tops. They typically ignore these until about this time of year. We do have a heavy mast crop this year. Plot use is mostly after dark.