Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
Black gun and white socks - all you need is a cowboy hat....
Foodplotting In The Mountains...The Sequel
- Thread starter dogghr
- Start date
dogghr
Well-Known Member
Stress? Yea its funny sometimes how I spend so much time thinking what I should, have, or could've done at the farm. If a woman knew how much the habitat work controls my thinking over her, she would probable make me sale. But luckily the mind is in a protected space.
dogghr
Well-Known Member
Yea I thot I looked pretty hot. May take those calves to the state fair in a couple weeks and show them.Black gun and white socks - all you need is a cowboy hat....
dogghr
Well-Known Member
Month long dry spell and heat and browse has really hurt the clovers. I see same thing each year in Aug as it looks like clover is dead, then it springs to life in Sept with cooler temps and moisture. Yards have turned brown after a wet April and May. With a dry winter, it is hard on plants to charge into drought conditions as readily.
And this is where alfalfa shows its stuff, even as it is browsed heavily. Taken few days ago, and today the clovers were struggling.
Alfalfa still makes up about a third of the plot, but into its 5th year, I might rotate with brassica next year, or let it revert to just a clover plot.
From the old forum, a member swore to spray grasses early July for the best of kills. I've always sprayed May or Sept, so gave it a try. This is a week after spraying and you can see basses of grass are mostly brown. I expect a good kill with no followup this fall. Some grass in the plot doesn't bother me. Will overseed with WR early Sept. Sprayed combo of Cleth, Crop oil, and AMS about 9 days ago. It rained a shower about 1 hour after spray and I worried some, but it seems to be doing fine. Takes 2-3 weeks for good burn down. Weeds, I just mow, deer like a lot of them a various times.
Send some rain please.
And this is where alfalfa shows its stuff, even as it is browsed heavily. Taken few days ago, and today the clovers were struggling.
Alfalfa still makes up about a third of the plot, but into its 5th year, I might rotate with brassica next year, or let it revert to just a clover plot.
From the old forum, a member swore to spray grasses early July for the best of kills. I've always sprayed May or Sept, so gave it a try. This is a week after spraying and you can see basses of grass are mostly brown. I expect a good kill with no followup this fall. Some grass in the plot doesn't bother me. Will overseed with WR early Sept. Sprayed combo of Cleth, Crop oil, and AMS about 9 days ago. It rained a shower about 1 hour after spray and I worried some, but it seems to be doing fine. Takes 2-3 weeks for good burn down. Weeds, I just mow, deer like a lot of them a various times.
Send some rain please.
buckvelvet
Active Member
Sometimes ya'll just need some rain.
dogghr
Well-Known Member
Sometimes ya'll just need some rain.
Where have you been Buck/cartoon man?? I've missed those graphics and look at the luck you gave me! The bottom left blob pretty much over the farm. I need a week of rain but I'll take it. It's just working its way backdoor down the lee side of the mountains.
You need to get some of your apple work posted on here.
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dogghr
Well-Known Member
Dang it Lak, I've been found out. Surprised I've been able to keep those guns on that temple a secret for so long.
buckvelvet
Active Member
Yeah I prolly should start doing some talks about apples. Some good folks here that enjoy apples & pears.
dogghr
Well-Known Member
Too hot and dry for much more than a drive by. Even the dog refused to leave the shade under the Jeep. When I returned drenched in sweat realized she was the smart one.
Not sure can see but you can use this to your advantage when planting no tillage. First pic is no stubble and deer browsed to an inch. Second there is 6 in stubble and deer hate to feed into that this allowing clover to grow more. So when you throw and mow, leave 6 in stubble.
Poor pic but good reason for cage. Without it field looks like a bust but alfalfa in cage is at least 6 in taller than outside from browse. 2 feet is as tall as I've ever seen the plot get. The Seven is easy carry to spray this years new apple plantings. After this year they are on there own. They will tough up more than likely.
This is one drawback of WW as to WR. The wheat lays thick after mowing a long time. The rye decomposes much quicker for my rotation planting in a few weeks.
Free food. Deer and bear love this stuff. And makes a tough till end of yr screening. I've jumped both bear and fawn out of this thicket. If you don't want it, just mow occassionally and it will leave.
Even chicory struggling with dry weather and heavy browse. You think it's dead but come fall leaves and flowers be back. Good mix with clovers and alfalfas.
Waterhole nearly dry. Couple bear paw prints in middle. I've got 2 larger ponds that have never dried up on farm.
After watching new movie Kong this week I thot this might be from the island. Imagine this crawling down your neck while on stand!!!
Predators. They give me a hand. Another skunk bites the dust.
Ferns are in there prime. I love finding these old cans in the woods. Wonder what he saw that day as he had his snack? Bet a few on here have snacked on can of Sardines while hunting.
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Not sure can see but you can use this to your advantage when planting no tillage. First pic is no stubble and deer browsed to an inch. Second there is 6 in stubble and deer hate to feed into that this allowing clover to grow more. So when you throw and mow, leave 6 in stubble.
Poor pic but good reason for cage. Without it field looks like a bust but alfalfa in cage is at least 6 in taller than outside from browse. 2 feet is as tall as I've ever seen the plot get. The Seven is easy carry to spray this years new apple plantings. After this year they are on there own. They will tough up more than likely.
This is one drawback of WW as to WR. The wheat lays thick after mowing a long time. The rye decomposes much quicker for my rotation planting in a few weeks.
Free food. Deer and bear love this stuff. And makes a tough till end of yr screening. I've jumped both bear and fawn out of this thicket. If you don't want it, just mow occassionally and it will leave.
Even chicory struggling with dry weather and heavy browse. You think it's dead but come fall leaves and flowers be back. Good mix with clovers and alfalfas.
Waterhole nearly dry. Couple bear paw prints in middle. I've got 2 larger ponds that have never dried up on farm.
After watching new movie Kong this week I thot this might be from the island. Imagine this crawling down your neck while on stand!!!
Predators. They give me a hand. Another skunk bites the dust.
Ferns are in there prime. I love finding these old cans in the woods. Wonder what he saw that day as he had his snack? Bet a few on here have snacked on can of Sardines while hunting.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
dogghr
Well-Known Member
Finish up with a few random cam pics. Camera place on exclusion cage and animals pay little attention to it in the middle of the field. Whatever computer nerd came up with saving a post midstream is awesome. Don't know how many times I've been on here and something happened, only to come back to my saved posts. Thanks. Anyway here we go....
The End.... Peace.
"The camera is an instrument
that teaches people how to see without a camera." ----Lange
The End.... Peace.
"The camera is an instrument
that teaches people how to see without a camera." ----Lange
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dogghr
Well-Known Member
Uggg. Rather see a snake. No like spiders. I do think we have a match, I'll send you mine
buckvelvet
Active Member
dogghr
Well-Known Member
All this talk about food plots and everyone's great threads including bow discussions has got me in the mood for the season. Now I like all the habitat work I do but make no mistake I live to hunt. So out came the bow with a little one arrow practice tonight to protect the sore shoulder. More time walking than shooting really. Lol. Even the clouds looked excited .Season starts 2 mo from this weekend and I'm pumped. Get ready people, you never know how many seasons you have left. Thanks for everyone's help on these forums from every thing from plotting to hunting.
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dogghr
Well-Known Member
Quick update. Couple personal things then some food plotting pics.
Week ago sitting drinking coffee waiting to go to church and sun shining on beautiful day, I thot I heard noise in garage. Went to ck and sure enough the Harley was calling me for a ride. So me and a buddy took off not returning our tired butts for 300 miles. Rode to Cass Railroad and Snowshoe ski resort. Great time with great friend.
Dad fell again this week and broke his nose and blacked his eyes. Had get him out of house before he and mom killed each other. Went to shooting range. 86 yo and never missed a beat dropping shots into 6 inch pie plate at 30 yards whether standing or bench. Always been a great shot with eagle eyes. Stubborn old fart.
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Week ago sitting drinking coffee waiting to go to church and sun shining on beautiful day, I thot I heard noise in garage. Went to ck and sure enough the Harley was calling me for a ride. So me and a buddy took off not returning our tired butts for 300 miles. Rode to Cass Railroad and Snowshoe ski resort. Great time with great friend.
Dad fell again this week and broke his nose and blacked his eyes. Had get him out of house before he and mom killed each other. Went to shooting range. 86 yo and never missed a beat dropping shots into 6 inch pie plate at 30 yards whether standing or bench. Always been a great shot with eagle eyes. Stubborn old fart.
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dogghr
Well-Known Member
Now what can one plant that is cheap, easy to sow the small seed, works in tillage or T & M, produces tons of food per ac at start of hunting season, yet still feed deer till late Feb even after they have devoured the leaves, and , this is the great part, the deer wont bother your plot until mid Oct after first freeze which is perfect for the season?? Yep the brassic or to be specific, PTT, DER, Turnips, and Lettuce. I no longer use a Daikon radish since the deer love it too much and will feed on plot as soon as it begins to grow. I don't want them in there unitl prime hunting season. Plus its too expensive and you've heard me say, I'm cheap and I like easy. Those are my requirements.
Sometimes you just play your cards right. I usually like to plant brassica first week of Aug if weather permits. With rain coming on I went after work Thur and sprayed fields with 41% gly plus at 64 oz with 16 oz AMS /15 gal of water which my worthless piece of crap Fimco sprayer will cover/ ac. Then Fri got up early and went down to get seed on ground in a throw and mow planting. I had obligations/golf game that afternoon so didn't get fert down which I didn't like. So went down again Sun evening spread 4 Bu of Urea and 300# of 10-20-20. And guess what? Rain all day today as the weather girl said. Pretty amazing. Rain forcast again this weekend so that is great after a very dry 6 weeks. I'll hit them again with Urea in 30 days.
I planted last year same time with rain in forcast that never came and we went 82 days without a shower. Needless to say, brassicas failed mostly.
I did my first throw and mow in 2010 and at that time considered it a failure but looking back, it was a success. You just don't always the carpet of growth that you sometimes see with tillage. I look at it much more differently these days. And as then, try to plant with rain coming. If a brassica fails, simply overseed with a grain and RC sometime late fall, and plot still performs somewhat.
Acorn crop looks pretty good this year. Did you check yours? Did you take note of weather, i.e., rain, humidity, temps, etc when your oak trees bloomed? Read some of the factors affecting acorn crops listed in the thread,
http://deerhunterforum.com/index.php?threads/the-mighty-acorn.1814/
This stuff grows everywhere on my farm and deer love it. I've only planted it on a couple of plots but now find it across 15 ac of fields. It and alfalfa great for dry hot days of summer when clovers struggle.
Plots to be sown had decent clovers. Hated to spray the chicories and clovers but did so for brassica. These clovers have been gly sprayed for 3 years now for rotations, and you can see the dang stuff just keeps returning. Love that. You can see the dead WW mowed few weeks ago. Prefer WR for crop rotations as it decomposes much faster when mowed.
Always nice to have a deer come see what the heck the human is doing this time. Twin fawns everywhere this year after good mast and easy winter last year. Nice respite as buck crowd has been down after two mast failure and harsh winter years in '14 and '15. You can see WW and some WR on ground from mowing couple weeks ago. It was mowed tight again after planting. Deer is feeding in the alfalfa/clover/chicory plot. I thot I was going to have to confess on here that my alfalfa had reached its end after 5 years. But some decent showers last week, and the deer browsing woody growht, and the alfalfa was once again knee deep. It gets expanded early Sept to double the plot size in preperation that this alfalfa will give out and become mostly clover plot. Clovers are the bomb, but the alfalfa is a nice variation for my mind.
I just buy seed from local coop. I mix the PTT and Rape together in coffee container about 2# each. Lettuce is a tad larger and I spread seperately about 3#. Not to picky on amounts but would rather go light on PTT to get good softball size bulb growth. Not sure why PTT was in bagged this way, In past always just weighed out as any other seed. If you don't have the Solo spreader...get one. Only problem would be if you are a little short. Even tho it was cool, by the time I was done I was sweating like a mule working the back 40.
My first plots were done pulling a bedspring and yard roller and spreading fert and seed by hand. You don't need anything but your sweat if you so choose.
Below is my perennial clover/chicory plot in distance and closer is the second brassica plot I would plant same way. To the left of it is my Buffalo plot. I am aggravated because Dr Grant stole my idea on one of his latest videos. LOL. If you recall I described how last couple of years, I was promoting natural clover growth by allowing my buffalo/tractor to browse/mow and tramble/tractor tires, the grass and weeds. Indeed it has done well , so much that I even overseeded brassica into it to see what the results will be. I knew I should have patented the idea and I might just sue. I mean thats what Americans do don't they??
Note Goldenrod screening around fields. Eight feet tall, deer wont browse it, withstands ice, wind, snow into late Dec, and doesn't require me do anything but let it grow. Now tell me why I should bother with labor and cost intensive EW which is on ground after first few ice or snow storms?? And the bees and butterflies love it.
Before you planted your precious plots, did you take note of what nature had done on her own? Did you notice her invertebrate insecticide at work? Did you kneel down and look close at her handiwork, wondering how long it took to weave such a meticulous pattern? Did you contemplate the strength of each strand,and its combined strength? Did you count the thousands of water drops that looked like diamonds in the sun that would provide moisture for your plants beneath? Did you think how this factory provided OM building blocks for your soil in its own miniscule way? Did you consider this small predator and its niche in the circle of all living things? Did you accept your insignificance in your food plotting in the grand scheme of things? Observe what nature teaches,and mimic her ways. She has been doing so for milleniums without your help. She knows that of what she does. Can you accept that? Peace.
"The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him." --- Habakkuk 2:20
Sometimes you just play your cards right. I usually like to plant brassica first week of Aug if weather permits. With rain coming on I went after work Thur and sprayed fields with 41% gly plus at 64 oz with 16 oz AMS /15 gal of water which my worthless piece of crap Fimco sprayer will cover/ ac. Then Fri got up early and went down to get seed on ground in a throw and mow planting. I had obligations/golf game that afternoon so didn't get fert down which I didn't like. So went down again Sun evening spread 4 Bu of Urea and 300# of 10-20-20. And guess what? Rain all day today as the weather girl said. Pretty amazing. Rain forcast again this weekend so that is great after a very dry 6 weeks. I'll hit them again with Urea in 30 days.
I planted last year same time with rain in forcast that never came and we went 82 days without a shower. Needless to say, brassicas failed mostly.
I did my first throw and mow in 2010 and at that time considered it a failure but looking back, it was a success. You just don't always the carpet of growth that you sometimes see with tillage. I look at it much more differently these days. And as then, try to plant with rain coming. If a brassica fails, simply overseed with a grain and RC sometime late fall, and plot still performs somewhat.
Acorn crop looks pretty good this year. Did you check yours? Did you take note of weather, i.e., rain, humidity, temps, etc when your oak trees bloomed? Read some of the factors affecting acorn crops listed in the thread,
http://deerhunterforum.com/index.php?threads/the-mighty-acorn.1814/
This stuff grows everywhere on my farm and deer love it. I've only planted it on a couple of plots but now find it across 15 ac of fields. It and alfalfa great for dry hot days of summer when clovers struggle.
Plots to be sown had decent clovers. Hated to spray the chicories and clovers but did so for brassica. These clovers have been gly sprayed for 3 years now for rotations, and you can see the dang stuff just keeps returning. Love that. You can see the dead WW mowed few weeks ago. Prefer WR for crop rotations as it decomposes much faster when mowed.
Always nice to have a deer come see what the heck the human is doing this time. Twin fawns everywhere this year after good mast and easy winter last year. Nice respite as buck crowd has been down after two mast failure and harsh winter years in '14 and '15. You can see WW and some WR on ground from mowing couple weeks ago. It was mowed tight again after planting. Deer is feeding in the alfalfa/clover/chicory plot. I thot I was going to have to confess on here that my alfalfa had reached its end after 5 years. But some decent showers last week, and the deer browsing woody growht, and the alfalfa was once again knee deep. It gets expanded early Sept to double the plot size in preperation that this alfalfa will give out and become mostly clover plot. Clovers are the bomb, but the alfalfa is a nice variation for my mind.
I just buy seed from local coop. I mix the PTT and Rape together in coffee container about 2# each. Lettuce is a tad larger and I spread seperately about 3#. Not to picky on amounts but would rather go light on PTT to get good softball size bulb growth. Not sure why PTT was in bagged this way, In past always just weighed out as any other seed. If you don't have the Solo spreader...get one. Only problem would be if you are a little short. Even tho it was cool, by the time I was done I was sweating like a mule working the back 40.
My first plots were done pulling a bedspring and yard roller and spreading fert and seed by hand. You don't need anything but your sweat if you so choose.
Below is my perennial clover/chicory plot in distance and closer is the second brassica plot I would plant same way. To the left of it is my Buffalo plot. I am aggravated because Dr Grant stole my idea on one of his latest videos. LOL. If you recall I described how last couple of years, I was promoting natural clover growth by allowing my buffalo/tractor to browse/mow and tramble/tractor tires, the grass and weeds. Indeed it has done well , so much that I even overseeded brassica into it to see what the results will be. I knew I should have patented the idea and I might just sue. I mean thats what Americans do don't they??
Note Goldenrod screening around fields. Eight feet tall, deer wont browse it, withstands ice, wind, snow into late Dec, and doesn't require me do anything but let it grow. Now tell me why I should bother with labor and cost intensive EW which is on ground after first few ice or snow storms?? And the bees and butterflies love it.
Before you planted your precious plots, did you take note of what nature had done on her own? Did you notice her invertebrate insecticide at work? Did you kneel down and look close at her handiwork, wondering how long it took to weave such a meticulous pattern? Did you contemplate the strength of each strand,and its combined strength? Did you count the thousands of water drops that looked like diamonds in the sun that would provide moisture for your plants beneath? Did you think how this factory provided OM building blocks for your soil in its own miniscule way? Did you consider this small predator and its niche in the circle of all living things? Did you accept your insignificance in your food plotting in the grand scheme of things? Observe what nature teaches,and mimic her ways. She has been doing so for milleniums without your help. She knows that of what she does. Can you accept that? Peace.
"The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him." --- Habakkuk 2:20
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Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
You dad still has the eye for the bullseye. Looks like he was having lots of fun.
Beautiful pics as always. Looks to me like you need just a little more chicory...
Beautiful pics as always. Looks to me like you need just a little more chicory...
