j-bird
Well-Known Member
Send me a self-addressed stamped envelope and $20 - and I'll fill that envelope with rain and send it back to you.....I'll be glad to send as many envelopes as you like as long as there is $20 in each!
J-birds place
- Thread starter j-bird
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j-bird
Well-Known Member
MG from cuttings now in containers are about "knee high" right now. I think I will wait until September to transplant them into their permanent home........ for a screen along the road. At least on the deck I can ensure they get enough water to survive and not have the heat cook them. Can't wait until these are established enough to where I can get my own cuttings and start the process over and expand my MG planting to include screening a plot or two and maybe some stand/stand access routes.
We have a chance for a few pop-up thunderstorm later today and the next few days here as well. With amounts of an 1/8" to 1/2" being forecast depending on the day. I need to get some mowing done and some spraying as well. Wish I had some interesting trail cam pics, but just does so far....... I'll find something to do this weekend. That's the nice thing about living on the place - I can run out and do a quick spray job or mow a plot or do a small project without having to do much advanced planning. Some weekends I just make it up as I go....
We have a chance for a few pop-up thunderstorm later today and the next few days here as well. With amounts of an 1/8" to 1/2" being forecast depending on the day. I need to get some mowing done and some spraying as well. Wish I had some interesting trail cam pics, but just does so far....... I'll find something to do this weekend. That's the nice thing about living on the place - I can run out and do a quick spray job or mow a plot or do a small project without having to do much advanced planning. Some weekends I just make it up as I go....
j-bird
Well-Known Member
Spent the day getting some spraying (cleth in clover plots) and getting a few updates and starting a few mock scrapes based off different ideas/concepts
South bottom plot - the one with too much corn. That is sunflowers in the middle. The amount of corn doesn't seem to be bothering the soybeans. I doubt the corn will produce much if any grain, but that wasn't the idea any way.
Same area - I got an apple update:
Then tried something I have never done before - used a piece of grapevine and a few trimmed crab-apple branches to see if I can get a scrape started. Grape vine is simply tied/lashed into the crab-apple tree.
Off to the SW plot......this is the bean plot with not quite as much corn as I would have liked.
I put this grape vine scrape in just off this plot on a mowed path that the deer are using. Again - just a freshly cut piece of grapevine lashed to a tree.
South bottom plot - the one with too much corn. That is sunflowers in the middle. The amount of corn doesn't seem to be bothering the soybeans. I doubt the corn will produce much if any grain, but that wasn't the idea any way.
Same area - I got an apple update:
Then tried something I have never done before - used a piece of grapevine and a few trimmed crab-apple branches to see if I can get a scrape started. Grape vine is simply tied/lashed into the crab-apple tree.
Off to the SW plot......this is the bean plot with not quite as much corn as I would have liked.
I put this grape vine scrape in just off this plot on a mowed path that the deer are using. Again - just a freshly cut piece of grapevine lashed to a tree.
j-bird
Well-Known Member
Continued from the last post......
Now off to the north. Checked on my Chestnuts....they seem to be doing OK - the burrs are the size of a buckeye.
I also checked on the lone white oak that is producing on my place. Looks promising as well. I do have a question for folks out there....anyone else have a tree that seems to only produce in a certain section? This tree produces nearly every year, but only on the lower most section of the tree.....I'm not sure why that would be the case.
I then put in a string of different mock scrapes along a logging trail in an effort to see what may work and what may not.
Some I simply used rope/cord to pull a limb lower and cleared a stop on the ground to bare dirt.
In one place I simply hung a piece of fresh cut grapevine with a piece of 550 cord. The sap dripped out of the piece of vine and that was where I cleared the dirt under it.
And finally a "Jim Ward" scrape..... I used beech in the hopes it will hold the leaves the longest and help retain scent. Strung this up between trees using essentially clothes line (plastic coated wire kind) and then used a finer wire to tie the branches to the w
All these scrapes are along a logging trail that cuts thru the north side of the property. They start up in a basin that the deer use and is sort of a sanctuary type area. The grape vine is in a convergence with another trail and then the Jim Ward set-up is near a location where I believe a buck is bedding. I know the does travel this route and I hope the bucks will follow. Once I see some signs of use I will move a trail cam if possible. I typically don't see much scraping action but we will see, I typically don't do mock scrapes like this so maybe it will help.....maybe it's a waste of time.
Now off to the north. Checked on my Chestnuts....they seem to be doing OK - the burrs are the size of a buckeye.
I also checked on the lone white oak that is producing on my place. Looks promising as well. I do have a question for folks out there....anyone else have a tree that seems to only produce in a certain section? This tree produces nearly every year, but only on the lower most section of the tree.....I'm not sure why that would be the case.
I then put in a string of different mock scrapes along a logging trail in an effort to see what may work and what may not.
Some I simply used rope/cord to pull a limb lower and cleared a stop on the ground to bare dirt.
In one place I simply hung a piece of fresh cut grapevine with a piece of 550 cord. The sap dripped out of the piece of vine and that was where I cleared the dirt under it.
And finally a "Jim Ward" scrape..... I used beech in the hopes it will hold the leaves the longest and help retain scent. Strung this up between trees using essentially clothes line (plastic coated wire kind) and then used a finer wire to tie the branches to the w
All these scrapes are along a logging trail that cuts thru the north side of the property. They start up in a basin that the deer use and is sort of a sanctuary type area. The grape vine is in a convergence with another trail and then the Jim Ward set-up is near a location where I believe a buck is bedding. I know the does travel this route and I hope the bucks will follow. Once I see some signs of use I will move a trail cam if possible. I typically don't see much scraping action but we will see, I typically don't do mock scrapes like this so maybe it will help.....maybe it's a waste of time.
j-bird
Well-Known Member
Spent most of Saturday mowing plots and access paths. Sprayed the plots for grass last weekend with cleth and this mowing should be the last needed, hopefully for the year.
I did check on my SW bow plot......clover seems to be coming in OK - not great but ok. This plot is getting visited by a doe and her twins so hopefully she will lead mr big to me sometime this year.
Did get a "feel good" moment while mowing as well. This may seem trivial to some of you but bobwhite quail are in fairly serious decline here in IN.....mostly due to habitat loss. I have seen them on my place before, but it's real few and far between. Today I saw 2 different groups of of female birds with several chicks each. I'm sure there is some term for that, but it was pretty exciting to see "indicator species" on my place as they tend to be a sign of habitat health. I do what I do for the deer, but when critters like this benefit, well it makes me smile. It's also pretty hard to get a pic of them while on the tractor! They really seemed to like the mowed path between my switchgrass buffers and the soybean fields.
I did check on my SW bow plot......clover seems to be coming in OK - not great but ok. This plot is getting visited by a doe and her twins so hopefully she will lead mr big to me sometime this year.
Did get a "feel good" moment while mowing as well. This may seem trivial to some of you but bobwhite quail are in fairly serious decline here in IN.....mostly due to habitat loss. I have seen them on my place before, but it's real few and far between. Today I saw 2 different groups of of female birds with several chicks each. I'm sure there is some term for that, but it was pretty exciting to see "indicator species" on my place as they tend to be a sign of habitat health. I do what I do for the deer, but when critters like this benefit, well it makes me smile. It's also pretty hard to get a pic of them while on the tractor! They really seemed to like the mowed path between my switchgrass buffers and the soybean fields.
j-bird
Well-Known Member
Well for all the rain I have had this summer.....August here has been....well, August.......which tends to be fairly dry. The water hole I put in this spring is still holding water, but it's getting low..... I have seen EHD deaths reported in a neighboring county, but so far no sign of it on my place......fingers crossed it stays that way!
I did pull the card from my cam that is sitting on one of my hanging vines and had it's first visitor..... Nothing to write home about, but with it seeing at least some interest it's a start.
The acorns seem to be doing OK - but my chestnuts seem to maybe getting a little dry.......I may have to water this week if mother nature doesn't help me out. It wasn't so bad earlier in Aug without much rain as it was cooler, but this last week the temp has increased as well as the humidity. I had considered transplanting my MG earlier in the month, but I am glad I have waited as I can water them much more easily on the back deck......looks like they won't get moved until maybe Labor day weekend.
I did pull the card from my cam that is sitting on one of my hanging vines and had it's first visitor..... Nothing to write home about, but with it seeing at least some interest it's a start.
The acorns seem to be doing OK - but my chestnuts seem to maybe getting a little dry.......I may have to water this week if mother nature doesn't help me out. It wasn't so bad earlier in Aug without much rain as it was cooler, but this last week the temp has increased as well as the humidity. I had considered transplanting my MG earlier in the month, but I am glad I have waited as I can water them much more easily on the back deck......looks like they won't get moved until maybe Labor day weekend.
j-bird
Well-Known Member
Had to play "water boy" tonight. Rainfall in August here has been tough to come by and I noticed over the weekend my chestnuts looked a little dry. So this evening I hooked up the sprayer to use as a water truck.
As you can see the leaves had started to curl.
So I gave them a drink by giving them between 15 to 20 gallons of water each. I took the tip off the gun and set the trigger and while the pump pumper away it gave me a chance to wander around a bit. I normally just remove the strainer to fill a bucket, but I didn;t get that far this time.
The chestnut burs, though few, seem to be growing nicely thus far........
While I was watering and had time to wander I took a pic of the chicory in my perennial clover......because sometime in October it will be all gone. For some reason mother nature flips a switch and the deer seem to specifically seek it out. I also took a pic of my sawtooths (I mean catscratch oaks) in my germination cages that are just about knee high (just below the knee to be specific).
As you can see the leaves had started to curl.
So I gave them a drink by giving them between 15 to 20 gallons of water each. I took the tip off the gun and set the trigger and while the pump pumper away it gave me a chance to wander around a bit. I normally just remove the strainer to fill a bucket, but I didn;t get that far this time.
The chestnut burs, though few, seem to be growing nicely thus far........
While I was watering and had time to wander I took a pic of the chicory in my perennial clover......because sometime in October it will be all gone. For some reason mother nature flips a switch and the deer seem to specifically seek it out. I also took a pic of my sawtooths (I mean catscratch oaks) in my germination cages that are just about knee high (just below the knee to be specific).
MarkDarvin
Well-Known Member
You still have green clover. Can't be too dry is it?
j-bird
Well-Known Member
My soil drains really well with and the leaves on my chestnut trees where starting to curl......I am not about to loose my first chestnuts! I'm not in a drought so to speak as dry is pretty common here in Aug, but the curled leaves on my trees had me worried and I have learned that once plants start to show signs of stress it can be difficult to get them to recover so this was sort of a preemptive strike sort of thing. We have been getting heavy dew in the morning so that may be contributing to the clover being in not bad shape.
j-bird
Well-Known Member
Not sure how accurate this is or how well it will apply to those outside of farm country.....but I really like the info I am getting from a website called Farmlogs.com https://farmlogs.com I made a comment about Aug being dry and my chestnuts needing a drink, so I decided to see if that was really the case or just a perception of mine. This web site allows me to see when my last rainfall was and how much as well as the trend for the year as well. Obviously this is meant for production farmers, but I find it interesting from a plotters perspective because sometimes we have a different perception vs reality of the weather from year to year.
Entire property: I can track which crops are in which fields - which over time I tend to forget....
Specific field: You can get a general idea of what is going on......
Rainfall detail: The list will record every recorded rain event for the year (I just cut it off).
Entire property: I can track which crops are in which fields - which over time I tend to forget....
Specific field: You can get a general idea of what is going on......
Rainfall detail: The list will record every recorded rain event for the year (I just cut it off).
j-bird
Well-Known Member
I dug into more of my road screen with MG. I have a county road that cuts across my place and I have had issues with road hunters in the past. So to start to address the issue I have been transplanting eastern red cedars along the edge at about 5 to 6 feet centers. They are growing OK, but I wanted something faster. So Bill kicked me in the pants and sent me some MG. I also transplanted some vine honeysuckle along the woven wire fence as well.
This was my potted MG I grew from cuttings from Bill.
I thought the root mass was pretty impressive considering these where "sticks" a few months ago!
Here you see I lined them out in a row behind the cedars. I let enough room for mowing and they are spaced at roughly 3 feet apart. I will fill in between if I need to with future plantings of MG. 29 1 gallon potted MG cuttings that have grown over the spring and summer.
Hopefully in a few years I will have a wall of grass here AND be able to harvest my own cuttings for other projects.
This was my potted MG I grew from cuttings from Bill.
I thought the root mass was pretty impressive considering these where "sticks" a few months ago!
Here you see I lined them out in a row behind the cedars. I let enough room for mowing and they are spaced at roughly 3 feet apart. I will fill in between if I need to with future plantings of MG. 29 1 gallon potted MG cuttings that have grown over the spring and summer.
Hopefully in a few years I will have a wall of grass here AND be able to harvest my own cuttings for other projects.
j-bird
Well-Known Member
Also went up to check on things up north and pull a cam card.
We got some rain recently as part of the "spin-off" from Harvey so I wanted to see how the water hole was doing.......still way down.
I pulled the cam card at the piece of grape vine I hung from a tree. I am showing the sequence since I have my cams on video.
First video shows the buck using a trail off behind the vine by about 20 yards or so....
He then stops and come back to the vine for some reason.....there have been does checking out the vine......
Then he checks out the vine himself......then goes back to his trail and off he goes.....
Not the biggest buck in the world but the biggest I have caught on camera thus far this year. Just the fact that he is around this early is good news for me.....normally I only have young yearlings and the like.....
We got some rain recently as part of the "spin-off" from Harvey so I wanted to see how the water hole was doing.......still way down.
I pulled the cam card at the piece of grape vine I hung from a tree. I am showing the sequence since I have my cams on video.
First video shows the buck using a trail off behind the vine by about 20 yards or so....
He then stops and come back to the vine for some reason.....there have been does checking out the vine......
Then he checks out the vine himself......then goes back to his trail and off he goes.....
Not the biggest buck in the world but the biggest I have caught on camera thus far this year. Just the fact that he is around this early is good news for me.....normally I only have young yearlings and the like.....
j-bird
Well-Known Member
So once again my state DNR makes no sense! As an individual hunter.....I am allowed to harvest 2 antlerless deer with archery equipment, an antlered deer with a firearm, another antlerless deer with a muzzleloader AND 3 additional antlerless deer by any means legal during that season (archery, firearm or muzzleloader). So I as an individual hunter can legally take up to 7 deer in my home county. A county of 373 surface acres and one where we average a harvest of roughly 800 deer total the entire season. So, my DNR feels it's necessary to allow an individual hunter to take as many as 7 deer to control the deer population in a county where the vast majority of the county is corn or soybean field (DNR published that 18 to 24% of my county is considered deer habitat - because their own report lists 2 different figures), a county where the deer numbers are so low we average a harvest of just over 2 deer per physical square mile! We have had a maximum of 2 crop damage reports in a years time since 2005! The deer/vehicle accident rate also hasn;t changed as a ratio since 2005. Yet they also publish numbers that vast majority (72%) of hunters statewide harvest only a single deer and another 20% only harvest 2 deer and only 5.5% take 3 deer.....so how exactly does any of this makes any sense? They claim they manage deer numbers on a county level with these "bonus" deer figures yet, essentially NOBODY kills more than 2 deer, much less 3 or more!!!! Some counties have bonus numbers of 8! All of this while our statewide harvest numbers have dropped to levels not seen since the early 2000's. Down 12+% since 2012. So the overall harvest number continues to drop while the DNR essentially still allows a hunter to virtually kill as many deer as they will buy tags for. I figured it up ....if I as a hunter was so motivated and had the means I could travel the entire state and legally kill 348 deer this deer season! My DNR calls this management...... My DNR has no idea how many deer we have, they have no idea how many hunters we have every year. My DNR doesn't require a physical check-in.....so any data they collect from harvest we hunters actually provide to them. Virtually all data the DNR uses comes form hunters.....yet hunters are the last ones they listen to. Any Hoosier hunters that are interested in the data below for their county please let me know as I have it.
j-bird
Well-Known Member
Well I took some more pics while I was out over the weekend......found some good news.....and some bad!
First the bad. I'm going to shoot who ever is responsible for this! This is the first time I have ever had this happen but somehow the cage was removed from one of my chestnut trees and if that wasn't enough they then proceeded to eat and rub the crap out of it! They turned a six foot tall chestnut tree into a 3 foot tall stick!!!! You can see the wire cage laying on the ground where I found it. I doubt it survives, but I put the cage back on it and will give it the chance to survive, but I plan on having to replace it come spring....
The other some-what bad news is my soy beans are not turning as soon as I had hoped. My ag fields of beans are yellow and they are the same beans, but I planted a bit later. I was hoping to broadcast wheat and brassica into them. But got a double whammy when the beans where still green AND my small spreader got smashed somehow! Good news is the beans are still full of pods and seem to be being browsed pretty good yet. I have 100 lbs of wheat and a couple pounds of PTT waiting to be spread.....
Some better news.....
My chestnut burrs seem to be maturing and I hope to have my first chestnuts soon....
Apples tree is still holding it's apples..... I'm not worry about them being pretty they are 100% for the deer.....
I also was able to collect a couple hundred acorns (chinkapin, white oak and bur oak) for a little trial I am doing. I am sort of trying a throw and mow/spray trial to see if I can get anything to grow that way in an area that is mostly fescue at the moment. Now before you freak out....I will be killing the fescue with gly yet before the oaks germinate......Like yet this week. I think IF I get anything it will be the chinkapin because of their smaller size, but I figured it was worth a shot. I tossed out the acorns, and mowed, and will be spraying yet this week. Maybe I just feed the mice, but who knows.....that why we try things.
I then pulled my cam card and had some visitors as well. This one catches my eye because it appears there is a pigmentation difference in this deer, but with it being at night I am not 100% sure. This is a still as I record video and the marks move with the deer, so I am thinking maybe he has a bit of "piebald" going on...... Sorry the pic quality sucks.....that is what you get from an $80 cam!
I had other young bucks and does really giving the vine a workout..... I think this may be a good place to set my daughter up for her youth hunt here in a few weeks to be able to smack her first deer.
First the bad. I'm going to shoot who ever is responsible for this! This is the first time I have ever had this happen but somehow the cage was removed from one of my chestnut trees and if that wasn't enough they then proceeded to eat and rub the crap out of it! They turned a six foot tall chestnut tree into a 3 foot tall stick!!!!
You can see the wire cage laying on the ground where I found it. I doubt it survives, but I put the cage back on it and will give it the chance to survive, but I plan on having to replace it come spring.... The other some-what bad news is my soy beans are not turning as soon as I had hoped. My ag fields of beans are yellow and they are the same beans, but I planted a bit later. I was hoping to broadcast wheat and brassica into them. But got a double whammy when the beans where still green AND my small spreader got smashed somehow!
Good news is the beans are still full of pods and seem to be being browsed pretty good yet. I have 100 lbs of wheat and a couple pounds of PTT waiting to be spread.....Some better news.....
My chestnut burrs seem to be maturing and I hope to have my first chestnuts soon....
Apples tree is still holding it's apples..... I'm not worry about them being pretty they are 100% for the deer.....
I also was able to collect a couple hundred acorns (chinkapin, white oak and bur oak) for a little trial I am doing. I am sort of trying a throw and mow/spray trial to see if I can get anything to grow that way in an area that is mostly fescue at the moment. Now before you freak out....I will be killing the fescue with gly yet before the oaks germinate......Like yet this week. I think IF I get anything it will be the chinkapin because of their smaller size, but I figured it was worth a shot. I tossed out the acorns, and mowed, and will be spraying yet this week. Maybe I just feed the mice, but who knows.....that why we try things.
I then pulled my cam card and had some visitors as well. This one catches my eye because it appears there is a pigmentation difference in this deer, but with it being at night I am not 100% sure. This is a still as I record video and the marks move with the deer, so I am thinking maybe he has a bit of "piebald" going on...... Sorry the pic quality sucks.....that is what you get from an $80 cam!
I had other young bucks and does really giving the vine a workout..... I think this may be a good place to set my daughter up for her youth hunt here in a few weeks to be able to smack her first deer.
I use farmlogs...it's a great tool. Wish it would say I have had some precip every once in awhile. 25 days with zero so far...
Buck got frisky with your chestnut tree...sometimes I wonder how a wild tree ever has a chance...
Buck got frisky with your chestnut tree...sometimes I wonder how a wild tree ever has a chance...
j-bird
Well-Known Member
I assume so - I figure he got hooked on the cage and pulled the cage lose in his panic. Then he or others decided they had a new snack/toy available. Just tells me that caging my trees isn't a waste of time.....even with as few a deer around as I have.
j-bird
Well-Known Member
never though about the coat transition.....especially with it being only early sept, but I guess it could be. Maybe I'll get a daylight picture of him and be able to shed some better light on it.
MarkDarvin
Well-Known Member
Hey, at least they're collecting the data. Amazing you have any deer at all considering 10 deer per square mile of habitat are being harvested. My property in MN, we can't get a solid number on anything going on in deer management. We didn't find out until July how many deer were killed in 2016.
