I haven’t seen or heard quail in years!
J-birds place
- Thread starter j-bird
- Start date
j-bird
Well-Known Member
My intent with my CRP buffers was to help the quail, but it doesn't seem to be working. I see them from time to time but not like I thought I would. I remember sitting in a stand once watching a group of 6 or 8 work their way thru the cover. Even when they would get a little broken up they would group back together in the same order they was in before.....and walk thru in almost single file....it was pretty interesting to watch. I did see a bird with little ones last year I think it was as well....so maybe it is helping and I am just expecting too much. I was always told that quail and rabbits are "indicator species" and that when you have a lot of those it means you habitat is healthy....
j-bird
Well-Known Member
I have an area that likes to hold water when we get decent amounts of rain and in the spring time the frogs really seem to like it. It is a natural low spot you can see on the sat maps from when the creek floods in the spring and has eroded a low spot over time. I was clearing out all the cottonwood and the like and figured the brush may be helpful to some of them amphibious critters out there. Some brush piles are right on the edge of the water....some are right in the water. It's about knee deep, roughly 10 yards wide and maybe 100 yards long. Only real issue I have is that the stilt grass loves these wet areas and me and stilt grass don't get along. The surrounding area will be weeds and switchgrass later in the year. I am sure the stumps of the cottonwood will sprout as well and that is fine...
shawn cox
Well-Known Member
If you are wanting more game birds and rabbits a good trick to do is make you some brush piles in your CRP. I am is south Georgia and my lease is a pine plantation. I don't have CRP but we do have a bunch of briars. What I like to do is when I clean dead trees off my roads or limbs that fall or whenever I am clearing something I like to make piles with the brush. It will eventually get briars growing around it and provides the small birds and rabbits protection from predators. I have seen them use them a lot and my quail are increasing fairly well. I usually always see some when I am out there. I also trap which is probably the biggest difference maker.
What mix do you prefer for the cool season grasses? After the recent rains, my place in S OK is getting pretty green
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2 quarts per acre of GLY with a min of 8 gallons of water...
j-bird
Well-Known Member
I make a fair number of brush piles when I can as well. Not sure if it helps but I doubt it can hurt.
j-bird
Well-Known Member
Was at it again this weekend. I finished up my CRP work....buffers mowed, sprayed and disced (with a little extra switchgrass tossed in for good measure). I got some trees planted (still a few more to do). I planted 5 chestnut whips and a grafted Morse persimmons all from chestnut hill and I planted 2 of my 8 apples from Turkey creek as well. I know where they are going, just got to get the some protection! I also planted some of my swamp white oak acorns as well and was on the hunt for jap bush honeysuckle and found more than I care to report....but the clearing saw took care of those I could find. 1 section down a few more to go!
It was an interesting weekend. We moved the battle wagon to the shooting range for the summer.....it's now at 200 yards from the backstop. We saw roughly a dozen turkeys and a brute of a tom (so my boy is chomping at the bit to be able to go after it). I pulled may cam cards and was surprised by the number of deer I have hitting a mineral site. Oh, and for anyone who says coons won't eat deer pellets...YOU ARE WRONG. I tried my hand at feeding some deer pellets (only the pellets) and I had 300 pics of nothing but constant coon activity eating it....they ate the entire 50 pound bag over the coarse of 2 weeks. I think I had 1 deer pic.
Only antler I saw on my 3 cams....3/22....later than I had thought!
Here is the mineral site.... I counted at least 10 deer in the video....this is just a screen capture. There is a wheat field nearby and green-up is starting here so the deer are starting to hit the salt. I have NEVER captured this many deer in on cam pic/video before so this is pretty exciting.....
It was an interesting weekend. We moved the battle wagon to the shooting range for the summer.....it's now at 200 yards from the backstop. We saw roughly a dozen turkeys and a brute of a tom (so my boy is chomping at the bit to be able to go after it). I pulled may cam cards and was surprised by the number of deer I have hitting a mineral site. Oh, and for anyone who says coons won't eat deer pellets...YOU ARE WRONG. I tried my hand at feeding some deer pellets (only the pellets) and I had 300 pics of nothing but constant coon activity eating it....they ate the entire 50 pound bag over the coarse of 2 weeks. I think I had 1 deer pic.
Only antler I saw on my 3 cams....3/22....later than I had thought!
Here is the mineral site.... I counted at least 10 deer in the video....this is just a screen capture. There is a wheat field nearby and green-up is starting here so the deer are starting to hit the salt. I have NEVER captured this many deer in on cam pic/video before so this is pretty exciting.....
I need to get new mineral blocks out. I am seeing lots of new deer sign around my old mineral lick spots right now including running 3 off of one while I was walking to turkey blind this morning.
j-bird
Well-Known Member
Do you have water issue around your mineral sites? Do you worry/do anything about it if you do? I am concerned that the water puddles and mud could harbor the EHD midge which has been an issue here over the past few years in my state. I am considering bringing in some stone or mulch to help, but I am also wondering if I am just over-reacting.
I don’t worry too much about that. So far Oklahoma hasn’t had any issues but Missouri has and that’s not far!
j-bird
Well-Known Member
We have had outbreaks in the past, last year in fact....in some cases pretty bad...thus my concern.
j-bird
Well-Known Member
So took some pics of some of the little things I have been working on and just pics in general.
We moved the "battle wagon" to the shooting range for the summer. 200 yards from the backstop is where it sits now. The open area will
grow up in switchgrass (which is popping out of the ground already).
addressed some standing water at a mineral site....lugging 5 gallon buckets of racks and sand/gravel from the creek sucks!
Before:
After:
Took a minute to enjoy the creek while taking a break....it was 70+ degrees out! Maggie needed a break too!!
We moved the "battle wagon" to the shooting range for the summer. 200 yards from the backstop is where it sits now. The open area will
grow up in switchgrass (which is popping out of the ground already).
addressed some standing water at a mineral site....lugging 5 gallon buckets of racks and sand/gravel from the creek sucks!
Before:
After:
Took a minute to enjoy the creek while taking a break....it was 70+ degrees out! Maggie needed a break too!!
j-bird
Well-Known Member
Straight line winds Wednesday night paid me a visit....
SW shooting house....toast!
North shooting house....toast!
Battle wagon....was moved 15 feet...but not toast! The winds pushed it off it's support/leveling blocks and then rolled it 15 feet. Before the storm the flagging tapes where almost touching...mother nature decided she liked it in a little different spot!
Guess I got a few building projects on my hands this summer!
SW shooting house....toast!
North shooting house....toast!
Battle wagon....was moved 15 feet...but not toast! The winds pushed it off it's support/leveling blocks and then rolled it 15 feet. Before the storm the flagging tapes where almost touching...mother nature decided she liked it in a little different spot!
Guess I got a few building projects on my hands this summer!
catscratch
Well-Known Member
Wow jbird, that kind of sucks! Glad you aren't posting pics of your real house with damage.
Good job on the mineral lick site. I plan on doing something similar to one of my watering holes.
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Good job on the mineral lick site. I plan on doing something similar to one of my watering holes.
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j-bird
Well-Known Member
Yep....mother nature decided I need an upgrade apparently! It could have been a lot worse so I'm not too pissed about it. Frustrated, but thankful as well...
j-bird
Well-Known Member
Yep....2 new shooting houses and I need to find a better way to brace the battle wagon. I fear that if the wagon was facing the other direction...it too would have been a pile of lumber as well. As much as I hated seeing the old ones go, I was due for an upgrade and can spend some time with the kids in the process. Just glad it was something non-critical.......
