Little River

[David]

Loved the tractor pics. And those are a good haul on shark teeth.

Funny thing about that disk.... (or is it spelled disc?)

I found it in the woods with 5 inch sweet gums growing up through it. Previous owner had abandoned multiple implements. I have found a post hole digger, box scrape, and a second disk left in the brush.

Total I inherited was 11 implements.

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[David]

been a few months since i posted....rounding into the third hunting season on this place. Enjoying it as much today as i did three years ago. Food plotting has been tough....trying to wrap my head around the balance of it all. At times its quite confusing and frustrating at other times its very rewarding. I have one nice clover plot that is in its second year and i couldn't be more pleased with it. however the turkeys and hogs really did a number on my grains....turkeys (up to 30 at a time) can eat some seeds and scratch the heck out of young vulnerable brassicas. They devastated large sections of my plots. Many of those areas left empty are taken over by winter rosettes. One plot has nearly 50% coverage in plantain rosettes....but it has yet to keep the herd away. my "worst" plot has a herd of does every day and the bucks follow them.

Killed a half dozen hogs and a coyote this fall.

Yesterday was a good day, i was checking cameras in the rain and wind, when i spotted an 8 point across the river bedded down and checking the wind. I watched him for about 10 minutes. It was like the images we often see in a magazine and wonder "how on earth did that photographer get a picture like that".

He was an average 3.5 year old 8 point for the area. My first buck from the farm. 175 lbs.

 

[Chainsaw]

That is a heck of a nice rack for an "average" eight point. You have some good genes and nutrition there; nice to see properties working out for people.

 

[David]

a few more pictures....he might measure 110 inches.

the view from my position. It was a neat moment, i had just finished switching the cards out in a camera near by, i was walking down this steep hill when i saw him across the river. you can barely see the light speck in this photo. near waist deep water to drag him back with a current that would have taken him down river if i let go. Then had to haul him back up the bank on the near side....i'm a little sore today.

 

[weekender21]

That’s a good SC buck, congrats!


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[David]

Spring update:

first off thanks to all of you for all the information you put out on your own property tours. I love reading through what others are doing.

As always i use pictures more than words. It helps me to remember what i have done and to be thankful for what i have.

Dad and i wore the chainsaws out this winter. Limbed up low hanging branches, cut down several trees, cleaned up a mess of about a dozen mature oaks that fell last summer in a freak storm, opened up a small entrance section to the river so that you can actually see the river, pruned the bottom branches of the mature chestnuts, and much more. I added 4 apple trees, 4 pears, planted a half dozen oaks that i germinated in my basement last year, and i re-located a dozen persimmons. I propagated my fig tree and replanted the new growth around the barn, re-located some painted buckeye around the house, and at home this year i am propagating several dozen azaleas from around the neighborhood to replant next fall at the farm. I also collected some live oak yearlings from my brother in laws house at the coast, hope to plant them next fall.






We hosted Thanksgiving for my family. 21 of us now. Had venison back straps and wild hog hams. (and store bought turkeys).


Sat behind these future NFL'ers at the national championship game in California...



Best shot i have of the area we opened up to view the river.

Food plots are browsed heavily. We have harvested 12 deer in 3 years of this half of the farm, and they still eat me down to dirt. My mind is constantly thinking about the balance between acerage in plots/deer density/quality of native food.........



Killed this guy a few weeks ago....this is the before and after!

 

[Baker]

Things are going well for you. Congrats. I bet being at the game was a blast!!!

 

[weekender21]

Congrats on the long beard! Great picture of your plot and exclusion cage, you definitely have a few deer around!

 

[David]

summer update:
Farm to Table! I've killed several pigs this summer


Farm to table again, the girls and i picked several gallons of plums, they had a blast making jelly


I used this yesterday on the clover plots, hoping it works. It seemed as though it wasn't applying quite enough herbicide, but time will tell.


This was inside the exclusion cage in late May, its arrowleaf clover....nearly 5 feet tall!

Shot him off the front porch

The seller told me this was a true american chestnut. This is the first year it has had fruit. its right at 20 years old. Sadly it is showing signs of disease. Is this blight?

 

[lakngolf]

Wow, those plums look good!
Cant help you on the tree

 

[pinetag]

A quick internet search leads me to believe that it is. If it's a lone canker you could try packing it with mud but if the tree is covered in cankers then it will likely die. I recommended this technique to my neighbor who had an ornamental cherry that was diseased, it healed up and is now healthy again.

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[weekender21]

Plums look great! Mexican plum?

I’m no expert but your chestnut does look consistent with other pictures of blight I’ve seen in the past.


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[144]

Yep, that’s blight unfortunately. It’ll most likely die eventually, but will probably resprout from the roots and try again.




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[David]

Plums look great! Mexican plum?

I’m no expert but your chestnut does look consistent with other pictures of blight I’ve seen in the past.


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I don't know what type it is....it seems like an anomaly. some fruit turns deep purple, most dont. they all taste the same when ripe.

they can be yellow, orange, red or purple when perfectly ripe and they all taste the same. they really are beautiful and delicious. it is the one wild fruit I have that is predictably ripe across the entire farm. July 1st I can count on several gallons, by mid July they are nearly all gone.

 

[weekender21]

I don't know what type it is....it seems like an anomaly. some fruit turns deep purple, most dont. they all taste the same when ripe.

they can be yellow, orange, red or purple when perfectly ripe and they all taste the same. they really are beautiful and delicious. it is the one wild fruit I have that is predictably ripe across the entire farm. July 1st I can count on several gallons, by mid July they are nearly all gone.

That’s awesome. I’m looking forward to adding plums but kind of waiting until I’m sure where I want them. I hear American plums do well in fire so I’ll likely add some to my burn rotation areas.


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[David]

That’s awesome. I’m looking forward to adding plums but kind of waiting until I’m sure where I want them. I hear American plums do well in fire so I’ll likely add some to my burn rotation areas.


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mine grow wild and form thickets. once established they are tough....fire, bush hog, herbicide.....they keep coming back.