to spray or not to spray

[Jeff H]

...that is the question.
Of my 100 acres I have a mere 2.5 acres in food plot. Everything else is oak covered Ozark hills and valleys. The only agriculture is a 200 acre pasture to my north (cattle operation) and a 3-5 acre food plot about a mile away.
My main food plot is where my shooting house is and is where I take my kids for rifle season. It's about 1.5 acres and I planted it with milo, cowpeas, and clover this past May. The plot came in great and the cowpeas and clover are thriving with the milo as cover. In August just ahead of forcasted rain I broadcast WR, WW, chicory and durana clover into the entire plot and then brush hogged four strips (shooting lanes) into the plot. I did not spray the strips. We got the rain, everything sprouted then no rain for 6 weeks. WW and WR died. Chicory and some clover survived.
The milo in the lanes I brush hogged resprouted and is now 12-18 inches tall. There is also quite a bit of foxtail in those lanes.
So now I'm planning on replanting the WR and WW into the plot again with rain forcasted for Saturday night.
I should also mention I do not have a tractor and am not planning on renting one just to brush hog 4 strips of my food plot. I could get my truck in there and smash down some of the milo/foxtail.
Should I spray the lanes after planting?

 

[Jeff H]

...that is the question.
Of my 100 acres I have a mere 2.5 acres in food plot. Everything else is oak covered Ozark hills and valleys. The only agriculture is a 200 acre pasture to my north (cattle operation) and a 3-5 acre food plot about a mile away.
My main food plot is where my shooting house is and is where I take my kids for rifle season. It's about 1.5 acres and I planted it with milo, cowpeas, and clover this past May. The plot came in great and the cowpeas and clover are thriving with the milo as cover. In August just ahead of forcasted rain I broadcast WR, WW, chicory and durana clover into the entire plot and then brush hogged four strips (shooting lanes) into the plot. I did not spray the strips. We got the rain, everything sprouted then no rain for 6 weeks. WW and WR died. Chicory and some clover survived.
The milo in the lanes I brush hogged resprouted and is now 12-18 inches tall. There is also quite a bit of foxtail in those lanes.
So now I'm planning on replanting the WR and WW into the plot again with rain forcasted for Saturday night.
I should also mention I do not have a tractor and am not planning on renting one just to brush hog 4 strips of my food plot. I could get my truck in there and smash down some of the milo/foxtail.
Should I spray the lanes after planting?

Here is a picture of the plot before any strip were brush hogged. The shooting house is in the far left of the 2nd picture

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[catscratch]

If it were me; I would spray two of the strips and see which I liked better.

Honestly its a toss-up to me. The milo and foxtail will self terminate soon so they really shouldn't be a factor for a WW/WR plot other than letting seed mature and creating a fresh crop of foxtail next yr.

 

[Semisane]

I learned my lesson with Foxtail two years ago - never let it make seed.

 

[j-bird]

Foxtail can be a mixed bag.....it's great for upland birds, but serves no purpose for deer except maybe some bedding if it's giant foxtail. However it can be a weed that quickly smothers other plants in a fall annual plot as well. For an actual shooting lane - I would do both. Spraying will kill the plants, but knocking the plants to the ground will create a better shooting lane for you. If you do just one or the other you may not get the results you are after. Just knocking it down means those plants could either stand back up some OR create too dense of a mat to seed over. Just spraying will kill the plants but they may remain upright and make a poor shooting lane.

 

[Mennoniteman]

I've got a 4 acre field with about the same crops, identical situation, except that I have a few brassica strips through the middle as well. I just planted ww and wr through some of it, just ran right through the pearl millet, cowpeas, clover, foxtail and everything with my drill. I didn't spray at all, I'm not opposed to spraying, but feel it's a waste of money in the fall. I can easily control the foxtail later on with a small grain planting, or clover. Deer love cover, if the thick stuff is in the field in front of my shooting house that's a good thing, I can make shooting lanes by driving through with any machine or atv.

 

[Jeff H]

I like Catscratch's idea of spraying 2 and leaving two alone. I know I'm going to deal with foxtail next year anyway as it is sporadically mixed in with the milo across the entire plot.
One good thing about this plot is with the dry, warm Fall we've had I've still got food for them. If I had mowed and sprayed the entire plot like I usually do for a Fall plot I'd have almost nothing for them.

 

[dogghr]

This late in year save yourself time and money broadcast your seed and if want pack w atv. The other is dying soon. Foxtail has set seed so that is your issue next year. Personally I have jst controlled foxtail w timely mowing when I had an eruption. Actually the foxtail erupted from a gly spray for EW. Good luck


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