Upstate Obsession

[Elkaddict]

Because the repeated heavy rains have drowned about 25% of our corn/beans, I’m trying to get some brassicas in to make up for the loss.

As I’ve noted before, we’ve struggled the last couple seasons with an invasion of lambsquarter. As we’ve worked hard to kill it, we are now facing a literal carpet of Peruvian Daisy aka quick weed. 3 weeks ago, I sprayed a bunch of lambsquarter. 2 weeks ago, I overseeded brassicas into the same fields. Yesterday, I found excellent brassica germination, but a complete explosion of Peruvian Daisy. It’s as if the lambsquarter dying allowed sun to create perfect conditions for the Peruvian Daisy. I spent the day spot spraying them knowing I was also killing some young brassicas. I simply don’t know what else I can do. Anyone else’s dealing with a carpet of this stuff?

I’ve noticed that the closer we get out plots to an optimal ph, the greater variety of new weeds are appearing in our plots. Almost makes a guy wish he’d not added so much lime….

On a positive note, I sat in one of our blinds last night and watched 3 different shooters eating beans (in the corn) and in the adjacent clover plots. The biggest is one I haven’t seen this year so in I need to reposition a couple cameras. Got a little excited.

This week’s project is to spray 5 plots for our labor day rye/clover/chicory planting.

 

[Elkaddict]

I got 23/4 acres if throw and mow done. Mixture of 3:1 WR to oats (200lbs per acre) and a mix of medium red, ladino and chicory. I went a touch heavier on the grains as these are in front of bow stands and I’ve found nothing to compete in October with a thick stand of grain.

Bucks are continuing to grow. Nothing compared to what better soils/genetics will produce, but for our this shale soils, these are good.

This is our first 12pt in 7 years on the place. Willow horned, but the double eye guards are unique. I thought he was 41/2 last year.

 

[Elkaddict]

This was my target buck last year. Although the picture is 3 weeks old, I think he’s not as long beamed and is digressing. I thought he was 51/2 last year.

 

[Elkaddict]

Couple other bucks with potential.

 

[Elkaddict]

This is a mock scrape I started a few years back. It’s now used year round. I’m learning location really matters for it to be completely taken over. I’ve started 4 new ones this month. All are in bow range of a stand.

 

[Chainsaw]

This is a mock scrape I started a few years back. It’s now used year round. I’m learning location really matters for it to be completely taken over. I’ve started 4 new ones this month. All are in bow range of a stand.View attachment 22350

Tom, that is a major home run location for sure. It is worthy of saving for the best day of the year for a dawn to dark watch. Spots like that are very exciting.

 

[Elkaddict]

Have most of the family up for the long weekend. Having a family gathering place is what has become the most important priority for our upstate hideaway. The boys have been fishing and riding ATVs, the girls have been picking fruit at the local orchard, and I’ve been manning the smoker. Our grandpup enjoys riding in the the tractor but thinks she should be driving

 

[Elkaddict]

I mentioned sometime back about lowering the corn seed count, upping the bean count and overseeing with brassicas. It’s worked well except where I’m losing the battle with quick weed (Peruvian Daisy). The deer have a ton of food and can get to it while staying in covers

 

[Elkaddict]

This a 5/8s of an acre clover plot I overseeded with 100lbs of grain (oats and rye) and mowed. It’s popped and it’s getting hammered. I’ve done the same thing in 4 other plots, all set up for bowhunting.

 

[Triple C]

Always enjoy catching up on your thread Elk! Great pic of you and the grand pup in the tractor.

 

[Elkaddict]

Trying new things in the plots that are outside typical approaches has been on my mind. As noted above, I reduced somewhat my corn/bean ratios (decreasing corn to 20,00 per acre and increasing beans to 1+ bags per acre) to increase food variety within my plots (I also top seeded brassicas last week). It will be interesting to see the results. My prediction is more deer will choose to bed in the corn/bean/brassica mix. I also suspect it will increase buck movement as bucks attempt to scent check these areas.

Another recent project from last year is really paying off. In July of 2020, I planted clover and oats notwithstanding the conventional wisdom that summer plantings invite tooView attachment 22164 many weeds. To combat the weeds, I tripled the amount of clover I put down (ag supply bin seed is cheap). My idea was to have the clover be so thick as to shade out the weeds. As the attached pictures how’s, the results were great as this is the cleanest clover plot I’ve ever grown (I have not used any herbicide). I’m going to attempt a test by planting 1/2 of my home plot today in oats/heavy clover. I’ll then plant the other half with rye/clover Labor Day weekend. It will be interesting to compare next summer.

Anyone else experimenting with “outside the box” methods in their plots?

Follow-up: In the past when doing my typical grain/clover planing late August or early September, I’ve notice that while I get excellent germination, 2/3 of the clover does not survive our harsh winters. My guess is our harsh winters and early frost don’t give the clovers enough time to get firmly established. On the other hand, July or early August plantings give the clover time to adequately prepare for winter. As previously noted, I intentionally seed quite heavily to discourage weed growth. Because late July early August plantings of rye would go to seed and and not provide the same level of food production for late winter/early spring, I use oats as a cover crop. The deer browse the young oats heavily, and in the fall deer and Turkey will polish off the heads. The conclusion I’m coming to is if I want a thick, weed free stand of clover, I’m better off planting in the summer here in the north country(provided I seed heavily). Perhaps this experience is unique to my property/weather. Here is a photo of grain/clover (bin ladino and red) planted 5 weeks ago. Who else is having success challenging conventional wisdom?

 

[Elkaddict]

Of all the shooters on our place, this is the only one with a pattern that puts him in bow range with our predominant winds (the other 4 are rotating between multiple plots and my swirling plots make it a 50/50 proposition at best). This guys is in a Labor Day planted grain/clover plot every afternoon. With the season 5 days out, I’m excited….and at same time hoping my buck tag isn’t it filled too early with a nearly 7 week bow season. First world problem for sure. This buck is a good 4yr old for our area.

 

[Elkaddict]

My son who lives in Gotham came up for the weekend so we fired up the smoker. These Prime dinosaur ribs were simply unbelievable. I’ve been ordering from an outfit online called Wild Fork. Their prices for prime brisket are 40% of what I have to pay locally for Choice.

 

[gut_pile]

I order from Wild Fork often. Incredible quality at a great price

 

[Elkaddict]

October 1 brought the bow opener. Our mature bucks have been easier to pattern in the evenings so I tried to catch up on some much needed sleep. As usual, my brother from Chicago joined us. His morning hunt was a bust (I think swirling winds busted his approach). In the evening, he returned to the same plot where passed a small 8pt at 17 yards. He was hunting from a pop up blind in a 3/4 acre clover plot I’d overseeded with 125lbs of rye and oats.

My first sit was in a plot that has always been our money spot for bachelor groups (2 years ago, I had 14 bucks come in one evening, 9 of which were racked). It is a 11/2 acre clover plot that I plant strips of grain/brassica and clover (planted Labor Day weekend) in to facilitate movement. Surprisingly, this spot has not been used by mature bachelor groups this year. It has had 2 shooters coming in regularly. I thing the big change is all the corn/beans and new grain clover plots we planted this year. It has simply changed patterns.

My first evening sit had 19 deer come in including 6 small bucks. All walked with 30 years of the blind. The two shooters did not make an appearance (I was actually glad because bow season runs through the 11/19)….and it’s only going to get better.

My experience has been come early fall, grain/clover/brassica plots are a lot more of a draw than clover, corn/beans or brassicas. With all the does keyed on this plot, it will be a hotspot a month from now provided the snows haven’t piled up. Here are a couple pics.

 

[Elkaddict]

One of our challenges with the changing pattern is one of the bachelor groups is bedding and using an area that I simply cannot not approach undetected given wind and thermals. They moved to this spot about a week ago. They’ll need to move back to the frequently used spots before I can set up on them. Again, things will only get better has the season progresses. This clover/grain patch is 14 yds from a treestand, and surrounded by 6 acres of corn beans:

 

[Elkaddict]

Time for an overdue update. I had a great season on our place seeing lots of deer every sit. For a change, I actually took a shot at a buck during archery season. I was hunting out of our 10’ tall Rednecks shooting out of the front windows (not one of the archery corner windows. I took a shot at 40yds. Unexpectedly, the broadhead just nicked the bottom window gasket. It put enough stress on the bow that it destrung. Of course, after running at the shot, the buck offered a 15yd shot out of one of the archery windows….which simply had be laughing the mischief the hunting gods hand out. I ended up filling my archery tag with a doe the last sit of the season.

Rifle season was a fun filled family affair with both my brother and son missing nice bucks. I ended up harvesting the same buck I’d missed during archery season. He has a bit of a freak rack for these parts but was 41/2. Interestingly, we had no pictures of this deer until the rut kicked in. He was taken at 309yds with a 270wsm.

I also filled my landowner doe tag on the last day I could hunt. She was taken at 303yds, standing right next to a gong I regularly shoot.

 

[Elkaddict]

Lots of lesson learned this year. Because of ongoing quickweed/lambsquarter infestation, I planted 9 acres of RR corn (double a typical planting) to try to deal with the weeds. Sadly, significant flooding drowned 1/3. All my plantings are broadcast. This year, I reduced the planting rate hoping to produce larger ears and to create enough open space to overseed with brassicas late July. This worked well…but maybe too well. All that food in the corn made the deer feel more comfortable and they wiped out both by about mid December. Typically, I have 41/2 acres of corn and 5 acres of brassicas. The brassicas are unequivocally preferred and the deer don’t dive into the corn until the forage is depleted. This year wasn’t great for tons grown…. However, all that cover made the deer far more comfortable and visible in our plots during hunting season.

We got lucky elsewhere. I planted 4 acres of Rye/chicory clover Labor Day weekend. Fortunately, and unusually, the snows were light through December and the deer hit the grains really hard. This is the first time I’ve seen this kind of weather in the 7 years we had the place. I guess it’s best to be lucky. Although our weather has been colder than usual, the deer look great. In fact, we have the best crop of post rifle season bucks we’ve had to date.

I still haven’t made plans for this year. I really like to figure out how to get a handle on my weed problems. Although I didn’t think it possible, the quick weed outgrows an will shade out brassicas. I’m at a bit of a loss….

Here are pics of some of our surviving bucks.

 

[Elkaddict]

This fall was the first time in years I didn’t draw in MT. Consequently, I made a couple trips to TX where both my boys and I did well. I was particularly pleased with the large TX buck which I’d been chasing for 3 years

 

[Elkaddict]

I could use some help. After standing form for 25-30 years, the beaver dam that has created a beautiful fishing hole for my boys blew out following 5 or 6” of rain. Interestingly, the beavers are nowhere to be found. There’s always been a multiple adults and pups on this pond visible daily. Any idea how to facilitate a repair without equipment? I’ve though about cutting a bunch limbs and placing them near the breach. My thinking is with water so low, they’d be disinclined to try moving a lot of material over dry land where they have to carry the full weight? Thoughts?