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Food plot pictures

hickslawns

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Okay. Talking to some guys I was commended on the amount of plots we got put in the ground yesterday. I thought it might be a good idea to post some pictures one of the trail cameras picked up. In reply to JBrown- heck yes, that was a ton of ground we put into seed yesterday! However, most people do not have access to the type of equipment we used to do so. If all we had to use was my 30HP tractor, we might have gotten 5acres done yesterday in the 12hrs we worked.

Here is the scenario. Property purchased (not by me). Property hadn't been worked in literally DECADES! We have gone thru and mowed down tons of areas. Hated to do so, but short term sacrifices for the long term benefit is what we are after. We DID take away a ton of cover. For example, the pictures I am posting used to be CRP type fields (not in CRP, just similar to CRP land). The weeds were waist to face tall. Great cover for the deer. Hated to do it to be honest. We turned the dirt and pulled a ton of trees out which had fallen or dropped limbs. Last weekend I was on my tractor with the front end loader moving trees off to the side and attempting to pile them strategically to help funnel deer through specific openings rather than allowing them to walk out of the woods wherever they felt like it. The JD pictured turned the dirt. We turned it again yesterday and seeded it. It is NOT ideal. Given the time frame though we had to get SOMETHING in the ground. This area has oats all over the place. We also put down some seed my buddy bought from "Wildlife Magic". Our mix was called "Green patch". 30% Bruiser Diploid Ryegrass, 20% AC GreenFix peas, 20% Athena forage rape, 10% GroundHog Forage radish, 10% Ladino Clover, 10% Dixie Crimson clover. We also threw some purple top turnips in front of the stands. Basically, we put about 40yds along the edges of this area in the Green Patch. We also seeded from bedding areas exits and seeded from bedding exits to our stands and seeded in front of the stands heavier. The entire area also received oats. I fully expect weeds and anything else which had been growing to come back up.

With this said, keep in mind this was simply an attempt to turn the dirt for the first time in decades and get SOMETHING in the ground. Next year, we will have this area in corn. Our efforts are twofold. One thing is hunting. This is a nice hunting property. The next thing is farming. We are going to start doing a little farming on the side. I will keep you posted with the results as we go.

On a side note, we have other long term plans which are more whitetail related. In removing tons of cover, we realize we have probably hurt our efforts for hunting this year a bit. We also have long term goals of replacing the cover removed with other cover in specific areas. We want to have tillable land which can be profitable. We want to shift the movement patterns of the deer IF possible. We also want to make this property more beneficial for future farming AND future hunting. I think it takes the right property to be able to do this and this particular property happens to have what it takes in order to achieve both the farming and hunting goals.

Open to all criticism and suggestions. We are still learning. I am all ears and you won't hurt my feelings. Hopefully we can all learn from this!
 

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jagermeister

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Looks like that ground turned over pretty well dude! I think you're going to be pleasantly surprised by what grows in those plots. The rye, rape and radishes should take off fast enough that the weeds won't have a fighting chance. I'm looking forward to seeing some more pics here in a few weeks!
 

Beentown

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Looks good Phil. Couple of questions...

How big is the property?

How much is woods?

How much in tilable?

Do you already have the equipment to farm? I.E. Combine, gravity wagons, etc...

Beentown
 

Huckleberry Finn

Senior Member
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Other than maybe growing some wheat so that you can have straw to seed lawns...I'd stay away from the little farming Phil! Hobby farms suck money and time (not that I don't love them, and can't wait to have one someday).

For plot's sake that looks good but I'd be using the .25-06 to shoot deer, beanfield rifle!
 

hickslawns

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Looks good Phil. Couple of questions...

How big is the property?

How much is woods?

How much in tilable?

Do you already have the equipment to farm? I.E. Combine, gravity wagons, etc...

Beentown

Might give you a call Charles. Not being my property and being a partnership on the farming, it just doesn't seem like a good idea to throw the info out to the general public anymore than I already have. Sorry.
 

Milo

Tatonka guide.
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i would have sprayed it first and then plowed it. the sod can be really hard on equipment but you may do fine. especially with that size of equipment. We have smaller stuff and cannot get away with that. we are no till for corn though so that helps with the sod. its the beans that take the betaing
 

hickslawns

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i would have sprayed it first and then plowed it. the sod can be really hard on equipment but you may do fine. especially with that size of equipment. We have smaller stuff and cannot get away with that. we are no till for corn though so that helps with the sod. its the beans that take the betaing


I agree 100% Milo. Time was against us or we would have done so. Helps when you have a 15' bush hog hooked to the other tractor and the disk on the JD. This is NOT your average food plot equipment. Most guys are running an older Massey, Ford, or maybe a newer 30-40hp Kubota or similar tractor. Access to this equipment enabled us to do bigger plots. Like I said, if all we had available was my 30Hp tractor and my buddies 40HP Kubota, we would not have been doing plots this size. Now that it is worked, and SOMETHING is in the ground, we can move forward next year. One step at a time. We have only had this property for 10 months, so to have accomplished what we have so far is really something. I know Drake has seen it from the road and can tell you, it had been neglected for literally decades. No mowing, no soil turned, nothing. One step at a time. Hopefully the turning of dirt, and planting of greenery will enable us to work it with less beating on equipment in future years.
 

DJK Frank 16

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I know Drake has seen it from the road and can tell you, it had been neglected for literally decades. No mowing, no soil turned, nothing. One step at a time. Hopefully the turning of dirt, and planting of greenery will enable us to work it with less beating on equipment in future years.

You got that right! I was amazed at the after photos so far!
 

Curran

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I don't know the first thing about putting in food plots Phil, but it sounds to me like you put a plan in place for the property and are taking action. Like you said, the deer hunting in the short term may be altered, but you'll be better off in the long run. Plus, deer are pretty adaptable creatures. Even though you went in and turned over what sounds like some good cover, I'm sure there's probably some other areas nearby that the deer will now use for that. I'm looking forward to hearing how this one progresses. Have fun!
 

Jackalope

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stay away from mixes that have rye grass. You don't want to get that stuff started.

rye grass and rye grain are two very different animals.

In MS that's what you'll find in 90% of all the plots. Plain old Rye Grass. The deer have plenty and i mean plenty of oaks that don;t seem to be as cyclic as here in Ohio. So they get a pretty constant supply of mast crop. No beans to browse and they don't eat cotton.. So plain rye grass it is for browse.
 

hickslawns

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Thanks for the head's up Darron. I am sure the beans that go in will be Roundup ready, and we will probably have to spray the areas which go into corn next year anyway. I made a mental note though and passed the info along to my buddy today as well. Thank you!

In talking to my buddy today he tells me the seed is starting to pop already! We got it in the ground and didn't get a chance to rake it in. That night we had one heckuva storm blow in. 5-10min of hard/heavy rains which tapered off to steady and lighter rain later. It was perfect! Since we are both pretty adamant about staying out of there unless hunting, working, or changing camera cards (preferably in the rain), I busted his balls and asked him what he was doing in there. Got all serious and everything telling him "What are you doing? You think wandering through there watching the dirt is going to make it grow? Stay out of there. It will either grow or it won't." Then i couldn't hold back the laughing anymore. I guess he was getting the tractor ready to be hauled out for another project and couldn't resist checking out the food plots. Can't blame him. I would have done the same if I already had to be in there.

Sure is good news though!
 

Beentown

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That reminds me of my first plot...

I had just put the seed on the ground. And it just let go and started to pour for over an hour. The land had a gentle slope to it with the highest point being almost exactly in the middle. The next week and a half I was on vacation. When I came back it was really thick on the sides with just small patches in the middle. I ended up calling it the "homer simpson" plot. Doh!

Beentown
 

hickslawns

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IMG00118-20110920-1551 9-20-11 food plot.jpgIMG00119-20110920-1552 9-20-11 food plot.jpgCan't believe I haven't updated this post. Here are some pics from last month.


Here are the pictures I took on my way into the stand on Wednesday.

IMG00183-20111012-1622 powerline plot 10-12-11.jpgIMG00184-20111012-1622 power line 10-12-11.jpg



This is what I took tonight in another plot. I only ventured into 1 of the 3 we have on this end of the property. This time of the year I feel it is critical to keep the pressure low. I pulled in, glassed from just off the road, pulled ahead another 50yds and glassed again. I did this until I was up to the plot and did one final glassing. Once I was sure there were no deer to be disturbed close by I turned around and hopped out for some close up pictures prior to leaving. Enjoying the fruits of our labor! I cannot wait for the first frost. It should coincide with some pretty good rut activity which will be unbelievable action! Tons of does out feeding with bucks cruising looking for a hot doe is going to be outstanding!
IMG00185-20111014-1908 SE plot 10-14-11.jpgIMG00187-20111014-1909 SE plot 10-14-11.jpg

For what it is worth, these were anywhere from 4-9" out of the ground already. I didn't walk the plot to check them out, but checked out a few just along the edge which were right by the truck. The deer don't seem to be in these plots very much right now, which I find interesting. I think once the first good frost hits and sweetens them up we will see some serious deer yarding up in there.

One other point I want to make is the bucks. While we didn't have very good action on the trail cameras over the summer, three of last year's survivors are showing up again with another newbie in tow. The mature bucks are still running solo (at least on camera) but small bucks are hanging together a little bit yet. We were pretty worried about the impact on the hunting this year, but it seems we only pushed them out for a short while if they ever really left. I truly believe the late season is going to be something amazing to watch unfold. It could get out of control even after the corn comes off, but late season deer herding in this area could quite possibly surprise us. We are already surprised at the results and the numbers we are seeing. Time will tell on the late season.
 

epe

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Lancaster
Looks great man! Was not able to do any this year for the first time in 5 years. Was a pain doing them, but well worth it.