12-30-06 - Winter is setting in

Time to start thinking about what to plant, and where. I want to have a cohesive plan by April 1st - and I'll lay it all out several times between now and then.

My son & I had a good Grouse hunt this week -
We put up 7 birds and I got off two shots. 1 for 2 is pretty good!

A couple other pictures from this week as well.










Happy New Year

Late Fall Pictures

Every fall, no matter how good our plots looked in the summer, I'm surprised how much they thin out by late fall. I always think we "need more green". Its interesting - because the deer NEVER touch the corn until the snow is near 1 ft deep.

We've found that if we mow the corn - the deer will get on it - even without snow - but we plant corn to sustain deer through the winters - which can be harsh here - and we leave it standing, even if it means that the deer don't come to feed on it in a mild hunting season like this year was. Bot though - they LOVE those bean pods when they start cracking in November - and even when there IS Snow -they will be pawing to get this high protein/fat food source in November.

Every deer we took this fall had Green (clover and or alfalfa) and soybeans in their stomach - and many had apples too.

Here's some late season pictures of the plots this year:

Early November 2006

Well I was lucky to take a nice 8 point buck with a bow this fall. Its a young buck probably his first rack - but I was happy to have the chance to take him with a bow. We ended up taking 2 bucks and 1 doe with bow and 2 bucks and 5 does with gun/blackpowder this fall. 10 deer including 4 bucks on 200 acres is a pretty good year for us. None of the larger bucks we've occaisionally seen were taken, the hunting pressure is enough to keep them off the property most of the hunting season.

Mid September Post

Well - the final peices are in place for our Fall/Deer hunting program. The last fields have been mowed. All the planting is done, its a matter of seeing how the plots do and how the mast (apple mostly) crop shapes up. We are seeing plenty of deer - and more fawns than the past several years - so things are looking up. Mature deer seem to be scarce - but aren't they always?

Here's a last look at some of our plots in Mid Sept - Late Summer.

I hope to have some deer pictures to post over thenext couple months - harvested and otherwise photgraphed. Check back come October - we'll see what we can come up with.

FH

August 19th Plot Updates

This time of year - I could post every couple days, things are growing so fast.
The Main Soybean plots are filling out and the corn is earing and tassling well. The Clover plot looks as good is it can be - and the Fall planted Brassica/clover plot is coming in well - except still some grasses.

Also posted is a picture of one of the Corn Strips that did REALLY BAD. We ended up broadcasting Soybeans over it in late June - and Rye over it this weekend - to try to salvage something of the plots for the fall.

The Concord Grapes at the old Homestead (burnt in Mid -1940s) are still producing. They have taken over an apple tree and a Large Buckthorn. This year they seem particulary heavy with the milder winter last year and plenty of summer rains.

2006 Cam Pictures

To follow - are some Trail Cam pictures - from 2006 - I'm not sure yet if I'll just add to this post - or post periodically - either way the Horse Block in the picture - happens to attract deer too - so I thought it would be a good place to place the camera - we do not use Salt Licks or supplemental feeding as part of our management program. No Bruisers - but our program rarely produces Truly Large bucks - Just a good number of 1.5 and 2.5 year old bucks - and healthy does.

Fall Planting - Clover & Brassica Mix

Not to sound like a Whitetail Institute Commercial - but if you are interested in their products - you might want to keep an eye on our success/failure with this plot. On July 5th (2 weeks after a local farmer baled it) - I Roundup sprayed a section of Pipeline - Just under an acre of what was Orchard Grass and Timothy. The section is roughly Boxed in red at the far end of the pipeline in the picture. The plot is 1/2 Imperial Whitetail Clover and 1/2 their new Product "Winter Greens" Which is a Kale Based - Brassica Mix.

The hill is Southeast Facing - and a great setup for a Kill Plot - which is what this is to be ( as well as provide a decent year round food source of course).

1 week after Spraying:

It took about 3 weeks for the sodbed to be 90%+ dead - then we disked and planted on July 30th. We cultipacked - then seeded - then cultipacked again. 200 lbs/acre 15-15-15 was added for the heck of it.

Clover Progression - 2006

In 2005 - we started a new clover plot in the fall. This was a 2004 Soybean plot - that was left fallow then sprayed in June 2005. The plot was over seeded and rolled in with clover in July 2005.


The Clover grew - though it was thin in September of 2005. The deer used it some - but we know it could have been a better planting, and that we would need to re-seed in the spring.

On April 9th Spring 2006, it was indeed very thin after the initial smowmelt - we expanded the plot and frost seeded more White clovers in April, then rolled the plot. We also put down 200 lbs/acre of 15-15-15 Fertilizer. Normally we do not put down any Nitrogen with a clover planting - but this plot needed a Jump Start. After expansion - the Plot ended up being about 2 acres.




This is how the plot looked on July 30th a week after its after its second mowing of the year - obvoisly it is coming in decent - responding wellt o mowing as well as the fertilizer. Still some Ragweed, Daisy, and some grasses - but overall the clover is dominating.

The last mowing of 2006 - The plot is now ready for Hunting Season:

Soybean Plot - Progression

The roundup ready soybean plots are similar to the corn plantings - in that they respond quickly to the application of Roundup.

Here is the Soybean pictures:

1 week after Spraying - July 9th, 2006


This Picture is from July 25, 2006 - same Soybean Plot. You can see the darkening of the leaves as the plot begins to absorb the nutients now available.




On August 6th - the plot is filling in nicely. This plot was sprayed a second time on August 5th - the day before this picture was taken. This final spraying should take care of the spraying for the year - as the canopy closes with the plant growth. Heavey deer browsing may require us to apply on last application of roundup - but it is not likely on this plot.

The Last picture below - is a closer view of the soybeans - and how they relate to the corn we always plant in close proxmity to the soybean plots.

Summer Plots - 2006

Well - Since June 5th when I last posted - we've been busy, In addition to normal summer camp type work - We've sprayed roundup on the Corn & Soybean plots - We've mowed clover, overgrown fields & trails. We've put in a Brassica/Clover plot - and over seeded a small corner soybean plot with the same Brassica/Clover mix as an experiment.

The Trail Cams - have been up and working good - No big bucks su far - but that's OK - we are seeing twin fawns and good looking 1.5 & 2.5 year old bucks - The older ones aren't far off - its just that they are not likely falling for out camera set up.

To follow is kind of a cronological look at our summer so far - Its neat to see how the plots respond to Roundup applications. We'll Start with the corn:

July 9 - 1 week after Spraying Corn
















Same Corn Plot - 7-25-06

And again 8-6 - Corn is just Tassling.