Food plots

[Cowboy Billy]

One of my dreams came true this year. I made my first deer food plots. In 2006 my Dad and brother bought 80 acres in Michigan's eastern UP that adjoins a 40 my Dad bought 15 years ago. It also adjoins 240 acres of my uncles and 80 of my cousins. It starts 1/4 mile past the end of a dead end road and I had to make a road across 1/4 mile of my uncles property just to get to it. Its all wooded mainly soft woods but about 10 acres of maple. And rises in elevation 100' from the lowest point to the highest with four lime stone ledges.

Developing this property has really brought our whole family together. I spend the most time up there but both my brothers come up and help out and my sister, BIL and their two kids come up several times a year for a vacation. Its off grid with the nearest power about 1/2 mile away. We have a home built diesel generator and a forklift batter and 5000 watt power inverter for power. I usually run there days on the battery then fire up the generator for 5-6 hrs to charge the battery back up and hope to have two small windgenerators up next year. We have a 26' travel with a 12x20 bunk house hooked to it to stay in.

Now to the plots. Finally got past gotta get this and that done just to stay up there. And got my first plots in. I plowed up 2.5 acres at my cousins just over 1/4 mile from the trailer. And about a acre where my Dad hunts 1/2 mile from the trailer. Starting in may I started clearing the brush and small trees from a acre across from the trailer.

Here's what the new field looked like April 5th before I started working on it. The area I cleared is to the right of the loader.

I cleared half of it burnt it then cleared the other half. The property was all woods when we got it and I had to make all my clearings roads and trails (I am still working on the trails) I have a fire hose pump and fire hose. And pushed out a little pond for a fire reservoir. So if I had the fire get away I could put it out. I also have a 500 gal tank on a wagon that I can pull around if I need it.

Here's my first brush pile.

Dad and I infront of the little fire

A lot of people use a rake to stir up there fire I use a JD 450g dozer

My field grew the best where I burnt and spread the ashes. It was also noticeably taller under the trees I left. Charcoal is very good to put in the ground. Benefits of charcoal (biochar)

Reduces nutrient leeching from soils by binding nutrients.Improves soil health by providing surfaces for beneficial bacteria and fungi to live on.

And here it is July 31st just after I got done seeding it.

It was pretty rocky and there was some sand there. I had to plow it with the dozer and dig up a bunch of boulders and push them away. And even after two days of picking rock and half day of using a rock rake there are a lot of stones left.

There was a sharp sand and running it over with the tractor compacted it badly. And there were roots and rocks sticking up everywhere and I did not expect it to grow.

Billy

 

[Cowboy Billy]

8-18 when I made it up next it was up 4-5 inches and I was shocked. It turned out to be the best of the three fields I planted. I didn't even put any fertilizer on any of the fields until it was 8" high then I only put 150 lbs of 19-19-19 on it. Latter the **** plants showed it was potassium deficient.

10-2 it was really up. You can't see the brassicas in there but there was a lot but the deer were really knocking them down. For some reason the deer barley touched the oats WW and rye. As of nov 30 it was headed out and turning brown and they still weren't touching it. I have no idea why. I was going to mow some strips through it so some of it would stay green but my friends talked me out of it now I wish I would have.

I planted a brassica mix I got from the co-op. Along with trapper peas, winter wheat, rye and oats. Even though I didn't know to use it I used my crows foot cultipacker first spread my seed, drug a bedspring over and ran the cultipacker back over it.

Now to Dad's spot. He hunts on the lowest level in a small one acre field in the middle of our property's. It is just to the east of some natural springs and to the north of him are cedar swamps. We haven't seen any big bucks up there for 15 years. My uncle bought his property in 1965 and its about 10 miles from our original homestead. For the first 15-20 years they were getting 8pt's and seeing some bigger. But as the years went by they keep getting smaller. When my uncle bought there had been recent logging behind our property. And my feeling is that there was just less feed and lesser quality feed since the woods have thickened and grown up. My uncles think I am wrong and that their are as many as before but we just don't see them. I feel my food plots will prove my point and we will see bigger bucks. But time will tell.

We have also had a lot of problems with wolves the last 7 years. Last year we had a doe and two fawns. Christmas the wolves killed the doe 200 feet from our trailer just before we came up then came back our first nite there and finished eating what they left the nite before. Then they killed a deer behind our pole barn and one on a trail half way between the trailer and where Dad hunts. And those are just the ones I found.

When I plowed Dad's up it was almost all heavy red clay with maybe 1 1/2 inch of topsoil. I did put 350 lbs of lime on it. And the same seed mix I used in the other two. I feel the lime really helped while the other field took off better. This one caught up and the planting looked healthier even though it was grazed a lot heavier. With 6-10 deer a day there where as the other field. Had mostly the two that were fawns last year and there mom was killed by wolves Christmas and another doe and fawn that would show up time to time. It was great watching the yearlings in the plot across from the trailer they were in there eating 2-3 times a day happily eating. We would be in front of the trailer with a bonfire and radio playing and they would be 150 feet away just eating and were so used to us I could drive the fourwheeler 40' from them and they would just watch me. The twins ended up being a doe and three inch spike.

Here's Dad's spot. I plowed disk and rototilled with a 265 massy and used my 1957 farmall 130 the 14' brillon crows foot cultipacker. Its a nice unit as it has two hitches one you pull with for working it. The other for when you drop the wheels and transport it from the side. Which is a good thing as it would not fit down my trails otherwise.

I do need to get some drag harrows to help level out the field. But I was able to use the blade on the 130 to help level the field it has down pressure on the blade and that really helped.

July 30th its in.

August 18th its up and growing good.

Billy

 

[Uper]

Looks like a lot of work and fun Billy. What did you seed it with? Did you do any soil testing? pH?

Okay, I got your second post while I was writing up my first. **** seed is a good idea. Real nice looking property. Love the outcropping rock.

 

[Cowboy Billy]

You can see the water tank on the hay wagon behind the utv. That I have for fire suppression if I need it. When I burnt the brush pile in that field it wasn't opened up to the springs yet so I hauled water in.

Oct 3rd it looks even better

Its hard to tell but you can kinda see how the trail drops 30' down into the field Dad hunts in.

And this is one of the four rock ledges.

Aug 28th I opened Dad's field up to the springs but it rained 3" while I was doing it and I made a muddy mess and the seed got burried too deep and didn't do well.

Dad had four mini strokes nov 1st 1008 and hadn't hunted the two years before from being sick (colds/flu) 2009 he hunted and did not see anything worth taking. This year at 77 he got his 33 buck a nice sized 6" spike.

 

[Cowboy Billy]

Thanks Uper

For me work is fun. I seeded it with electric cyclone broadcast spreader on my fourwheeler. But for some reason it was spinning too fast and throwing seed 30' off each side of the fourwheeler. We are planing on getting one of those small plot seed drills for the tractor. My cousin said get it in now or it will be too late. So I put it in without testing the soil. One of the farmers near by has his own test rig and we are going to have him test the soil this spring.

Billy

 

[loon]

WOW Cowboy that looks great

i plant a little 1/4 acre plot out back and i do have cheap labour ;-P

and good for your dad in the hunt eh

loon

 

[Cowboy Billy]

Cool Loon!

Do you think you can teach my horse to drive my tractor? I don't hunt but I have Dad setup. I hooked up a wood stove for him. One evening I went to pick him up and he was in his shorts and all the windows open. My cousin said it better because the wood smoke is natural and the stove draws the human sent through it and burns it up.

Billy

 

[loon]

I have Dad setup. I hooked up a wood stove for him. One evening I went to pick him up and he was in his shorts and all the windows open. Billy

bet that woulda been a funny picture!! :cheese:

 

[davmor]

Nice pictures nothing in the world like the U.P. of Michigan. I am in awe what you have there. Dave.

 

[smokinj]

Awesome as Always!

 

[Jags]

Billy - your having too much fun to call it work. Looks like a beautiful place you guys have there.

 

[thewoodlands]

Billy it looks great, we have a small area by the brook we would like to do something like that so maybe next year.


zap

 

[Cowboy Billy]

Thanks Guy's

I have learned a lot in the last few days. Didn't know the difference between a forge plot and hunting plot. That there are cool and warm season foods to plant and what plants to plant for the best year round feed.


Here's a great site for learning what the deer need and when they need it.

http://www.whitetailstewards.com/articlesonsite/mainarticlepages/deerhabitatmanagementarticles.htm

Information on brassicas planting and crop rotation and year round nutrition.

http://www.outreachoutdoors.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=566


Different grasses and their benefits.

http://www.qdma.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25851


I had a great time plowing planting and watching the fields grow and what gets eaten. And it really made me feel good watching a deer eating lift its head and seeing green stuff sticking out both sides of its mouth!

Ya can just barley see one deer in this picture.

My niece Lauren in "her cave" at the farm

Billy

 

[loon]

the payoff is nice eh billy

i bet you and your dad would have fun with one of these..

i just picked this kind up for $100..

but like the plot, they are endless in the kind you can get ;-P

loon

 

[Cowboy Billy]

Sure is Loon

I was looking for reviews on trail cameras when I came across the links for making food plots. I'm not sure if I am going to go with a trail cam or a plot cam. I am kinda liking the plot cam.

Billy

 

[SolarAndWood]

Looks great Billy. Your meadows blend nicely with the forest.

 

[loon]

i hooked up this and had fun with it but then my wife was getting a little ticked as i kept changing the tv channel to the camera :cheese:

could also tape with it but havent got back to putting it up again? i imagine they have cordless now for a decent $ but this one i had to run about 250ft of wire..

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Billy, just a little hint here. I think you planted your oats/rye way too early. For sure when it heads out, you know you planted too early. I have planted as early as Aug. 10 but usually planted at the end of the month or at least by Labor Day and the stuff is younger, more tender and the deer love it. This works great through October. It still will be good here in early November but up there might be done around Nov. 1.

So what to do with the ground before you plant the oats/rye? Simple. Your ground up there is poor ground for farming. So, plant buckwheat. It will help the ground. However, wait until the frosts are done for the spring and I know it can be late there. I usually plant buckwheat around June 10 or thereabouts. It grows fast (if you can keep the turkeys from digging up the seed) as it matures in about 6 weeks.

Regardless of the date the buckwheat is planted, I usually work the ground in early August and I like to wait then 2 weeks, work it again and plant it to the oat/rye mix and I use a 50/50 mix.

 

[Cowboy Billy]

Thanks S&W

Loon we aren't inside much and can see anything near by. Any where I would want a camera would be a long ways away. But its great it works for you.

Outside

Inside

Not a whole lot of room in there. But I don't want to make it too comfortable or I won't get anything done!

Thanks Dennis

On my uncle's 1/2 mile away they were eating the oats/wheat/rye as it came up so it never got tall or went to seed. I was going to mow the seed heads off but my friend said not to as they would eat the seed off or the stems. I found out that rye is an nitrogen fixer and will be using it a lot.

A rye cover crop and manure applications are mutually beneficial. Manure nutrients aid in decomposition of the rye, offsetting any potential yield drag, and rye captures and recycles the manure nutrients effectively to the future corn crop, reducing commercial fertilizer needs.

Rye is one of the best scavengers of nitrogen and reduces leaching losses on both sandy soils and tile-drained land. The fast growing, fibrous root system can capture 25 to 100 pounds of soil nitrogen per acre.

Seeding rye in late summer or early fall will allow it to scavenge nitrogen. When organic N (from manure or legumes) is still available.

Rye can capture this nitrogen and recycle it to the following season. The actual amount of nitrogen that is recycled is highly variable. A presidedress soil nitrate test can help determine the amount of nitrogen credit to take for the upcoming corn crop.

Rye should be allowed to grow over the winter to continue taking up N in the spring.

Rye is the hardiest of cereals and can be seeded later in the fall than other cover crops, and it provides top growth and extensive root growth. It will germinate at cold temperatures—as low as 34 degrees F—and it will resume growing at 38 degrees in the spring. This makes it possible to seed rye after corn, sugar beet or bean harvest until the ground freezes.

It is relatively inexpensive to plant, and the seed is readily available or easily grown.

Easy to establish, rye can be aerial seeded in standing corn/silage and before leaf drop in soybean. Rye can be broadcast alone or with dry fertilizers, can be added to manure tanks for slurry seeding or drilled (which provides the most consistent stands).

It outperforms most other crops on infertile, sandy or acidic soil. It is also tolerant of a variety of soil types and grows well on both poorly and well-drained soils.

Rye can recycle potassium from deeper in the soil profile for future crop use.

Rye is effective at suppressing weeds. It competes with winter annuals and inhibits growth of spring weeds. As rye residue decomposes, it releases allelopathic compounds that are harmful to the growth of weeds.
The rapid fall and spring growth can stabilize sandy soil, trap snow and improve infiltration.

Rye is utilized for many cropping systems, including fruits and vegetables, where it can be left in narrow strips to reduce wind erosion.

Rye, and all cover crops, build soil quality over time by adding organic matter. Long-term benefits include improved soil structure, tilth, water infiltration and water-holding capacity.

Billy

 

[loon]

Beauty spot for sure billy

terry