Land Management

[bullwinkle]

Hunted the oaks last week - saw nothing. Hunted the food plots and the deer were all over. Here is my conclusions:

1. The deer seemed to enjoy both rye and oats. I did see more deer in the oats but I also planted more oats so it is hard to say
2. The Aug planted rape/turnip/kale was a big hit. It would pull deer across a 40 acre field. I am planting more of this next year
3. Absolutely no difference - in fact I saw more deer feeding on the feed mill oats vs Buckforage Oats. BFO big sell is they stay greener than feed mill in Nov, we will see. You cant tell the difference looking at a field planted in both. I tasted both, cant taste a difference either
4. My Iron Clay Cow peas planted in Aug did not grow. I knew this was a summer plant but wanted to test it - the plot was a failure
5. My July planted Frigid Forage and feed mill rape/turnip was turning purple and the turnips are egg sized. DIdnt see a single deer feeding on this plot. I would guess it is useless till the first hard freeze. If you want to hunt over a brassica plot in Sept, I would suggest planting your brassicas in Aug
6. Clover was a big hit. I just had shade tolerant white and red planted. Next year I will have a WI clover and chicory trial to report
7. My acre of soybeans are completely defoliated.

We had deer all over. Jumping up to 6 acres really made a huge difference. The deer cant keep up on the food on my property. Last year at this time my food plots looked like putting greens, this year they are 6-8" high and lush.

It was fun watching the deer. I had one 5ptr come out a 4pm, feed on my oats/peas for 45 minute then another 15 on the clover till it headed out. He was pulling out the oats by the roots and they were hanging from his mouth as he jammed them in. Pretty satisfying for this deer farmer

[kellory]

"Pretty satisfying for this deer farmer" .....how deep do you plant the deer, and which end up? I am glad of your reports, and your progress. I may start a plot myself, but it would far smaller, because my land is just about all hillside and watershed.. Thanks.

[gunther89]

Figured I would give 1 final report on our plots. Our antler king clover looks like it has some deer feeding in it but not much browse. Our Clover Crush has alot of deer feeding in it and will be planting more of this next year on our property. Our beans look fantastic and everyone in our family was surprised how well they grew. We didn't think that broadcasting them in would work that great but it did. We are thinking of going with 3 acres of beans next year. The deer won't go hungry for awhile during winter on our land.

[kellory]

Looking back through all the photos, and the work you guys have put into your food plots, it is truly quite impressive.

[bullwinkle]

The plan is working. My Aug planted rape/turnip/kale and most of the oats and rye look like a lawn mower went over them. I have a couple of 10 years olds out this weekend and they took a couple of spikes - pretty cool to be part of their first experiences. It hurts my big buck plans a little but it is worth it. Plan to do it again next year.

The plots were filled with deer. This is the first time I believe I will have enough crop that the deer will not consume it all. In the middle of my big fields, there are oat leaves that have not been touched so I should have enough once the acorns are completely consumed. The July rape/turnips are not getting hit at all right now.

[bullwinkle]

On one of my 1.25 acre plots I split the field with BFO vs Feed Mill oats. I have to say the BFO have a noticeable difference in browse. They happen to be on the side of the plot that butts up against my sanctuary so I dont want to claim success to early but if I had to call it today, BFO are winning. The real test will be when the temp get in the 20's. BFO are advertised by our new deer czar to stay green longer than regular oats and down to 10F

[bullwinkle]

Another couple of weeks have past and the difference between the BFO and feed mill oats is profound. You can actually see the line separating the two sections of field. Not declaring BFO are worth the money yet but it appears right now that they are a early season favorite. You should see some of the plots. The cages have oats 1' tall and it looks like a putting green around them - they are completely wiped out. I dont have any feed mill oat plots like this - just along the edges of the fields. The deer are also really hammering my feed mill rape/turnip/kale that was planted in Aug

[bullwinkle]

The BFO continue to out perform the feed mill oats, although we have deer in each. What changed this week is the deer are in my July planted rape/turnips/frigid forage. They seem to like the frigid forage better - most of the deer congregate in the Frigid Forage . We actually had a 150" deer come into the plot and bedded down watching the oat fields at 330pm one afternoon. They pop the little bulbs right out of the ground an into their mouths. The Aug rape/turnip/kale looks like a finishing mower went over them. A friend watched a 3 year old bred a doe in one of my oat plots last night - pretty cool

I am elated with the success of all of my plots - the extra acreage I planted and the mix has significantly improved our deer sightings.

[bullwinkle]

Update:

Winter rye was a minor bust. We had as many as 20 deer in the rye during muzzle loader season but since then there has been no use. It never really got tall so maybe the acre I planted was not enough. I was hoping to have winter activity.

Over the winter I saved my pennies and bought a no till drill. This year I plan to increase my food plot acreage by 10 acres up to 16. The following experiments are being planned:

1. Radishes - 100% and mixed trials with rape/turnips

2. I plan to drill oats/rye/brassicas into standing WI clover/chicory fields to extend their useful life and experiment with weed control (rye). I cant wait to see how this works

3. Plant to plant a significant amount of soybeans and hoping to find a good shatter resistant pod

4. We will be watching the WI clover and chicory to determine if it was worth the money. I have 4 acres of WI clover and 1 acre of chicory planted from last fall.

5. Trying alfalfa in a 6 acre field. This will be my last attempt. If it does not work this year, corn and soybeans will be rotated from now on and the only legume I will focus on will be clover

The main strategy will be the same a last year. Soybeans, brassicas, oats, clover, chicory, rye and alfalfa. I still have a winter gap. I did some logging in Dec so this year there has not been a problem. I am hoping some of the soybeans and rye can help next winter. If alfalfa does not work, corn will be adding and this should solve some of my problem

I limed my fields last week - 36 tons of lime - got it in right before the snow. I am ready to get planting. This warm weather is getting me jumpy

[bullwinkle]

Update:

1. Where I planted heavy oats last year my clover did not do well. Decided to try again and replant with some protein this summer

2. I have about 1.5 acres of WI clover and Chicory doing well. Will be interesting to see how the deer use this plot over the summer.

3. Planted 2.5 acres of corn two weeks ago. First run with my no-till. Put down way too much seed. I have to play around with this since corn is not what it is designed to do. Oh well, it is fun playing around, hopefully the corn still grows cobs. I may have screwed up big time. If so, I will drill in some brassica or oats this fall and do the field over

4. Plan on planting 5 acres of soybeans this week. Should be an easy exercise with the no-till. I think this will be the best money I have ever spent. I am hoping they hammer the beans on the field edge and I get some beans in the middle of the fields for muzzleloader season.

5. Got full soil tests and hired a soil expert to give me guidance. He had me put about $1200 of Ca/S/K on my fields. He swears I will be kissing him with the results. I am kind of exicited to know that my soil should be the best that it can be

6. The deer in our area look as good as I have ever seen. The food plot strategy is working relative to prior years. I have a significant amount of feed relative to prior years at this time of the year.

I also planted 5000 conifer trees to make bedding areas, break up some of my fields so deer cant see across them from 1/4 mile away and made exit cover routes to get out of my stands.

I cant wait to see what my cameras show in a couple of months.

My farming skills will be a deciding factor on my hunting this year. I am running out of ideas on how to make my property better. The next few years it should peak to its capability.