Food plot and a little work today

[Browntown]

Unclefish,
I see you have had good luck with your radishes this year! Curious if you will plant the same fall food plot next year?? I tried brassicas this year and found out I will not be planting them next year. I had some of the best looking greens in Houston County but the deer didn't touch them... Even with several days in 20's. I am always looking for ways to improve my plots.

[unclefish]

Unclefish,
I see you have had good luck with your radishes this year! Curious if you will plant the same fall food plot next year?? I tried brassicas this year and found out I will not be planting them next year. I had some of the best looking greens in Houston County but the deer didn't touch them... Even with several days in 20's. I am always looking for ways to improve my plots.

Yes the ole dibble bar.....I thought about getting one before I started planting but decided to go with what I had. If I ever do something like that again I will definitely get one.

The radishes were an experiment this year and I've been pleasantly surprised with the results. Yes I will absolutely plant the same mix again...except for the Austrian Winter Peas...for the money I think it was a waste.

The clover/oats combo has never gotten above an inch in height...just kept mowed down by the deer. They ate the radish tops more as the season progressed and now they are absolutely loving them. I even had one radish tuber eaten today when I checked so maybe they will start eating it too.

I may even plant some radishes for an early spring crop....they keep the ground totally weed free because they grow so fast and are so prolific. My deer have never seen radishes before this year so I'm impressed with their drawing power. One thing that helped was that I planted oats/clover right next to them so the deer had a chance to nibble on the radishes while eating the oats. I guess they developed a taste for them.

I'm a believer that once they get used to coming in to a plot and its screened off from view and not disturbed...I think they will eat just about anything you plant. It may take them a few years though.

[FIO17]

Any game cam pics! Nice job

[unclefish]

Here are a few more trail cam pics at the feeders.

I don't have big deer....most of the older deer I see are just 8 points. I rarely see a 10 or better. I'm working to change that...


Nice young 8


Another 3 year old 8


I have WAY too many of these! My son loves them...shooting them that is.

[unclefish]

This is an "acorn" horn buck. I missed him last year...grazed his back at 25 yards.


Another typical 8 I see all the time.


Nice big body....not much for horns...lol.

[SFAbowhunter]

Man you have a lot of action out there! That's a lot of piggies! They'll keep you busy this off season!

[unclefish]

Man you have a lot of action out there! That's a lot of piggies! They'll keep you busy this off season!

Yes too many pigs. We are going to be trapping this spring and summer.

Tapachat

[unclefish]

Checked out my place today....

Radishes have perked up with all the warm weather last week.




They are still eating the tops not the bulbs...




Tapachat

[unclefish]

Here is an untouched mature radish plant for comparison.


The clover and oats are still being "mowed" down pretty good....


A little poop action...


Something is eating the tops of my pine trees I planted. Anyone have any ideas what it could be? I'm thinking hogs.



Tapachat

[jshouse]

sorry if i missed it but how big is your total plot?

[jmangrem]

You may have to fence the pine trees.
I planted about 150 pines along Hwy 6, 10 miles south of College Station and we found out the hard way that deer love to eat the new growth on top and LOVE to rub horns on them...I think they like the sap.

[unclefish]

I bet that is what it is then. Crazy what they will eat.....virtually anything is fair game for them I guess.

I have just under 2 acres planted in the plot. About 1.5 acres of radishes/oats and the other half acre of just clover/oats.

Some new TC pics. My 4 year old Bushnell Trophy cam just keeps on ticking while my new Primos Ultra 35 really sux.....constantly going thru batteries and have had lots of problems with it not taking pics.

This is the 8 point that walked under my son's treestand during the season....not legal. Glad he made it thru the season...next year he will be nice!


Lots of young bucks like this out there...


Feasting at night...

[jshouse]

again, sorry if i missed it, but what are your plans for spring? will you be leaving the clover? how has the switchgrass done? i have plans for some switchgrass in my sanctuary and about a 1.25-1.5 acre plot this spring. coopers has some mixes that are really close to what i was planning, like these:

20 lbs. - Iron & Clay Peas
10 lbs. - Tyrome Climbing Soybeans
10 lbs. - Lab Lab Bean
5 lbs. - Hybrid Sorghum -- Wildlife will not eat this sorghum until it full matures!

30% Iron & Clay Peas
30% Tyrone running soybeans
30% Buckwheat
10% Hybrid Sorghum--birds & deer will leave alone until fully matures--excellent for runners like Tyrone to climb up on.

was thinking of doing an acre in something like this and .25-.5 acre in alyce clover.

i agree with everyone else, this is my favorite thread on TBH buddy, awesome information for something i cant wait to get started on my 45 acres in a few weeks.

[unclefish]

The switch grass has been a bust so far. I didn't prep my switch grass area correctly and planted too late in the spring. Switch Grass needs to cold stratify for it to germinate and we never got freezing temps after I planted. I'm hoping I will see some plants come up this year...although weeds and other grasses have taken over. It takes several years to get a good stand of switch grass.

That looks like a good mix for the spring/summer jshouse. I planted something similar to that last spring....the deer and drought wiped it out after about 6 weeks. I like throwing the sorghum in there to let the vining peas to grow up something. The hogs wiped my sorghum out last year but left the peas/beans alone.

I planted Durana (white clover), crimson, and a medium red clover. The Durana and red clover are the most drought tolerant but will still not survive all summer. Hopefully they will reseed...if the deer will let them get taller!!

This year I'm gonna try to get my hands on some Eagle Beans because they grow like crazy and have a better chance of making it on a small plot like and acre or two. The problem is they aren't available til May. I like planting beans/peas earlier than that because of drought and heat.

If I don't plant Eagle Beans I'll plant something similar to your mix......I/C peas, Tyrone or Laredo Soybeans, and Red Top Hybrid sorghum for them to climb up. I was gonna plant lab-lab last year but it was double the price of cowpeas!

I'll also use the red top hybrid sorghum to screen off my plot from the neighbors. It grows 6-8 feet tall.

I'm glad y'all like the thread. I'm learning as I go...something new every year.

[jshouse]

thanks again. i dont have hogs or cows to worry about so i am hoping my first attempt at spring plots is fairly productive and i have access to a water tank/pump if the rainfall is slow.

so do u think it is too late to worry about switchgrass for this year? should i just wait until next winter? i could probably get out and broadcast some then drag it within the next two weeks or as soon as i could find a few pounds of it. we are probably done with the freezing temps for this year but you never know i guess...i was really looking forward to getting the bedding areas started but will wait if its smart.

keep us updated.