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A year in the life of a farm

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    #91
    WoW, really great thread and super read. Keep it up.

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      #92
      Originally posted by dope hunter View Post
      Great stuff! The problem with predators at a leasr I hunted in the past was lack of cover yo help protect the fawns. Between the drought and over grazing the coyotes could do some serious damage.
      Such usually has been my experience. Not a predator management problem but a habitat/herd mgt. issue.

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        #93
        Here's blooming honey suckle. While not a native plant is a preferred natural browse. It's all over the farm. Reason I show this picture is that while hard to see it is all over the ground as well as climbing up the trees. Honey suckle is a good indicator plant for population. If herd starts getting to large you will see browsing pressure from about 4' down with very little on the ground. Another way to keep an eye on population.
        Attached Files

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          #94
          Originally posted by elgato View Post
          As with many things the nutritional content of clover 'depends'...Stage of growth, type of clover, soil nutrition etc. But all in all a very high quality feed with some clovers rivaling alfalfa for quality. Frequently protein content is in excess of 20% with very high digestibility.

          I do no predator control. Never have. If I shared my full belief system on predators, habitat ecology, and natures symbiotic relationships I would probably be run off the green screen. And yes we have all predators native to our part of the country.

          A very short version is that I also have a ranch deep in the heart of the Rio Grande brush country. We have as many predators as the country can support including lions, and a very healthy population of coyotes. Our habitat is very healthy and I see almost no predation problems. The exception to that is occasionally I have to address lions...never coyotes. I can elaborate in great detail if interested but know that we hardly ever loose bucks once they get old enough to be identified.
          You obviously have a tremendous deer heard, so you are doing things right. We have tried to plant oats a few times at my ranch in South Texas, with little success, so learning about food plot practices is very interesting to me. Deer management varies so much from state to state.

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            #95
            At one time I vowed to be the dry land food plot king of the Rio Grande brush country. My trusted biologist told me it probably wouldnt work. I assumed they had underestimated me. After a decade of failure with tail tucked between my legs I concluded you cant consistently grow crops down there. Now I only plant there where I can irrigate.

            Much easier here in La. where is actually rains.

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              #96
              Originally posted by elgato View Post
              At one time I vowed to be the dry land food plot king of the Rio Grande brush country. My trusted biologist told me it probably wouldnt work. I assumed they had underestimated me. After a decade of failure with tail tucked between my legs I concluded you cant consistently grow crops down there. Now I only plant there where I can irrigate.

              Much easier here in La. where is actually rains.
              Best thing that can be done for places west of 35 is to manage your browse to the best of your abilities and hope for average rainfall. Seems as though it's always feast or famine when it comes to rain

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                #97
                About 6 yrs ago I decided to plant pine trees in hay meadows and cattle pastures that defined the perimeter of the farm. These fields were cleared nearly 40 yrs ago as a impediment to the rampant poaching and trespass the property was experiencing believing that people were less inclined to cross a several hundred yard wide open field to get to the woods. They served their purpose well and that coupled with sheriffs in full uniform patrolling the property lent the land more manageable. Ultimately the fields were less necessary and I found little pleasure in the cattle or hay business.

                Now the pine plantation is growing up creating a new diverse habitat which all the critters enjoy. I see deer going in there regularly both as escape and to loiter in the shade with a breeze blowing underneath the canopy. Win Win!
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                  #98
                  May haws about to ripen. Berries make a fantastic jelly . THe birds, squirrels, coons, possums, turkeys, deer...just about everything...likes them. Over the years I have planted numerous orchards around the farm with various varieties of pears, apples, crab apples, plums, Japanese persimmons, and may haws.

                  Last couple of years I've been experimenting with Dunstan chestnuts with mixed results. I've planted about 40 of them with only modest survival success. Marketing may be better than reality with them?
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                    #99
                    Tag

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                      one of the most informative thread ive seen on tbh, and after almost 4 years of being on here this will be by first thread to subscribe to Thanks! curious to know if your a biologist or just learn all this information over the years threw trail and error?

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                        Originally posted by txbowhunter08 View Post
                        one of the most informative thread ive seen on tbh, and after almost 4 years of being on here this will be by first thread to subscribe to Thanks! curious to know if your a biologist or just learn all this information over the years threw trail and error?
                        I'm not a biologist. I've worked with several and have great respect for them viewing their approach to management as being dictated by science. I find the scientific method too slow for my personality preferring to 'throw spaghetti against the wall and see what sticks.'

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                          Originally posted by elgato View Post
                          I'm not a biologist. I've worked with several and have great respect for them viewing their approach to management as being dictated by science. I find the scientific method too slow for my personality preferring to 'throw spaghetti against the wall and see what sticks.'
                          Nice read, keep it up. i've already learned a lot from you.
                          Thanks!

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                            Not sure if the image below is working, but I think of that artifact from "The Rundown" every time I read the name "El Gato"

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                                Once again...'thats funny'. I'll get an image of the ranch logo on here. SLightly different impression.

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