Food Plot - Gonna give it a try

[Nailhead]

Thought I would throw a partial update up.

The folks went up to the property a few weeks ago for the day. Mom walked out to the plot to check it out. Said I didn't have many pictures on the camera but it looked like the deer were just crossing further down. There is still plenty of green out there, but she said all the high leaves are gone. Sounds to me like they are keeping what little is there mowed down. Which is a good thing. Gonna try to make some improvements and be a little better planned for this spring and fall. I hate making day trips just cause of all the driving, but it would be worth it to get some work done.

[jkelbe]

Day trips are exhausting, but it's great for those of us with a busy schedule and wanting to spend more time at home.

I think you planted Kale, to me the Kale is doing great, but the deer are browsing the tops of mine, but not eating like Uncle Fish sees. I am going to try and plant peas, along with oats (they love) and clover (for spring).. plus I dunno maybe some other lettuce types.

[unclefish]

How far is it from your home to your place? I make day trips constantly to my place a little over an hour away. My folks also have their homestead about 20 mins from there so I spend the night with them on occasion too.

We need some consistent warm weather to boost the plots. Ready to get the warm season stuff in the ground too!

[kch73]

My place is about 1 hour and 20 minutes away...after you do a bunch a work it is hard heading back the same day, i here ya! You have some nice young bucks on the place! Looks like a place!

[Nailhead]

Its about 2 to 2.5 hours to the place. I dont mind the ride, just a long day making the trip both ways. I think they are eating the tops on mine as well. Ready to get back up there and check it out in person. Really gotta get ontop of what to do for spring.

[unclefish]

Its about 2 to 2.5 hours to the place. I dont mind the ride, just a long day making the trip both ways. I think they are eating the tops on mine as well. Ready to get back up there and check it out in person. Really gotta get ontop of what to do for spring.

That is a long haul for a day trip! I found myself going to check TC's once a week during the summer so I bought a Covert texting camera and it saves me alot of time and gas.

If you planted this spot for the first time this past season...give it some time for them to get used to eating there consistently. The first year especially they didn't devour my plots like they do now. They would nibble here and there....but after 5 years now they've been "trained" to eat in that location just about every day of the year so now it doesn't really matter what I plant because they will eat it now. They are not picky and they know when they come to that field....the food will be there and they won't be disturbed while they are there...unless it hogs.

[Nailhead]

Me and the folks made a trip to the ranch this weekend. Still getting some pictures of deer in the food plot. I haven't been up there in a couple months and with all the rain my food plot got taken over. It was full of knee to waist high weeds, wild flowers, and Mahaya.

I definitely planted late and since I neglected to fertilize the plot like I should have due to time the plot overall didn't come in that good. The kale did decent and there is some chicory making its way up. Had a handful of tall chicory plants with leaves 6"-8" long. I know the deer are still traveling through the plot but they are browsing less. I elected to mow it down and try to give the clover a chance to take off. With the high thick grass it wouldn't have had a chance. So we will see what chicory will now come up and what the clover will do. When we decide to plant the spring plots I will spread some fertilizer to see what it will help.

[OUTDOORSMANEVERETT]

Following. Keep us updated on your progress this year as well Nailhead. I hunt a friends 22 acre plot in Elkhart and we just bought a small ranch 43 acres in Palestine (both in Anderson county). I also live in the Conroe/magnolia area so I feel ya on those day trips. I mowed and prepped the two food plot areas on our property, however we have had a lot of rain so I have not been able to get back up there to disc, pack and plant. Tried once and got stuck twice. Hoping to get some kind of groceries in the ground, if not by May at least in Sept.

Best of luck nailhead

[the marshall]

Lots of good information on this thread. Maybe this will help someone else too.

I intending on giving last years Rye grass a lite spraying of round up on Friday evening then putting down seeds on Saturday. Is that too soon or should I wait longer??

Thanks

Sorry for the Hi-jack

[Nailhead]

NP. I hear the Round Up doesn't affect seeds before they sprout. So you should be good. I heat cereal rye does better though than rye grass. Just what I have read, no personal experience.

[Nailhead]

Well the folks made it back up to the ranch this weekend. Unfortunately I had previous plans and couldn't make the trip. Anyway, Mom snapped some pictures for me with her cell. She forgets that you can turn the phone sideways for a better picture, but it's better than nothing.

As I mentioned before, the last time I was up I mowed my plot pretty much like I would mow anything else, with the brush hog just high enough to keep from rutting the pasture. Well it looks like my plan is working from the pictures. We got some serious rain, rain gauge was full and it actually blew out the overflow on our 4.5 acre lake so we lost a lot of water there. But the clover is taking off now. The chichory looks to be coming up again and what kale had been established previously and mowed is launching back out of there. As you can see the plot is a thick mess with Mahaya and wild weeds and such. But at least some of what I planted is growing. Going to work this plot over pretty good for the fall and do it again.

The next 3 pictures you see is of the plot Mom mapped out on the other side of the pasture. We hooked up the spray nozzle on a boom that my Step Dad picked up and we rigged into the receiver of the Kubota UTV. It worked pretty good apparently. Looks like we got a pretty good kill for the most part. They decided to go ahead and disc it up to break up the ground. The picture following is my small plot that will be near my bow stand that they disced for me.

And the last picture is the blowout. There used to be a arched stone bridge here. Not so much anymore. My guess is that it is scattered at the bottom of the 40' drop off to the left. No bueno. Not exactly cash we wanted to fork over right now to fix.

On a side note, I have been thinking really hard the past few weeks about attempting to build a cultipacker. I have been looking all over for one, but having no luck and certainly don't want to dish out over a grand for a 6' cultipacker. With this sandyloom soil I think I would be in our best interest to have one on hand for when we plow or disc. Mom and Step Dad are old school and they haven't taken on the idea of no till/disc planting yet. I am trying to get my plot where I can try it effectively and get good results. But I need to get something good growing first to mow an effective thatch or be able to roll it. Need good oats or wheat.

[Nailhead]

We ordered some seed from Hancock Seed today. Mom got trigger happy and bought a mix for her plot, but it looks like it should be good. It's Hancocks Ultimate Deer Plot Mix that contains the following mix:
• Lab Lab – 25%
• Soybean – 25%
• Iron Clay Cow Pea – 25%
• Sunflowers – 10%
• WGF Sorghum – 15%

I think it should be a pretty good mix. Its all already inoculated. Almost wish it didn't have the soybean and doubled up the peas. Should at least get an idea of what the deer like and can change it up next year. One thing I like is they should all be OK being planted together for depth unlike other mixes that have clover and peas or beans in the same mix.

Also we have 6 or 7 small plots in the woods which probably total less than an acre, but I had her get 10 lbs of Alyce Clover and 5 lbs of Durana. I figure they should do well in the woods with good drainage and at least partial sun. Will see if the deer hit the small plots as well since they will be secluded.

[EastTexun]

Looking good! Our place is less than 2 miles from the Anderson County line and we are have a ton of that sand you are talking about. It grows legumes amazingly, but doesn't hold P&K or micornutrients very well. Hopefully your plots will be large enough to get your beans and peas up past the first 3 leaves. We have so much pressure on our summer plots that we rarely can get them up past the 3 leaf stage, but this year may be the year since there is so much fresh, natural growth. I planted one of my plots~about 3 acres or so, with IC peas and Alyce Clover and a few small pipelines and plots with straight Alyce clover. I haven't been back to check them, but will be doing just that on Wed or Thursday. How did you come out about the cultipacker?

[Nailhead]

Looking good! Our place is less than 2 miles from the Anderson County line and we are have a ton of that sand you are talking about. It grows legumes amazingly, but doesn't hold P&K or micornutrients very well. Hopefully your plots will be large enough to get your beans and peas up past the first 3 leaves. We have so much pressure on our summer plots that we rarely can get them up past the 3 leaf stage, but this year may be the year since there is so much fresh, natural growth. I planted one of my plots~about 3 acres or so, with IC peas and Alyce Clover and a few small pipelines and plots with straight Alyce clover. I haven't been back to check them, but will be doing just that on Wed or Thursday. How did you come out about the cultipacker?

Thanks, we are giving it our best shot. Learning as we go.

I haven't done anything yet with the culitpacker idea. I need to sit down and draw it out and figure out how much material I am going to need and all that. I just need to take a few minutes to sit down and do it. Originally I was going to make it a 3 point hookup, but I think it might be better off as just a tongue pull. Our place isn't that big so it wouldn't be a big deal to just pull it around everywhere. And if so, then I could always add a 3 point later.

[EastTexun]

Thanks, we are giving it our best shot. Learning as we go.

I haven't done anything yet with the culitpacker idea. I need to sit down and draw it out and figure out how much material I am going to need and all that. I just need to take a few minutes to sit down and do it. Originally I was going to make it a 3 point hookup, but I think it might be better off as just a tongue pull. Our place isn't that big so it wouldn't be a big deal to just pull it around everywhere. And if so, then I could always add a 3 point later.

There are some pretty easy to follow DIYs out there, especially on Tractorbynet for making your own cultipacker. I was headed down that route and finally found one for sale, so I scrapped my plans to build one.