A year in the life of a farm

[Reaper87]

Giant!!!

[Amazing Grace]

That's a beast of a deer. Crazy to think what he will be in another year. How old is that buck?

[RRagan83]

wow very nice

[spro]

Great thread!!! Grew up hunting in Louisiana wishing to hunt Texas deer, now I am in Texas wishing I was hunting Louisiana deer.

[Corn Sack]

What is SH seed

[lab man]

Found these this morning. ROLLING STONE!!! 200" on the nose giving him a 20" spread. He shed them last night Consider me excited.

Those will make some great rattling antlers. You will have forearms like Popeye using those things for a season.

Great looking deer. Not many ten points get to 200”. Hope he puts on a few more inches next year for you.

[TildenHunter]

Growing 3 native 200" deer on any amount of acreage is impressive for a decade, let alone one season. Hats off to you guys.

[Gunner97]

Found these this morning. ROLLING STONE!!! 200" on the nose giving him a 20" spread. He shed them last night Consider me excited.

Very nice. Looking forward to seeing him this year. Any thoughts on how much bigger he will get?

[elgato]

Annual tree planting time at the farm. 2 kinds of pears 6 trees total, 4 apples,4 fuji persimmons and 2 methyl plums all going near food plots.

2 meyers lemons, 2 persian limes and 5 blueberries for the orchard in the yard. Wonderful time of year!

[elgato]

forgot to post the picture?

[Tshelly]

forgot to post the picture?

We planted a various mix of 75 this spring in our orchard in the front yard. We are going to give them 4 years then have them moved down into the woods.

We have cows now so it's the main reason for not directly planting throughout the ranch.

Do you put anything around the fruit trees that you are planting around your food plots to protect them?

[Mexico]

Awesome sheds rusty!

[elgato]

We planted a various mix of 75 this spring in our orchard in the front yard. We are going to give them 4 years then have them moved down into the woods.

We have cows now so it's the main reason for not directly planting throughout the ranch.

Do you put anything around the fruit trees that you are planting around your food plots to protect them?

Absolutely have to protect them! Used to use the plastic tree sleeves that can be bought commercially. Then the bucks started destroying the sleeve, and tree. Now we use a large wire ring made of 8' net wire staked down around them to keep the deer away. Would work for cattle also.

[gingib]

Can you explain the process or what you do to ensure the trees survival from the time you dig the hole for each tree until your done?

I want to plant some fruit trees for wildlife and don't know any info on how to go about it. Thanks

[elgato]

Can you explain the process or what you do to ensure the trees survival from the time you dig the hole for each tree until your done?

I want to plant some fruit trees for wildlife and don't know any info on how to go about it. Thanks

Simple really. Now is a good time to plant before trees come out of dormancy. I just dig a hole slightly larger than the root ball of the tree. depending on what you get they will either be bare root or in a pot. I do not add any foreign soil. Plant the tree such that it is level with the top of the ground. You don't want to bury any of the trunk. I generally spread a little cotton trash around the top for fertilizer. Careful with fertilizer the first year.

Will need to water as needed the first summer after planting. After that should be fine. I like to buy bigger potted trees as they produce faster and I'm impatient.

For me mandatory to put a wire cage around the trees to keep deer from destroying. At the least buy some of the plastic tree sleeves for protection plus helps them get started.

Pears are hardy , easy to grow and everything likes them. Be SURE to get blight resistant trees. Certain species of Apples do well around here and are great also. Persimmons, may haws, crab apples, and plums are fun options.

Suggest going to a local nursery and find out what works best in your area. They can help with planting as well. I plant fruit trees every year. Over time I've developed fairly large orchards around the farm. If nothing else makes me happy plus wife makes great preserves and jams with them.