Gleaton Chip Ranch Updates

[bgleaton]

11/14/2016 Update

Well, we ended up shooting 4 does this past weekend, which brings our total to 5 for this year. We didn't see many older bucks, just little ones. As I said before, there is a lot of forage and acorns everywhere still. Also, the super moon really hurt us the last day and a half of hunting.

The food plots are just now starting to sprout. When I got out there on Friday, I was really disappointed in what I was seeing, but after two days of full sun we saw them really start to shoot up. The height was about 2in, but there are still a lot of spots where they are just now sprouting. You will notice that some of the wheat that we overseeded didn't get covered, but it's still growing. Here are some pictures:

NW Corner Food Plot (4.5 acres):










Middle Food Plot (around 2 acres):








My buddy also brought 1,000lbs of cottonseed and we stored it in a bulk bag which holds right at 1,000lbs. We will put this out around the end of December.

[JeffJ]

Did yall no till some of the plots? Looks like you either seeded, then shred or the opposite. Curious how it comes up vs traditional planting.

Well, we ended up shooting 4 does this past weekend, which brings our total to 5 for this year. We didn't see many older bucks, just little ones. As I said before, there is a lot of forage and acorns everywhere still. Also, the super moon really hurt us the last day and a half of hunting.

The food plots are just now starting to sprout. When I got out there on Friday, I was really disappointed in what I was seeing, but after two days of full sun we saw them really start to shoot up. The height was about 2in, but there are still a lot of spots where they are just now sprouting. You will notice that some of the wheat that we overseeded didn't get covered, but it's still growing. Here are some pictures:

NW Corner Food Plot (4.5 acres):
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Middle Food Plot (around 2 acres):
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My buddy also brought 1,000lbs of cottonseed and we stored it in a bulk bag which holds right at 1,000lbs. We will put this out around the end of December.
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[bgleaton]

Did yall no till some of the plots? Looks like you either seeded, then shred or the opposite. Curious how it comes up vs traditional planting.

These two areas were open fields that had never been plowed or planted, so we shredded them as short as possible and then disked them numerous times. The disk worked up the dirt really well except for a couple small areas where there was some thick grass. After disking, we broadcasted our seed and then took a drag harrow over the big plot. We didn't drag the smaller (Middle) plot at all. The areas that have some sprouts through grass, that it actually areas where we disked, which killed the grass and the seed fell through that thatch. The areas where grass was sitting on top look really good because I think it's helping retain moisture. I'm assuming that these fields will be easier and easier to disk every year. This year we wanted to get something planted and we have definitely learned a lot. We are now looking for a cultipacker or something to help firm up the seedbed, so hopefully we can find something down the road.

[bgleaton]

We shot two more does over Thanksgiving weekend, which brings our total to 7 does for the year. We would like to shoot at least one more. One of the does we shot this weekend dressed out at 89lbs and the other doe I shot a couple weeks ago dressed out at 85lbs - very healthy deer herd this year. We didn't see many older bucks, they are all on the move searching for the ladies. My brother and I were down at the river with our kids and had around 8 bucks chasing a doe through the river back and forth. They we're about 50 yards away the entire time. It was insane! I took a video of the whole thing with my phone, I just need to learn how to load it.
We received 0.60in of rain on Saturday morning, which is really helping the food plots. They were pretty dry beforethe rain and only a couple inches tall. I'm hoping we get some more rain at the end of this week to really get them going, but all in all I'm pretty impressed with the growth we've gotten especially since this was our first attempt and for how dry it's been. I'll post some pictures later on today.

[gingib]

How many does do yall plan to shoot a year? How big is the place?

[bgleaton]

How many does do yall plan to shoot a year? How big is the place?

Our place is just under 400 acres. After doing our three deer counts, the biologist recommended that we shoot 8 does this year, so we are planning on taking one more. The reason we have so many does this year is because the neighboring ranch didn't shoot many does last two years.

[bgleaton]

11/28/2016 Updates

Here are some of the food plot pictures from this weekend. These were taken before the 0.60in of rain that we got on Saturday. As you can see, it's still short due to the lack of rainfall, but hopefully the recent rainfall will help.

[gingib]

Based on the pics, they are still hammering the plots pretty good

[bgleaton]

Yes, they are definitely hitting the plots. The smaller plot (around 2 acres) is about 1 1/4in tall and the bigger plot (around 5 acres) is almost 2in tall in some areas. I think this rain will help it recover a little bit. Lack of rainfall and high deer numbers aren't good for food plots. What are yalls thoughts on our food plot results thus far? Is this pretty standard for lack of rainfall? Is there anything else we can do to help improve our production?

[bgleaton]

Trail Camera Pics_11-23-2016

Here are some recent trail camera pictures. We haven't seen a lot of "new" bucks yet this year. We still aren't seeing a lot of 6.5yrs and older bucks, which is probably due to the 2011 drought, but there are still a handful of older bucks we are after. The good thing is that we are seeing a ton of younger bucks with a lot of good potential.

[bgleaton]

Does anyone have any ideas on what we can do to help our food plot production? Is there something we can do this winter that will help it in the spring? Is there something we can do this spring/summer that will help it next fall? I'm just curious to learn what it is we can do to get the most out of our plots.

[MagicBlade]

Thanks for all the pics. I'm jealous.
Great looking place.

[gingib]

That 8 is a HOSS...do not disk anymore. But use the thatch, mow, spray method. It will improve the soil

[bgleaton]

We got 2in of rain over the past two days out there. Hopefully that will make the plots start to flourish.

[Fairfield]

The place looks amazing. Great job and a dream for many. Agree on the protein year round if possible, especially after the rut and harsher winter months. Ive seen that now on several ranches the last two years and all are saying protein after the rut has been huge for their deer herd health.