Gleaton Chip Ranch Updates

[Digimont]

Subscribed. Awesome place

[bgleaton]

Native Habitat Status - 9-22-2022

My twin brother and I went to the ranch for a day to check on a couple of our feeders and drove around to see how the property was looking. We have only had 11in of total rain this year but the 3+ inches in August really helped our habitat. We are seeing all kinds of native bunch grasses that are anywhere from 2 to 5ft tall, which is great to see for fawns, turkey nests, and quail. We are also seeing a lot of quality forbs growing around these larger grass clumps because they are keeping the soil shaded and cooler. Allowing our property to rest from grazing is the only reason we are seeing such a big response in native grasses this year. Here are some pictures we took this past trip of the native habitat:




















I know these aren't as exciting as seeing big bucks but I have to say that we were very pleasantly surprised to see how much grasses and forbs we had out there. The areas we have seeded with Turner's Native Seed Mix are doing extremely well.

We are hoping we start seeing some wet weather coming our way over the next 2 to 3 weeks so we can come up with our fall food plot planting for this year. I'll be sure to let you know as we get closer. We are just hoping we get some rain in October to have a successful stand this year. Have a good evening!

[Puncher51]

Glad to see the habitat pics just as much as the deer!

[Droptine3030]

Man that looks great, what a turnaround a little help from Mother Nature can make. Love seeing the grasses.

[TKRanch]

It is amazing how Mother Nature in Texas can rebound so well, especially when you take the mouths off the land!!! Well done looking good!!

[bgleaton]

We haven't seen any turkey poults on our property the past two years so we are hoping that the taller bunch grasses helps our turkey population thrive and give them a chance. Hopefully this will end up helping all of the wildlife. Once the grasses get really tall we will have to think about either grazing them down to reduce 50% of the grasses and allow forbs to grow for the deer herd or conduct some control burns.

[gingib]

Grazing them down isnt a bad option. I would wait until after season.

Cows can put a damper on a management plan

[bgleaton]

Agreed! We wouldn't graze the grasses down until March of next year but I'm tempted to find other alternatives without using cows. It's probably not in the cattle ranchers best interest to only graze our small property for 1 to 2 months out of the year. That's a lot of work for not a lot of return for him.

Good news is that we received 0.85in of rain last night. It was a pleasant surprise!

[TKRanch]

Agreed! We wouldn't graze the grasses down until March of next year but I'm tempted to find other alternatives without using cows. It's probably not in the cattle ranchers best interest to only graze our small property for 1 to 2 months out of the year. That's a lot of work for not a lot of return for him.

Good news is that we received 0.85in of rain last night. It was a pleasant surprise!

I used to hunt a ranch down in Freer that would go out early in the year and buy a wad of young feeder cattle and let them eat the place down for a few months then trailer them to the sale barn and dump them never having "paid" to feed them... it was 6500 acres though. It did work well for them. That said, if you have a neighbor that has cattle he might enjoy resting his place for a few months and that would be an easy fix!!

[bgleaton]

I used to hunt a ranch down in Freer that would go out early in the year and buy a wad of young feeder cattle and let them eat the place down for a few months then trailer them to the sale barn and dump them never having "paid" to feed them... it was 6500 acres though. It did work well for them. That said, if you have a neighbor that has cattle he might enjoy resting his place for a few months and that would be an easy fix!!

Thanks for your input! The neighbor has a guy that puts a lot of cattle on her place but they are kept on there too long and it's overgrazed. Our place is only 400 acres so it wouldn't take too long. I wonder if someone would unload cows there for 30 to 45 days and then come pick them up? It sounds like a lot of work for someone and not much return for them. The guys we have talked to in past want to graze for at least 6 months, which is too long.

[TKRanch]

Thanks for your input! The neighbor has a guy that puts a lot of cattle on her place but they are kept on there too long and it's overgrazed. Our place is only 400 acres so it wouldn't take too long. I wonder if someone would unload cows there for 30 to 45 days and then come pick them up? It sounds like a lot of work for someone and not much return for them. The guys we have talked to in past want to graze for at least 6 months, which is too long.

Yep, it is all about the numbers for sure! The ranch I referred to was crossfenced and would move them from pasture to pasture as they got the amount they felt comfortable with grazed down so they never over grazed. I believe they usually had them on for about 3 to 4 months, but some years with drought they did not do it. Maybe you could do more time for someone with fewer head?? It is certainly a balance and not an easy one! Good luck.

[gingib]

Thanks for your input! The neighbor has a guy that puts a lot of cattle on her place but they are kept on there too long and it's overgrazed. Our place is only 400 acres so it wouldn't take too long. I wonder if someone would unload cows there for 30 to 45 days and then come pick them up? It sounds like a lot of work for someone and not much return for them. The guys we have talked to in past want to graze for at least 6 months, which is too long.

Yes someone will. Make it free and its your land, you set the rules

[Big pig]

Thanks for your input! The neighbor has a guy that puts a lot of cattle on her place but they are kept on there too long and it's overgrazed. Our place is only 400 acres so it wouldn't take too long. I wonder if someone would unload cows there for 30 to 45 days and then come pick them up? It sounds like a lot of work for someone and not much return for them. The guys we have talked to in past want to graze for at least 6 months, which is too long.

If you have a neighbor with cows and could move them without trailering he would love it. Leased my grazing for 30 yrs to a good neighbor. He took them out in fall thru deer season

[bgleaton]

Unfortunately, my brothers and I haven’t been out there hunting yet bc of work and our kids busy sports schedules. I wish we could get out there and shoot 10-12 deer before November but that won’t happen this year. We will try to hammer the doe and cull bucks that first weekend we are out there. We need to shoot 10 doe and 9 bucks. We are seeing a ton of fawns so we will shoot all 10 doe most likely.

It doesn’t look like we will be planting any fall food plots this season. I was hoping we would get some rain in October or November but it doesn’t seem likely. I’m going to still grab enough wheat for 4 acres in case we get some good chances in November but I doubt it happens this year. I hope I’m wrong.

[bgleaton]

Here’s a good picture of the 6yr old buck we call “Big Brows”. We were hoping for a bigger jump this year but I think the drought had something to do with that. Hoping he adds another 8 to 10in next year and easily breaks 150in.


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