Seat time finishing up food the plots

[8NLUGNUT]

We got some good seat time in the Hinomoto and the 8N this weekend trying to finish up our foodplots.

I shredded the winter oats as close as I could get them and then we disked, drag harrowed, spread seed and then used a drag post to cover them up.

Everything went good till we busted the hub on the Hinomoto again.

The JB WELD held for several months but the disking was too much this morning.

We also bent the left connecting rod on the 8N 3pt hitch.

I was not there when it happened but my guess is it was by the right side of the disk hitting a hidden stump or a embedded rock and twisted.

On second thought I really have no good explanation as to how it was bent.

Please look at the photo and feel free to add your 2cents.

As for the the oats we planted for the deer.

I never saw a deer eat them other than when they first came up.

They ignored the mature heads.

I watch the wild hogs strip about an acre of mature oaks last week.

I arrowed a fat one.

This was also the first time using the post to finish.

We'll see how they come up but I didn't like seeing the dove eating the seed I didn't get covered.

Lots of fun but now it's Excedrin PM time.

 

[Hondo1]

What area of the country are you in? I could probably recomend some things. That would be much more beneficial for your deer than oats. They would also give you a much greater return on your investment of time and money. Oats are a pretty inneficient food plot planting for deer.

Hondo

 

[EddieWalker]

8N,

Nice to hear of your food plot and how it worked out for you. I'm still leveling land for mine, so it's all new to me. What did you plant for the summer?

Hondo,

I'm in East Texas, so it probably wont apply, but I'd be curious what you've found that brings in the deer the best for your food plots. Do you have a winter and summer food plot?

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[Hondo1]

I have found that the majority of people want to save some money and figure they can come up with their own generic food plot seed. In the long run with your time being worth money you are better off using commercially developed seed blends specifically for deer. Deer have different nutritional needs as well as digestibility issues than other ruminants namely cattle.

That being said I usually try to plant 60% perrenials such as clover blends and 40% annuals like brassicas blends. Both have high protien content and with the blends you always have some part of your plot at the highest level of palatibility. For you in Texas if you get less rain you may want to check out some of the newer Chicory blends as these are highly drought and graze resistant. Chicory also has a high protien content.

First and most important is to do a soil test to determine what ammendments (lime, fertilizer) you need to add to your soil.

I would look through some of the major manufacturers offerings, do your research. I have been planting plots for about 8 years now and have learned the hard way that if you take shortcuts it will only cost you more money and time in the long run. There are a lot of great resources out there on food plots. One of the top being the Quality Deer Management Association. Good luck

Hondo

 

[8NLUGNUT]

Eddie,

I'm south of you by about 200 miles around the Tilmon area south of Bastrop in what is called the Sandhills.

Watermelons, stripper wells, big Post Oaks, Youpon Holly, Mesquite, native pastures, sand and red clay are what I have to work with which is a good situation for my wildlife plan.

It was 99 today while I was re JB welding the tractor hub.

A trip to Pittsburg Tractor just north of you there is in order soon.


Hondo1,

Add about 2000 miles.

You Sir are in Deer heaven!

Where are you exactly?

I hunt around Mt Morris, Nunda, and over around Batavia.

I'm not at home now so I'll have to get home to answer the foodplot stuff.

More after the Spurs game!

I can't wait to hear what you guys are doing for your deer.

 

[Hondo1]

I live near Rochester and lease a 1,000 acre Dairy Farm. I have managed the hunting there for the last 10 years. My buddy and I also have a camp in Cohocton. We are very thick with deer. The large bucks are still very hard to hunt though. I'll try and put up some pictures soon of some of the deer we have taken. Or you can go to my website.

www.wolfsheadhuntingclub.com

Hondo

 

[8NLUGNUT]

Hondo, I stay with my cousin over off Ridge Rd in Greece when I'm in New York.

You've probably run into some of them over the years hunting.

I have done concentrated Wildlife management including approximately 8 acres of foodplots for the last 3 years and have really seen good results so far.

Our goal was more Deer, Turkey and Dove.

We used to see a doe or 2 in the foodplots now we might see 15.

Our area has a limited deer population due to competition with livestock production and hunters for years shooting anything with horns.

This will be the same problem Eddie has in his area of Texas.

For hunting we've been under antler restrictions for a few years now and it has made a big difference.

I'm still experimenting with different blend for the foodplots.

I've done the commercial Whitetail mixes a few time with some success.

Last summer, in my large plots I planted Sorghum, Millet, and Black Oil Sunflowers.

In the smaller foodplots I mixed in Buckwheat, Turnips and a couple different peas including Black Eyed, Clay and even Pinto Beans.

Last summer we had 22 inches of rain in a few days and it killed off my Sunflowers and Sorghum but the Millet grew like crazy.

Last fall I planted the Oats, more Peas, and a bunch of Turnips.

The Deer would browse the Oats and Peas to the ground but not the Turnips.

I had Turnips the size of footballs all over the place in one food plot!

Since we have a total of only 100 acres we'll never have a resident Deer herd
so our focus has been to provide a lot of cover, plenty of water, and a nice Whitetail buffet that they can visit when they feel like it.

All of our food plots have corn feeder going year round which is like a cookie jar just for them.

Eddie,

I think If I were you if you haven't done so yet, get on TPWD's webpage and call your Wildlife Biologist and have them come out and help you set up a Wildlife plan and get started.

I'd also join your area Wildlife Co-op and start getting to know your neighbors who have the same desire for better wildlife environment as you do.

It's nice to know which one of your neighbors is already doing Wildlife management.

The first thing is keep the feeders running, water nearby, and some thick cover the deer can escape to next to the feeders.

One problem here in Texas is hogs.

If you have seen them on your place, kill them or trap them and sell them.

They will destroy foodplots and do plenty of damage in other ways.

Call you Biologist and post some picture of your new foodplots.

Thanks for reading guys!

 

[Hondo1]

8NLUGNUT,
The turnips might not be such a good source for you guys in the South. It takes a major frost to get the starches turned to sugars to sweeten up the leaves. In the abscence of a frost you may have to leave them till they start to die and rot to get the sugar content. It is funny 'cause even here in NY one area the deer may go nuts over the Brassicas early another late and another not at all.

It sounds like you are doing alot of the right things especially providing as much cover as you can. Your cousin doesn't happen to have a bunch of aacreage on Ridge Road does he? I have a buddy who does and they have some awesome deer.

Hondo

 

[8NLUGNUT]

This weekend We're shredding, disking, leveling, broadcasting and dragging our last foodplot.

We'll be using one of the popular Whitetail seed mixes but I forgot to look at the bag today so I'll have to post them later for you guys.

My cousin off Ridge Rd get deer in his yard coming up from the Canal Park all the time.

I usually come up for the first week of Gun season.

I seen some really big deer over the years. A lot of times right there on 490 between the Churchville and Chili area laying on the side of the road.

Yes, I learned how to say Chili the New York way but to me it's still
Chili the kind you eat.

All I know is that if I had a ranch in NY and did the same herd management we do here I have the best deer in world.

 

[RollingsFarms]

This weekend We're shredding, disking, leveling, broadcasting and dragging our last foodplot.

We'll be using one of the popular Whitetail seed mixes but I forgot to look at the bag today so I'll have to post them later for you guys.

My cousin off Ridge Rd get deer in his yard coming up from the Canal Park all the time.

I usually come up for the first week of Gun season.

I seen some really big deer over the years. A lot of times right there on 490 between the Churchville and Chili area laying on the side of the road.

Yes, I learned how to say Chili the New York way but to me it's still
Chili the kind you eat.

All I know is that if I had a ranch in NY and did the same herd management we do here I have the best deer in world.

two things made me feel like a fool buying that 'wildlife feed' you see alot of places sell. i hope you dont have these problems either! 1) the field i planted it in, i NEVER and i mean NEVER had sand spurs in that entire 10 acre field ever since ive owned my land. well after planting some 'bio logic', guess what, i now have sand spurs in certain places my old food plot used to be. that was my first gripe about the stuff. my second gripe was this...2) i spent $$$ on bags and bags of bio logic and some other type of wildlife mix i heard was supposed to be great. well i watched deer after deer walk right through all of it straight to my corn that was laying on the ground. i mean, here i am watching them walk through probably $100 worth of this stuff, straight to my $7 bag of cob corn.lol


i hope you have lots of better luck with that stuff then i ever had. now what i do is plant soybeans and corn every year( i rotate, i planted beans last year so this year is corn).