Deer Food Plots Planted

[Magicman]

PatD and I spent most of this week at the Cabin with the majority of my time spent on the tractors.  The ground was so soft/moist that I did not have to use the subsoiler.


 
Disking.


 
Planting.


 
And covering seed and fertilizer.

[Southside]

What did you plant?

[Magicman]

50-50 Wheat and Oats.

[mike_belben]

Nice work lynn.  Do you plant awnless seed variety or just conventional?

[Magicman]

I don't plant "hype" seed or mixes, just ordinary "farmer's" seed.  I waited this late trying to avoid Army Worm infestation.  I have planted during mid-September but the worms have been really bad this year.

We don't have any rain forecast for the next week, but my soil was plenty moist. 

[mike_belben]

Ive read that deer wont really eat wheat heads with awns, the little spikeys that the seed uses to cling to stuff and spread. The claim is they get stuck in their throats... But i dont live near any wheat fields to go check for deer sign.  

Ive grown a tiny bit of wheat but not where high pressured deer are confortable getting to it.  


Army worm was bad up here too

[btulloh]

They eat holly and rose bushes so . . . 

They sre especially fond of things I don't want them to eat. This year they stripped all the peonies bare and they never touched them before. 

[mike_belben]

lol 

i am especially fond of eating them. 

[Iwawoodwork]

I put chicken wire around our tomato plants and squash, the deer kept everything that grew through the wire pruned back to the wire then about the time the plants got good flowers on them the deer  found how to reach over and  down to the plants, pretty poor crop of tomatos and squash.

[Jeff]

I try to get a pic next week of how my feeble attemps are doing in my mulched over areas. Winter Rye, staggered age seeding.

[Magicman]

Ive read that deer wont really eat wheat heads

I have no idea about the seed heads and I have seen them in the Summer.  The green stuff is what the deer are after during the Winter.

[Jeff]

That's why I planted winter rye. I'll let it grow out this spring, then kill and knock it down and plant a spring summer planting to be determined.

[Southside]

If you can get some Edamame seed (edible soybean) deer love that in the summer.

[jb616]

That's why I planted winter rye. I'll let it grow out this spring, then kill and knock it down and plant a spring summer planting to be determined.

I've tried Buckwheat in the spring to improve the soil but the deer like it too well. I will try to find a pic to post. You don't need food in the summer, just a cover crop to improve the soil and keep weeds out. In Michigan we also plant Brassicas such as forage radish, Turnips, and Kale. Once we get a freeze it will sweeten up the bulbs and the deer go crazy digging them up. I have to plant late foods like that in a fence area or they keep it trimmed down to the ground and it doesn't mature enough to grow the bulb. You can see the fenced in Buckwheat tends to grow a little better than the surrounding area  >:(  The thatch is from the Winter Rye that was killed off and rolled. I am trying to keep a no till plot going year after year. The other pic is my current plot with fencing around the brassicas. We pulled some of the fence this week so hopefully they let it keep maturing.  

 

[WDH]

The wheat seedheads are great food for a host of wildlife, especially low down on the food chain that in turn feed many other creatures like foxes, bobcats, coons, possums, owls, hawks, etc.   So even if the deer don't eat them the rats, mice, voles, chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits and such do and in turn feed many other creatures in the Great Circle of Life.  

[Jeff]

Buckweat is high on my list, and unless I have a predator deplosion getting ate up probably isn't going to be an issue this coming spring.

[newoodguy78]

Buckwheat is great stuff in my opinion. It can potentially turn into a weed but is easily controlled. One benefit to buckwheat is it will reseed itself, allowing multiple stands in a year off the same planting.
I've had luck on some of our stonier ground dragging a log crossways after its gone to seed. Knocks the seed off and created enough soil disturbance to get a good catch. Mix in a little clover for an added bonus to the soil and wildlife.  ;D

[Jeff]

Here is a pic of the outfield clover and the winter rye coming on in the mulch cut.



 

 

[chet]

Wife refuses ta let me plant Buckwheat anymore, for some reason she is not fond of da smell of it when it flowers. Says it smells like Cow Poop.  :D

[Southside]

A pure field of it sure makes honey taste quite disgusting. 

[Magicman]

I was at the Cabin today spreading gravel which gave an opportunity to take a look at my food plots which were planted a week ago:


 
Looks mighty good from where I am standing.


 
Looking toward the Strawhouse.  That is Fescue in the backgrpound.



A closer look showed these stems at 6"+.  I planted Wheat and Oats so this is one or the other or both?  The widest blades should be Wheat.....I think.

Deer have already found it and I just hope that the Army worms don't. 

[newoodguy78]

That's some great growth for a weeks time. What kind of temperatures are you having?
What is your planting routine? Disk, broadcast and disk the seed in?
Either way you have good results, nice work.

[Magicman]

I disked on Oct. 6th, planted on the 7th, and the above pictures were taken on then 15th.  The temperature has been in the 80's daytime and 70's night. 

I usually have to subsoil before disking but the ground was plenty wet and the disk blades were burying up to the axles.  I did only move over ½ the disk width on each round so it was 'double cut'.  I turn the blades straight and go over cross-ways once pulling a 'tire drag' to cover.  At the present time I do not have a packer.

I left the seeder on the JD and will top dress with Nitrate around the 1st of December whenever I see a rain coming to melt and soak the fertilizer into the soil.

Yes I am very pleased and hopefully it will be cool enough to avoid Army Worms.  In 2017 they completely wiped me out.

[Jeff]

Score! We had a firewood cutting splitting and stackin B  and 84th birthday party at the father in law Gene's yesterday when I noticed this in his scrap pile as he called it. He says take it, but it leaks a little.   I say cultipacker!



 

 

[mike_belben]

Ive been meaning to build one just like that actually. Nice find jeff

[Magicman]

Nice find.  We used one very similar to that made from a culvert and filled with concrete.  

I know where the remnants of a 'bought made' one is on my property.  Just gotta wait until it's cold enough to chase the 'rattlemoccasins' in before I go wading through the briers.

[thecfarm]

I went to a deer plot planting night course. This was years ago. The one thing I remember the instructor said was, Any one was to buy a roller? He claimed that driving his 4 wheeler over the newly planted ground worked better than a roller.

[Jeff]

It works, we've done it, but its a whole lot of driving to knock down a field of tall grass versus rolling it.

[Southside]

Ray - this course was for hunting deer plots at night? Did you use a fake name at least?  :D

[Magicman]

You are after getting good seed/soil contact.  Packing firms the soil up around the seed causing them to sprout faster.  A rain after planting does all of the above.  After the seeds sprout and the plants are up, I see no benefit. 

[thecfarm]

I wore sun glasses.  ;D

[jb616]

Nice score @Jeff , I bought an old water tank roller at an estate sale for $30...better than $500+ for a cultipacker as I am doing no til anyway.  @Magicman , I believe the round tip blades are your oats. 

[Magicman]

@jb616, thanks, I planted 50-50 Oats & Wheat.  You made me do some searching:

Oat:

• auricles absent, leaf-sheath and blade hairless (scattered hair on some varieties)
• ligule medium length
• leaf-blades twist anticlockwise

Wheat:

• auricles blunt and hairy
• leaf-sheath and blade always hairy
• ligule of medium length
• leaf blades twist clockwise

[Magicman]

Ahead of the oncoming storm, my deer food plots got top dressed this morning.


 
Mostly 33-0-0 but I had partial sacks of pelletized lime as well as 13-13-13 so it all got mixed together and distributed.  It's raining there now so I am happy.

[Magicman]

I added a short video showing arriving at the Cabin entrance.

https://youtu.be/ZVAn2E5mhFY

The hanging sign reads:  The Davis Vineyard, LP

[beenthere]

Deer food plots begs the question.. "why not hunt the deer in their natural habitat? " Is that possible?

Surely would be some cheaper. 

[WDH]

Been down that mostly paved road  :D.

[mike_belben]

Deer food plots begs the question.. "why not hunt the deer in their natural habitat? " Is that possible?

Surely would be some cheaper.

Cuz them critters sure have a knack for making the fool of us on their turf!

[Southside]

When looking for property we stubled across a place that had seen better days, ok - we stumbled across many of those and bought one, but that's beside the point.  Anyway, this place sat well back from the road, never had utility power to it, and still had the old battery shed with wires out back.  It was a really cool place and the owner had been using it for a deer camp.  I walked around back to gain access to the foundation as someone had poured a modern basement under it with a dirt floor, it was incomplete so in essence it was a walk out basement.   As soon as I walked under there all I could see were deer prints completely littering the dirt floor.  Edge to edge hoof marks.  In my mind I could picture these guys leaving camp before daylight to get into their stands, only to have the herd of deer hustle under the camp and hang out there all day long playing cards.  It was priceless.  

[mike_belben]

... dirt floor.  Edge to edge hoof marks.  In my mind I could picture these guys leaving camp before daylight to get into their stands, only to have the herd of deer hustle under the camp and hang out there all day long playing cards.   

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D 

[DDW_OR]

I put chicken wire around our tomato plants and squash, the deer kept everything that grew through the wire pruned back to the wire then about the time the plants got good flowers on them the deer  found how to reach over and  down to the plants, pretty poor crop of tomatos and squash.

electric fence