Food plot and a little work today

[unclefish]

I had a nice break from the heat with 9 days in Colorado and NM fly fishing with my family.

Went to Pagosa Springs, Red River, and Breckenridge. Hard going from this....



to 97.

Caught some good fish in all places but our favorite was in Breck....we caught much bigger fish there.

[unclefish]

Got some new pics from my place and the deer have showed up again. Lots of buck pics...just nothing mature.

Got some good potential....









The deer are still eating the chicory. Love that stuff.




Interesting....never seen a buck do it quite like this.


Everything is very dry....its been 22 days since its rained.

The lake has dropped over 8 feet so I can finally cross the creek to get to my back plot.


EW screen


Switchgrass taking hold.

[unclefish]

Dry as a bone. Like most everyone else the last rain here was about 40 days ago and that was only a tenth of an inch.....from flood to drought in a month.

The EW screen looks terrible....its standing but it's not growing...and wilting pretty bad. But it will work since it's already 8-10 feet high.

So its no surprise that the deer are hammering the protein.....


I've been calling around my normal seed suppliers and they don't know if they will have elbon rye this year or not...they will know in a month. Last year they only had Rhymin Rye and I was disappointed in it compared to Elbon...especially in the spring. Elbon grows very tall and thick in the spring and lays down lots of organic matter.

One good thing I have noticed this year is the lack of spikes....I normally have several on camera but this year every single young buck I've seen has branched antlers.

It's hard to believe we will be thinking of planting in just over a month. Let's hope a wet pattern develops soon.

[jbhlsu]

Very very dry at my place also...they are hammering the feed though. I have been praying to the rain gods for a month.

[jkelbe]

Looks like a pretty decent buck on the back left. At least you have a decent size bachelor group.

Have you noticed if your deer herd has grown over the past few years with all the food you have been putting out. Just wondering if you are having more fawns drop and getting more to survive.

[unclefish]

Looks like a pretty decent buck on the back left. At least you have a decent size bachelor group.

Have you noticed if your deer herd has grown over the past few years with all the food you have been putting out. Just wondering if you are having more fawns drop and getting more to survive.

Yes every year I see more and more deer. I remember the first season I bought the place....I don't think I saw 5 bucks the entire season. Now I'm seeing 6-10 at one time on the plots or at the protein. I had close to 20 deer on the plots last year...I never saw that the first couple years.

Last year I saw lots of twin fawns but haven't seen many fawns at all this year as the floods really destroyed the bedding cover.

[deer farmer]

I read somewhere that we are supposed to have a wet fall, I just hope it will not be as wet as spring. I am also hopeing for the eb rye this yr. They held the seed back last yr for seed banks for this yr, so maybe it will be out there somewhere. I did find some last yr @ a seed and feed in Jacksonville but it was older seed. I just tripled up on the seeding rates. And like u, I have not seen a drop of rain since early June. Maybe all the prayers for the rain to stop worked, we just should have put a rain starting back time in the prayers. I also watched for the fawns this yr as I always do, and I had a late fawn crop this yr. Most of the fawns showed up at my place in July, or at least got out into the open in July. I am seeing them in several different sizes this yr. This yr I am planning on Rye, oats, and clovers along with some chicory, I am cutting back on some of the other seeds, like radish, or kale, or turnips. I am trying to reduce seeding adjustments and maybe some cost also. Ok, what u planning on this fall? I know you have learned what they like best at your place, so what u thinking?

[unclefish]

I read somewhere that we are supposed to have a wet fall, I just hope it will not be as wet as spring. I am also hopeing for the eb rye this yr. They held the seed back last yr for seed banks for this yr, so maybe it will be out there somewhere. I did find some last yr @ a seed and feed in Jacksonville but it was older seed. I just tripled up on the seeding rates. And like u, I have not seen a drop of rain since early June. Maybe all the prayers for the rain to stop worked, we just should have put a rain starting back time in the prayers. I also watched for the fawns this yr as I always do, and I had a late fawn crop this yr. Most of the fawns showed up at my place in July, or at least got out into the open in July. I am seeing them in several different sizes this yr. This yr I am planning on Rye, oats, and clovers along with some chicory, I am cutting back on some of the other seeds, like radish, or kale, or turnips. I am trying to reduce seeding adjustments and maybe some cost also. Ok, what u planning on this fall? I know you have learned what they like best at your place, so what u thinking?

I'm gonna try and expand the plot. All throw and mow method again since it works fine with small seeds....I will plant cereal rye, oats, chicory, durana clover (maybe some fixation clover too), and a brassica (probably will try groundhog radishes again along with kale.)

I'm starting over since is was under water for over a month and now with no rain in 40 days. There is literally nothing left in the plot but some dove weed.

I really like chicory so I'm gonna double the rate or plant another plot of just pure chicory.

Can't wait to get started. Maybe the cracks in the ground will magically close by mid Sept.

[EastTexun]

Unclefish, what planting rate are you planning on? I am going to follow the LC mix a bit this year and add rye to my plots at about 50lbs/50lbs oats/rye with either 5 lbs/acre Durana and 10lbs/acre Crimson clovers and about 5lbs/acre chicory. I also may try some daikon's on a really compacted piece of ground just to see what they can do. Gotta get out about 6 tons of lime though first, or that clover money will be wasted.

[unclefish]

Unclefish, what planting rate are you planning on? I am going to follow the LC mix a bit this year and add rye to my plots at about 50lbs/50lbs oats/rye with either 5 lbs/acre Durana and 10lbs/acre Crimson clovers and about 5lbs/acre chicory. I also may try some daikon's on a really compacted piece of ground just to see what they can do. Gotta get out about 6 tons of lime though first, or that clover money will be wasted.

I am going to go heavy on the rye this year (100 lbs per acre) to promote heavy spring growth and thatch for planting into. The rest of what you have is exactly what I'm doing.....5 lbs Durana/Fixation clover and 5 lbs of chicory per acre. Probably do 5 lbs of radishes/kale too.

If I plant chicory separately then probably go with 8 pounds.

[DUKFVR]

Sorry to see what the flood did to your place Steve. Hope the deer return as we get into fall & you get your plots in.

[EastTexun]

I am going to go heavy on the rye this year (100 lbs per acre) to promote heavy spring growth and thatch for planting into. The rest of what you have is exactly what I'm doing.....5 lbs Durana/Fixation clover and 5 lbs of chicory per acre. Probably do 5 lbs of radishes/kale too.

If I plant chicory separately then probably go with 8 pounds.

It will be interesting to see the difference in planting densities. I have one plot that would really benefit from all the rye, but I am going to see what happens the first year with some rye before I go too heavy.

[unclefish]

Sorry to see what the flood did to your place Steve. Hope the deer return as we get into fall & you get your plots in.

Thanks David. I'm sure it will be business as usual this fall. Lots of bucks have been showing up regularly.....just nothing mature...yet.

Post up some trail cam pics of your deer when you get a chance....I'd like to see them.

[unclefish]

It will be interesting to see the difference in planting densities. I have one plot that would really benefit from all the rye, but I am going to see what happens the first year with some rye before I go too heavy.

Yep I'm trying to build up my organic matter on this plot so it can withstand the normal summer droughts we have here in addition to more nutrients and pH buffer. Rye is one of the best at doing that.

[EastTexun]

Yep I'm trying to build up my organic matter on this plot so it can withstand the normal summer droughts we have here in addition to more nutrients and pH buffer. Rye is one of the best at doing that.

Agreed. Something else I am doing and will continue to do is mow more frequently when the field is fallow. My thought process was that more, smaller bits of material would break down faster than a bunch of larger, more lignified stems. I may also get some benefit by keeping the weeds smaller and more palatable, but that is only a byproduct.