Food Plot - Gonna give it a try

[Nailhead]

Looks like the oats dig the rain and fertilizer too. Excited to finally see food plots full of green.

[unclefish]

Yessir....outstanding!

[Nailhead]

Yessir....outstanding!

Thank you sir! My brother and I are very happy to see the plots full of green. The rye and oats both look great. In the Rye patch there is ALOT of kale that is coming up. Cant wait to see what it looks like in a few morw weeks. I just hope we keep enough moisture through the winter to keep it growing. And of course hopefully the deer find it.

[Christianhuff]

Plots

Ain't that the truth! Rain and fertilizer sure help!

[Nailhead]

Ain't that the truth! Rain and fertilizer sure help!

Looks good!

[Nailhead]

With the rain this morning, I grabbed my rifle instead of my bow and went to my box blind. No feeder at my box, just set up to hope and catch deer passing through. Been a successful East Texas hunt thus far. Had two does come in acting all figity. One blew and then trotted off. Then a few minutes later a young 9 point rolled through. He was clearly passing through and was on a mission to somewhere walking at a fast pace. I stopped him at one point and guessed him to be about 12" inside. Pretty little buck but young, so even if legal I would have let him walk. Guess him to be 3.5 maybe. Decent body but nothing to get excited over. Well actually a lot to get excited over cause I actually saw some deer in these thick woods. Woohoo!

Good luck to all you other thick east Texas woods hunters. And remember, there are no big bucks in East Texas!

[Nailhead]

Went back to the ranch this weekend. Didn't see a deer one while we were there. They are feeding at night right now and not moving through our place much during the day. Still getting pictures on the cameras though of some decent bucks. Nothing to say Wow at, but decent bucks for our area none the less.

Plots are looking good. I believe the soil in the Oats/Chicory/Clover plot to be better soil than in my Rye/Kale/Clover plot. But I already had that suspicion. They are both doing well though. Got pictures of a doe in the Oats and found evidence in several places across the plot that deer have started in on the Oats. Not much pressure at all, but at least they are finding it. Have not found sign on them consuming the Chicory yet, but once it gets taller that may change. Also seeing clover making a presence as well.

Plenty of traffic through the Rye/Kale/Clover plot, however I was unable to find any sign where they are grazing in it yet. However, if Rye is a new crop to them, then it may take a little longer to take to it and try it out. The kale I am not worried about yet cause we have not had a freeze and I know they nipped at the little bit that was there last year. I have a much better stand of all seeds this year. Clover is slower coming up in this plot, but thats OK. The kale is making its presence know throughout the plot especially where the rye didn't take a great hold yet.

Should be real interesting to see what these plots do this year. We had about .375" of rain in the gauge when we got there Friday and then another .5" when we got up Sunday morning from a shower we got overnight. First 4 pics below are of the Oats/Chicory plot and the last 4 are from the Rye/Kale plot.

[jkelbe]

Looks great. That should keep them fed all winter.

[gingib]

Dang those plots look amazing!!!

[unclefish]

Looks great! Put a cage up.....I bet they are eating it more than you think.

Does that plot have trees totally surrounding it or is it open ended?

[Nailhead]

Thanks guys! I am very pleased with the outcome this time around. Amazing what some 16-16-16, a cultipacker, and some rain gets accomplished.

Looks great! Put a cage up.....I bet they are eating it more than you think.

Does that plot have trees totally surrounding it or is it open ended?

I meant to get some more cages put up this weekend and ran out of time. I have the one in the Oat plot, but I want to put up another one down on the other end and a couple put up in the Rye plot. We will be back up for Thanksgiving more than likely so I will get them up then.

Yes, the plots are totally surrounded by trees except for the gap for the driveway. It's about 7-8 acres of pasture within the trees with the barn and bunk house on one side towards the back. So when we are not there, they are undisturbed in the pasture.

The last time we were up my brother and I made an after dark run down to the lake to take care of a beaver problem. Went down and fired a few rounds through the .22 and took out a couple of beavers. There is at least one left we believe. Anyway, as we came back out into the pasture on the Ranger we saw eyes on the other side of the pasture. There were 2 or 3 deer(one buck for sure) on the back end of the Oat plot. They didn't scatter or anything even with the lights from the Ranger or my brothers flashlight. Just calmly walked out. So even when we are there after things quiet down they will still come out into the pasture to feed. And the pasture is totally off limits to deer hunting. Unless some monster walks out and the only person allowed the opportunity to shoot is Mom, I made that stipulation to the rule. Her ranch, her right to do so.

[kenfa03]

Looking good.

[Christianhuff]

Looking good guys! Like this thread and really enjoy working on the plots, nothing better than watching the deer hammer with a good buck pushing them around in your plot!

[Nailhead]

Last weekend the folks were up at the ranch and Mom decided to move a camera over to the Rye plot. I didnt know anything about it until I got here and saw it yesterday. I pulled the card and waited on the folks to get her and Mom to whip out her laptop. The card had 25 pictures on it. As the folks pull up Im headed for the woods to get a evening hunt in. So after the hunt I am standing out by the fire, forgetting about the card I had picked up earlier when the door to the barn opens and Mom says "You have got to get in here and see this!". The pictures were of nothing but deer. A few here and there during the week, but on Wednesday afternoon we had as many as 9 deer together in the food plot at one time in frame. Bucks and does both. One buck still chasing for sure. Ill try to post up some pictures when I get back to the house. We have never had a pictures with that many deer. Other than a small group of 4 or 5 does that were running around last year. We also have pictures of the Oat plot with 5 or 6 deer feeding from it.

I have walked both plots this weekend and all throughout both of them there are tracks and topped off oats and rye. I have also noticed in both plots that there is no where near the amount of kale or chicory that there was to start with. I cant seem to find any bitten off leaves of either, but there has to be cause the amount of both of those plants just are not abundant like they should be. I can only assume that the deer are eating them.

Overall I am very happy with the progress of the plots this year. It has been extremely rewarding to say the least. The deer are coming to the fairly regular which is not only backed up by pictures, but by personally seeing the deer while we are here. Even this morning my brother saw a deer in the pasture on the far side of the rye plot. He was late getting up this morning, but it paid off in him seeing something at least. I will definitely be trying to keep these plots going throughout the year to keep the deer interested and fed. Not sure what to do yet for spring/summer. Dont know if these fall plots will hold out that long or not, and have to see what the clover does when things start warming up.

Was also informed yesterday that my step dad scored a bigger disc. We had been using an old 4' which presented challenges with the soil and width/weight of the tractor. He found a used 6' disc that he says is in good shape and lightly used. Just been sitting a good while. So hopefully that will speed up the process a bit and rid us of a couple challenges with running a disc that is a foot narrower than the tractor.

[macoop]

Sounds like it's doing exactly what you planted it for. Good job.