Gleaton Chip Ranch Updates

[bgleaton]

Very nice. It’s undisputed, if you let them get old they get BIG!

You are 100% correct. After seeing this with Big Brows we will probably let our better bucks get up to 8-9yrs of age before we think about hunting them.

[PondPopper]

Great buck. Congrats!!!

[bgleaton]

The food plots are growing slowly, but they are growing - see the picture attached. I hope that we can get some rain soon because we have only received 0.15in of rain since planting other than the 0.5in of water we added with our sprinkler. We have an issue with the sprinkler that we need to get fixed because it seems we didn't drain all of the water out of it and it froze causing some of the brass fittings to split. We are hoping to get it all fixed by the end of this week.

[bgleaton]

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We filled up all of our protein feeders (7,000lbs) and cottonseed feeders (1,200lbs) this past week to help the deer herd get through these winter months. We will be watering the plots again this week since we haven't gotten any rain since we planted. The plots are growing in the fields where we have the Micro Rain sprinkler but we are only watering around 0.5in at a time every two weeks or so. We need a good 1 to 2in soaking rain to get these plots to thrive...fingers crossed. The picture attached is of the plot as of last week.

We are hopeful that we can shoot the remaining deer next weekend and get our numbers where we want them. I'll post some more updates after my next trip and our goals for the 2025 season.

[RMW]

Looking great! What’s the plan for the spring foodplots? I’m thinking some Joint Vetch with Alyce clover would put you over the top!

[bgleaton]

Looking great! What’s the plan for the spring foodplots? I’m thinking some Joint Vetch with Alyce clover would put you over the top!

That's a good question. We have never planted spring food plots so this will be the first year we do it. Will joint vetch and alyce clover grow well in our area? We were thinking about doing a mixture of sun hemp, buckwheat, lablab, and some other forages, but we aren't set on what we will plant. Would love to hear from those who have grown spring food plots in central texas and what would do well in our irrigated fields.

[RMW]

That's a good question. We have never planted spring food plots so this will be the first year we do it. Will joint vetch and alyce clover grow well in our area? We were thinking about doing a mixture of sun hemp, buckwheat, lablab, and some other forages, but we aren't set on what we will plant. Would love to hear from those who have grown spring food plots in central texas and what would do well in our irrigated fields.

El Gato is the one who got me on the joint vetch and Alyce clover mix and it’s been a game changer on my high fenced deer. Joint Verch grows big bucks and they hammer it, it’s around 25-30% protein and drought and heat tolerant. What’s even better the deer can’t out compete it like most other plants and it last till first frost, I had 40 deer on 2 acre plot and it still grew 3ft tall. It’s will grow in poor soils also, but if you want the most nutrition from the plant ph needs to be above 6 and add lots of p&k. Im going to plant some tecomate lab lab this spring also and give it a try, Cowpeas would be excellent on your place also but you need to plant a trial spot to make sure they will eat it first. Also on the joint vetch you plant it one time and it will pop right back up in the spring if you just lightly scratch the soil surface, the seed is expensive but cheap in the long run.

[bgleaton]

El Gato is the one who got me on the joint vetch and Alyce clover mix and it’s been a game changer on my high fenced deer. Joint Verch grows big bucks and they hammer it, it’s around 25-30% protein and drought and heat tolerant. What’s even better the deer can’t out compete it like most other plants and it last till first frost, I had 40 deer on 2 acre plot and it still grew 3ft tall. It’s will grow in poor soils also, but if you want the most nutrition from the plant ph needs to be above 6 and add lots of p&k. Im going to plant some tecomate lab lab this spring also and give it a try, Cowpeas would be excellent on your place also but you need to plant a trial spot to make sure they will eat it first. Also on the joint vetch you plant it one time and it will pop right back up in the spring if you just lightly scratch the soil surface, the seed is expensive but cheap in the long run.

Thanks for the information? Where is your property located? Just curious where you are located in the state of Texas. For the joint vetch, where do you get it? We normally get our seed from Justin Seed and I see that they have vetch and common vetch. Are these the same as joint vetch? All of our soils have a pH around 7.5 to 7.9 and we would plan on fertilizing right after we seed the plots in the Spring to work it into the soils. I'll probably get some dirt and do another soil test to see what we need before Spring time.

[RMW]

I’m located along the gulf coast and receive around 45-50 inches of rainfall per year but let me tell you this, in 2023 I think I had 25-30 inches and most of that fell during the fall winter time frame and during the summer it’s was drought big time with temps at 95-105 all summer long and it did not die out, it was weak but it pulled through. The seed you are looking for is Aeschynomene deer vetch and I buy it online from Hancock seed make sure you get the raw and hulled seed and buy the correct inoculant for the seed. If you decide to get the seed you better get it early before the raw and hulled seed is sold out. You could probably plant some sun hemp with it or Alyce clover to give the deer something to munch on because it takes the vetch a little time to get going.

[bgleaton]

I’m located along the gulf coast and receive around 45-50 inches of rainfall per year but let me tell you this, in 2023 I think I had 25-30 inches and most of that fell during the fall winter time frame and during the summer it’s was drought big time with temps at 95-105 all summer long and it did not die out, it was weak but it pulled through. The seed you are looking for is Aeschynomene deer vetch and I buy it online from Hancock seed make sure you get the raw and hulled seed and buy the correct inoculant for the seed. If you decide to get the seed you better get it early before the raw and hulled seed is sold out. You could probably plant some sun hemp with it or Alyce clover to give the deer something to munch on because it takes the vetch a little time to get going.

I found the seed online (https://hancockseed.com/products/aes...ne-seed-hulled). It shows it's $300 for 50lbs. What seeding rate do you normally use if you use it in a mix? My plan would be to plant deer vetch, buckwheat, alyce clover, sunn hemp, and cowpeas so I wanted to see if i should purchase 50lbs since we are planting around 6 acres in total.

I just placed an order for a 50lb bag from Hancock seed.

I really appreciate your help!

[RMW]

Use all 50# on the 6 acres of the vetch, I would skip the buckwheat, but if you must 3-4lbs per acre, I normally use Vetch by itself or with Alyce clover, if vetch by itself 20lb per acre if mixed with clover 10lb each

8lb per acre vetch
5lb per acre Alyce Clover
5lb per acre Sun Hemp
5lb per acre cow peas

[bgleaton]

Use all 50# on the 6 acres of the vetch, I would skip the buckwheat, but if you must 3-4lbs per acre, I normally use Vetch by itself or with Alyce clover, if vetch by itself 20lb per acre if mixed with clover 10lb each

8lb per acre vetch
5lb per acre Alyce Clover
5lb per acre Sun Hemp
5lb per acre cow peas

We will do the seeding rate you mentioned above. I’m going to get some soil samples next week and see how the soil is looking and see what type of amendments we need to add this spring before planting. I’ll keep you posted on the results. Thanks again for sharing!

[RMW]

We will do the seeding rate you mentioned above. I’m going to get some soil samples next week and see how the soil is looking and see what type of amendments we need to add this spring before planting. I’ll keep you posted on the results. Thanks again for sharing!

Good deal I believe your deer are going to love it and we will see some horn growth! Also Vetch loves and uses lots of Phosphorus and quite a bit of Potash, I have really good soil but still put out 300lbs per acre of a 9-23-30 fertilizer. It’s 50% DAP which is 18-46-0 and 50% Muriate of Potash which is a 0-0-60, put these together and get a 9-23-30. It’s a great blend for legumes, just a little N to get them up and out of the ground quickly.

[bgleaton]

Good deal I believe your deer are going to love it and we will see some horn growth! Also Vetch loves and uses lots of Phosphorus and quite a bit of Potash, I have really good soil but still put out 300lbs per acre of a 9-23-30 fertilizer. It’s 50% DAP which is 18-46-0 and 50% Muriate of Potash which is a 0-0-60, put these together and get a 9-23-30. It’s a great blend for legumes, just a little N to get them up and out of the ground quickly.

Is the DAP fertilizer in liquid form? I'll be sure to post our soil reports and pick your brain once I receive them. I really appreciate your input and look forward to our plots this fall.

[RMW]

Is the DAP fertilizer in liquid form? I'll be sure to post our soil reports and pick your brain once I receive them. I really appreciate your input and look forward to our plots this fall.

DAP is a dry fertilizer, whoever you get your fertilizer from should have it, if not you can substitute MAP which is 11-52-0 and cost a little more. So if you mixed MAP and Potash 50/50 you end up with a analysis of 5.5-26-30

DAP and potash mixed 50/50 would be an analysis of 9-23-30

At 300lbs per acre of DAP mix you would get 16.5lbs of N per acre, 69lbs of P per acre and 90lbs of K per acre

Would love to see your soil reports whenever you receive them