Iowa 25

[williams111]

I purchased 25 acres in Iowa in '18. It is roughly half tillable half timber. I have learned and applied many things from this forum and want to keep track of them here and show the many of you that have helped me how things are going. Hopefully it will be a picture rich thread. Thanks to you all!

The main objectives in order are to;
1-attract deer (improve attraction)
2-attract mature bucks
3-get said mature bucks through shotgun seasons to 5 years of age (I understand I wont hold deer very long) I just want them to seek refuge here during high pressure times to hopefully survive the army
4-shoot mature bucks
5-Watch planted trees grow/produce nuts, fruit and cover
6-provide good hunting opportunities for family
7-pickup sheds
8-build soil

This first picture is a detailed view of where things are and the outline of the property. The property is not very big but it is surrounded by a couple 700-1000 acre parcels to the northwest that have very limited pressure.


And here is the "big" picture.

 

[williams111]

I planted some buckwheat 11 days ago into some standing rye, broadcast, rolled with the cultipacker then sprayed with gly

 

[williams111]

Here are a couple pics of the Frosty Berseem and Fixation Balansa Clover growing around some apple/pear trees. Clover has been very easy for me to establish with a nurse crop of oats or rye. I rarely get time to mow it so I typically spray twice a year with Imox.

 

[williams111]

Here are some persimmons planted in the summer of '18 doing well, no flowers yet.

 

[williams111]

I have been bit by the grafting bug as well the last 3 years. Here is a picture of a successful "ides of March" doing well.

 

[williams111]

Here are a couple of the Norway Spruce planted in the spring of '20 doing well. These were purchased from the Iowa State Nursery for around $1/each. These pictures were taken this spring.

 

[williams111]

I nearly forgot my new foodplot/farm rig

And a chestnut clearing the top of a 5' tube the end of last year. I have had great success with 5' Plantra Tree tubes. I can go pick them up from Red Fern Farm with the fiberglass stake for $5/each. That is by far cheaper then I found any tubes with stakes anywhere else. I have yet to find a mouse nest/girdled tree in them as well. A buddy has had numerous problems with other brands, but I dont believe he is having the problem with the plantras either.

 

[Troubles Trees]

Looks like a very nice property bud, you are well on your way! It feels like people either love or hate tubes, I love them. The only problem I have with them is wasps building nests inside them so I walk around once per month and knock them down with a stick of bamboo. The growth I get with tubes I leave on for another year compared to the ones next to them where I pulled the tubes is incredible! Night and Day really. They tend to be tall and lanky though so I usually need a support stake after pulling the tubes.
Looks great though Williams!

 

[williams111]

Looks like a very nice property bud, you are well on your way! It feels like people either love or hate tubes, I love them. The only problem I have with them is wasps building nests inside them so I walk around once per month and knock them down with a stick of bamboo. The growth I get with tubes I leave on for another year compared to the ones next to them where I pulled the tubes is incredible! Night and Day really. They tend to be tall and lanky though so I usually need a support stake after pulling the tubes.
Looks great though Williams!

I do have issues with wasp nests as well. I did a tree planting project last spring through the NRCS. I was able to use tubes for the project, but didn't have the time needed to cage everything. I planted 50 SWO, 50 Bottomland Burr, 25 Regular Burr and 25 Northern pecans and tubed them all. This winter I think it was the coon that pulled maybe 5 tubes off trying to get to the wasp nests. I caught them soon enough that I was able to reinstall the tube before too much damage was done and I think the trees will still be fine.

 

[buckdeer1]

Nice hidey hole you are making,My chestnuts don't like tubes but I use them on my oaks

 

[williams111]

I do have issues with wasp nests as well. I did a tree planting project last spring through the NRCS. I was able to use tubes for the project, but didn't have the time needed to cage everything. I planted 50 SWO, 50 Bottomland Burr, 25 Regular Burr and 25 Northern pecans and tubed them all. This winter I think it was the coon that pulled maybe 5 tubes off trying to get to the wasp nests. I caught them soon enough that I was able to reinstall the tube before too much damage was done and I think the trees will still be fine.

buckdeer1,
How do your chestnuts respond to tubes? I guess I haven't tried a chestnut without a tube yet. I just haven't had any bad experiences with them.
Thanks!

 

[williams111]

Here is the picture from the original fruit tree planting. These are the first trees I ever grafted. They were planted September 8th 2019.
Here is a pic taken on May 28th of 2019 of a persimmon that was beginning its second growing season, these have tubes on them I just pulled it up for the pic. I will try to get an updated pic of this one, its one of my better ones.

Here is a pic of a future Miscanthus screen, planted June 1st 2019. The cages have Sawtooth oaks planted in them. Not sure how well they're going to do here in zone 5. They do seem to hold there leaves till the following spring so I plan to let them get shrubby to aid in the screen if they do well. Thats the reason for no tubes on these. In hindsight I should've just planted Norways here. That is what I plan to use to fill in the gaps.

This is a pic of the first turnip plot I put in. It was phenomenal, accept the deer didn't start hitting it until February. I did pickup quite a few sheds out of it though. This was the only plot I had the farmer disc. Now I throw/mow/cultipack/spray. I dont have any fancy tractors or implements just an ATV, atv pull type mower, cultipacker, drag, bag spreader and atv 12v spreader.

 

[bwoods11]

Iowa is an incredible state for you to accomplish your goals. It would difficult to shoot many large bucks on 25 acres in many states, but not Iowa. That area you are in looks amazing!

 

[bwoods11]

How are your bottomland oak doing?

 

[williams111]

How are your bottomland oak doing?

I need to get back out to check on the one I took pics of for the Concordia Oaks and Swamp / Bur Hybrids thread. I was out there the same day I planted the buckwheat and had to pull the bird nets off a bunch of tubes because the trees were growing up through them. So I assume they survived the dry heat. Do you think you'll lose a bunch of yours? I cant recall, did you have weed mats down?

 

[bwoods11]

Cage and tube, no weed mat. I did get an inch of rain yesterday? But, I think I’ll lose some yes… (3 inches total) since April.

 

[williams111]

Oofta, we were in rough shape till about a week and a half ago. We're getting lots of rain now. I wonder if a weed matt would retain some moisture/dew for you? I have put them on every tree I have planted and I have yet to water a tree and have very minimal loss. I buy a 6' roll of geotextile fabric and cut it in half so I end up with 3' squares for each tree. Weed Supression and moisture retention, its a winwin for me.

 

[bwoods11]

Definitely…weed mat can help yes!!

 

[Troubles Trees]

Even if the weedmat itself doesn't help retain much moisture, and I feel it does at least some, it definitely prevents weeds and grasses from growing that would otherwise use moisture your tree wants.

 

[williams111]

Buckwheat seems to be doing well. This was seeded, rolled and sprayed 14 days ago. I have never used buckwheat for a cover/green manure crop for my fall plots. Looks like ill get a chance to see how well it lays down come August.


These 2 pictures are the Miscanthus screen on 7-1-21 planted 6-1-19. Overall doing well, need to spray next year with 2,4d and potentially fertilize.


This is the persimmon pictured above on 7-1-21 planted 7-1-18


These are both "bottomland burr oaks" according to the ISU Nursery planted 4-18-20 on 7-1-21. I assume these are similar to the well known "swamp burr hybrid oaks"