S.T.Fanatic's Land Tour

Driftless!
 
Here is a zoomed out from google earth. I wish i didn't have to cover certain things up but I have been burned for internet postings in the past.
 

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Another zoomed in a ways.
 

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Zoomed in. The property is outlined in red. The smaller red areas are plots. The land to the North is an 80 acre parcel that we refer to as The Valley. It is about 40 acres of bottom planted in WSNG and wild flowers. There are two plots. The North plot is about 1/2 acre the south plot is about 1 acre. We keep fire breaks mowed and burn off about 1/3 of the grasses every year. There is two small trout streams that join to form a not much bigger creek that holds a good population of Brook Trout and Brown Trout. Most are small but brook trout up to 17" and browns up to 23" have been caught over the years on our property. We have some beaver problems which also means we get otters once in a while. They raise hell with the trout.

The property to the south is "The Farm". It is 298 acres. This property is where I have the majority of the food plots. They are all basically planted where there was available ground to plant. However, my theory was to do the majority of my plots on the central finger that extends into the middle of the property in hopes of keeping more of the deer on our ground. Most of them are for feeding deer but a few of the plots set up well for hunting.
 

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Our neighbors for the most part are good. APR's have caught on and now yearling bucks are protected by the hunters even though the state has lifted them. I wish I could say the same for the 2 and 3 year old bucks but thats life. Children are free to shoot anything and there arent to many youth hunters in the surrounding area.
 
Beautiful chunk of property ST! That is sure a nice area down there!
 
ST ... great property and lay-out, looking to see & learn more as your story unfolds!
 
I’m hoping to do a baker style YouTube tour but we’ll see what I have time for. I will be posting a bunch of pictures along the way anyway


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I was out and about taking pictures this weekend so I figured I’d post a few. In light of trying to keep things straight I’ll start with the north moving my way down. (Top to bottom, Left to right)

Without further ado, NORTH VALLEY PLOT
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This is one of my diversity plots from last year. It was 5 foot tall grown up in weeds. I put the crimper to good use and laid it flat. I wasn’t going to be able to plant into it and I didn’t want some of the nasties to go to seed. It will get planted into ptt and tillage radish.ill more than likely overseer it in September with medium red clover and barley.


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The Kalmes Plot

This plot is approximately 1 acre. It was my TNM diversity plot last season bordered by a strip of RR sugar beets on the west and a clover chicory strip on the East. I used Alice White, Freedom MR red clover, and Oasis chicory.

This year I did a Throw and Roll plot of sunflower, soybean, winter pea, Swede, and a couple of anual clovers. The thatch was thin on the portion that was last years beets but the rest of it grew up in tall weeds. I broadcast the seed, rolled with my homemade crimper and sprayed.

I got a good kill and got plenty of rain on it but the sunflowers and soybeans didn’t seem to germinate well. I suspect the seed as the culprit. There is a ton of peas and Swedes growing though.

This spring I planted a chestnut crab on the corner of the plot so I’m excited to see what a couple years will bring.

Here is a picture of the clover blend
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I haven’t mowed it yet this year. I was hoping to let it go to seed and roll it the first week of September with a winter barley cover but the deer aren’t letting many of the plants seed out. I reduced the size of my clover plantings a few years ago and I like the fact that I don’t have to mow it and the deer keep it low growing. I’ll post more of the warm season crop as the summer progresses.


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Good looking clover.
 
Some beautiful country you have there!
 
I reduced the size of my clover plantings a few years ago and I like the fact that I don’t have to mow it and the deer keep it low growing.
Looks great. What pros/cons have you noticed from reducing the size of your clover/chicory plantings?
 
I reduced the size of my clover plantings a few years ago and I like the fact that I don’t have to mow it and the deer keep it low growing.
Looks great. What pros/cons have you noticed from reducing the size of your clover/chicory plantings?

No cons. I figure since it is a perennial and regrows after it is eaten it leaves me more acreage for annuals. Less mowing because the deer are for the most part able to stay on top of it. One good mowing a couple weeks before bow opener and I’m good to go.


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This spring I planted a chestnut crab on the corner of the plot so I’m excited to see what a couple years will bring.

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Looks great ST. That Chesnut crab will need a pollinator to help fruit production. A Dolgo Crab would be a good option.
 
There are a couple native crabs on the other side of the plot and an wild apple less than 100 yards north west of it. If they aren’t close enough or the right species I do plan on adding more in the future. Thanks!


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Nice start to the tour! I agree with Native awesome looking country you have.
 
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