What should I plant for turkey's next spring?

[EarthySpirit]

I recently purchased 50 acres. It has 2 two-acre fields which border a creek that are currently all grass. My neighbor got the hay off it twice this summer. what is my best option to provide a place for turkey's to bug and feed for this upcoming spring 2021? I live in Central Kentucky. If I do frost seed, what do I do about what is already there from last year which will eventually emerge?

 

[EarthySpirit]

Here is an aerial of the 2 fields.

 

[Boll Weevil]

Will hay be cut off them in the future or are you considering a permanent conversion?

 

[EarthySpirit]

Will hay be cut off them in the future or are you considering a permanent conversion?

I want permanent conversion which will work for deer too. Someone recommended cereal rye for early spring, which would inhibit some of the other grasses. Then apply gly after turkey season, then plant clover in the fall. What do you all think of this idea?

 

[Boll Weevil]

A perennial white clover...this happens to be Durana. The time to plant in my area is right now so you might be far enough south as well depending on which variety you choose. Be sure you get a good kill if it's currently in fescue and sow your clover with a nurse crop like winter wheat or rye (grain not grass).

 

[Kdog]

What Boll Weevil said as long as your ph is good. Spray, prep, seed with winter rye and Durana.

 

[Bassattackr]

Nothing wrong with the rye/clover plan. But the rye will take off fairly quickly in the spring, so wouldn't hurt to mow.

FWIW - Rye can grow with a poor soil PH.. High 5 range.

 

[Someday isle]

Four years ago we rarely saw or heard a turkey. After four years of clover plots and cereal grains I have turkeys on camera all the time and frequently see them when I’m hunting. I don’t manage for turkeys at all and I am not much of a turkey hunter. It just seems that my habitat work for deer has also created habitat for turkey.

 

[yoderjac]

I recently purchased 50 acres. It has 2 two-acre fields which border a creek that are currently all grass. My neighbor got the hay off it twice this summer. what is my best option to provide a place for turkey's to bug and feed for this upcoming spring 2021? I live in Central Kentucky. If I do frost seed, what do I do about what is already there from last year which will eventually emerge?

We have an outstanding turkey population on our place and I never plant to feed adult turkey. They will eat anything that does not eat them first. I focus on poults and everything else falls into place. The biggest thing for turkey is placement. Don't focus on 2021. Think long-term. The first thing you need is nesting cover. An overgrown field, clear-cut, stream banks, etc; You need roosting sized trees proximate to that nesting cover and brooding ground nearby the nesting cover. Poults are most at risk for the first few weeks. Poults can't navigate through fescue. If that is the grass you are talking about, kill it. Bunch grasses are ok. You want a short distance between nesting cover and the brooding ground without the poults being exposed to avian or other predators. So think about travel corridors. If they have to cross a logging road or something, let the banks grow up so they have cover nearby and the exposure crossing it is minimal.

90 % of a poults diet is comprised of insects. So, you are correct to focus on bugging. I like perennial clover as it greens up early and attract bugs. Next to the bugging ground, you want some kind of canopy with bare ground under it. RR beans work. I use bicolor lespedeza, but it is a non-native and can become invasive in some conditions. I have not had a problem with it, but in some areas they do. This canopy provides great escape cover and protection from avian predators. If you want to attract turkey to your place in the summer, buckwheat is a great crops for that. They bug in it and absolutely love the seed.

All of these things are great for deer as well, so I consider turkey when I decide what to plant where, but after the above is achieved, I just plant for deer as part of a QDM program. I can't think of anything I've planted for deer that turkey don't use as well. NWTF is a big advocate of chufa, but I'm not. Unless you flood for ducks or something, I can't see planting a single species crop like chufa when turkey will use and benefit from all of the things I plant for deer.

It takes several years of this kind of habitat management for hens to give up there existing nesting grounds, but in time, they learn to move to the best habitat. Don't expect immediate results.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[EarthySpirit]

We have an outstanding turkey population on our place and I never plant to feed adult turkey. They will eat anything that does not eat them first. I focus on poults and everything else falls into place. The biggest thing for turkey is placement. Don't focus on 2021. Think long-term. The first thing you need is nesting cover. An overgrown field, clear-cut, stream banks, etc; You need roosting sized trees proximate to that nesting cover and brooding ground nearby the nesting cover. Poults are most at risk for the first few weeks. Poults can't navigate through fescue. If that is the grass you are talking about, kill it. Bunch grasses are ok. You want a short distance between nesting cover and the brooding ground without the poults being exposed to avian or other predators. So think about travel corridors. If they have to cross a logging road or something, let the banks grow up so they have cover nearby and the exposure crossing it is minimal.

90 % of a poults diet is comprised of insects. So, you are correct to focus on bugging. I like perennial clover as it greens up early and attract bugs. Next to the bugging ground, you want some kind of canopy with bare ground under it. RR beans work. I use bicolor lespedeza, but it is a non-native and can become invasive in some conditions. I have not had a problem with it, but in some areas they do. This canopy provides great escape cover and protection from avian predators. If you want to attract turkey to your place in the summer, buckwheat is a great crops for that. They bug in it and absolutely love the seed.

All of these things are great for deer as well, so I consider turkey when I decide what to plant where, but after the above is achieved, I just plant for deer as part of a QDM program. I can't think of anything I've planted for deer that turkey don't use as well. NWTF is a big advocate of chufa, but I'm not. Unless you flood for ducks or something, I can't see planting a single species crop like chufa when turkey will use and benefit from all of the things I plant for deer.

It takes several years of this kind of habitat management for hens to give up there existing nesting grounds, but in time, they learn to move to the best habitat. Don't expect immediate results.

Thanks,

Jack

Whatever is there will come back next spring because I planned not to kill the grass since I don't want to disrupt my deer hunting right now? What options do I have if I don't do anything until after the new year?

 

[Boll Weevil]

1. The deer likely won’t care one iota if you do it now. As a matter of fact when the nurse crop of wheat or rye pops up they’ll probably be in it more than they are now.
2. You’ll have to fight fescue and weeds with a spring planting of clover and FAR more likely to have a failed planting.

 

[yoderjac]

Whatever is there will come back next spring because I planned not to kill the grass since I don't want to disrupt my deer hunting right now? What options do I have if I don't do anything until after the new year?

As I said, don't focus on next spring. Take a breath, step back, and look at the big picture. Keep in mind whatever you do when you change habitat impacts deer and depending on what you do, may change how they relate to your land for years to come. Measure twice and cut once. Evaluate you land and the surrounding land. Figure out how deer and turkey relate to it. Where do they bed and feed? If you change the habitat, how will that change their behavior. Will it make them easier or harder to hunt? Most of us are too quick to get dirt under our nails. You will do much better by stepping back, defining your overall wildlife management goals, and making a long-term plan for habitat manipulation.

Doing individual acts outside the big picture can have some amazingly negative unintended consequences. I speak from many years of regret.

- I ruined my soil health with a 2-bottom plow when I was starting.... Big mistake! It has taken years and I'm still not done restoring my soil health.
- We have created "Food in cover" with some of our practices. Great for deer, but makes hunting very difficult.
- In a rush, we created some food plots on slopes and have had to deal with erosion issues as a result.
- We placed some plots in certain locations and did not consider prevalent wind direction and how we might access hunting locations.

This list could go on and on. I'd start thinking about where you want nesting cover. Do you already have it? Do you need to create it? Will it change where deer bed (similar habitat)? Depending on what "grass" you have in your field, it may take a year to get rid of it. If you plan to start next spring, you may want to wait for your soil to warm up, take a first shot at killing the "grass" and plant a smother crop of buckwheat. Have you done a soil test? Do you know if you need lime?

Turkey will be fine without your planting. Increasing the carrying capacity and populations of turkey stat with the big picture things in my previous post. There are no magic beans for next spring. A 5 year plan (at a minimum) is a reasonable approach for improving turkey use and hunting.

Thanks,

jack

 

[EarthySpirit]

Not so sure I agree that turkey's will be fine, because the grass grows 5-6 feet high and very thick (whatever kind of grass it is) . I don't think turkey's will like that. I'll have to wait and see what it does leading up to turkey season.

 

[EarthySpirit]

Here's a pick of the tall grass

 

[yoderjac]

Not so sure I agree that turkey's will be fine, because the grass grows 5-6 feet high and very thick (whatever kind of grass it is) . I don't think turkey's will like that. I'll have to wait and see what it does leading up to turkey season.

Turkey can range miles depending on habitat. Your 2 acre won't matter to the areas turkey population. I doubt it is fescue if it grows 5' tall. It may be a warm season grass that can make great bedding for deer. One more example of having a big picture plan in place before you remove something that you may want in the long run. When I say turkey will be fine, I did not me they will or won't use your field.

If your want turkey to use the field in the spring, I'd just mow it after deer season and mow again as needed in the spring.

Now that I see you posted a picture, I can tell you hens with poults will use stuff that for bugging. I cant see the ground from that picture, but I'm guessing if you walk through and look straight down you will see ground, not turf. If so, they will use it.

I'd just mow it after the season and work on a big picture plan. If you decide as part of your plan you want to plant some or all of it, you will have plenty of time in the spring to spray and plant buckwheat for summer. That will give you a second opportunity to spray in the fall if needed. As others have said, if planting perennial clover, especially a slow to establish but long-lived clover like Durana, you will want to do it with a WR nurse crop next fall and then mow the WR back to 6" the follow spring each time it gets much taller than a foot to slowly release the durana.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[EarthySpirit]

Turkey can range miles depending on habitat. Your 2 acre won't matter to the areas turkey population. I doubt it is fescue if it grows 5' tall. It may be a warm season grass that can make great bedding for deer. One more example of having a big picture plan in place before you remove something that you may want in the long run. When I say turkey will be fine, I did not me they will or won't use your field.

If your want turkey to use the field in the spring, I'd just mow it after deer season and mow again as needed in the spring.

Now that I see you posted a picture, I can tell you hens with poults will use stuff that for bugging. I cant see the ground from that picture, but I'm guessing if you walk through and look straight down you will see ground, not turf. If so, they will use it.

I'd just mow it after the season and work on a big picture plan. If you decide as part of your plan you want to plant some or all of it, you will have plenty of time in the spring to spray and plant buckwheat for summer. That will give you a second opportunity to spray in the fall if needed. As others have said, if planting perennial clover, especially a slow to establish but long-lived clover like Durana, you will want to do it with a WR nurse crop next fall and then mow the WR back to 6" the follow spring each time it gets much taller than a foot to slowly release the durana.

Thanks,

Jack

Ok, thanks. So if I keep it mowed, that is all that is really necessary. I'll keep the edges unmowed for the poults. I do have an overall plan like you are suggesting. the general movent is pretty simple because of the layout of my land. Deer will feed in the fields, and head back to the beds on the other end of my land where I have low impact stands in between. So, I'll probably just mow it for turkey season, then kill it after the season (May), then plant clover in the fall with the nurse crop of WR. Sound good?

 

[yoderjac]

Ok, thanks. So if I keep it mowed, that is all that is really necessary. I'll keep the edges unmowed for the poults. I do have an overall plan like you are suggesting. the general movent is pretty simple because of the layout of my land. Deer will feed in the fields, and head back to the beds on the other end of my land where I have low impact stands in between. So, I'll probably just mow it for turkey season, then kill it after the season (May), then plant clover in the fall with the nurse crop of WR. Sound good?

I'd my for next season as you say, but before you kill it or do anything else, I'd make sure I knew what it is. That will tell you if you need to plant buckwheat as a smother crop to help control weeds before your fall crop. You also need to make sure it fits with your plan. It may make sense to plant different crops in different places in your 2 acres to get the best arrangement to support your long-term plan.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[EarthySpirit]

Here is the layout of the land. The two areas are bedding areas, especially the one on the East. The one on the east I know to be holding probably a dozen deer during the day due to trail cam pics. the general movement I hope to effect is to plant the two fields in the south, then catch them coming and going from bed to feeding with the proposed tree stands I have put in. They are already traveling this way, but I think for the most part, they are feeding off my land at night. I hope to change this with the two plots. I will access through the middle ridge you see cleared there, or the NW corner, depending on the wind. I hunt almost exclusively mornings, so the deer are not in the beds when I'm walking to my stands. Given this setup, what would you put in these fields? My goal is for deer because I know whatever attracts deer will also attract turkeys.

 

[yoderjac]

I'm not sure what the scale of your picture is. Given the pic you previously posted was the 2 acre field, you will want to broaden your focus. I start with the center of my property and draw 2 concentric circles. The first covers about 1,000 acres; typical home range of a deer. The second covers about 3 miles. When food becomes scarce at certain times of the year, deer will easily range that far. My next step is to take an inventory of that area. I wan to understand how deer relate. You may find deer are bedding and traveling to food where one or both are off your land.

Considering ONLY what you've marked in the pic, I'd probably plant the north west corner of your 2 acre field.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[EarthySpirit]

From the road to the creek is 730 yards. From side to side is 285 yards. I'm not sure I see the benefit of planting the NW corner, because they would be feeding there when I arrive to hunt, and I think I would disturb them.