Nice pix, Phil. The foreground looks to be brassica. What's the green stuff in the narrow strips? Rye, WW? I know you prob. mentioned it on another thread - my memory is as short as other things............. I like the goldenrod & weedy stuff around the plot. Probably gives them some sense of security on approaching the plot. It's a nice set-up.
Thanks BnB...i have a lot of work into tailoring this set up....especially since 95% of it is done by hand! I have killed two bucks in as many years from the same tree with my bow. I'd like to keep that streak going...lol. This is a small lot at just under 10 acres. I can't really promote bedding cover as that would make getting in and out undetected very difficult. The property just uphill of me has a big thicket in an old pasture field grown up with golden rod and some clumps of pines..the does bed on that property. That property does not see any hunting pressure as far as I have ever observed. The property to my south has much the same type of habitat directly bordering me....and the does bed there as well. That property will see occassional gun pressure but not much. The owner only allows a few family members to hunt and they are very much fair weather hunters...plus its the farthest extent of their property and they don't roam much. My lot is essentially sandwiched between two established doe bedding areas along the edges of their broadly defined transitions up over the hill to the larger ag and hay fields. My philosophy has been to give the does a good, secure, little food source to hit before heading off to the primary food sources in the afternoon/evenings, a place to top off the tanks before heading back to bed in the mornings, and a place to take in an occassional mid morning/day snack close to bedding. I know i cant hold a buck or bucks on my land and they tend not to bed too awful close to my land...so I find it better to keep the does regularly coming to my land during shooting hours so that once the bucks really start cruising and checking does they will be coming by my plot. then as the chasing really starts the bucks will be there as well.
The plot is in strips of brassica mix (PTT, DER, GHFR) and a modified version of LC's Rye Mix (WR, Oats, Medium Red Clover, Crimson Clover and a dash of leftover DER). The strip size and placement will be modified slightly this summer. The part of the plot to the far left beyond the waterhole was an expansion area this spring. It used to be all golden rod and some japanese barberry...and it had lots of junk from when my grandfather owned the property. he was a bit of a tinkerer and had accumulated a lot of junk, scrap, parts etc...what he called "inventory". I spent 2 days removing all of the junk, installing the waterhole and killing all the barberry etc. I seeded this whole plot to crimson clover last spring. Then in july i mowed and sprayed the strips into the crimson that would become the brassica planting. I seeded the whole expansion area to brassicas because i like how they dominate...helping me reduce weed competition for this years plantings. then in first week of september i mowed and sprayed the remaining crimson strips and planted the rye mix. I will be extending the lateral strips into the expansion area this coming planting season, when I will then even out the widths of current strips...right now they aren't very even. by evening them out i will get approximately 8,000 sq ft of each planting every year.
In the spring i will seed the brassica strips to crimson and med red clover and i will let the rye mix go since it has a good helping of clovers in it. Then i will mow and spray the rye/clover strips for the brassica mix plantings in early/mid july. Then i will mow/spray the crimson strips (this years brassicas) for planting the rye mix again.
The tall golden rod provides good "cover" around the plot. I will be planting/transplanting some spruce and pines into the golden rod areas about 30-50 yds off of the plot edges to gain additional cover/screening around the plot area. Once the snow flattens the golden rod out...its pretty open in the areas around the plot.
