Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
Great info Bows. These are the low use type. I agree with you on the taste. They are as good as domestic berries.
A few habitat pics I thought you might enjoy
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Great info Bows. These are the low use type. I agree with you on the taste. They are as good as domestic berries.
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
I thought I might should update this habitat thread. A few of these pics have been posted in other threads and some for the first time here today.
This is the corn planted on my son's 12 acres that borders me. It looks real good except for a couple of small low areas where it got too much water. But, it has looked better even in those places the last few days.
My neighbors new soybeans endeavor got off to a rocky start this year, but doing better now. They sprayed too early and he got a flush of weeds right after planting. They have already sprayed it again and it is beginning to look better. This borders my NWSG fields.
These are a couple of food plots. The first one was planted last fall and hasn't been touched since. This plot is very popular right now. They are hitting it hard. The second one is an old plot I just did a cleth treatment and mowing on. It is coming back to life
My two boys are still using the plots often, but I know they are also chowing down on the neighboring beans.
A few fruit and nut pictures from various trees:
That's about it. I should have some good NWSG pics in about 2 or 3 weeks. There should be a lot of color when the forbs start blooming.
Best Wishes!
This is the corn planted on my son's 12 acres that borders me. It looks real good except for a couple of small low areas where it got too much water. But, it has looked better even in those places the last few days.
My neighbors new soybeans endeavor got off to a rocky start this year, but doing better now. They sprayed too early and he got a flush of weeds right after planting. They have already sprayed it again and it is beginning to look better. This borders my NWSG fields.
These are a couple of food plots. The first one was planted last fall and hasn't been touched since. This plot is very popular right now. They are hitting it hard. The second one is an old plot I just did a cleth treatment and mowing on. It is coming back to life
My two boys are still using the plots often, but I know they are also chowing down on the neighboring beans.
A few fruit and nut pictures from various trees:
That's about it. I should have some good NWSG pics in about 2 or 3 weeks. There should be a lot of color when the forbs start blooming.
Best Wishes!
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Bill
Administrator
They may be chowing on the neighbors beans but thier sleeping in your grass!
The place looks great. I'm in the desert this spring. Less than an inch since I planted beans and a clover plot in early May. I'm afraid my pear tree experiment may be a bust with this weather but time will tell. I'll know next week.
The place looks great. I'm in the desert this spring. Less than an inch since I planted beans and a clover plot in early May. I'm afraid my pear tree experiment may be a bust with this weather but time will tell. I'll know next week.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
That ripe mulberry looks mighty tasty !!
Your place has to be like the Pied Piper to the local critters. Quite a menu you're running there. And it all looks good. No wonder you have big-boned heads walking around.
Any turks chasing mower-stirred bugs this year ?? I remember last year's pix of them cleaning up after you passed with the mower.
Your place has to be like the Pied Piper to the local critters. Quite a menu you're running there. And it all looks good. No wonder you have big-boned heads walking around.
Any turks chasing mower-stirred bugs this year ?? I remember last year's pix of them cleaning up after you passed with the mower.
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
My turkey population in the spring depends on whether or not I get the mowing done early. They won’t hardly venture into the tall grass. This year I did mow some strips to the plots and they showed up. They like the plots as much as the Deer.
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Native, you’ve discussed how you maintain your NWSG stand without fire, by mowing and spraying. Would you care to elaborate on your method? I helped a neighbor who conducted a burn this spring, and the whole process is kind of daunting. Plus, I like the idea of placing some rows of trees across my field to promote travel lanes, and I’d like to have minimal acreage tied up in fire lanes.
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Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
Yes, I will do that either tonight or sometime soon.
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
First of all, I do think burning of NWSGs from time to time is a good thing. However, as you pointed out, it can be a tremendous job, and I would add that there is always an element of risk of the fire getting out of control. At my location, I’m not willing to take the risk.
The timing of the mowing is extremely critical for several reasons. It needs to be in the spring, but the window of opportunity is short. If you mow too late, you take the risk of killing fawns. You don’t want to mow too early, because the mowing helps to stun undesirable, cool season and woody plants growing in your NWSGs. You want them to be growing well and thriving before you knock the soup out of them. This also helps to open the canopy to give the NWSGs sunlight at just the right time when they want to start growing.
The timing would vary by areas of the country, but for me, sometime just before May 15 seems about right. By that time blackberry briers are flowering and have put out a lot of energy into the blooms. You won’t kill them by mowing, but you certainly stun them hard and keep them from fruiting that year.
Cool season grasses like Fescue and Orchard Grass are also growing well at that time. The seed head is forming but the seed are not viable. You set them back nicely by mowing then, and very soon your warm season NWSGs will be shooting out over the top of them and shading them very well before they can get tall again. The cool season grasses won’t die, but they stay in a state of despair because they never get to seed and stay shaded for a high percentage of the year.
After the mowing you just back off for a few days and let everything start growing. Don’t forget that now is also the perfect time to shoot coyotes just before fawn drop. You can see them well in the newly mowed fields, and it takes them a few days to adjust to the cover not being there.
After a few weeks, I like to take field glasses and watch the fields from a high location looking for things coming back that I don’t like (poke weeds, thistles, Ironweeds, sweetgum sprouts, etc.). You won’t hurt the NWSGs by driving in them when they are young, so I just drive my truck with 25 gallon sprayers in the back and do a drive by shooting of anything I want to get rid of. I mostly do this and have it done by June 15, but even after that, I might walk out in a field occasionally with a hand sprayer or a shovel if I see a thistle or something I couldn’t resist spraying.
I don’t have Johnson Grass and glad. It looks a lot like NWSGs but you can train yourself to spot it. Over the years I have spotted and killed an occasional plant. It heads out quicker than the other NWSGs so that is one way to watch for it. It also has a lighter color. My neighbors have it but the thick cedar fence rows keep the roots from coming on my place.
After a few years of this the job becomes less and less. Most nuisance plants begin to be less abundant. The one exception for me is blackberry. After 8 years of spot spraying I finally had to break down and boom spray them last year. It was an incredible success. They are gone this year, and I have the best NWSG stand yet. In the areas I killed the briers, there is a flush of good forbs such as Blackeyed Susan, Partridge Pea, Ticktreefoil, Tickseed Sunflower, ragweed, etc. coming back. There were also some pokeweeds, but I took about an hour and did a drive by shooting of them. They are so tall you can hit them in the tops and not hurt the other good stuff coming up below them. 24D will do the job and not hurt NWSGs. I’m not saying it got rid of the blackberry for good, but I do feel it will be a long time before I have to deal with them again.
This routine gives me a tall and thriving stand of NWSGs by the fall hunting season and helps to keep undesirable plants from taking over the fields.
I have also occasionally done some disking and spot spraying really early when NWSGs were dormant, but that is not something I do much. It is kind of like fine tuning a few spots.
One good thing is that most desirable forbs are late germinating, and the spring work that you do doesn’t hurt them at all. The spraying for blackberry last year had nearly zero effect on my Partridge Pea, BES, Ticktreefoil, ragweed, Bidens, etc…. All that stuff was strong after the spraying last year, and really strong this year.
Don’t mow NWSGs too close. A couple of poorly timed mowings too close can destroy a nice NWSG stand. I wouldn’t recommend going below 7 inches.
Mowing in the late fall is not a good idea. I do mow some shooting lanes but I keep the mower very high – maybe over a foot. I also alternate from year to year where the shooting lanes are. In the fall, the NWSGs are storing up nutrition for the winter. Mowing high doesn’t kill them, but it doesn’t do them any good.
I really like NWSGs and think they make great fall and winter cover, but they are no better than any other good tall cover. I love the beauty of them, and so far have been willing to do the work it takes to keep them going and healthy. Probably the greatest advantage of them is having good cover but still keeping the field a field. Trees are good cover too, but if trees get too big, you don’t have a field anymore.
I hope this helps, and let me know if you have any questions.
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
Thought I might should do a little update today:
The Switchgrass is really taking off now. However, it still has a lot of growing to do. When it makes a head it will shoot up about another 18 inches or more.
We are loaded with apples at home but the crop is light at the farm. A late freeze hurt them some there. Don't fuss at me because of a few ugly spots - I'm a no spray guy.
This plot is holding up well but needs some cleth. Chicory is strong and needs some clover overseeded this fall.
I've already killed the vegetation at this woods plot. I haven't plotted here the last few years but will this year. I have a feeling about it this time.
Few Random pics:
Boys are still around and still growing. Funny thing though - they don't hardly travel together anymore. The BROMANCE ended early this year.
That's about it for today. Hope you enjoy.
The Switchgrass is really taking off now. However, it still has a lot of growing to do. When it makes a head it will shoot up about another 18 inches or more.
We are loaded with apples at home but the crop is light at the farm. A late freeze hurt them some there. Don't fuss at me because of a few ugly spots - I'm a no spray guy.
This plot is holding up well but needs some cleth. Chicory is strong and needs some clover overseeded this fall.
I've already killed the vegetation at this woods plot. I haven't plotted here the last few years but will this year. I have a feeling about it this time.
Few Random pics:
Boys are still around and still growing. Funny thing though - they don't hardly travel together anymore. The BROMANCE ended early this year.
That's about it for today. Hope you enjoy.
Bill
Administrator
I know you posted lots of pics but I only saw the deer :)....
I need to figure out a plan on my switch grass/blackberry patch. Mowed May 12 and set the blackberries back but their up and coming now!
I'm cutting trials through them but have to come up with a long term plan. Something about throwing a match on 10 acres of dead grass just scares me.
I need to figure out a plan on my switch grass/blackberry patch. Mowed May 12 and set the blackberries back but their up and coming now!
I'm cutting trials through them but have to come up with a long term plan. Something about throwing a match on 10 acres of dead grass just scares me.
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
I hope we aren't having another picture crisis like the Photobucket thing. I've been using Imgur without any issues since that time. I can see all of the pictures. Are you still not able to see them?
Bill
Administrator
I should have added some smileys. I can see them all I just scrolled down real fast to see the deer.Sorry about the confusion.
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
Sorry about the confusion.
LOL...I didn't catch that joke at all....
I must be getting old...………...Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Native - I think Bill senses some competition on the big buck front !! ^^^^ That's why he scrolled right down to the buck pix. I think your chicory has 'roids in it.
I wish we had as many blackberries and raspberries at camp as you do there. We have lots of blueberries, but only a few of the cane-fruits. Your apple trees are putting on some good fruit, that's for sure. That ought to give the deer a reason to keep checking in come the fall. Nothing like sugary candy dropping from limbs !!
I wish we had as many blackberries and raspberries at camp as you do there. We have lots of blueberries, but only a few of the cane-fruits. Your apple trees are putting on some good fruit, that's for sure. That ought to give the deer a reason to keep checking in come the fall. Nothing like sugary candy dropping from limbs !!
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
Check out how much Son's corn has grown since the last update:
Neighbor's Soybeans have come out of their slump and looking good for a field that has been in fescue sod for 50 years. This is standing in the beans looking back at my cedar fence line that separates my Switch field from the beans.
Compare this food plot to a pic of the same place in my previous update. Notice how the mature wheat heads have been eaten.
I love picking blackberries from on top of a pickup truck cab. It makes me feel so young and acrobatic.....
Harvesting wild blueberry
Boys still visiting plots but not every night. I think the beans have their attention right now.
I do have some white clover plots that I mow.
That's about it for today. I probably won't do another update until the forbs bloom out in a few weeks. It's going to be colorful.
Neighbor's Soybeans have come out of their slump and looking good for a field that has been in fescue sod for 50 years. This is standing in the beans looking back at my cedar fence line that separates my Switch field from the beans.
Compare this food plot to a pic of the same place in my previous update. Notice how the mature wheat heads have been eaten.
I love picking blackberries from on top of a pickup truck cab. It makes me feel so young and acrobatic.....
Harvesting wild blueberry
Boys still visiting plots but not every night. I think the beans have their attention right now.
I do have some white clover plots that I mow.
That's about it for today. I probably won't do another update until the forbs bloom out in a few weeks. It's going to be colorful.
Bill
Administrator
No competition, Bill cry’s Uncle and throws in the towel this year. :)
