chbarnha
5 year old buck +
I might have to add a few pecans. I do love to eat them as well.
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Bo’s Hideway. Central Va
- Thread starter chbarnha
- Start date
I might have to add a few pecans. I do love to eat them as well.
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yoderjac
5 year old buck +
I asked this question on another tread quite a while ago and got very mixed responses. Some guys said deer never touched pecans and other said they bed in the orchard and hammer them. As I filtered through those responses and did some research, it seems to come down to shell thickness to some degree. So, consider that when choosing varieties.
Troubles Trees
5 year old buck +
I've only owned that property for 5 years and put my first Pecans in the ground last year so I am a long way away from getting nuts. I will say, whatever dug up the tree tubes I planted them in were only interested in the Pecans. Oaks and chestnuts planted as seed were left alone so you might want to put in extra protection if you plant Pecans.
Anytime I plant I try and mix in things I would like to eat, nothing like having a grocery store in your backyard.
chbarnha
5 year old buck +
Well not really habitat related but I’m also using this thread to document the little things I do to enjoy my property more. I have had a fire pit made out of landscape pavers over on the edge of the front “food plot”. But it was really in the way there and honestly not in the best location. I decided to move it over next to the carport where I eventually want to build a “patio” and put a grill. So I was there yesterday and after weed dating around the chestnuts and sawtooths in the front plot I decided to move it. Not a big deal but definitely happier with the location as I won’t have to deal with weed eating around it and it won’t be taking up space in the plot.
I also picked this up from a buddy for 700$. It needs a carb, a little work on the seat and some fresh tires shortly. It’s just a small recon 250 but it will work for now.
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I also picked this up from a buddy for 700$. It needs a carb, a little work on the seat and some fresh tires shortly. It’s just a small recon 250 but it will work for now.
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chbarnha
5 year old buck +
Got a little bit done today before a few days with a good chance of rain. My camera sitting over my mineral site has been dead for a few weeks so I went ahead and changed the batteries. Back to working now.
Also the blind that I have on a 6ft stand overlooking the back food plot has always felt bare and exposed to me. Whether or not this idea will work is yet to be seen but I
Bought a jug of the Domain Outdoors incognito which I will include a product label for and thought maybe I could conceal the Blind somewhat with this. I took my mantis tiller and beat up the ground around the base of the blind and spread the seed and lightly raked over the seed. As an extra precaution I also threw more seed over the seed I raked under. We will see if this Egyptian wheat and sorghum conceals the blind some. If it does I will broadcast more into it come august.
I also checked on the status of some of my trees in the back food plot area. All of the sawtooths and oaks planted back there really seem to be taking off. My persimmons and crabs are all leafed out and the top grower from the first year is really jumping again already. What concerns me is my wild deer pears.... it seems that all but one of those has died with the growth they put on last year, and the only signs of life are coming from new sprouts around the bases. I will give them this year to see what they do, if not I may go to strictly crabs and persimmons, or I will source my pears from elsewhere and get 3 year old trees.
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Also the blind that I have on a 6ft stand overlooking the back food plot has always felt bare and exposed to me. Whether or not this idea will work is yet to be seen but I
Bought a jug of the Domain Outdoors incognito which I will include a product label for and thought maybe I could conceal the Blind somewhat with this. I took my mantis tiller and beat up the ground around the base of the blind and spread the seed and lightly raked over the seed. As an extra precaution I also threw more seed over the seed I raked under. We will see if this Egyptian wheat and sorghum conceals the blind some. If it does I will broadcast more into it come august.
I also checked on the status of some of my trees in the back food plot area. All of the sawtooths and oaks planted back there really seem to be taking off. My persimmons and crabs are all leafed out and the top grower from the first year is really jumping again already. What concerns me is my wild deer pears.... it seems that all but one of those has died with the growth they put on last year, and the only signs of life are coming from new sprouts around the bases. I will give them this year to see what they do, if not I may go to strictly crabs and persimmons, or I will source my pears from elsewhere and get 3 year old trees.
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chbarnha
5 year old buck +
Woke up this morning with full intentions on turkey hunting. Walked out the door and the wind was gusting over 30 with it steady in the 20s and pouring rain. Well my tactacam goes off at 836 and what do I see....
Which brings me to a question, how long should I let this rye stay before I knock it down and plant. Worried about poults and fawns and rabbits being in the rye which is 3.5ft tall.
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Which brings me to a question, how long should I let this rye stay before I knock it down and plant. Worried about poults and fawns and rabbits being in the rye which is 3.5ft tall.
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yoderjac
5 year old buck +
I don't like wind for turkey hunting, but I've killed lots of gobblers on rainy days over the years. 
I would say the answer to your questions depends on your objectives. With only 34 acres, unless you are in a QDM cooperative or something like that, you are not going to have a measurable impact on the deer herd. In most cases, folks with small properties can do a lot to improve the hunting, but that is about it. My question would be "Why do you want to plant in the spring?" Unless you have some unusual situation you are dealing with, I would focus on fall for food plotting and focus on the hunting perspective. In this case, I'd just let the WR mature and T&M a fall attractant plot assuming you will get a good volunteer WR component.
I'm on the ratty edge of being able to do QDM. We own close to 400 acres and have another 400 neighboring that is cooperating to an extent. So, we are trying to do QDM here for quite a while. Success has been marginal as measured by deer weights and antler size metrics. We are in the DMAP program and the DWR biologist seems to see improvement in the data over the years, but personally it seems pretty small to me.
Having said that, we do plant for the summer stress period. Lately I've been using a mix of buckwheat and sunn hemp. Both like warm soils, and I don't plant till late May through Mid-June depending on the year. As for fawns, I don't worry about that. We have created much better fawning and turkey nesting habitat elsewhere on the property. As for poults feeding, they are always with a hen when that young. The hen will make herself known to get you to focus on her. They will mash themselves against the ground you you won't likely see them. At that point, I just stop the tractor, walk away, and take a break for a half hour. By then she ill have collected them and move on. I then proceed.
I've never hit a fawn yet, but that doesn't mean I never will.
Thanks,
Jack
I would say the answer to your questions depends on your objectives. With only 34 acres, unless you are in a QDM cooperative or something like that, you are not going to have a measurable impact on the deer herd. In most cases, folks with small properties can do a lot to improve the hunting, but that is about it. My question would be "Why do you want to plant in the spring?" Unless you have some unusual situation you are dealing with, I would focus on fall for food plotting and focus on the hunting perspective. In this case, I'd just let the WR mature and T&M a fall attractant plot assuming you will get a good volunteer WR component.
I'm on the ratty edge of being able to do QDM. We own close to 400 acres and have another 400 neighboring that is cooperating to an extent. So, we are trying to do QDM here for quite a while. Success has been marginal as measured by deer weights and antler size metrics. We are in the DMAP program and the DWR biologist seems to see improvement in the data over the years, but personally it seems pretty small to me.
Having said that, we do plant for the summer stress period. Lately I've been using a mix of buckwheat and sunn hemp. Both like warm soils, and I don't plant till late May through Mid-June depending on the year. As for fawns, I don't worry about that. We have created much better fawning and turkey nesting habitat elsewhere on the property. As for poults feeding, they are always with a hen when that young. The hen will make herself known to get you to focus on her. They will mash themselves against the ground you you won't likely see them. At that point, I just stop the tractor, walk away, and take a break for a half hour. By then she ill have collected them and move on. I then proceed.
I've never hit a fawn yet, but that doesn't mean I never will.
Thanks,
Jack
chbarnha
5 year old buck +
Well turkey season is winding to a close here in the next three days, it’s been a long and hard season but I was able to
Finally capitalize on the longbeard on my property Monday morning. He was with 4 jakes and a hen. Hopefully that means the next few years will be good.
He was 22lbs with an 11 1/8” beard and a 1” and a 3/4” spur
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Finally capitalize on the longbeard on my property Monday morning. He was with 4 jakes and a hen. Hopefully that means the next few years will be good.
He was 22lbs with an 11 1/8” beard and a 1” and a 3/4” spur
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yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Congrats! You've got some nice big birds in the east. Around here, 20 lbs is a heavy bird most years. 22 lbs for a 2 year old this late in the season is fantastic!Well turkey season is winding to a close here in the next three days, it’s been a long and hard season but I was able to
Finally capitalize on the longbeard on my property Monday morning. He was with 4 jakes and a hen. Hopefully that means the next few years will be good.
He was 22lbs with an 11 1/8” beard and a 1” and a 3/4” spur
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chbarnha
5 year old buck +
Today I didn’t really feel like turkey hunting so I decided to go down to the land and get some work done. A few months ago I ordered the green cover summer release blend and the browse release blend to plant in my two food plots. The soil is terrible and this is supposed to
Help with that. With the next 5 days having over a 60% chance of rain everyday I figured today was as good a day as any time get it done. I started by bushhogging the rye as I have yet to purchase a crimper. Then me and dad broadcasted the 60lbs of the browse release in the back food plot and the summer release and another summer blend in the front plot that was left over Pennington seed from last year. We will see how it goes. The clover I planted in the back plot is taking off well and needed a mow anyway. So far I can not tell any discernible difference between the three different varieties planted in three different areas although the Stratton revival seems to really be flourishing where it was planted but it’s still early.
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Help with that. With the next 5 days having over a 60% chance of rain everyday I figured today was as good a day as any time get it done. I started by bushhogging the rye as I have yet to purchase a crimper. Then me and dad broadcasted the 60lbs of the browse release in the back food plot and the summer release and another summer blend in the front plot that was left over Pennington seed from last year. We will see how it goes. The clover I planted in the back plot is taking off well and needed a mow anyway. So far I can not tell any discernible difference between the three different varieties planted in three different areas although the Stratton revival seems to really be flourishing where it was planted but it’s still early.
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chbarnha
5 year old buck +
Turkey season is over unfortunately as that may be my favorite season of them all, guess it’s time to start fishing and getting small things done around the land. This post is just a few of my trail cam pics from some visitors. The bucks are starting to show growth again, and I may have a familiar face. The body size of the deer on the left is far and away bigger than any other deer that has been to the mineral site. I’m thinking this may be the tall buck that has been on the down hill the last few years. I hope it is, it’s hard to tell but looks like he has some weird stuff going on around his bases.
I’m getting loads of pics all hours of the day of both turkeys and deer.
This bobcat has been showing up very regularly and he needs to be taken care of. I like seeing them from time to time but he’s getting a little excessive.
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I’m getting loads of pics all hours of the day of both turkeys and deer.
This bobcat has been showing up very regularly and he needs to be taken care of. I like seeing them from time to time but he’s getting a little excessive.
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chbarnha
5 year old buck +
The clover by the dam is coming in pretty well, I overseed Ed it about a week ago with some more comeback kid clover and alfalfa mix. The pics are rolling in with nothing to exciting as of yet but I am curious to see if this is the tall buck I have been getting pictures of for the last 5 years. His body is enormous compared to the other bucks I have been getting on camera side by side with him.
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chbarnha
5 year old buck +
There is a swamp bottom on my piece in the hardwood finger, and there is a pond on the piece adjacent to mine about 40 yards over the line. I would guess it’s around an acre or so. Hard to see In this picture but I am not all the way on the line in this pic and you can see the pond somewhat from this view
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chbarnha
5 year old buck +
I’ve been wanting to get a cultipacker for some time and just haven’t come across one. I was about to order a packermaxx but dad came across this on the local marketplace for 160$. I figure it will work better than what I have at this point and may be all I really need. Anybody else use something this style?
I also picked up 4 American plums and two strawberrybush from native nurseries. I decided to put them in pots so I can make sure they get ample water over the summer and will plant them this fall.
Just some pics of the wildlife. The tall one is really taking off.
I didn’t take any pics but I also sprayed arrestmax around the point where the clover is well established to try and kill the major grass problem I have. We will see what happens. If that doesn’t work I’ll have to explore other options.
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I also picked up 4 American plums and two strawberrybush from native nurseries. I decided to put them in pots so I can make sure they get ample water over the summer and will plant them this fall.
Just some pics of the wildlife. The tall one is really taking off.
I didn’t take any pics but I also sprayed arrestmax around the point where the clover is well established to try and kill the major grass problem I have. We will see what happens. If that doesn’t work I’ll have to explore other options.
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chbarnha
5 year old buck +
People used to dump at the entrance of my place before I owned it all the time... got all that cleaned up when I bought it. Stop by there on my way home from work this morning and low and behold some lowlife decided to back right up to my cable and dump all their shit everywhere. Better hope I don’t find out who it is! Yes that lock is my cable gate, about 8ft off the hardtop rd.
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yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Hide a black-flash trail cam out there. I've got one on my gate. I'm surprised how many actual game pics it gets although that is not the purpose.People used to dump at the entrance of my place before I owned it all the time... got all that cleaned up when I bought it. Stop by there on my way home from work this morning and low and behold some lowlife decided to back right up to my cable and dump all their shit everywhere. Better hope I don’t find out who it is! Yes that lock is my cable gate, about 8ft off the hardtop rd.
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