Following a Field from Hayfield to Food Plot

[bjseiler]

yep I have a chapin 25 gallon..i have 3 seperate "concentrate" tanks, one for gly, one for cleth and one for a liquid fertilizer from GRO...thinking about getting another for a fruit tree spray...the only issue is the concentrate tanks are like 2 gallons or something...so you have to buy your chems in bulk....cleaning the system is super easy...just set the amount of concentrate desired to the highest level (I think its a level 7 or 15oz/gal) and run water through there and whichever part it went through (boom or wand) and run it for a few minutes...i really like this system and except when I installed a new pump and not primed all the air out of it it has worked very well

I'd recommend taking it apart once a year to clean out the concentration dial holes. Mine gets gummed up and it has happened a few times where I sprayed for a couple hours and then realized my concentrate tank never dropped and the spray didn't smell. Plastic on mine just broke last weekend causing a massive leak. I'll probably get another one since I already have 3 tanks (Gly, pond friendly gly and Bifen for keeping mosquitoes out of the yard).

 

[Derek Reese 29]

I'd recommend taking it apart once a year to clean out the concentration dial holes. Mine gets gummed up and it has happened a few times where I sprayed for a couple hours and then realized my concentrate tank never dropped and the spray didn't smell. Plastic on mine just broke last weekend causing a massive leak. I'll probably get another one since I already have 3 tanks (Gly, pond friendly gly and Bifen for keeping mosquitoes out of the yard).

thanks for the advice! do i have to take the pump apart? I am not the most mechanical person in the world....

 

[bjseiler]

Just a handful of screws that hold the dial down. You'll need a needle/pin to push out the holes of any residue.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Just a handful of screws that hold the dial down. You'll need a needle/pin to push out the holes of any residue.

awesome thanks for the help! When I used the sprayer later on at a higher rate (I think it was 4 oz/gal instead of 2oz/gal) it worked alot better...

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Brassicas continuing to get bigger...might soon be time for some urea to give them a boost!

Also, moved a stand to overlook this field and the existing clover field to the right in the picture from the stand. You can kinda tell the difference between the new field (left side) and existing field (right)..The stand sits right about in the middle...also made a good access trail from my driveway (100 yds below stand) and I think I should be able to get into it even if there are deer in the field.

The tan/brown "cover" standing hayfield can be see on the left side of the picture below..hoping this is where the deer will bed and then work their way across in front of me to the plots...

 

[bigboreblr]

Looking good.

When I have a treestand near a food plot. I make sure I have some sort of ground blind on the way to the stand. If something nice is in there, you can sit in that spot if needed. Could just be a 5 gallon bucket behind a large tree.

Usually a H frame of lumber and screw branches n brush onto it. The blind has some braches over the rifle opening to prevent you head from gtting busted. I used to have a stacked firewood blind at my last home. Stacked the pile and used some 2x4 to make an opening to stack some firewood over the rifle opening.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Looking good.

When I have a treestand near a food plot. I make sure I have some sort of ground blind on the way to the stand. If something nice is in there, you can sit in that spot if needed. Could just be a 5 gallon bucket behind a large tree.

Usually a H frame of lumber and screw branches n brush onto it. The blind has some braches over the rifle opening to prevent you head from gtting busted. I used to have a stacked firewood blind at my last home. Stacked the pile and used some 2x4 to make an opening to stack some firewood over the rifle opening.

Good idea! There are several large trees along the field edge with some brush in front of them near the base of the stand. If there is one out there I will probably just hunker down near one of them...Also, I plan to rake the path free of leaves and sticks prior to the season...I have done this before and snuck by within 10 yards of feeding deer (this was during the rut and they were does...free decoys!)

 

[Derek Reese 29]

About a 2 month update: brassicas really enjoyed the shot of urea from about 10 days ago, but the hay/grasses continue to grow as well (I do not know if they are some of the rye/triticale that I seeded, but they may very well be). Can definitely tell where the sprayer cut out as there are several large grassy strips where I think the sprayer may have been malfunctioning. If I do another plot in this way next year, I will definitely be spraying twice and exhibiting alot more patience. Finally seeing a fair amount of clover. I am convinced that the clover waited for both rain and cooler temps to really jump. Overall I am pretty pleased leading up to archery season (begins Oct 1) and have been getting a fair number of pics (up to 8 deer at once in a half acre) in daylight.
Top of the plot looking towards the existing clover plot

Middle of the plot with some larger brassicas

Bottom of the plot close to a stand

Decent buck and a doe in the adjacent clover plot (in daylight even!)

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Pre-archery season update...the field has taken on a light green hue...don't know if this is the former hay that popped up or the triticale? I have never grown it before so I do not know, but every time I go up there in daylight there are deer in it and they don't seem to be hurting it at all..
These 2 let me get within 15 yards before running....(they were in between the existing plot and this newer plot)..they will be the perfect decoys in about 3-4 weeks....
Hoping they leave the brassicas alone for a couple more weeks although the majority of the deer I have been seeing in this plot are in the middle where the grass/grains are the thickest...

Uphill shot with a some decent brassicas and rye showing (yes regrettably there's some weeds and grasses/hay too)

 

[Troubles Trees]

(yes regrettably there's some weeds and grasses/hay too)

The definition of weed is "a plant growing where you don't want it" but that doesn't mean the deer won't eat it my friend.

 

[PatinPA]

Pre-archery season update...the field has taken on a light green hue...don't know if this is the former hay that popped up or the triticale? I have never grown it before so I do not know, but every time I go up there in daylight there are deer in it and they don't seem to be hurting it at all..
These 2 let me get within 15 yards before running....(they were in between the existing plot and this newer plot)..they will be the perfect decoys in about 3-4 weeks....
Hoping they leave the brassicas alone for a couple more weeks although the majority of the deer I have been seeing in this plot are in the middle where the grass/grains are the thickest...
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Uphill shot with a some decent brassicas and rye showing (yes regrettably there's some weeds and grasses/hay too)
View attachment 46350
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There's deer in my neighbor's hay field all the time. I wouldn't worry too much about it. They're going to love that plot when the frost hits.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

The definition of weed is "a plant growing where you don't want it" but that doesn't mean the deer won't eat it my friend.

thats very true...there is some ragweed in there which I have actually observed them eating when there was clover and rye right next to it, but there is also some carolina horsenettle which is spiky and has big leaves which I don't think they would touch with a 10 foot pole...

 

[Derek Reese 29]

There's deer in my neighbor's hay field all the time. I wouldn't worry too much about it. They're going to love that plot when the frost hits.

that's what I am hoping for...I saw 7 different bucks out of a stand at the far end of the existing plot last year during archery season and have some big ones on camera currently...just gotta wait for those magical daylight appearances...

 

[Derek Reese 29]

My neighbor had a sit over the plots on Saturday night...sent me this picture about an hour and a half before sunset..apparently they are very comfortable up there...also saw 5 other does as well..and lots of does and the occasional nocturnal buck on the cams...oh no do I have a doe factory? I would be ok with that in about 2 weeks....

 

[Derek Reese 29]

1 year in update… in the spring field looked grassy but with some good clover growth so I hit it with cleth and now it’s looking good ..planted today by broadcasting 5 lbs of a brassica mix, 3lbs of bearcat red and 3 lbs of a red/white clover mix also weed whacked some of the taller weeds and my neighbor may mow it tomorrow (probably not necessary but really want those brassicas to take off) if the storms hold off..will report back in a few weeks to see how the brassicas are doing..

 

[Vikingman1981]

1 year in update… in the spring field looked grassy but with some good clover growth so I hit it with cleth and now it’s looking good ..planted today by broadcasting 5 lbs of a brassica mix, 3lbs of bearcat red and 3 lbs of a red/white clover mix also weed whacked some of the taller weeds and my neighbor may mow it tomorrow (probably not necessary but really want those brassicas to take off) if the storms hold off..will report back in a few weeks to see how the brassicas are doing..
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You just broadcast all those seeds into the existing clover/grasses? Do you expect brassicas to grow well? I just terminated a clover plot in order to broadcast brassicas next month. Was hesitant on broadcasting right into the existing clover....please keep this update and hope it works out!

 

[Derek Reese 29]

You just broadcast all those seeds into the existing clover/grasses? Do you expect brassicas to grow well? I just terminated a clover plot in order to broadcast brassicas next month. Was hesitant on broadcasting right into the existing clover....please keep this update and hope it works out!

Yep that’s why I am having my neighbor mow it..it isn’t a very tall clover field and there are some sparse areas if we get enough rain I’m thinking the brassicas should be ok to pop up above the clover and the clover I planted now won’t do much till next spring anyway..also probably gonna add a bushel of rye or WW to this field..time will tell I guess..

 

[Vikingman1981]

Yep that’s why I am having my neighbor mow it..it isn’t a very tall clover field and there are some sparse areas if we get enough rain I’m thinking the brassicas should be ok to pop up above the clover and the clover I planted now won’t do much till next spring anyway..also probably gonna add a bushel of rye or WW to this field..time will tell I guess..

keep us posted! I had the same plans but believe after some reading the thick clover I had would suppress any brassicas from growing even if I mowed it short/hit with gly. The deer hammered my turnips last fall/winter and really want to make sure I have them again so I sprayed some gly and amine 400 2 4 D last week. Planning to broadcast 3lbs of brassicas as well as an annual clover mid august then mow the hopefully dead vegetation over top with rain in the forecast.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

This field is definitely my experiment field I have a very thick 1/2 acre of rye/clover adjacent that I plan to seed brassicas into then mow as low as possible and possibly hit with a light shot of gly…I tried this last year in the thick field and didn’t mow it low enough (4-8”) and saw very few brassicas emerge

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Got brassica (little 4-leaf fella by my finger) germination already as of yesterday…neighbor never mowed it so hopefully the clover is low enough (probably isn’t, but who knows..time will tel)…