Grant woods

[Turkish]

Here's my same old test field from those old threads.......This was about a month ago as the crimson clover went to seed......The only thing I do anymore is broadcast cereal rye with a mix of crimson and ladino clover in the fall and mow.....I havent used any fertilzer in several years

What’s the typical makeup of your plots in the fall when you get ready to plant?

 

[Snoop]

Hey, that looks the same as mine

 

[Crimson n' Camo]

What’s the typical makeup of your plots in the fall when you get ready to plant?

I typically just let the field do whatever it wants to during the summer months…..The makeup of plants has varied a lot over the years as soil conditions have changed……It’s typically a pretty diverse mix of what a lot of folks would call weeds but what I have come to just call native vegetation

 

[Turkish]

I typically just let the field do whatever it wants to during the summer months…..The makeup of plants has varied a lot over the years as soil conditions have changed……It’s typically a pretty diverse mix of what a lot of folks would call weeds but what I have come to just call native vegetation

Have you found certain weeds to be less friendly to your throw and mow efforts?

 

[Crimson n' Camo]

Have you found certain weeds to be less friendly to your throw and mow efforts?

Down here in the deep south cereal rye and crimson clover are nearly fail proof if you wait until October to plant......I dont get fancy with it so I've never had any issues regardless of what was growing.

 

[Crimson n' Camo]

Same field back in Feb at the end of deer season..............

 

[TreeDaddy]

Down here in the deep south cereal rye and crimson clover are nearly fail proof if you wait until October to plant......I dont get fancy with it so I've never had any issues regardless of what was growing.

Throw in apache arrow leaf and you have my "go to" in east texas

bill

 

[Wind Gypsy]

That's a Jonny-come-lately. Like I've said, I'm sure it works, but there's an easier way. If you watch that video, when he pulled back the thatch (at the 4:40 mark) to look at the soil, he didn't get the seed trench closed. And if you can't close the seed trench, it's throwing, not drilling. I like Grant a lot, but I'm not a fan of trying to convince people they need all that extra machinery.

Hop in the way-back machine and read this. I'm not kidding when I say Crimson was on this at least 6 years ago, and likely 10 years ago or more, because by 2016 he'd already transformed his sand. First.

It's too bad qdma memory holed the entire forum. His throw and mow thread there was incredible.

Don't miss his pics on page 4.

The Throw n’ Mow Method

I’ve always heard that the best way to get over a girl is to get under another one. I guess we’ll use that same logic concerning forums that kick you to the curb as well. Welcome to “The Throw n’ Mow Method”……..This thread will continue to document a new planting technique that several of us...

habitat-talk.com

Gonna have to give this a listen when I have time.

 

[SwampCat]

Throw in apache arrow leaf and you have my "go to" in east texas

bill

Yes, mine is pretty close to the same - except I use durana clover and wheat. I dont get crimson lasting through most of the summer, and my deer seem to prefer the durana over arrowleaf. I do have one plot with arrowleaf. No rye, as it gets too tall by turkey season and the gobblers dont use the plots when the rye is too tall for them to see. I direct seed wheat into my clover in early oct. Dont use any fertilizer. Dont have to crimp anything - but I might or might not have to bush hog or spray the clover to keep it going strong. At my place, I consider an attractive, high protein summer food source more important than my winter plots. It keeps the bachelor groups on my place in the summer and it provides the does a high energy food source with the fawns. My planting technique is about as easy as I can make it since I plant 30 acres.

Crimson has made plotting “easy” for him and his ground and it works. I have made plotting easy for me and my ground and it works. Some folks seem to want to make plotting more labor intensive - I have been one of those, too. Now, I try to keep it simple.

 

[omicron1792]

Crimson and swamp, do you think getting to the easy method you have now took going through the hard methods? Number one you might have had to just prove it to yourself. Number two the trying and learning new things is the fun part to me. Number three was getting your soul right with diverse mixes an important part of getting to this easy stage?

 

[SwampCat]

Crimson and swamp, do you think getting to the easy method you have now took going through the hard methods? Number one you might have had to just prove it to yourself. Number two the trying and learning new things is the fun part to me. Number three was getting your soul right with diverse mixes an important part of getting to this easy stage?

I think when you are in the early and mid stages of experience in plotting, you are to balls to the wall - trying to do it all. I have been plotting for 45 years now. I also think as you do more acreage, it lends you in that direction. As I upped my acreage - and I am not talking plotting in abandoned ag fields and doing 15 acre soybean fields - I am talking multiple 1/2 to 5 acre plots - and in my case - on two different pieces of land. I first started buying more and bigger equipment to do it faster. Then I started looking for simpler - and got to where I am today. I would rather fish and hunt than sit a tractor.

 

[Foggy47]

I think when you are in the early and mid stages of experience in plotting, you are to balls to the wall - trying to do it all. I have been plotting for 45 years now. I also think as you do more acreage, it lends you in that direction. As I upped my acreage - and I am not talking plotting in abandoned ag fields and doing 15 acre soybean fields - I am talking multiple 1/2 to 5 acre plots - and in my case - on two different pieces of land. I first started buying more and bigger equipment to do it faster. Then I started looking for simpler - and got to where I am today. I would rather fish and hunt than sit a tractor.

Interesting how you bring this up. I am right now having coffee and watching the "news"......deciding how I want to spend my day. I can play golf at noon today.....or go "farming". I do have some planting remaining and some spring work remaining.....tho I got nothing on my plate tomorrow. So I suppose golf win's the day. I got little time for fishing anymore.....that desire is gone?

The major projects at my place are now pretty well done (logging, stump removal, buildings, and establishing food plots) I do enjoy some of the tractor work and machine time......especially when those machines are new to me or improved in some way or a new method is being tried. I guess that 'chinery has always been in my DNA. What gets difficult is operating in buggy / hot (or cold and rainy) conditions. Deer flies in summer are horrible. My tractor cab has solved all of those issues.....and I enjoy some Apple Car Play tunes and taking care of mowing chores and such. Right now I am looking forward to roller crimping in a few weeks. Kinda excited to receive the results from my no till efforts begun last year.....and the "drudgery" of all that tillage time is in the past.

 

[Crimson n' Camo]

Crimson and swamp, do you think getting to the easy method you have now took going through the hard methods? Number one you might have had to just prove it to yourself. Number two the trying and learning new things is the fun part to me. Number three was getting your soul right with diverse mixes an important part of getting to this easy stage?

A lot of it in my opinion is about having perspective…….In my part of the world the vast majority of food plotting is done in situations where some guys may be leasing a 1,000 acres and within that property there are 5-10 acres of small food plots scattered around…..Folks get drawn in by all the things they see on TV and they lose their perspective on the reality of what a few small plots can actually accomplish.



This is my starting point for how I come to the “easy” way……There’s so many folks who want to take those little food plots and plant beans in the summer or plant this that and the other when it doesn’t make any real difference other than making the process more complicated and reducing the chances of success. The get hung up on things like “weeds” , spraying, and trying to eliminate all of them…..and why cant I get this summer crop to work right?......and then from there…..why aren’t things changing??......Why don’t I have enough thatch for my fall plot??.....and so on and so forth…….For what purpose??



I start off by recognizing my constraints and working within them…..I don’t try and force a square peg through a round hole. My test field I’ve shown over the years is on 25 acres where I live…..Its surrounded by large private landowners with high deer densities. I’ve killed a bunch of good bucks that have come from my test field simply by having an outstanding fall food plot each year. I don’t have to get any more complicated with it than that nor does it make any difference if I do. Broadcast cereal rye and clover in early October and wait. I tried it one season without even mowing and it worked great…..except for the fact I couldn’t see the deer when it started getting dark lol……..I ended up going back and mowing it anyways.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

I think improving the soil is a great thing and in itself a great goal. But I'm not yet sold that all you need is a $15k no-till drill and a $5k crimper and you will start killing bigger bucks than you can with lower cost food plot options - light disk, ATV sprayer and seeder.

I really like the look of the food plot blends with 6+ seed types mixed in - I have a couple of these plots growing right now. They look great and I think they provide a good alternate to the standard clover, beans and corn food plot rotation. That said, I've never seen anything draw in deer during the hunting season like a conventionally planted and sprayed soybean or corn field. For a late winter stress period very little can beat standing corn and synthetic fertilizers can produce some great yields.

I have no doubt that in some instances crappy soil needs to be built up by regenerative practices to have any chance of producing a good food plot. But I question the push by some of the food plot celebrities pushing methods now that they are sponsored by no-till drill and crimper companies. I'm not blaming them for making money off endorsements since I'd do the exact same thing if I was in their shoes. But you have to wonder if the products they are pushing will actually give you a better chance at bagging the big one or if the recommendations are based on what new product will give them the greatest commission check.

 

[CarolinaDawg]

Here's my same old test field from those old threads.......This was about a month ago as the crimson clover went to seed......The only thing I do anymore is broadcast cereal rye with a mix of crimson and ladino clover in the fall and mow.....I havent used any fertilzer in several years

Do you not plant anything in the summer? CC and Rye should be done early May. I ask because fall throw and mow plots are easy. I struggle with throw and mow summer plots.

 

[Wild Thing]

I think improving the soil is a great thing and in itself a great goal. But I'm not yet sold that all you need is a $15k no-till drill and a $5k crimper and you will start killing bigger bucks than you can with lower cost food plot options - light disk, ATV sprayer and seeder.

I really like the look of the food plot blends with 6+ seed types mixed in - I have a couple of these plots growing right now. They look great and I think they provide a good alternate to the standard clover, beans and corn food plot rotation. That said, I've never seen anything draw in deer during the hunting season like a conventionally planted and sprayed soybean or corn field. For a late winter stress period very little can beat standing corn and synthetic fertilizers can produce some great yields.

I have no doubt that in some instances crappy soil needs to be built up by regenerative practices to have any chance of producing a good food plot. But I question the push by some of the food plot celebrities pushing methods now that they are sponsored by no-till drill and crimper companies. I'm not blaming them for making money off endorsements since I'd do the exact same thing if I was in their shoes. But you have to wonder if the products they are pushing will actually give you a better chance at bagging the big one or if the recommendations are based on what new product will give them the greatest commission check.

Yes - Farm machinery can be expensive. On the other hand, if you take good care of the equipment it retains its value very well. Other than my drill and sprayer I think everything I have purchased has been purchased used…and everything that I eventually sold has sold for more than I paid for it - first tractor, 4 row planter, conventional drill etc, etc. In fact the planter and drill offset the cost of my new drill pretty well and I have now decided to sell some tillage equipment that has been sitting idle for over 6 years since I began the No-till journey.

More savings? You generally need a lot less seed when you drill your seed vs broadcasting - maybe 30% less per year. You mentioned synthetic fertilizer? After 6 years of no-till and cover cropping I don’t need any more fertilizer. That will save me $2,000 this year alone.

This no-till drill is starting to look like a real bargain…and I am fairly confident that it is worth more today than what I paid for it over 6 years ago. In fact somebody recently posted that they price my drill 2 months ago and it was listed for 6K more than I paid for mine…and mine is still in like new condition.

Did I mention that my seat time in the tractor is now less than half of what it was when I was turning dirt. How much is diesel fuel these days…and how much is your time worth?

The way I look at it I am just using my farm equipment pretty much for free. I am confident that when I am gone my bride will be able to sell it for pretty much what I paid for it.

Corn? I haven’t planted corn for quite a few years now but when I did it was costing me $225/acre just for the fertilizer. No thanks we can shoot deer just fine without it.

Different stokes for different folks - depending upon each one’s circumstances.

 

[SwampCat]

Various things drive us. I have hogs. I used to plant soybeans in summer and had big herds of deer using them. Hogs decided they liked the bean seeds and my deer population grew - and a five acre field would t make it ten days past germination between the hogs and he deer. Beans are somewhat labor intensive. Hogs will graze my durana, but tend not to root it.

I have done plenty of plotting with small equipment. For awhile, I did ten acres off a 4wheeler. I got a 28 hp tractor and moved to 25 acres. It took a LOT of time - but wouldnt say the plots were much better. I now also have a 65 hp tractor. I do fifty or sixty acres including my dove and duck plots - more ground, less time, but not better plots. I plant wheat into my durana clover plots with a woods seeder. I dont do anything for deer that would be improved with a crimper.

If you live in an area of high deer density like Crimson - you may only need to only attract deer from your neighbor’s so you can hunt them - no summer plantings needed. If you live in an area like mine - with low deer density but high hunter density - you want to grow your own, hold them on your place, and attract them. That requires a high quality, year round food source.

 

[TreeDaddy]

Various things drive us. I have hogs. I used to plant soybeans in summer and had big herds of deer using them. Hogs decided they liked the bean seeds and my deer population grew - and a five acre field would t make it ten days past germination between the hogs and he deer. Beans are somewhat labor intensive. Hogs will graze my durana, but tend not to root it.

I have done plenty of plotting with small equipment. For awhile, I did ten acres off a 4wheeler. I got a 28 hp tractor and moved to 25 acres. It took a LOT of time - but wouldnt say the plots were much better. I now also have a 65 hp tractor. I do fifty or sixty acres including my dove and duck plots - more ground, less time, but not better plots. I plant wheat into my durana clover plots with a woods seeder. I dont do anything for deer that would be improved with a crimper.

If you live in an area of high deer density like Crimson - you may only need to only attract deer from your neighbor’s so you can hunt them - no summer plantings needed. If you live in an area like mine - with low deer density but high hunter density - you want to grow your own, hold them on your place, and attract them. That requires a high quality, year round food source.

My hogs graze my plot as well...... They root up the cabin yard

bill

 

[Crimson n' Camo]

Do you not plant anything in the summer? CC and Rye should be done early May. I ask because fall throw and mow plots are easy. I struggle with throw and mow summer plots.

I’ve experimented with things in the past but all I do now is add a little white clover into my fall mix that grows here and there……For the last couple of years I’ve mowed it once in mid to late June just because it helps keep fall planting a little more manageable…..If I dont then its typically taller than the tractor by the end of summer....There’s still all kinds of native stuff that the deer come in and browse on in the field like pokeweed, goldenrod, dewberry, Florida pusley, purple vervain, teaweed, etc..etc..…..I have deer using it year round.

 

[Crimson n' Camo]

I’ll follow that up by saying again that a lot of this is about perspective……There’s a guy down the road from me here that I track for (I blood track with dogs for hunters)….that owns about 2,000 acres and within that he has a section of about 250 acres of large “ag field”…… Would I do the same exact thing in that situation that I do here on my test field??.....No, probably not…..You very well could if you wanted to and it would work out just fine at any scale…..However, in that situation you have more realistic options for summer plots. It then becomes……How “high end” do you want to try and manage??....What are trying to accomplish???......