Habitat Happening: Live Blog!

Bears! I know I'm not supposed to get excited about this, but I can't help it with these creatures.

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Cool to watch, but they can really be destructive. If they come to like your soybeans - look out !!!
 
Wheels up at 5am tomorrow morning to head up and seed our fall plots. I'm still in need of advice on seeding rates into our "never was" soybean plot. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also happening tomorrow, where we burned off our trails, that is going to get a 50/50 rate of rye and white ladino clover. A section of the burned off trails was limed, so that will be interesting to see if there is a difference in performance.

Fun fact: In this brassica blend, 10lbs is 195 ounces by volume. The full broadcast rate called for here is 10lbs/ac. So I got each plot dialed in to within an ounce or two of what each one needs. To account for overlap and overshot, I'm going to also seed in about a 10% 'ish rate of rye for some spring greens as well.

For now, here's all I can offer for pictures tonight. Plots 1, 2, and 3. 5lbs will go into the seed shed for next year.
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Here's my math. The plot sizes/ac are on the left. 4 Buckets of AMS are going down at the same time. 6/3 on big plot, 4/3 on middle plot, 2/3 on tiny plot. Should be about 60lbs of N/ac.
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I need to try and get something planted up in 172. I did a tiny plot of radishes and ptt.
Another area is sprayed, but I am nor sure if broadcast will work in those light soils. I need to find a used garden tiller and get some rye/oats in.

My no till rye from last year was pretty thin.
 
Well, I made the run up today to seed the fall plots, spread fertilizer, and check cams and such. Here's the update.


Soybeans are clinging to life at that 3-9" height. Just when they look like they're gonna give in, another shot of rain perks them up again.
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Pumpkins are doing well! The ones on the edge of the plot that had solid weed control are on their way.
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This is the only forming pumpkin I found, but counted about 25 good flowers along the plot edge. Zero browsing at this point.
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This is the exclusion cage we put on the beans the weekend of July 4th. If only we could protect the whole plot for a little while...
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That makes 4 species coming out of tubes. This is the one Art has been waiting for. This is an elderberry. I'm expecting some die back again this year, but they're moving ahead more than they're losing.
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Blasted the trails with gly and seeded them today with rye/white ladino.
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This is one of our plot expansions. For some reason, the kill here was terrible. There's a few things that could have gone wrong, and i'm not sure which one yet. I seeded into it anyway. I didn't have my sprayer or my gly with me to zap it again.
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Bur oak is slowly making it's way up the tube. This is year number 2. Not sure how I feel about the 4 size tube set from Tubex. This is the narrowest one.
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American mountainash. This is also now in the emerging club. The other two are cranberry and plum. Also year number 2 for this one.
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Siberian crab year number 2. Probably not gonna make it out this year, but they are all due for a haircut before next spring. Some of the extras I gave fPeter he's got a foot out of their tubes already. Planted same weekend last year.
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Honest, no editing here. Could this be a fart caught on camera?
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We got a contender!
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1, 2, 3, 4 fawns!
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I can only assume these are biting flies? Maybe time to invest a $20 bill in a foggy set up? Or was it Jim that had the traps?
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I'm hoping these are two boys and they have an affinity for cameras when they get older.
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Bear!
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Chris-You are making great strides in your habitat and have a decent buck as well as 4 fawns!

I have had some fun hunts in the north country and hope we can get the numbers back.

We will never match Mo is Missouri, but I can live with that. Twenty deer per square mile pre fawn would be fine with me!
 
Thanks Art.

I was getting nervous going through pics last night. I was under the impression that we had 3 fawns given what we've seen so far. The first pair of twins was on camera all the time, and then they weren't. I thought maybe the wolves came through and picked some of them off. But then the four in one photo happened. I can only assume we've got two does that have successfully raised twins so far. To me that seems like a good goal to protect effective twin-rearing mothers.
 
So far we don't mow anything. That's why we're blasting them with gly and trying to replace the grass with clover and rye. We're trying to figure out a way to get/store/maintain a brush hog up there. On the plots, we're keeping the perennials out for now until we can solve that riddle. Otherwise, this year, we had rye in from last year and did a burn down mid may and then followed with a good roughing-up with the harrow. We've gotta be careful because we've got moderately sandy soil with an OM of about 4%. So 1" deep is about all we'll likely ever go, and probably not at all with the easier to germinate crops.

For the bears, as cool as they are to look at, I would like to hunt them as hard as we can. It won't be more than another couple years and we'll have saplings starting to hold new fruit, and I'm not looking forward to seeing them ripped to the ground. Plus I'd love to try canning some bear meat.
 
Just great habitat and deer pictures. And I love all the stand choices.

Those balls on the oak tree are galls make by a Oak Apple Gaul Wasp. You got a baby wasp hatching out in there.:)
 
I've been very pleased with my Echo SRM410u so far. Once you have it harnessed up, it doesn't wear on you at all. Just walk around and whack the stuff you want gone.
 
I need to try and get something planted up in 172. I did a tiny plot of radishes and ptt.
Another area is sprayed, but I am nor sure if broadcast will work in those light soils. I need to find a used garden tiller and get some rye/oats in.

My no till rye from last year was pretty thin.

You need to arrange a time for you and I to haul my tractor and tiller up to your place and get a day's worth of work done. Not sure this year is in the works....but I dunno why we can't do this in the following year. Lets make a plan.....tuesdays work for me. :)
 
Good pix SD. Looks like you have some good things rolling on your property. Does and 4 fawns are evidence of that !!! Plots and trail work - all good. Hard & soft mast trees / shrubs will be a big plus. GOOD LUCK when you hunt the bears !!! We need to thin them out around my camp too. Bear meat makes EXCELLENT stick or ring bologna !!!! Great with some good cheese and pretzels and you gotta have a great beer to finish the snack !!!:);)
 
SD,

If you can find a DR Brushcutter on Craigslist I'd go for it. That's what we use for trails and plots. Fits in the back of a truck easily. Gives you exercise too. I picked up mine 5 years ago for $900.

00z0z_3ELBj8UHjig_600x450.jpg $40. Skoog is in!
 
That looks like a lawn mower than has been to hell and back.
 
You could buy that to prevent someone else from using it, but he might just make another since the first one "sold." :eek:
 
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