Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Good deal with those greens, Spud. Groceries ought to be a big help to your deer. Even under snow, those greens will have 'em digging for them.
Herron Ridge … Trials, Tribulations, & Some Good Stuff
- Thread starter Tree Spud
- Start date
Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
After 7-8 years of growing switch grass in this field, I am going to nuke it. I will then place a wild flower pollinator mix. Amazing how much organic matter has been added, mulch above the 1" of decaying grass is about 2" of OM in the form of mulch.
Prepping to attack the buckthorn and russian olive as it greens up this spring. The death squad are soap bottles filled with 1 part trypclopyr and 3 parts diesel with blue dye added.
Prepping to attack the buckthorn and russian olive as it greens up this spring. The death squad are soap bottles filled with 1 part trypclopyr and 3 parts diesel with blue dye added.
Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
Not yet, even my old nesting boxes are quiet. Waiting for that late afternoon whistling.
Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
The plan has evolved over the last few years ...
On my upper ground where I planted the switch its was for cover and increasing OM content. In these area the soil is more of a loamy sand, The larger SG areas which are 8-10 acres, I will be putting in beans and cover crop mixes. On the smaller 1-2 area areas of SG, they are located in the middle of multiple apple orchards which have 10-25 trees which need the pollinators.
Overall the SG was a benefit. Deer bedded in it, does used it as cover during the rut, and I have 7-8 years of OM added on top along with the large SG root system adding OM. It grew well with no maintenance required.
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Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
A couple years ago we had a die off of all of the fish in our ponds. This year is the 2nd year I have been re-stocking them. The bags of fish need to be put in the pond water for about 30 minutes to even out the temp of the fish bag water. Too cold of water you are adding the fish to can shock and kill them. I stocked 2 ponds with bluegills, largemouth bass, fat head minnows and golden shiners. First time adding the golden shiners and I hope they add more forage for the bass.
Here is one of the large mouth bass.
Here are some golden shiners.
Here is one of the large mouth bass.
Here are some golden shiners.
Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
Planted about 14 acres of soy beans this spring. Have a problem child field that has not done well. It is about 4 acres and short on organic material. I never planted the switch grass there but should've. The soil is more of a sandy loam and always struggles during dry times.
I am planting a cover crop/food source mix to try and improve this field. The mix I am plantings is:
Oats
Sudan sorghum hybrid
Sun hemp
Survivor winter peas
Purple top turnips
Appin forage turnips
Barkant forage turnips
Ground hog radish
Ladino clover
The fun part was mixing the seed in a 5 gal pail with a cover. Did about 10 of these, great upper body workout '
I broadcasted the oats at 75 lbs/acre first. They would require the large opening on my seed drill and was worried about too much other smaller seed moving through. I then planted the seed mix with my Firminator.
I will come ack in the fall and overseed with WR & medium red clover.
I am planting a cover crop/food source mix to try and improve this field. The mix I am plantings is:
Oats
Sudan sorghum hybrid
Sun hemp
Survivor winter peas
Purple top turnips
Appin forage turnips
Barkant forage turnips
Ground hog radish
Ladino clover
The fun part was mixing the seed in a 5 gal pail with a cover. Did about 10 of these, great upper body workout '
I broadcasted the oats at 75 lbs/acre first. They would require the large opening on my seed drill and was worried about too much other smaller seed moving through. I then planted the seed mix with my Firminator.
I will come ack in the fall and overseed with WR & medium red clover.
Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
Well, the wife says she wants a garden. So I have my marching orders.
Because of the high deer density, and other critters, it will need to high fenced. Fencing will be 7'- 8' high. Off to the right is the apple orchard so the deer will be in this area.
I put in cedar 4"x 4"x12' posts in. Sunk them 36" into the ground. The garden will be 32' x 50'. There will be gates on both ends so we can drive the tractor or Mule in to load & unload stuff.
We will be putting in raised beds that will be 18" deep. This area is a sandy loam soil. I had switch grass planted here the last 8 years to help increase the OM level. The mound in the background is topsoil. We will use that for the raised beds and amend with compost and organic matter (straw, rotted wood, etc.).
I used 12" cement tube forms. Got a 12" auger for my post hole digger. The cement tubes slid right in without any problems. Got the posts in, leveled them and filled with Quikrete.
The far post looks like it is leaning, that is just a distortion from the camera.
Because of the high deer density, and other critters, it will need to high fenced. Fencing will be 7'- 8' high. Off to the right is the apple orchard so the deer will be in this area.
I put in cedar 4"x 4"x12' posts in. Sunk them 36" into the ground. The garden will be 32' x 50'. There will be gates on both ends so we can drive the tractor or Mule in to load & unload stuff.
We will be putting in raised beds that will be 18" deep. This area is a sandy loam soil. I had switch grass planted here the last 8 years to help increase the OM level. The mound in the background is topsoil. We will use that for the raised beds and amend with compost and organic matter (straw, rotted wood, etc.).
I used 12" cement tube forms. Got a 12" auger for my post hole digger. The cement tubes slid right in without any problems. Got the posts in, leveled them and filled with Quikrete.
The far post looks like it is leaning, that is just a distortion from the camera.
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Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
Got the posts in for the covered tool shed, workbench, cool down sitting area. The tricky part about augering the holes is that they need to be centered around where the post will be per the measurements for building the roof and adding fence wire. You also need the post in the cement tube centered so there is a balance of concrete around it. Just like carpentry, measure twice, cut once. 
Got my nephew helping me which has been a big plus and a good strong back!
Got my nephew helping me which has been a big plus and a good strong back!
Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
Here in the north, deer food preference changes are influenced by the weather and season. This also causes the deer's digestive system and enzymes to change to be able to digest woody browse in the cold months. Summer to mid Fall there are lots of green leafy plants, grasses, weeds, nuts, and grain products. As those disappear, they move on to more fiber and woody type food sources (along with acorns) such as woody browse, remnant grains, and dead plants. I have watched deer walk though a weedy area in December and pick all the dead brown leaves off of goldenrod road stalks.
My experience suggests that if you want fall food sources (in the north), I have had success with ...
- Plant clover as a base. Regrows after browsing, consistent draw, and produces nitrogen.
- WR in the fall for Oct-Dec food. Then spring green up. Fawning cover, OM production, and weed & grass suppression.
- Purple top turnips. Good ole standby, deer eat the leaves and bulbs and is inexpensive.
- Forage turnips & radishes. They can be browsed multiple times and will regrow their leaves. Are generally cold hardy. Radishes like daikon can help break up clay and soil compaction.
The clover & WR will come back early spring for cover and food.
Another good OM & nitrogen producer is sun hemp.
Unless you have 8-10 acres or corn or beans, they could easily be wiped out by late summer depending on your deer density. I did do RR beans this spring as I needed to spray the weeds & grasses that had taken over. My beans were stunted by the competition of weeds/grasses, but are now released.
I like to add a Millet seed to the seed mix above, around 50% of the mix, as it helps for better distribution of the small seeds and avoids over concentrating them. You could also add Sudan sorghum & sun hemp to the mix. Both will add vertical height and produce OM. Sun hemp is an excellent nitrogen scavenger.
Here are my forage turnips & radishes, about 6 acres on the north end of the property and another 6 in the mid property, and clover I broadcasted in late July. I am over seeding with ~80 lbs/acre of WR this weekend.
My experience suggests that if you want fall food sources (in the north), I have had success with ...
- Plant clover as a base. Regrows after browsing, consistent draw, and produces nitrogen.
- WR in the fall for Oct-Dec food. Then spring green up. Fawning cover, OM production, and weed & grass suppression.
- Purple top turnips. Good ole standby, deer eat the leaves and bulbs and is inexpensive.
- Forage turnips & radishes. They can be browsed multiple times and will regrow their leaves. Are generally cold hardy. Radishes like daikon can help break up clay and soil compaction.
The clover & WR will come back early spring for cover and food.
Another good OM & nitrogen producer is sun hemp.
Unless you have 8-10 acres or corn or beans, they could easily be wiped out by late summer depending on your deer density. I did do RR beans this spring as I needed to spray the weeds & grasses that had taken over. My beans were stunted by the competition of weeds/grasses, but are now released.
I like to add a Millet seed to the seed mix above, around 50% of the mix, as it helps for better distribution of the small seeds and avoids over concentrating them. You could also add Sudan sorghum & sun hemp to the mix. Both will add vertical height and produce OM. Sun hemp is an excellent nitrogen scavenger.
Here are my forage turnips & radishes, about 6 acres on the north end of the property and another 6 in the mid property, and clover I broadcasted in late July. I am over seeding with ~80 lbs/acre of WR this weekend.
Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
I have a problem child field that is sandy loam type soil but more towards the sandy. It is ~3 acres and every year I have tried different plantings & combos, yet I see it stall out and burn up around mid July. The soil tests show it is low in organic matter and ph is 6.6. Attempting to increase OM and create a thatch layer has been a real challenge. This year I might have made some progress; however, I still am not at a point where I am getting plant growth to a good mature point so that I can realize the OM.
This year I planted a diverse combo (desribed in post 111) on hybrid sudan sorghum, oats, sunn hemp, winter peas, radishes, turnips, & red & white clovers. I was concerned about planting all these together given different seed deep requirement's. My concerns were justified as most of the radishes/turnips did not emerge. I did see some success with the oats, sudan sorghum & clover.
I hit the field with about 80 lbs of UREA on Friday and we got a little rain. Hoping that will give a bit of a boost.
I am overseeding with WR today at about 80 lbs/acre.
Here is the field where the sudan sorghum is typically 3'-4' high and up to 6'-7' in some places. The oats also did well even though I just broadcasted them.
I was pleased to see that the clover has a good start.
This year I planted a diverse combo (desribed in post 111) on hybrid sudan sorghum, oats, sunn hemp, winter peas, radishes, turnips, & red & white clovers. I was concerned about planting all these together given different seed deep requirement's. My concerns were justified as most of the radishes/turnips did not emerge. I did see some success with the oats, sudan sorghum & clover.
I hit the field with about 80 lbs of UREA on Friday and we got a little rain. Hoping that will give a bit of a boost.
I am overseeding with WR today at about 80 lbs/acre.
Here is the field where the sudan sorghum is typically 3'-4' high and up to 6'-7' in some places. The oats also did well even though I just broadcasted them.
I was pleased to see that the clover has a good start.
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