J-birds place

[j-bird]

OK - I got a weekly update of the fall annual plots and the progress of my corn plots.

Corn plots seem to have ears progressing, the deer have noticed as well!

I checked the exclusion cages in my fall annual plots as well. First one is the North plot, second is the South plot. I can see the oats, brassica and some of the peas coming in as well.....they are real small, but I got something poking thru!

This is the SW plot - the corn I knocked down at dying and again the brassica is popping up as well.

I also "planted" a few "scrape trees" as well. This has been an ongoing experiment for me. I seem to get the interest of does and young bucks, but no proof yet of the older bucks using them. I continue to try however as ......well, I'm a little hard headed! Instead of digging holes I drive a foot long pieces of schedule 80 PVC pipe into the ground and then run a wood screw or two into the wall of the pipe and into the "tree" to ensure the deer can't up root it.

Steve Bartylla always suggested that these "stick out like a turd in a punch bowl" so I try. This is one at the end of my North food plot.

I try to find one with a decent branch that sticks out and I used the rope that I used last year as well in an effort to hold some scent. I also removed the vegetation from the ground and left a little scent on the ground myself. I need to move a trail cam and see how things go.

 

[Weasel]

Good idea on the scrape tree bracket. Is that the size you normally pick for a scrape tree? Place is looking great.

 

[j-bird]

Good idea on the scrape tree bracket. Is that the size you normally pick for a scrape tree? Place is looking great.

I tend to pick smaller ones, but I have had hit and miss results with them as well so the size may be part of my problem. I essentially just need something with an overhanging branch for the deer to leave their scent on. I also leave a rope in it as well in hopes it will hold the scent better. I have cam pics of does and young bucks checking it out, but nothing to write home about. This is only the second or third year trying this as well.

Digging holes by hand in the heat sounded like WAY too much work so I came up with the PVC idea....and I had a piece laying around. I simply cut it to a foot or two long and drove it into the ground a little at a time to pull it out and remove the dirt stuck inside. I now have a nice little pocket to hold the sapling and a means to keep the deer from pulling it out. I figure if for some reason the deer want to rub it to death that is fine.....I'll find another sapling......but I have not had to do that yet.

Besides....now I have a place to pee!!!!:D

 

[Native Hunter]

Looking good J-bird. It looks like a lot of moisture in those new plots, so they should come on fast. The corn couldn't look any better.

 

[j-bird]

I went and visited another "habitat nut" north of me by a couple hours on Saturday and walked his place to give him a "second opinion". I had a great time and enjoyed trying to figure out another place and provide another perspective. Oh, and bye the way JOHN....you do have some oaks in that bottom!!!!:D It was a very interesting and divers place. Hopefully he will start his own property tour and we can all follow along.....he has one place in particular that I am VERY interested to see how things progress. But that isn't my story to tell.

I went out on my place Sunday......this is one advantage to living on the place you hunt. I can simply make a quick trip and keep tabs on things.

Checked my oaks......northern red oaks show no sign of acorns but they produced well last year so that isn't a surprise for me. My lone white oak has a few but not many, I' not seeing any on my burr oaks, but my native chinkapins are loaded. They will be the first to drop and will be long gone before my firearms season get here. I want to get these white oak acorns before the deer and squirrels do so I can plant them. The tree has real low branches so I can get to them fairly easily. I have also be on the lookout while driving around town for trees that look like they will produce.....I may just stop buy later and pick up a few from a parking lot or two.

Corn plots have corn that is over 8 feet tall and the ears are growing well.....we continue to get rain so that helps a lot.

Fall annual plots seem to be growing as well. They have a long way to go, but I'm glad at least at this point I planted them a little earlier this year. Again the rain really helps. The center pic was like the plot was posing for a pic.....brassica, oats and some peas as well......SMILE! Beans on my place are just starting to show signs of turning, nothing major, but the deer continue to hammer the edges of the fields which is fine with me.....it's giving these plots some time to try to grow. Fall is coming however. I have noticed some of the early planted ag corn is showing the signs of turning brown on the lower leaves, so it's coming.......it's not too close though, I saw a fawn on saturday that still had it's spots! In a few weeks I'll broadcast some winter wheat into the fall plots as well just to ensure we have some more winter food as well.

I also noticed I had some fescue on the north side of my place that I think was holding back the growth of some of my CRP area, so I loaded the sprayer up with some cleth and let it have it! I may hit it again come fall, but we will see how this treatment does first. My best treatment for killing fescue is to apply gly in the mid to late fall, but I can't do that in a CRP area. We will see how this works out and go from there.

 

[j-bird]

Ok - I had a busy weekend (getting things done for everyone else) but did get out Monday evening and thought I would share.

My fall plots seem to be doing OK - I would however like to give them a kick in the pants with some Urea soon. Oats, peas and brassicas.......should all make a nice addition to my corn plots come later this fall and winter. The ag beans here are starting to yellow so I expect to see the deer to shift to other green food sources soon. Acorns are in process but nothing dropping just yet.

I also pulled some cam cards....having an issue with one in the north, but had a nice surprise on the card from the south. With logging earlier this year folks always wonder how quickly things return to "normal". This particular mineral site I have had up to 5 does/fawns at a time and they seem to be visiting now on a fairly regular basis......I was hoping they would eventually bring some antlers in and it looks like they have.....nothing to get too terribly excited about but they will excite the young hunters we have and provide some great potential for next year.

Based on my history with deer on my place - I figure the one on the left is a nice 8 point 2 year old and the one on the right is a wide 8 point 3 year old, but he really needs some time length and some mass that will hopefully come next year. Officially speaking the one on the left is "off limits" for our experienced hunters but the rookies can take any deer they want.....the one on the right is technically acceptable for the taking this year, but this is a perfect example of how some "rules" don't always work as this deer will be underwhelming this year but could be a really nice deer next year......if he makes it. I'm just pleased to have bucks even of this caliber moving thru the property this soon after the logging. Hopefully we get a crack at something a little more impressive as season gets here, but it isn't always about the "horns". I would be absolutely thrilled to see our rookie hunters take either or even both of these deer.....their smiles would be worth it!

 

[ghilliehunter]

You're right j-bird, one more year and that wide 8 will be a dandy. I hope he makes it.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

 

[hillHuntR]

J-bird...i just heard about the bovine tb in Franklin, fayette counties, and the dnr sampling of dearborn county north of hwy 48. Hope your farm is not affected. I am not that far south of your general area

 

[j-bird]

I was going to reply to Hills post, but I would prefer to help use this to spread awareness.

For the first time Indiana has recorded it's first case of TB in a wild population (deer) back in Mid Aug. This deer was taken as part of an ongoing monitoring plan due to a captive cattle case being positive back in April. As standard practice when a captive animal is found the state board of health and the DNR set up a 3 mile monitoring radius where deer are culled to provide samples to document containment of the TB. As part of this practice a wild deer has tested positive.

This fining has now increased the monitoring zone to a 10 mile radius and speculation and concern grows as this threat has entered a wild population. TB has been found in this area before 3 cases on 4 farms (cattle and captive deer) between 2008 & 2016 (Franklin & Fayette Counties in SE Indiana). The DNR has culled and tested 1400 deer over the past decade or so with no positive TB test until recently.

There will be roughly 400 to 500 cattle farms tested by the state board of health and significant increase in sampling of the wild deer. DNR wants up to 1100 deer samples from hunters in specific counties and have been very upfront about how if those numbers are not met they will do what they need to to get them. DNR is requiring mandatory check in of deer in 3 counties during specific times as well (Indiana doe snot otherwise have a mandatory physical check-in). As I understand the expanded monitoring zone includes ALL of Franklin county and portions of Fayette, Rush, Decatur and Dearborn counties.

MN and MI have had similar issues with captive TB as well so this isn't entirely new, but the impact this can have as it is now in a wild population could be severe if not contained. Attached is a link that was the presentation that was shared with the public on the matter. I will warn you some of the pics of the lesions and the like are graphic, but I think any hunter hunting in the monitoring area needs to be aware of the risks and hazards they may be dealing with. I am by no means an expert on TB - I am simply tryin got pass along what info I have and have seen to help to better inform those that may be affected.

http://www.in.gov/boah/files/TB Public Mtg2-Frank Co-Marsh 8-29-16.pdf

 

[j-bird]

The power of moving water!

Well Friday morning start out with a shock. Th ewife headed out the door to take the kids to school and she comes back in the house soon after I heard her head down the drive. "Honey! The culvert is gone." Is what I heard. What? "What do you mean the culvert is gone?" I asked here. "G O N E, gone, bye-bye, see-ya, outta here......GONE!" She replied. Not sure why I didn;t believe her but of course I had to go see for myself.

Yep - that is GONE! That is a 60" diameter culvert pipe. The trench is roughly 10 feet across and the top of the pipe that is there is roughly 8 feet below road grade! We had received roughly 6" of rain the night before and obviously the water found a path around the pipe and mother nature did the rest. I was essentially stranded. I took the kids to school in the truck in four wheel drive along the edge of our bean field and I could hear the standing water. I contacted the county and we devised a plan. We cut a 15' wide path thru the soybean field.......which didn't make the renting farmer too happy and we used my truck to shuttle folks in and out. The county went to work making a big hole even bigger to "fix it properly".........If I had not had another way out they where simply going to refill the hole with gravel.

MId-day Saturday they they started setting the new culverts in. That is a 120 Deere excavator sitting there to big you some idea of the size. They are setting 2 60" culvert pipes so the base of the hole is roughly 10 to 12 feet wide. At one point they had the excavator in the bottom of the hole in the creek bed. I swear you have to be half crazy to operate heavy equipment!

They then set the culverts and started to back fill. If I recall they brought in roughly 20 loads of stone.

Well when they quit Saturday (yes they actually worked on the weekend) it was actually passable. I'll have to get a pic. They have lots more work to do to "tidy" things up and get all the trees and old pipe and the like out but at least we now have a more solid way in and out. It was amazing what can happen with some rain. So I didn't get much of any actual habitat work done this weekend.

I did get about 3 dozen white oak acorns and about 200 chinkapin acorns collected (ran over the damn dog in the process) though. She is fine (a little sore). Dog decided to lay under the tractor in the tall weeds while it was running as I was picking a few acorns and I had no idea she was under there. She has been to the vet with full x-rays and no broken bones. She lays on both sides and has resumed eating and all other bodily functions......she is on some pain killers and walks like she is drunk but she is up and about.

 

[LEWI B]

Sorry about the culvert blowout. Nothing worse than being stranded --At home
Your plots are rocking. We start planting in about two weeks.
Thanks for the updates.

 

[j-bird]

Well I came home from work today and the dog is doing much better - she is actually doing a bit more than she should.....don't know any people that do that! The county was out all day as well making further progress. They seem to have most of the fill work done and have made the road significantly wider than it was (it was barely 1 lane for a regular vehicle) - it's now almost 1 1/2 and you should be able to get a combine across without tires hanging off the road.

Looking from the house side down (facing due north)

Outlet end - they need to better grade the fill dirt and seed but I think they are done on this end other than putting up some "bumble bee" signs. I doubt they install actual guard rails.

Inlet side - no concrete. They do have a small pool at the inlet to slow the water down, but I know that will silt up over time. They have a little more rip-rap to place and again finish the grade and seed the fill dirt.

This is looking up at the house. You can see they cut a small ditch along the west side of the road as well. That area gets surface run-off and erodes the gravel badly all the time. I asked them to cut the ditch in an effort to at least get it off the road. They took out a few more trees than I anticipated, but I told them to do what they needed to do. I will sacrifice future timber value for a safe road any day. This is a dead end road (stops at the top of the hill - if you look close you will see the red diamond sign) so it doesn't see much traffic, which is why it wasn't fixed long ago.

 

[j-bird]

Well it has rained here in one way shape of form since about noon yesterday and is supposed to continue thru the end of the weekend. I sucked it up and put on my big boy pants and went out yesterday after work and planted at least 500 acorns in my SW wood lot. Most where a swamp white oak (I think) - which I have zero of on my place at the moment......I hope in a few decades someone will say, "Where did all these swamp white oak trees come from?" There where a few regular white oaks and some chinkapins in the mix as well. Since I had the place logged earlier I used a lot of the tree tops as shelters and stabbed a hole with a walking stick and stuck the acorn in it or I just found a soft place and stepped the acorn into the ground. I'm sure the critters will find their share but with over 500 of them planted even if just a percentage make it - it was worth a few hours of my time. That section of my property has 1 bearing oak on it - so I figured I would try to help things along. I'll go back to the tree where I am getting my swamp white oak acorns from next week as it has some that where still very green that should be ready by then as well.

I did take a few pics of the brassica I added to the corn plot in the SW where I removed a section of corn because it wasn't doing well.
No tubers forming yet but thus far they seem to be doing OK.

Also looks like the deer are using the logging path just south of this plot location. It runs along the stream and connects a bedding area and a small woodlot on my place......might be a good place to take my climber and try to catch a nice buck trying the scent check that plot when the wind comes from the north. Am I "bad" for not telling anyone else? I don't care.....:D

 

[wiscwhip]

Pretty sure no one "else" pays the taxes on your place, so nope!

 

[j-bird]

Pretty sure no one "else" pays the taxes on your place, so nope!

That was kind of the way I saw it. I figure they want to take the time to go look for themselves, that is fine. I hang the stands, I do the work, I pay the bills......I'm entitled to a little bit of intel in my pocket.:D

 

[j-bird]

OK - I know some folks think I'm crazy, but today I think I may agree with them.

I went to check on a local source for acorns at a strip mall and in the process I noticed what appeared to be oak trees planted along a bike path route (you know the asphalt ones the yuppies use to bike around town). At a decent distance I thought I saw acorns. So I grabbed the taco bell paper bag I has (as I just finished my lunch) and went to take a look Now mind you it's noon so everyone is out and about and it's 80+ degrees outside.

I found 2 white oak trees absolutely loaded with ripe acorns!!!! I immediately was like a kid picking up easter eggs!!!

I don't have an official count yet. All I know is that I have a BUNCH! The bag actually started to tear because of the weight in it. I picked them off the tree and picked up any that felt "right" (you that have collected acorns know what I'm talking about). The ground was so littered with them I was using my hand and fingers like a rake and getting them by the handful! I'm guessing I collected between 500 and a thousand acorns. I'm sure they will not all be good, but for two small trees this was a gold mine. I also noted they had other what looks like true swamp white oaks as well, but they didn't have any acorns. I will keep this little slice of acorn heaven in mind from now on.

My place lacks white oak so I hope by planting these this will one day at least lead to a few more. I'm gonna be busy this weekend!!!!! This is essentially a large drive-thru bag full!!!

 

[ghilliehunter]

Child Bystander: Mommy, what's that man doing crawling around picking up acorns?
Mother: Just stay away and don't make eye contact!

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

 

[j-bird]

Child Bystander: Mommy, what's that man doing crawling around picking up acorns?
Mother: Just stay away and don't make eye contact!

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

Yep! I actually had a city truck stop on the road and take a long, hard look. He never said anything and never got out, but I'm sure he originally thought I was tripp'n balls on something!!!!! I have no pride......especially when it comes to habitat stuff. Every time my phone would chime from an e-mail I figured it was some co-worker going, "Jason - is that you crawling around on the ground under that tree......you OK?!?" I may have looked the fool, but I got a bunch of free acorns to plant so I figure I came out on top......I have my limits.....but crawling around on the ground for acorns I "need" ain't one of them.

 

[j-bird]

I float tested them last night and counted them in the process. I had more floaters than I had hoped for but it was still well worth the effort.
roughly 30% floated - I will still plant them, but won't expect much from them. Most I picked up off the ground and when I do that history tells me you tend to have a high "floater" rate. I collected a hair over 1,000 acorns yesterday! I have roughly 700 "sinkers" to plant this weekend as some where already showing signs of pushing a radical.

It was also funny because my wife's face lit up when I brought them in the house....."Are those for Johnny and June?" "Uh, no....I mean #$%@ NO!" was my reply to her. Johnny and June are a male and female squirrel that we named that live near our house and the wife feeds in the winter time.......that's all I have to say about that.;)

 

[j-bird]

Well the rain we had that caused the road to wash away also flooded my bottom....as such I have some plots that had a nice layer of silt on them and essentially snuffed out some of my clover and allowed weeds to get ahead. As such I spent part of the day re-seeding some of those areas. I mowed the plots last weekend to knock down what I could and today I broadcasted some BOB clover seed to help thicken up the clover I still have. You can see I had a fair amount of dirt showing.

Once I had those done I went on my way planting some of my acorns (got more to do tomorrow). I went across my south creek and took a peak at my paw-paw patch and found some fruit the coons had not gotten to....yet. I planted a few acorns while I was over there as well. As normal I had some company.....that is buddy. Buddy is part beagle part coon hound of some sort. He is a big pansy, but is the barkingest thing on the planet. He is deathly afraid of deer, but loves looking for them.....if that makes any sense. If I shoot a deer and struggle to find it - buddy will help. He has one tone for trailing the deer in his bark and then you know for certain when he finds it!!!! He has never been trained - just in his nature.

The creek is now back to "normal" level but with enough rain I have seen this creek rise over 6 feet from this level in the past......it floods my entire south bottom field, which it did to cause the silting issues of my clover plots and brought me a nice present of foxtail in my annual plots as well. I got plans for the foxtail though.....gonna slap it with some cleth tomorrow. From what I have seen the deer have picked thru the plot and eaten all the AWP and I know the cleth will kill any oats I still have in there, but I will top sew some winter wheat to fill that void.....after I get rid of the foxtail.

The brassica seems to be doing fine (starting to see some tuber), but I still need to give it a dose of N - maybe when I spread the wheat......Adding the wheat was always part of the plan to help get some cold weather variety in with the brassica, even though I know the deer won't pay it much mind because of the standing corn plot.....at least in this particular spot.

I planted/tossed roughly 3/4 of a gallon of acorns today. Skeeters wanted to carry me off but some of the acorns had radicals starting already so I had to get them into the ground. Not sure how many will make it, but I have to start somewhere. I have another full gallon left for the north side tomorrow......I'll check that annual plot and see how it's doing as well, hopefully I don't have the foxtail issue up there as well, but I'll have some cleth if I need it.