New Hope Creek Home

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I took two days off to get some work done on the place. First up was bringing in the traps and given them a good cleaning before storing for next season. Next up was to get the food plots in the areas noted in the previous post. I started by spraying glyphosate to take down some weeds that were already starting to come up. I then broadcast an alfalfa/ red clover blend from Missouri Southern Seed in the plots adjacent to the hardwoods and row-crops.

I used some pretty basic tools for this project--an ATV mounted sprayer, pull-behind seeder and lawn roller. Now I'll wait for tonights forecasted rain! (Follow-up, 1.4" fell last night, so the seeds are well watered!)





I am also working on stand placement (or replacement!) for the tower and ladders stands. The irony is that pregnant doe was watching me for a good 5 minutes as I assembled the stand. She (or her offspring) might just be harvested from that stand!

 

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With my schedule, I have to jump on the opportunities as they arrive, so today I frost-seeded about 1/4 acre of native grasses in an area that was "too soft" to drill last season, and did some frost seeding of clover along some trails.
View attachment 49003

On January 22 I frost seeded natives and clover. Here are some pictures of the results--the deer are just starting to browse the clover, so there should be some good food and cover when the does drop their fawns.

 

[356]

Time to catch up the New Hope Creek Home tour….

This weekend my son-in-law and grandson helped me set two ladder stands and relocated the tower stand that blew over last March. The firebreak food plots of soy and Milo are doing well. As anticipated, the deer are eating the soy to the ground, and ignoring the Milo, which should seed out in mid-October, at which time they will replace the white oak acorns as a preferred browse.

July 2: A perfect day to drill a soy and Milo mix into the field edge firebreaks after spraying with Glyphosate.





August 13: This is the tower stand that blew over back in in March. I still have to replace the window, do some riveting, update the ladder and entry points, and brush in the stand. However, it will be ready for firearms season.


May 2: I experimented with four ragweed fields. This was accomplished through very light soil disruption using a tiller at 1”. These fields show significant deer sign and the cost was time and fuel only. A total of 1 acre is in ragweed, and I believe I will use this method again.


Our corn crop was it by baseball size hail on July 1, but seems to have recovered better than anticipated. I plan on doing some early deer hunting before the custom harvesting teams come...I’ve bumped some nice bucks out of the corn, and the deer are hitting the ears pretty hard right now. Here is the field after the storm.


Finally, my granddaughter enjoyed some range time with her new shotgun. She is planning on using the fun with slugs for deer season, with the goal of a “bow range” harvest. I missed getting picture of her shooting but she did pretty good!

 

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A few more pictures from this weekend:

Bow stand near the clover patch by the creek. This should be a good PM stand.


The firebreak planting:


The clover is getting some weeds, but I am resisting the temptation to mow. Browse pressure is currently moderate, and the field clover is catching up to clover in the exclusion cage.

 

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August 15, 2023

Since I was in SW Missouri, I took a little time between meetings to put in the hidey hole plot at the 13 acre cabin property we have in the Ozark's. This plot was expanded slightly after we purchased the property in 2012, and is now just over a quarter of an acre.

Here is a stand I found (and used) in an old Walnut tree the year we bought the property. It is still standing.


Since the 8N is not currently starting (grrr), I mowed the plot with the John Deere D100 riding mower, using it more as a brush hog than a mower. This is the last of the gear-drive models and it's really been a good tractor.


It's been a wicked drought year here. After taking the growth down to about 5", I sprayed Glyphosate with the backpack, followed by broadcasting a clover mix then dragging a chain with the SxS to get a letter better seed-soil contact. On my next trip to the cabin, I'll broadcast some radishes and turnips (our first freeze here averages October 22). While I still hit rocks occasionally, there is actually soil for the food plot and not just rocks, which was what the plot was like in 2012.




I noticed the mineral stump continues to get browsed hard. This one is eight years old...a few have died, but several are still going strong.


This ladder stand has been in place for 10 years...it still is very serviceable...I "scotch-guard" the seat each year and adjust the straps as needed. It provides a great view of the plot. I have another stand about 80 yards away.



This food plot project used just the basics...backpack sprayer, hand seeder and a few hours.

 

[356]

I planted with a 70% chance of rain that day....it did not materialize, and now the forecast is for extreme heat and no rain for 14 days. I believe the coated seed will do OK if it does not get eaten by birds, etc...

 

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It’s been a tough year for plots with the drought, however, the NT drill likely saved the day. The Milo-Soy mix planted July 2 is coming up well and the Milo are starting to mature. If these all mature before the first frost, we will have some great forage for the deer in November and December. The soybeans are getting hit hard, which is a good source of food now that the crop beans are browning and the corn is being harvested.

 

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The late beans and clover broadcast with the drill on September 9th are starting to grow nicely despite no rain until September 21, when we received 1 inch. The tatch and morning dew seem to have been enough. The goal of this 1/2 acre plot is to provide a browsing plot near bedding.

 

[356]

While the wicked drought continues, we did get a little rain at the cabin location (MO Ozarks) this month (1” for the month). The food plot I broadcast on August 15 is showing some signs of life. The original planting was a “buck on bag” blend from the local feed store, with an over-seeding of turnips and radish seed after four weeks of no-rain on September 16th. At that time the field was totally brown with nothing growing. I have several bucks coming on the property at night, and the does tend to browse here frequently.


At home (NE MO), the deer are finally browsing on the Milo heads that was part of the soy/milo experiment planted on July 2nd along all of the firebreaks and edges. The deer have been browsing on the soy as soon as it comes up. The goal was to have the Milo maturing before the first frost to provide browse during after the acorns dropped and the row crops were harvested. Our corn is still standing, but should be harvested this week….all of the neighboring soy fields have been harvested, and the acorn drop was minimal in this area. I anticipate the Milo will get some additional browse pressure in the coming weeks.


The final plot was a late season soy and clover seeding on September 9th. On this plot I experimented with drilling through some native warm season grasses that were no longer part of the management plan. I did not use any herbicides and the goal was providing October browse. I have been surprised how well this has worked. It does not look pretty, but the deer are browsing it hard. The clover is performing well, and the soy is being browsed hard. In the picture below you can see the Milo planted in firebreak along the back edge of the field. This plot is schedule for a dormant season burn.


I still have a lot of work related to invasive control (honeysuckle and autumn olive), but the plan is coming together and the properties are providing hunting opportunities for myself and our grandchildren.

 

[356]

End of October '23 update:

The deer are starting to browse on the Milo planted July 2. We had several days of "hard frost" with temps in the low to mid-20s. The clover-soy planted on September 9th is also being browsed on regularly.

A doe in the Milo plot....the original tower blinds is in the background. Three years ago this was all red cedar, including the areas in the pictures below.


A buck and two does browsing the clover-soy plot drilled directly into NWSG on September 9th.


The Milo following a hard freeze. The Milo was planted with soybeans, and the deer hit them hard as they grew...I did not see any evidence of beans after mid-October.

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This is my first year using supplemental water holes. The deer and other critters visit them often.


3+ acres of planted oaks (by the previous owner) are part of the "south side" of the property. This was a terrible year for acorns, but we do have some red oaks that are producing some nuts, which are just starting to drop:


Other management work includes invasive control (a slow process), trapping (100 predators last year, six for far this year) and establishing a trail system. Lots more to do, but it is amazing how busy a small property can keep a person!

 

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This has been a season to remember—and there are three weeks left for some herd management. So far two bucks and two does have been harvested on the property. My son’s 11 point was his first buck, and my “big six” was my largest bow harvest to date. This deer would not have been obtainable if it was not for the removal of the antler-point restrictions due to our county being adjacent to a CWD positive country.

The lack of acorns made the corn extra attractive. A ground blind provided the perfect location for my son to enjoy harvesting his first buck after taking up hunting last year.




The highlight was our six year old granddaughter harvesting her first deer. While originally planning to use a 410 with slugs, she ended up using a .243 on a field pod. At the time of harvest, she had sat 12 times totaling well over 30 hours waiting for a good shot. She also plays hockey and the piano….this young lady will go far some day!


The late season Milo didn’t last as long as I had hoped, but it was a preferred browse until it was gone in early December. This was my first year with Milo, and I drilled it with beans to provide new-growth bean browse in September and late Milo browse. It worked, but I will likely go with a different mix next year, as the acreage of Milo I would need to get through January is more than I have available.



The tower blind that blew down last winter was relocated and provided two great antlerless harvests and some great buck sightings. I’ll be engaging several blind improvements over the winter in addition to adding another tower on the south side of the property.


We have a nice 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 year old that have made it through most of the hunting season. Hoping they will be back something next season!




While I did not limit this seasons hunting to this property (I harvested the “Nice Ten” on a friends property bordering public), the habitat improvements started in 2017 have clearly had an impact on the quality of our deer herd. Having a neighborhood wildlife coop has also helped, as we have shared harvest goals and plans. Some highlights of the past season include:
* Trapped 100 predators (raccoons & opossums) during the 2022-23 season. So far I am at 8 for this season.
* Purchase of a NT Drill that was put into action mid-summer.
* Added a needed barn on the property. This makes deer processing and implement storage much easier.
* Designed and implemented spring, summer and fall plantings to supplement native forage and cover (NWSG, ragweed).
* Improved blind placement and access.
* Adding a water source—especially helpful after the “11 month” creek dried up three months early.


While not related to this property, I was able to mentor several first time adult hunters through Field 2 Fork events in five locations as well as introducing two grandkids to hunting on this property.

 

[Turkey Creek]

I am looking forward to experimenting with more milo this year. I noticed the other day that the deer have consumed all the milo heads that are within easy reach of the ground. I think milo has the potential to be the "new" corn. So much easier to grow than corn and game birds utilize it heavily as well.

 

[buckdeer1]

Milo is fairly easy to grow but you can't plant to close together and it needs fertilizer.All depends on amount of tannen in the variety you use.But everything eating it is part of the issue with it as 1000 blackbirds can swoop in and put the hurting on it,coons and turkeys also eat it so it takes more.Without looking back what no till did you get?Place looks great

 

[356]

Milo is fairly easy to grow but you can't plant to close together and it needs fertilizer.All depends on amount of tannen in the variety you use.But everything eating it is part of the issue with it as 1000 blackbirds can swoop in and put the hurting on it,coons and turkeys also eat it so it takes more.Without looking back what no till did you get?Place looks great

I am using a Tar River Saya 505 No till drill pulled by a John Deere 5045E. While my son and granddaughter are still in "hunting mode" on the property, I am beginning to plan 2024 improvements to food plots, adding another tower blind and additional camera locations based on movement observations.

I am leaning toward trying Green Cover seeds for 2024. I also want to broadcast winter rye into the soybeans around the time they turn in late summer to provide post-harvest greens.

 

[T-Max]

I have had great luck with Green Cover over the years. Solid company IMO.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[buckdeer1]

I broadcast winter wheat into mine,but this year it was so dry my pods shattered early so I drilled wheat and oats in.I plant alot of feed seed I guess you would call it.I plant plant wheat cleanings and triple cleaned oats.They are just a few dollars a bag.

 

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Taking advantage of this week‘s snow (02-16-2024) and hard freeze (8 F) to frost seed clover over last fall’s Milo plot and soy bean plot.

 

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Completed a dormant season burn on about 10 acres of EQIP and food plots. Despite the snow Friday, conditions were near perfect for the afternoon burn! Glad to have the help of my son, son-in-laws and one of the grandsons. Completed the burn in 2.5 hours.


I believe this yearling buck was on camera through December. Coyotes didn't leave much.


The burn was done in four quadrants.

 

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Here is a video of the burn. Controlled Burn 2-18-2024

Very pleased with the final results!

 

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3-29-24: Today I started what will be a slow process of removing some red cedars and 20’ tall autumn olives by chainsaw. The area being worked has historically been a good doe bedding area, and I am hoping to keep it that way by thinning the cedars. The bucks cruise this area regularly durning the rut.



3-30-24: Cut down more cedars…





. . . and did some edge feathering.