S.T.Fanatic's Land Tour

[S.T.Fanatic]

We had a chance of rain last night so I rolled the dice and spread 50# of Jerry oats on a 1 acre plot of Peas, Sun Flowers, Turnips, and Radish.

Not a drop of rain. Soil is exposed and the seed can't grow in the bag but...

 

[SD51555]

We had a chance of rain last night so I rolled the dice and spread 50# of Jerry oats on a 1 acre plot of Peas, Sun Flowers, Turnips, and Radish.

Not a drop of rain. Soil is exposed and the seed can't grow in the bag but...

This is the first year I've held out this long. I'm prepared to wait as long as October 15th if need be. I've already written off my dry spots for any forage production this year. I'm just trying to get some rye germinated before winter.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Oops I did it again.

Had a 48% chance of rain last night so i broadcast 100# of cereal ry on top of the 50# of oats a few weeks ago.

Like a few weeks ago not a single drop. Actually hasn’t rained here since the day after I spread my clover and brassica seed. Where the plot has shade in the mornings the plot looks halfway decent. Where it is in full sun looks like crap.

The soil is still loose down a good 4” from when I tilled and nothing but powder. Hopefully we at least get enough to get the rye and oats going so I don’t have a major weed problem ext spring.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Finally ended up with a soaking rain yesterday. 3”. Guessing my rye and oats will be off to the races now. Not sure how long the oats will last but I won’t have to worry about my cereals getting to tall this year.

Will be nice to see how it goes and if I finally can get the deer to use it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I wish I had some pictures to post and would have done a better job at keeping up with this thread.

This has got to be the best fall planting I’ve ever grown. I have to assume other than several good rains this past month it is credited to several years of no till planting, followed by a summer chemical burn down, and tillage.

Zero fertilizer or lime on this plot in at least five years and nearly zero measurable rain all summer long. Hard to believe. Guessing this is almost entirely due to several years of decayed or partially decayed thatch that was incorporated into the soil with an oxygen rich environment.

What is also hard to believe is that Saturday afternoon I sat this plot for the first time this year and witnessed a few deer going to town on my cereal mix (Jerry oats and vns winter rye). It is looking exactly like what I had hoped for. 4-6 inches tall and heavily browsed.

The ptt, radish, and forage turnip which name eludes me at present is looking amazing as well. It is a bit of a guess on my part but guessing the brassica element of the plot did not exceed 2.5# to the acre. The ptt and radish seed I have also had on hand for 3 years now.

I wish I took some close up pics that night because it is hard to believe how much growth has taken place since germination. Huge bulbs (which I don’t prefer but…) and expansive amount of greens (which I don’t notice much pressure on. This plot is so full you would have guessed it was planted with a much heavier brassica element.

Even with these results I’m am currently planning to do an early June top seeding of an annual clover (thinking about trying blansa again) and buckwheat. Followed by crimping AND gly. Part of my reason for tillage was weed control and I want to make every effort to control next springs weeds before trying just straight up crimping again in the future.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Hoytvectrix]

I'm wondering if you could expand on why you do not prefer bulbs. This seems to go against the grain for one of the toted benefits of brassicas.

From what I have seen on our farms in MO, Even if the brassica leaves are "too large" and uneaten, hey eventually be browsed. We might have higher deer numbers or lower nutritional browse than what you have.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I'm wondering if you could expand on why you do not prefer bulbs. This seems to go against the grain for one of the toted benefits of brassicas.

From what I have seen on our farms in MO, Even if the brassica leaves are "too large" and uneaten, hey eventually be browsed. We might have higher deer numbers or lower nutritional browse than what you have.

I do like bulbs and other than radish see very little use on the greens.

My past experiences have been mixed. Some years they wipe the bulbs out but most years they use them but definitely don’t abuse them.

The years they have used them more regularly have been smaller bulbs (baseball size) I can’t say whether or not that had to do with the small bulbs being presumably more palatable or the possibility of it being a poor mast year. To many variables.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I do like bulbs and other than radish see very little use on the greens.

My past experiences have been mixed. Some years they wipe the bulbs out but most years they use them but definitely don’t abuse them.

The years they have used them more regularly have been smaller bulbs (baseball size) I can’t say whether or not that had to do with the small bulbs being presumably more palatable or the possibility of it being a poor mast year. To many variables.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

FWIW. Here in Pa. we see varied usage of our brassica bulbs too. Some years they get hammered, other years, the bulbs get used more sparingly. It may be due to better acorn years, other food plots more preferable (winter wheat, winter rye), or a milder winter. Here, our radish tops get hit before the turnip tops & bulbs. Local preference, maybe.

One way or the other, we always plant a brassica mix each year. The mix we use is DER, Groundhog radishes, PTT, and Pasja hybrid forage brassica. Deer sure use it here.

Good luck with whatever you plant there!

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

We found one of our promising 3 year olds dead on Friday. Next year was looking to be special but now slightly less so.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SD51555]

That's the sh*ts. Could you tell what happened to him?

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

That's the sh*ts. Could you tell what happened to him?

There was no visible slug or broadhead wounds. Zero predation. It has me thinking that he was sick and the rut took him out. It was laying along one of our fire breaks that coyotes travel on a regular basis. If it would have been a healthy animal the birds and yotes would have had him tore to pieces in a matter of days.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bowsnbucks]

That's a bummer, S.T. Heck of a nice looking up & comer. Any CWD or other diseases in your area??

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

That's really odd. Is that a typical bedding area? An open firebreak is a really odd place for a sick deer to bed.

 

[Bill Loser]

How cold is it there? Doesn't look to have been dead long

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

That's a bummer, S.T. Heck of a nice looking up & comer. Any CWD or other diseases in your area??

We are in a cwd zone but no, there hasn’t been but a child’s handful of cases in the past several years.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

That's really odd. Is that a typical bedding area? An open firebreak is a really odd place for a sick deer to bed.

One side of the firebreak is a good size block of woods the other is a big stand of NWSG.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

How cold is it there? Doesn't look to have been dead long

Upper 20’s overnight low to mid 30’s during the day.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

What seems off to me is the ground around him. It’s like he was trying to make a “snow angel”. Dirt tore up pretty good about 1 1/2 the size of the deer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bueller]

I bet if you look close you will find a hole from a small caliber or even an arrow.

 

[Bill Loser]

My youngest shot his first deer with a .243 with 85 grain ballistic tips. If he didn't drop it where it stood we would have never found it. No blood, no hair, no exit wound. Never found the holes until we skinned it.