Someday isle
5 year old buck +
Every tree got a tube and a bird net. 
Someday Isle - Property tour
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Someday isle
5 year old buck +
Then they all got a stake and weed mat. 
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
Finished off with a five foot tall cage and a water bucket. I learned the water bucket trick from someone on this forum a couple years ago when I put in my first ten trees. I don’t remember whose idea it was but I just drilled a quarter inch hole in the bottom of the bucket and wire tied it to the cage. When I go out to water the trees I just fill the bucket and when it rains the tree seems to get a better watering. The cages are cut 12.5 feet long which ends up 4 feet in diameter. 
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
So one thing on these trees compared to the ones I put in two years ago. I should preface this by saying it’s a very small sample size - a total of 17 trees ordered over a two year period - so it’s not enough to make any kind of judgment. The first ten trees I ordered were also from The Wildlife group. I ordered these trees about the same time of year but took a later delivery the first time. I put them in the ground St. Patrick’s Day Weekend 2018. Comparatively speaking those first trees were really scrawny compared to these. I was really excited when the first of my original ten trees made it out of the top of the tube. Right now, two years later, three trees are looking really good, five trees are out of the tubes. Two of those first trees died by the end of the first year, two are still only about four feet tall, and one I’m not sure made it through the winter this year. In this new batch of trees, which is The Wildlife Group‘s late drop pear package of seven trees, Six of the trees are already out of the tube at the day of planting, the seventh tree is only about six inches from the top of the five foot tube. All of these trees were much thicker than any of the original trees from 2018. The biggest difference though seemed to be the root structure. There was so much more of what I’d call a fibrous root system to every one of the trees I got this time around. Now, I have poor soil and Missouri summers can be brutal so the odds of all seven of these trees surviving is not great but they sure seem like better trees. So it makes me wonder, did I get weaker trees the first time around because I took a later delivery date? Or was it just a better growing season for the pear tree growers this year and I got trees much better than normal. I guess time will tell but the trees that I had that died early on were pretty pathetic in comparison to the ones I got this time around. Had I gotten this type of tree the first time and the poorer trees the second time I’d have been really disappointed. I just didn’t know what to look for or expect I guess but I kind of realize now that those early trees didn’t stand much of a chance compared to the ones I planted yesterday. Four or five years from now if I have ten trees total still surviving and producing fruit I’ll be happy no matter what - but it sure makes me wonder.
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
I got thing cleaned up a little last weekend. I still had some downed trees to cleanup and I wanted to check on my pear trees and pull my camera cards. Things have begun to green up and the clover is filling in on my trails. It’s a little spotty this year. Since I’ve opened everything up to more light this year I’m expecting a weed surge. If things go according to plan I’ll spray some of the weeds, throw down some buckwheat, and mow the rye at the end of May. The buckwheat can fill in the bare spots on the trails and keep the weeds down in the plots. I’ve had good experience with a first crop of buckwheat before. Trying to double crop it didn’t work in the past because we tend to have very hot and dry summers but I’ll hold off on that plan until we get there.
Between my original 10 pear trees and the 7 new ones I’m down to ( or up to, depending on how you look at it) a total of 13 healthy trees. i had a couple pictures with 7 deer in them. That’s a lot for me. And it looks like my new resident turkey flock from the fall has hung around. Surprisingly I didn’t have any coyote or dog pictures this month. I’ll take that.
Between my original 10 pear trees and the 7 new ones I’m down to ( or up to, depending on how you look at it) a total of 13 healthy trees. i had a couple pictures with 7 deer in them. That’s a lot for me. And it looks like my new resident turkey flock from the fall has hung around. Surprisingly I didn’t have any coyote or dog pictures this month. I’ll take that.
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Someday isle
5 year old buck +
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
More pics
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Rit
5 year old buck +
My first order of fruit trees was also from TWG. I took a late order even though they wanted to ship them out earlier. Mine came leafed out and on the small side. I don’t blame them so much as I took the late order. I lost both persimmons and a chestnut. The pears I got are still alive but they were only about 2.5’ planted. After seeing the trees that I got from NWC and Blue hill I probably won’t order from TWG again. Nothing bad to say about them but the other trees were really really good.
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
I made it out for a work day over the weekend. I sprayed some weeds in the clover and pulled camera cards. We’ve got a few Deer hanging around. The clover looks great in my trails for the most part. There are some thin spots though. The rye has taken off and headed out. I’ll be going out next weekend to do some mowing And maybe throw down a little buckwheat in a few places. My pear trees looked good. All 14 surviving trees are now out of the tree tubes. Hopefully in a couple years we’ll see some fruit.
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
I was able to get out yesterday and today to do a little work again. After spraying weeds last week I Threw a little buckwheat down in my plots to fill in where the weeds were dying and the clover was bare. Then I mowed the rye to lay down over the new seed. I also made another new little micro plot by one of my water holes. It’s small, about 1/12 of an acre, but I‘m hoping it makes a nice little harvest plot. It’s a great location but the wind has to be perfect. it only gets hunted a few times a year and it’s mostly a morning spot as it’s near bedding on the uphill side. Honestly I was just looking to do a little creating. I spread some buckwheat and cultipacked everything. Freshly seeded dirt sure looks nice!
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Someday isle
5 year old buck +
If you have followed this thread or if you scroll back through it you’ll see plenty of stumps in my plots. That’s what happens when you clear land with a chainsaw and just your own body as equipment. Well this month I went to work on that. I rented a stump grinder for a couple weekends and took care of the stumps on all of my trails and in two of my harvest plots. I’d say I Ground down 75 stumps of different sizes. I’ve got one more area to take care of either this winter or next summer. Mowing and food plot work should be easier. I did leave one triple stump because it’s my yardage marker in one plot. Everything else has been cleared out. 
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
And my first batch of pear trees are in Their third year. 
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
Got my plots in today. Rye, oats, radish, and clover. Finished in the rain and then it rained for about an hour. 50% chance of rain Tuesday and Wednesday. Hopefully we get a little more. ATV acted up again. Plotting is hard on it. I’ve worked it hard the last five years. I’m hoping for a tractor next year. It’s still the one do over I’d like to have but I didn’t have space to store a tractor and we still had kids in college. It’s worked just fine but a tractor for mowing and plotting will be a nice luxury someday.
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
We got rain right after planting on Sunday and then this came through today. Should make for a good start.
Bill
Administrator
Only a bow hunter would understand that.....
Bill
Administrator
show off :)
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
Last work day before I start hunting. I have to admit that I’m a little concerned about our numbers. I’m getting fewer deer on camera this year, and no bucks to speak of. There was the three legged buck we called Tre’. Haven’t seen him in over a month. We’ve got a doe and three fawns, a doe and a fawn, a couple little bucks and a doe that hangs with one of the little bucks. That’s it for the whole summer. I guess we’ll see how the season progresses. Maybe something will get better. Lots of coyotes and quite a few turkeys too.
todays. First on my list was a final mowing of the campground - no pictures of that.
todays. First on my list was a final mowing of the campground - no pictures of that.
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
Next I took some pictures of the food plots. I’d like to say I planned well but I lucked into rain as I was finishing seeding and then we had a couple days of rain the following Few days. Noting for the last ten days and nothing in the long range forecast either. Hopefully our good start on the plots let’s them take hold and we’ll be okay for the year. The clover trails look good but they’re even semi Dormant right now. I over seeded them with rye. The plots have oats, rye, radish and clover in them. We could use some rain and some cooler weather. There was even a bed in one of the plots.
