Vogue Magazine syndrome

[armadillophil]

We have all heard the stories of how fashion magazines put a tremendous amount of pressure on women to look perfect. I used to roll my eyes when I would hear this but I'm now certain it is true. I see all these food plots spaced in 30 inch rows and weed free and then look at my plots and immediately feel low self esteem and inadequate. All winter I had big plans to plant 3 acres of eagle soybeans and 3 acres of sun hemp. As usual my dreams are big and time was short. I did a pretty good job of spraying the bean plot but ran into issues with the sun hemp plot. It always seemed I was fixing the tractor or sprayer which put me behind. Then the rains came and flooded the beans with 8ft of water. Field looked like the Nile after it recedes and leaves a layer of silt on everything. My two clover plots looked pretty grassy and probably should have been mowed two weeks ago. My self esteem being crushed by seeing pictures of other plotters show off their tanned and silicon perfect plots. I swear some of these guys airbrush their plots. Of course this thread is meant for fun but I know there are millions of other plotters who have the Vogue syndrome like me. Alas my spirits were lifted when I pulled up to plot today and saw 3 does and a fawn in the beans and my camera had a bachelor group of 5 bucks in my weedy clover. I feel better knowing my deer don't care if my plots are fat and ugly.

 

[Bill]

I've grown to like weedy clover.
But there is something about a perfect 10 food plot that makes you look. even if the deer don't care..

 

[Native Hunter]

I got infected with the syndrome and couldn't get over it. Even a mask doesn't help.....

 

[yoderjac]

We have all heard the stories of how fashion magazines put a tremendous amount of pressure on women to look perfect. I used to roll my eyes when I would hear this but I'm now certain it is true. I see all these food plots spaced in 30 inch rows and weed free and then look at my plots and immediately feel low self esteem and inadequate. All winter I had big plans to plant 3 acres of eagle soybeans and 3 acres of sun hemp. As usual my dreams are big and time was short. I did a pretty good job of spraying the bean plot but ran into issues with the sun hemp plot. It always seemed I was fixing the tractor or sprayer which put me behind. Then the rains came and flooded the beans with 8ft of water. Field looked like the Nile after it recedes and leaves a layer of silt on everything. My two clover plots looked pretty grassy and probably should have been mowed two weeks ago. My self esteem being crushed by seeing pictures of other plotters show off their tanned and silicon perfect plots. I swear some of these guys airbrush their plots. Of course this thread is meant for fun but I know there are millions of other plotters who have the Vogue syndrome like me. Alas my spirits were lifted when I pulled up to plot today and saw 3 does and a fawn in the beans and my camera had a bachelor group of 5 bucks in my weedy clover. I feel better knowing my deer don't care if my plots are fat and ugly.

You should see my ugly plots! Weed tolerance!

 

[H20fwler]

The clean plots sure do look nice but are more work. I don't think the deer care and I'm not sure that the weedy stuff might be better variety wise?
My plots look like a hot mess very weedy...I'm not a farmer any more. I like the added food source but love that extra bunny and pheasant cover too.

 

[armadillophil]

Here is what I see when I look at my plots

 

[armadillophil]

Here’s what I see on everybody else’s plots! Lol

 

[yoderjac]

View attachment 34809Here is what I see when I look at my plots

Mine are bad, but not quite in this class.

 

[armadillophil]

I got infected with the syndrome and couldn't get over it. Even a mask doesn't help.....

Perfect 10. I hate you :)

 

[Tree Spud]

End of the day it's not what you grow, it's what you shoot

 

[yoderjac]

End of the day it's not what you grow, it's what you shoot

I'm not sure I buy that...I've grown lots of new hunters that I'm much more proud of than anything I've every shot. In fact, I had a young lady shoot a young buck at 8 years old. When she was in high school, she and a classmate came and planted chestnut trees at the farm as her community service project. She is now out of college and a vegan, influenced by peer pressure in liberal academia. She no longer hunts, but understands it and has an appreciation for it that she otherwise never would have. This is not the outcome I hoped for, but I still see it as a much greater success than anything I've every shot!

 

[Bassattackr]

I got infected with the syndrome and couldn't get over it. Even a mask doesn't help.....

Love crimson clover in the spring!

 

[dogghr]

Used to till and monoculture plots as seen first 2 pics. Now T&M mixture of clovers , grains , brassica as seen in last pic. All this self reseeding clovers , WW , brassica. Food year round. Clover at moment foot deep and WW &WR 2 ft. I haven’t thrown seed in these plots for 3 years. Sure a lot simpler but indeed fugly. No mag cover shots for me. Deer don’t care

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[Tree Spud]

I'm not sure I buy that...I've grown lots of new hunters that I'm much more proud of than anything I've every shot. In fact, I had a young lady shoot a young buck at 8 years old. When she was in high school, she and a classmate came and planted chestnut trees at the farm as her community service project. She is now out of college and a vegan, influenced by peer pressure in liberal academia. She no longer hunts, but understands it and has an appreciation for it that she otherwise never would have. This is not the outcome I hoped for, but I still see it as a much greater success than anything I've every shot!

Well I am a hunter, not a farmer or food plot perfectionist. Everything we do is to put a focus on harvesting a big buck or healthy doe. We take a lot of pride in teaching youngsters how to harvest an animal, that's what it is all about. If someone wants to experience nature, they can visit a park.

 

[Bassattackr]

Used to till and monoculture plots as seen first 2 pics. Now T&M mixture of clovers , grains , brassica as seen in last pic. All this self reseeding clovers , WW , brassica. Food year round. Clover at moment foot deep and WW &WR 2 ft. I haven’t thrown seed in these plots for 3 years. Sure a lot simpler but indeed fugly. No mag cover shots for me. Deer don’t care

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Looks great to me!

Curious if you mow at all during the spring? Or just let everything head out and mow around Sept 1 to volunteer everything again?

 

[dogghr]

Looks great to me!

Curious if you mow at all during the spring? Or just let everything head out and mow around Sept 1 to volunteer everything again?

Almost always let the grain self terminate and reseed itself. Same w the brassica summer growth, just let it go to seed and it reseeds. I do have some true rotational plots that I broadcast in to and mow the dead WW or WR down on it.
In the past I have sprayed before broadcasting but haven’t done that for a few years.
My alfalfa/clover plot I do sometimes overseed w WR and mow it late spring.
As said I haven’t spread grains for a number of years in the other plots as they reestablish just fine on their own.
This is couple months ago of a RC/WW field. I haven’t applied grains here for 5 years. It does the work.

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[Derek Reese 29]

I think we all get a bit "green" sometimes looking at what other people have....but if what you plant is eaten and provides nutrition for a better part of the year and what you plant enables you to see/harvest more and better animals then I think you are doing ok...a few years ago my brother told me he wanted to have plots that looked "like those 'carpets' in the magazines"....I would much prefer something that looks bad and attracts well than the opposite...the clover in this picture is 3 years in the making and hopefully only going to get better with good management...plus we've shot a few deer off it in the past couple years and 2 gobblers (and counting) this year....

 

[Telemark]

I like plots with a bit of weeds and structure. I think it's more natural and makes for a better hunt.

 

[John-W-WI]

I'm jealous, my weeds have barely greened up in the north woods! Those plots look like July to me!

-John