What have you done to lighten the load at your camp?

[SD51555]

I can’t wait for the day when I don’t have to plant any more trees for screening from the road or creating conifer thermal cover (which is completely absent from my land).

Also excited to hopefully get all the plots to the point where the growing blends don’t require more than one or 2 trips for spraying and planting a year.

I had to plunk in some replacements on mine too. Hoping this is the last year to have to do replacements.

 

[SD51555]

Here a list of five for me:
I stopped going into the woods to check cameras, thanks for Cuddeback and SpyPoint cell technology.
I stopped spending tons of money on scent control and started watching the wind better.
I stopped using lots of DEET to prevent chiggers and ticks and more permethrin.
I stopped buying bags of food plot seeds with big deer on them for locally sourced seeds and blends.
I stopped paying others to process my deer and started doing it at home.

I pulled my cameras out of the wood completely after July 1st. I still run a couple around the yard for the fun of it, but I take all mine out of the woods after fawning season and the surge portion of the growing season.

I also don't pay for processing anything. When it hit $20+ per pound, and I still didn't like the taste of it, I quit it all and went to speed cleaning and simple canning. Now it just costs a lid and a pinch of salt.

 

[omicron1792]

Gave myself 2 herniated disks trying to lift a snowmobile that was stuck in the snow. That has definitely forced me to lighten the load this year so far.

Sorry bro. Back pain sucks

 

[ruskbucks]

Building my pole barn has made everything on my land easier. Electric, water,heat has been a life saver compared to the struggles of the past.Having a place to work on things out of the weather and bugs is priceless. Keeping tractors, atv, implements, etc out of the weather has really cut down on repairs.

 

[SD51555]

Building my pole barn has made everything on my land easier. Electric, water,heat has been a life saver compared to the struggles of the past.Having a place to work on things out of the weather and bugs is priceless. Keeping tractors, atv, implements, etc out of the weather has really cut down on repairs.

Complete game changer. I brought in a pre-built shed and split it in half. One side is garage, the other one room cabin. Couple years ago I put heat and a ceiling fan in the garage too.


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[Foggy47]

 

[TenPoint]

I enjoy the work of it. But we've done several "work smarter, not harder" things in the last couple years.

1. No Till Drill
2. The big fields we get the neighbor to farm and custom harvest what we want, and leave stand what we want. We just pay him for his time.
3. More annual plots of clovers and easy to grow cereal grains, less on the labor intensive brassicas.
- we feed during the fall and winter anyways, so the plots aren't nearly as important
4. Look at things in a multi year window and realize not everything has to be done this season
5. Try to spend time and money on the things that work for the deer, not things that impress me.

Not sure brassicas are all that labor intensive. I’ve had decent plots just spraying, throwing, and praying.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Sorry bro. Back pain sucks

Thanks. Yeah...it was really bad about 2 months ago. They are in my neck...pain radiates down my left arm. Each day I wake up I feel a little better though. Doing PT and stretching. Sounds like if I can deal with the pain there's a good chance that this can heal on its own with enough time. Going to give it the summer and see where I'm at in August before I even think about surgery.

 

[roymunson]

Not sure brassicas are all that labor intensive. I’ve had decent plots just spraying, throwing, and praying.

Unless you're trying to put in the time and labor to really grow a nice plot which makes it more of a hassle.

Clover grows all of the warm months is what I was getting at.

 

[TenPoint]

Unless you're trying to put in the time and labor to really grow a nice plot which makes it more of a hassle.

Clover grows all of the warm months is what I was getting at.

I spend more time on clover/grains than I do brassicas. I used to do everything by hand. Backpack sprayer, hand seeder, maybe riding mower. It was all the same step’s basically regardless of what I was spraying. Now we have a tractor, tiller, atv drag, spreader, sprayer, and cultipacker. Grains get the extra step of dragging them in to get good coverage. Brassicas are the easiest. Till, pack, seed, pack. I add clover to everything these days.

 

[roymunson]

6' No Till Drill, for the win :D

 

[Wild Thing]

Not sure brassicas are all that labor intensive. I’ve had decent plots just spraying, throwing, and praying.

Unless you're trying to put in the time and labor to really grow a nice plot which makes it more of a hassle.

Clover grows all of the warm months is what I was getting at.

I spend more time on clover/grains than I do brassicas. I used to do everything by hand. Backpack sprayer, hand seeder, maybe riding mower. It was all the same step’s basically regardless of what I was spraying. Now we have a tractor, tiller, atv drag, spreader, sprayer, and cultipacker. Grains get the extra step of dragging them in to get good coverage. Brassicas are the easiest. Till, pack, seed, pack. I add clover to everything these days.

Agree - Adding clovers to the brassicas is definitely the way to go...then broadcasting rye over the brassicas/clover a month or so after planting - gives you great early spring forage after the snow melts and another cover crop instead of bare dirt the next summer....and not too much of a hassle to have living roots in the soil for an entire year...

Terminate your cover crop...


Mix up your brassicas and a little clover seed...


Calibrate the drill and load up the small box...


Drill the seed (I don't use fertilizer anymore)...


Watch the brassicas germinate and grow...


A month or so after planting get your winter rye seed ready to go...


I like to "spot" pails of rye seed around the plot so I don't have to backtrack far to fill my Earthway spreader...


The following April 8th - Snow has melted - brassicas are long gone (see the radish holes?) - rye and clover are coming up to feed your deer and keep the soil covered...


May 14th...


June 16th - Another cover crop in preparation for your next planting - not really all that much of a hassle for a full year or more worth of forage...

 

[Foggy47]

You and I are on the same page Wild Thing. This is my exact game plan for this year. I've got a flush of mullion that is in one of my clover plots....and it's in the rosette stage. I'm going to spot spray those dudes tomorow with ____________(something). Researching that tonight. My rye is "there" but seems a little weak compared to last year. Late spring here.

 

[Wild Thing]

You and I are on the same page Wild Thing. This is my exact game plan for this year. I've got a flush of mullion that is in one of my clover plots....and it's in the rosette stage. I'm going to spot spray those dudes tomorow with ____________(something). Researching that tonight. My rye is "there" but seems a little weak compared to last year. Late spring here.

I spray first year Mullein with Gly but once they go to seed I just pull em up. Late spring here too.

 

[SD51555]

You and I are on the same page Wild Thing. This is my exact game plan for this year. I've got a flush of mullion that is in one of my clover plots....and it's in the rosette stage. I'm going to spot spray those dudes tomorow with ____________(something). Researching that tonight. My rye is "there" but seems a little weak compared to last year. Late spring here.

I wonder what our rye is gonna do this year? Will it head out shorter beings that we started so late? I tried to dig up the answer today and didn’t find what I wanted to know.


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[Foggy47]

I wonder what our rye is gonna do this year? Will it head out shorter beings that we started so late? I tried to dig up the answer today and didn’t find what I wanted to know.


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Yeah....I'm a bit uneasy about my rye too. Seems like it's very far behind what I had last year. It's there....but pretty sparse looking. A few more weeks may yield a different result??? Dunno.

I just posted some pics in the "Deertopia Proving Grounds" land tour thread I started.

 

[Wild Thing]

I wonder what our rye is gonna do this year? Will it head out shorter beings that we started so late? I tried to dig up the answer today and didn’t find what I wanted to know.


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I've been kind of wondering the same thing SD51555. For reference, here are some pics I took today of my last year's brassica plots and also last year's cover crop:

Last year's brassicas - photo taken this year on April 28th


Today - May 11th - Last year's brassica plot


Another one from today - May 11th


Another last year brassica plot today - May 11th


This is a cover crop today - May 11th - Which was planted last August 6th. Not really all that far ahead of the brassica plots




Some other pics from last year: May 21st


June 7th last year


June 7th last year


June 5th last year


Can we catch up to last year's growth? I think that given the right growing conditions we can. Last year we had moderate drought conditions yet the cover crops continued to grow. I think if we have ample rains and good temps we may catch up yet. I won't be planting my brassicas until July so we still have plenty of time IMO.

 

[SD51555]

I found the info. Supposedly it goes reproductive at 14 hours of daylight. I imagine this is why the southerners get 7’ rye and we only get 5’. We’re way behind on heat units.


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[Foggy47]

This is the rye and clover in my plots right now......it's good coverage......but it sure is a slow start. Last year that rye was a foot high by now.

 

[Wild Thing]

Looks to be about the same as mine Foggy....time will tell.