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Food and Bedding Plots Are In

Big_Holla

Big_Holla

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Jesse said:
Chuck, how did you guys go about removing all the growth once you mowed it down? All of my plots are covered in chest high weeds, so when we mow them down, we are left with a tremendous amount of "matting" as I call it. I'm searching for the most effective way of removing that stuff...
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Jesse, we sprayed the fields down real well with both Round-Up and 2-4D about 2 weeks prior to tilling. The matting really was just broken up well with tilling the fields 2-3 times. That seemed to do the trick, especially on the old saw plot the third time around made the difference. Also, after we were done we walked and threw out any root clusters we had left before and after liming, fertilizing and planting.
 
jagermeister

jagermeister

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Jesse said:
Chuck, how did you guys go about removing all the growth once you mowed it down? All of my plots are covered in chest high weeds, so when we mow them down, we are left with a tremendous amount of "matting" as I call it. I'm searching for the most effective way of removing that stuff...
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I would mow them now, then spray with glyphosate when the new growth starts. Then spray again in mid August or so. By the time you're ready to work ground, there shouldn't be much left as far as thatch goes. Hell you could probably even spray it three times between now and then.
 
Big_Holla

Big_Holla

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Milo said:
why did you use round up and 2-4D?
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We had a lot of sumac and other varieties of small trees in the saw and sanctuary plots. Pretty much wanted to make sure it was all dead. Also the farmer up in Michigan that we get advice from said that was the best combination to get the results we were after.

Believe me I am not a chemist when it comes to this stuff so I always ask for help and knowledge.
 
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Milo

Milo

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ChuckC said:
We had a lot of sumac and other varieties of small trees in the saw and sanctuary plots. Pretty much wanted to make sure it was all dead. Also the farmer up in Michigan that we get advice from said that was the best combination to get the results we were after.

Believe me I am not a chemist when it comes to this stuff so I always ask for help and knowledge.
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Round up kills everything, 2-4d kills whatever is left i guess?..farmers are not chemist thats for dam sure. No offense to anyone but yall should do a little reading before you go spraying anything anywhere. Do you all know how these chemical actually go about killing? You guys could F some stuff up not knowing what your doing.
 
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Big_Holla

Big_Holla

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I can understand that but at the same time I trust the farmer too. He actually is an educated one, going to Michigan State for quite some time and it's something to hear him talk about ratios, different chemicals and what they are for, fertilizer rates and all the stuff I never thought in a million years he would consider when planting. I trust what he says and how we were told to go about it. We used the same spraying on the sanctuary treestand plot and another near a different treestand last year and had excellent results. Those were both more of a fall plot at the time though and we were more than happy with how they turned out. My buddy is more well versed on what they are and how to use them than I am so I guess I am trusting him as well. He has worked with the farmer since he was in high school and has always helped around there over the years with everything from spraying to working the ground and planting. If it's anyone that isn't educated on the stuff it would be me. You are right though, it sure wouldn't hurt to learn more about it all so I don't have to send him texts asking this or that about the stuff we did!! :smiley_crazy:
 
jagermeister

jagermeister

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Milo is right... spraying 2-4D in combination with Roundup is pretty much a waste of chemical. Glyphosates target everything... 2-4D targets broadleaf vegetation. The Gly should do some major damage to the sumac, but if you're really concerned with killing woody veg you should consider going with Crossbow, Garlon, or Tordon instead of the 2-4D.
 
Big_Holla

Big_Holla

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Was great to check the camera the last time I was down which would have been 2 weeks since we planted. Here are a few nice pics from there and by the end you'll see some of the progression of the food plot.



















 
hickslawns

hickslawns

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Who is the ugly trespassing son of a gun you caught? Do you know him?:smiley_crocodile:
 
Big_Holla

Big_Holla

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Well, last night I remembered that I took a few pictures while down 6/22 for the weekend but never posted them up. So here are some updates on the farm.

Here is the Old Saw food plot location. These pictures were exactly 2 weeks after we planted. It's all in Whitetail Select Infinity Clover.





The next is the Sanctuary Stand food plot. Again we used the Whitetail Select Infinity Clover and around the perimeter (the taller grassy looking) is the sorghum. Here is what it looked like after 2 weeks:





This picture is the plot where we planted soybeans (on the left) and sorghum (on the right). To say I wasn't surprised is true when I noticed that the beans have been eaten as soon as they sprouted. In the picture you can see all of the deer tracks and that's exactly what they were doing there.



Here are a few of the crop fields on the farm. This field has never seen corn planted like this. It has always been a hay field, except for one year many years ago they tried to do a no-till corn, they got it in late and it didn't grow hardly at all. Since then they never tried it again. So this should really change things around the farm this year.





This is the field that we were unsure of what they were going to plant. Well, the day after we left from our planting weekend they planted it in soybeans. Here they are after less than 2 weeks.



Boy was it nice to get down in the stream that weekend!! Not to mention it had to be 10 degrees cooler down there.

 
Big_Holla

Big_Holla

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Here is my update for you all on how the food plots turned out down there in Ohio. This last weekend we were down checking things over and I took a few pics to share. The first pic is from the treestand at the sanctuary food plot. The actual sanctuary is just to the right and the lower end can be seen by the end of the sorghum in the far background. This plot is the clover with sorghum surrounding it on most sides. We have a few openings that deer can use to get into the little secluded spot. Been sitting at my desk just looking at that picture thinking about my first sit there for the season!!



The next few pics are of the switch grass and sorghum we planted on the southern end of the sanctuary. Basically where I am at taking the pictures is the S border of it looking North. The first picture is of one variety of switch grass, to the left of the sorghum and furthest to the West.



Here you can see the sorghum and the row of beans that got annihilated this year. Yes, the weeds took over the bean section pretty good.



The last row is another variety of switch grass which is the furthest East row. All of these are in sight from the sanctuary food plot stand.



Here is the old saw food plot. It's all clover and has had it's share of weeds this year but the last mowing did it real good. Mostly clover now with a few sprigs of sorghum that we tried planting for a small screen. My buddy Ed is on the left right in front of the ladder stand.



Oh and here are the beans on the field next to the old saw food plot.

 
Big_Holla

Big_Holla

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Boone said:
Lookin' great Chuck. I really like hunting plots like yours that have lots of cover around them. Good luck!
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Thanks Boone, the sanctuary one we surrounded with the sorghum just because deer often step out on that big open field look around and disappear again. Hope it works and makes them come out more to investigate. The one at the old saw has an overgrown fence row with an opening in it that separates it from the big soybean field. Real secluded is what we hoped to do. Will be interesting to see how it all works out.
 
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