Okay. Talking to some guys I was commended on the amount of plots we got put in the ground yesterday. I thought it might be a good idea to post some pictures one of the trail cameras picked up. In reply to JBrown- heck yes, that was a ton of ground we put into seed yesterday! However, most people do not have access to the type of equipment we used to do so. If all we had to use was my 30HP tractor, we might have gotten 5acres done yesterday in the 12hrs we worked.
Here is the scenario. Property purchased (not by me). Property hadn't been worked in literally DECADES! We have gone thru and mowed down tons of areas. Hated to do so, but short term sacrifices for the long term benefit is what we are after. We DID take away a ton of cover. For example, the pictures I am posting used to be CRP type fields (not in CRP, just similar to CRP land). The weeds were waist to face tall. Great cover for the deer. Hated to do it to be honest. We turned the dirt and pulled a ton of trees out which had fallen or dropped limbs. Last weekend I was on my tractor with the front end loader moving trees off to the side and attempting to pile them strategically to help funnel deer through specific openings rather than allowing them to walk out of the woods wherever they felt like it. The JD pictured turned the dirt. We turned it again yesterday and seeded it. It is NOT ideal. Given the time frame though we had to get SOMETHING in the ground. This area has oats all over the place. We also put down some seed my buddy bought from "Wildlife Magic". Our mix was called "Green patch". 30% Bruiser Diploid Ryegrass, 20% AC GreenFix peas, 20% Athena forage rape, 10% GroundHog Forage radish, 10% Ladino Clover, 10% Dixie Crimson clover. We also threw some purple top turnips in front of the stands. Basically, we put about 40yds along the edges of this area in the Green Patch. We also seeded from bedding areas exits and seeded from bedding exits to our stands and seeded in front of the stands heavier. The entire area also received oats. I fully expect weeds and anything else which had been growing to come back up.
With this said, keep in mind this was simply an attempt to turn the dirt for the first time in decades and get SOMETHING in the ground. Next year, we will have this area in corn. Our efforts are twofold. One thing is hunting. This is a nice hunting property. The next thing is farming. We are going to start doing a little farming on the side. I will keep you posted with the results as we go.
On a side note, we have other long term plans which are more whitetail related. In removing tons of cover, we realize we have probably hurt our efforts for hunting this year a bit. We also have long term goals of replacing the cover removed with other cover in specific areas. We want to have tillable land which can be profitable. We want to shift the movement patterns of the deer IF possible. We also want to make this property more beneficial for future farming AND future hunting. I think it takes the right property to be able to do this and this particular property happens to have what it takes in order to achieve both the farming and hunting goals.
Open to all criticism and suggestions. We are still learning. I am all ears and you won't hurt my feelings. Hopefully we can all learn from this!
Here is the scenario. Property purchased (not by me). Property hadn't been worked in literally DECADES! We have gone thru and mowed down tons of areas. Hated to do so, but short term sacrifices for the long term benefit is what we are after. We DID take away a ton of cover. For example, the pictures I am posting used to be CRP type fields (not in CRP, just similar to CRP land). The weeds were waist to face tall. Great cover for the deer. Hated to do it to be honest. We turned the dirt and pulled a ton of trees out which had fallen or dropped limbs. Last weekend I was on my tractor with the front end loader moving trees off to the side and attempting to pile them strategically to help funnel deer through specific openings rather than allowing them to walk out of the woods wherever they felt like it. The JD pictured turned the dirt. We turned it again yesterday and seeded it. It is NOT ideal. Given the time frame though we had to get SOMETHING in the ground. This area has oats all over the place. We also put down some seed my buddy bought from "Wildlife Magic". Our mix was called "Green patch". 30% Bruiser Diploid Ryegrass, 20% AC GreenFix peas, 20% Athena forage rape, 10% GroundHog Forage radish, 10% Ladino Clover, 10% Dixie Crimson clover. We also threw some purple top turnips in front of the stands. Basically, we put about 40yds along the edges of this area in the Green Patch. We also seeded from bedding areas exits and seeded from bedding exits to our stands and seeded in front of the stands heavier. The entire area also received oats. I fully expect weeds and anything else which had been growing to come back up.
With this said, keep in mind this was simply an attempt to turn the dirt for the first time in decades and get SOMETHING in the ground. Next year, we will have this area in corn. Our efforts are twofold. One thing is hunting. This is a nice hunting property. The next thing is farming. We are going to start doing a little farming on the side. I will keep you posted with the results as we go.
On a side note, we have other long term plans which are more whitetail related. In removing tons of cover, we realize we have probably hurt our efforts for hunting this year a bit. We also have long term goals of replacing the cover removed with other cover in specific areas. We want to have tillable land which can be profitable. We want to shift the movement patterns of the deer IF possible. We also want to make this property more beneficial for future farming AND future hunting. I think it takes the right property to be able to do this and this particular property happens to have what it takes in order to achieve both the farming and hunting goals.
Open to all criticism and suggestions. We are still learning. I am all ears and you won't hurt my feelings. Hopefully we can all learn from this!
