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Property Improvement

Hedgelj

Senior Member
Supporting Member
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Mohicanish
My in-laws farm was timbered 20-25 years ago. It has slowly matured through the stages and is now at the point that it doesn't hold many deer due to lack of cover. There are plenty of deer on the farm until crops come off and then they disappear except for when moving through. One of the guys who helps out has been cutting up the trees that got blown over in the storms this year and has REALLY opened some places up.

They are currently working with a timber buyer to get some large walnuts and do a light selective cut.

Once that's over my plan is to frost seed clover and other "no till" seeds along some of the paths cut through the woods. I'm also going to buy some different types of berry bushes so I can at least get something yummy out of the multitude of briars that I know will spring up with the increased sunlight to the ground. I'll also go through and do some selective cutting to drop some tree tops to create bedding areas.

Other things planned: Make a few small food plots for fall/winter once crops come down.
Use Jesse's mineral mix to make a salt lick or two
Buy some trees a mixture of evergreens and fruit trees to create some areas of food and cover.

Am I missing anything?
What grasses/plants/crops have you noticed the deer either really go after or completely ignore here in Ohio?

A friend has said he's had good success with rape/daikin radish and purple top turnips that I can seed into the soybeans once the leaves yellow and it won't interfere with harvesting.

I'll do my best to take photos so you all can journey with me and also laugh at my mistakes.
 

at1010

*Supporting Member*
4,944
139
Just have fun with it man!

My tip would be, don't try to fit to much into one place. IF you want an orchard, make an orchard - give it good spacing and plant clover below the trees. I would do this by frost seeding, so you are not tilling near a tree root. If you want a bedding area, then focus on creating secondary successional habitat via opening canopy up and let nature do its thing - treat invasive accordingly with herbicide. Hack/Squirt is a great technique that can save you a lot of time/effort compared to always needing to run a saw, as well!

As for food plot crops - there is a lot out there! My absolute favorite crop to plant for deer, is rye grain! If I have a clover field, it gets topped with rye in the fall. If I have a fall mix, it has rye in it as well. It is cheap, grows on gravel, and deer will eat snot out of it.

A nice fall mix, I have had a lot of success with is below:
purple top turnips
radish
rape
rye
oats
crimson clover or red clover

You can add or remove but this mix has done well for me over the years. I have a few pictures from this year via "no-till, so easy" thread.

Good luck brother!

AT.
 

Sgt Fury

Sgt. Spellchecker
Just have fun with it man!

My tip would be, don't try to fit to much into one place. IF you want an orchard, make an orchard - give it good spacing and plant clover below the trees. I would do this by frost seeding, so you are not tilling near a tree root. If you want a bedding area, then focus on creating secondary successional habitat via opening canopy up and let nature do its thing - treat invasive accordingly with herbicide. Hack/Squirt is a great technique that can save you a lot of time/effort compared to always needing to run a saw, as well!

As for food plot crops - there is a lot out there! My absolute favorite crop to plant for deer, is rye grain! If I have a clover field, it gets topped with rye in the fall. If I have a fall mix, it has rye in it as well. It is cheap, grows on gravel, and deer will eat snot out of it.

A nice fall mix, I have had a lot of success with is below:
purple top turnips
radish
rape
rye
oats
crimson clover or red clover

You can add or remove but this mix has done well for me over the years. I have a few pictures from this year via "no-till, so easy" thread.

Good luck brother!

AT.
Where can you buy the seeds in bulk? I’d like to spread some along a strip between a small wood lot and a larger one that gets mowed every year and along a couple of small quad trails.
 

at1010

*Supporting Member*
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139
Where can you buy the seeds in bulk? I’d like to spread some along a strip between a small wood lot and a larger one that gets mowed every year and along a couple of small quad trails.

Any county coop should have them. You are in Vinton county - id check out Shade River Ag - Athens county, on your drive over to Viton.
 

Bowkills

Well-Known Member
2,577
85
Nw oh
Really think before you cut -just speaking from experience fing up a wood lot. I watched YouTube videos on hinge cut bedding areas and went to town- big mistake. Made stuff thicker than shit that didn't do a bit of good for deer hunting and how the deer use it.& maybe hold off if they are thinning the woods a bit already and see if what growth you get from the select cut and storm damage already.
 
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Hedgelj

Senior Member
Supporting Member
7,145
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Mohicanish
I'll only be frost seeding white clover because my bees can use it vs the red doesn't work as well for my bees which are coincidentally on the same property.
 
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at1010

*Supporting Member*
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I'll only be frost seeding white clover because my bees can use it vs the red doesn't work as well for my bees which are coincidentally on the same property.

Really? I don't know a lot about bee usage other than, I want to provide a habitat for them to use. What is the reasoning for white vs. red usage? I have some crimson that should bolt this Spring and I am excited as heck to see how the bees use it - my buddy had that last year and you could just stand there and hear the field buzzing.
 

Stressless

Active Member
2,127
85
Keene, OH
@Hedgelj -- my $.02 since you asked, I as a general rule, stay away from the "Hyped" High Fenced Buck On a Bag makers/distributors. That's not to say "Antler King" doesn't have anything with quality - but I like Ag stores, their business is growing crops- not bum-rush you with a flashy slogans and flying web-ads getting guys to buy stuff... Merit is a Ag store first with a solid food plot side business. You can have them mix exactly what you want per plot, or buy a pre-mix/single variety.

I hadn't heard about "antler king" when I looked this high-fenced hormone laced buck popped up ... to me, that's just - nope.
Capture.JPG
 

at1010

*Supporting Member*
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yep - buck on bag seed is just that, you are paying for fancy packing.

I would be a large sum of money that a lot of the guys who are putting seed in fancy packing are buying from MERIT or alike seed source.
 

Hedgelj

Senior Member
Supporting Member
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Mohicanish
Really? I don't know a lot about bee usage other than, I want to provide a habitat for them to use. What is the reasoning for white vs. red usage? I have some crimson that should bolt this Spring and I am excited as heck to see how the bees use it - my buddy had that last year and you could just stand there and hear the field buzzing.

So the problem is that the flowers are too long and the bees cannot get to the nectar in Red clover. They can get nectar from some types of crimson clover and definitely from the dutch white clover. However, they can get pollen from each of those. The other downside is that the dutch white clover doesn't have the same amount of protein and other nutrients as the other types. Which is why on the farm they mainly frost seed with red but I get them to add a few lbs per acre of white clover in also to give additional forage for my bees in the pastures.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Here's a 3rd endorsement for Merit Seed. I've had great luck with their products and they're a seed company first, a food plot company second. Antler King is all about the hype and IMO, their blends are acceptable, but you're paying extra for the marketing, something you won't do with Merit. Their Platinum Ladino clover is top-shelf stuff and the 12 Point Buck Blend grew one of my favorite food plots of all time.
 

at1010

*Supporting Member*
4,944
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So the problem is that the flowers are too long and the bees cannot get to the nectar in Red clover. They can get nectar from some types of crimson clover and definitely from the dutch white clover. However, they can get pollen from each of those. The other downside is that the dutch white clover doesn't have the same amount of protein and other nutrients as the other types. Which is why on the farm they mainly frost seed with red but I get them to add a few lbs per acre of white clover in also to give additional forage for my bees in the pastures.

Thank you, sir, that is freaking awesome information!!!
 

Hedgelj

Senior Member
Supporting Member
7,145
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Mohicanish
Timbering is done.

Gonna walk/shed hunt the farm this weekend and see what was done. I'll be carrying and "frost seeding" with some bags of throw and grow I picked up at Walmart when on clearance for <$5 each before i has read other things on here.

Then I'll have an idea on what else needs done and where i can foster some cover to make the does feel safe.

Also gonna do some minerals at the same time.

I'll try to take some photos.
 

Jamie

Senior Member
5,691
177
Ohio
So the problem is that the flowers are too long and the bees cannot get to the nectar in Red clover. They can get nectar from some types of crimson clover and definitely from the dutch white clover. However, they can get pollen from each of those. The other downside is that the dutch white clover doesn't have the same amount of protein and other nutrients as the other types. Which is why on the farm they mainly frost seed with red but I get them to add a few lbs per acre of white clover in also to give additional forage for my bees in the pastures.
interesting. glad I did all Dutch white for my first go at frost seeding. maybe next year I'll do some red if the white manages to get established.
 

Hedgelj

Senior Member
Supporting Member
7,145
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Mohicanish
interesting. glad I did all Dutch white for my first go at frost seeding. maybe next year I'll do some red if the white manages to get established.
There are many other pollinators besides honey bees that will benefit from other types of clover. If you think of wildflowers, goldenrod, brambles of all types aka the "crp type" and early succession types of plants we want to see for deer and other animals will also benefit all the pollinators.
 
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giles

Cull buck specialist
Supporting Member
If they left the tree tops, it is a great place to plant fruit trees. It will protect them from getting browsed on while young. Or any tree if you plan to plant any.