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Recent entries
- Growing bigger bucks? Apr 10
- It’s Almost Time Mar 16
- Things for a deer hunter to do. Feb 27
- Saddle Up! Feb 01
- Land/Habitat Improvements for 2012 Deer Jan 24
- Thanks, and Merry Christmas to HO readers Dec 22
- Are your doe numbers down? Nov 29
- Happy November Blood Trailing Tips Nov 01
- Livin’ the Life! Oct 25
- Slow Start Oct 23
- South winds and staging areas Oct 07
- This should be an interesting season Sep 26
- The Perfect Season Sep 07
- Ready, set, go! Aug 15
- Considering Buying Property? Jul 28
- Illinois Deer Hunting Regulations. Jul 25
- Trying Something New This Season Jun 28
- One Last Mention… Jun 07
- What has happened to hunting? May 21
- Auction! May 04
JOHN
SOEHN
The Back 40
Land/Habitat Improvements for 2012 Deer
Tue, January 24, 2012
I’m planning a few changes to my small piece of North America this Spring. Nothing big, but hopefully positive improvements.
In late Fall, I turned over about 7 acres of grass and I’ll plant alfalfa there in the Spring. Though this should make the deer happy, I really didn’t do it for them. I farm my tillable acres for horse hay, and you just don’t get much bulk from grass fields. Fewer bales per acre equals fewer dollars per John. Alfalfa, on the other hand, provides plenty of bales to feed my horses and makes me a few bucks along the way. As a bonus, deer like the alfalfa as well. I rarely see them eating the grass, but they’re in my existing alfalfa every night. The only time my grass fields were used by deer was just prior to baling, when it was tall enough to bed in. If you’ve ever baled tall grass that is being used as bedding, it can make for one ugly day if you have any fondness for deer at all…particularly fawns.
Other than that, I’ll plant a few more cedar trees to improve bedding, but that’s pretty much it. I hope to be busy this Summer selling my house and getting into the new one. Anyone want to buy a house?
What are your plans, habitat improvement or otherwise, for the upcoming season? I love hearing others’ ideas and learning what works for them.
Treehugger
Comments
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I’m going to re-cut trails. It’s been about a decade since they were last done and it’s getting real tough to use them. I’m thinking it’s going to take 3 full days with two guys working. Hoping to get it done towards the end of March.
Posted by jcurri on January 24
Im placing 40 christmas trees along my inner fences.Building some brushpiles for the bunnies….And Re-routing 2 trails…..Its alot of work but tons of fun!!!
Posted by WhitetailFreak on January 24
It is a blast. I think if someone would start paying me to work on my land I’d start to look at it as work and start to hate it.
Posted by Treehugger on January 24
Last fall I planted about 8 acres of a PF tall grass mix (big blue stem ect.) next to some existing existing grass fields. I didnt see any germination last fall - there was plenty of water and weather for germination to take place - I just dont see any, I tempted to replant this spring rather than wait to see if it comes up this spring. Wonder if anybody has any experience or suggestions with tall grass plantings. I double planted it with a PF grass drill at lowest setting, so I dont think I planted it too deep or maybe I did?
Posted by BIGPOND on January 24
I assume you checked the ph level? Also, did you fertilize. I planted grasses at my place two years ago with terrible results. Did the same thing last year with proper fertilizer and it went great. I’ll never plant without fertilizer again. Waste of time and money.
Posted by Treehugger on January 24
NOTHING! Laissez faire. Did too much this past season.
Posted by Walston on January 24
Actually did nothing since the yr before I planted a shorter variety about
5 acres right next to this area and that came in great. I think I’ll reseed and fert this spring.
Posted by BIGPOND on January 24
I broadcast seeded about 5 acres in the fall of ‘09. Didn’t see a hint of tall grass (bluestem, switchgrass, indian grass) until late this last fall when the seed heads start creeping up over the rest of the mix. For the taller grasses, I’ve heard they grow down for a while before they come up. Definitely a learning experience, but a lot of fun.
Posted by Bozzer on January 24
Bigpond, we rarely ever do any native grass plantings in the fall. Maybe dormant plantings after Nov 15 but still shy away from that. Any time in the spring up to June 5th is planting season for native grasses. Using a drill you want to drill it 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch. Native grasses do not start growing til it hits 70 degrees constantly. The first year most of growth is in the roots.
Posted by TMalone on January 24
well my disc broke and was a pain , so Im gonna purchase a tiller soon and redo some plots and fix some fields up, and then plant trees
400 conifers 8-16inch
200 shrubs for a thicket for turkey and quail 17-24inch
200 various oaks
ive got alot of seed left over from last year that was unable to get put down corn,clover,chufa,turnips,brassicas etc. so Ill be busy this spring.
Posted by Buck-Man on January 24
Remember these native grasses are a marathon not a sprint, these grasses will live for 20+ years if managed right, they survived in Illinois for thousands of years.
don’t expect much growth for the first several years… their working on their root structure to help them live a long time!
Remember when the settlers first came it was easier for them to cut down trees and clear timber to farm, because the grasses roots were so tough, until the plow was invented!
don’t forget to plant forbs with your grasses, for pheasants, quail, turkeys and deer.. remember forbs make up to 70% of a deers diet in the spring and summer months! These forbs give thing the fawns to eat when their mothers leave them in the grasses…so they can eat and stay in the grass!! Helping you have a better fawn crop!
Posted by foodplotPhil on January 24
Thanks for the info, I thought I was getting a jump start on this spring,
I’ll try again this spring.
Posted by BIGPOND on January 24
welp= Off and on for 22 years, I’ve been chainsawing timber down making deer/wildlife thickets here and there- That’s over-I’m to dam old and it’s to dam dangerous! trimming shooting lanes for 70 stands is bad enough. Planted 2500 cedar tree’s years ago-with ONE tree spade! Will help my tenant work the crap out of 35 acres so he can get alfalfa planted for his dairy cows/and my deer! Always have to mow the weeds off by Ladino field a couple times a summer.
Posted by walmsley on January 24
Looking at drilling vs broadcasting a very sandy soil for my food plot. Have tried going cheap and didn’t work. Will spend extra on fertilizer and drill vs broadcast and hope for rain. Also- really changed deer patterns by mowing old,old logging roads. Changed deer patterns more than I thought so looks like lots of stands will be moved as well. Ps- it’s a labor of love! Don’t bitch if you don’t work at it is what I tell myself
Posted by Mallardmike on January 25
BUCK-MAN..I have a 14’ disk and a 5’ tiller. If you’re only doing a small plot (1-3 acres), I’d use a tiller. Much better job. To turn existing grass fields into powder black dirt, you’d spend a lot more time disking than you would tilling. I bought my tiller from TSC only a couple years ago and thing is worth its weight in gold. I love that thing. It’s a beast.Plus, you can use it on a home garden or lawn…or in my my case…to freshen up a horse arena.
Posted by Treehugger on January 25
tim, you have 70 stands! Are you going to outfit next year?
Posted by clintharvey on January 25
You know better than that C.H.!!!!!!!!! You can’t have to many stands set up- I like one for every 10 acres- being able to move just a short distance can make the difference between getting him, and just watching him before he gets you!
Posted by walmsley on January 25
TREEHUGGER ,I have a 6ft disc from tsc and it was garbage from the get go.
plus numerous passes to get it like top soil was crazy. Ive been doing research on tillers and not sure yet . chain vs gear, brand wise, tines.
I just want it to last and do the job ,ive got sandy, clay, some small pebble areas,no big rocks really.
I prefer the slow going tractor ride instead of the bouncing me off kind.
Posted by Buck-Man on January 25
I would like to create a couple of food plots for deer and turkey (under 1/4 acre each) this year on the two properties my buddy and I hunt. I am thinking of getting an ATV of 500cc or over and equipment to pull behind it. I’m looking for suggestions on ATV brands and equipment types for the plots. Any suggestions on equipment and plot crops?
Posted by WHITETAILHUNTER on January 25
BUCK-MAN…I couldn’t agree more. Those small disks are terrible. Just not enoug weight to really tear through stuff. You need a real piece of farm equipment if you want to tear stuff up properly. Though my 14’ disk tears up turf fairly well, you have to make several passes to get the ground good enough for planting and even then it’s not as pulverized as a tiller would make it. Look into a 60” tiller from TSC. It’s a County Line, previously King Kutter. It’s gear driven and tears through anything. This is a true heavy duty tiller. PM me your cell and I’ll SMS you some pics of it along with before and afte field pics.
FREAK…ATV’s are great and sometimes a necessity, but there’s nothing better than a small tractor. IMO, the equipment you can buy for ATV’s isn’t worth the money. The equipment just isn’t as heavy duty as it should be….and it’s far too expensive. For the same money you can get a new ATV for, you can buy a decent used tractor and then get some used implements like a disk or a tiller. I’ve aquired more equipment than I actually need in recent years, but about all I use now is my smaller tractor (NH 29 hp 4WD) and a tiller I got at TSC. After spraying and tilling up the ground, I seed by hand (or seeder behind my ATV), then run over it again with the tiller barely touching the ground to cover the seed a bit. I’m to the point now where I’m actually selling my bigger tractor (IH 1586) and the 14’ disk. I just don’t need them anymore for food plots. Too much tractor for the job. Boy, the money we spend on deer hunting! I think I spend more on my deer than I do on my dear.
Posted by Treehugger on January 26
I couldnt agree more. We installed about 60 acres of food plots for people last year and our disc never left the barn. We run two tsc 60” tillers and they are definitely gold. You think a big 12’ disc will be better but when you have to go over a lot of spots multiple times it takes just as long. The power tillers can also be adjusted to depth and they just powder the soil. My 2 cents on the grass plantings, it is all about pH. The clovers and brassicas are pretty easy to get to come up but the grasses are very picky about that pH. It is “dirt” cheap (pun intended) to get a pH test done and will save you a lot of time and money in the long run.
Posted by Huntercreeklandmgmt on January 27