The “Do Nothing” approach to food plotting

So I’m sure it’ll still be called throw n mow…..throw n hope…..throw and smoke dope…..whatever…….But for myself I’m gonna rename this whole concept and call it the “Do nothing” method or approach to food plotting. I’m sure that name will still leave the door open to plenty comedic relief. It comes from the Japanese farmer Masanobu Fukuoka with his “Do nothing farming” techniques. Its his concepts and ideas that have probably had the biggest influence on how I manage my plots and my property as whole. The term “throw n mow” is just too narrow in scope and worst of all its just commercially cheesy.

So with planting season fast approaching, I’m gonna try and start up a new thread here where folks who are interested can ask questions and so I can have a space where I can just throw out my thoughts on paper. If it’s a problem with the powers that be then just let me know…..if it’s a problem with having to read it all to moderate it …..I’d make the case that I’ve done a reasonably fair job of moderating myself and you could probably just skip over most of it,

I’ve posted this before a few years ago but thought it would be a good intro to this thread for those who never read it. It'll give you a little bit of an idea of who I an as a hunter and where I've came from. I also thought it would be a good way to get us amped up about deer season being just around the corner……..

Come on fall and cooler days!!!!!

Not this chit again...

So a lot of the problems people have with this type of method is getting started and getting their fields “out of the hole” as I’ve referred to it in the past. The idea I’m gonna throw out there to help with this matter will not be feasible for everyone but may be for some folks who have the time and the means to make it happen……It will get you immediately out of the hole...well relatively speaking anyways..... and probably by pass 5-10 years worth of soil building…..It’ll take some work to do but it’d be worth it if you could cut out that much time from the process……

For anyone who may have a front end loader on their tractor or even better yet…..access to a bulldozer…..You could probably pretty easily import a lot “biomass” from the surrounding habitat around your fields which would normally take years to grow. Take the FEL or bulldozer and just scrape the debris and top couple inches of soil away and move it into your plot until it accumulates a foot or two of soil and biomass on top of your existing field. I'm not talking about trees and big debris but just the leaf litter and rotten limbs, etc....That may not be feasible for fields of several acres but for your every day small kill plot of ¼ to 1 acre….it probably wouldn’t be too bad to do.

It would probably be best to do this right after hunting season ends because its gonna take some time to break that biomass down into rich soil. Its probably gonna take adding a decent amount of nitrogen to it as well to make it possible to do in a short period of time. I think what I’d do is to move the debris into the plot after hunting season and throw out some N onto it in the process….. then let it settle down for a while…..Once it warmed up enough I’d come back in with a heavy seeding of millet over the top and more N…..The reason for doing this is that a thick stand of something like millet over the top of the debris will be like putting a greenhouse roof over all of it. It’ll keep the conditions underneath warm, moist and rapidly decomposing. Once the first millet crop seeds out……cut it,,,add more N..... and grow another one.

Let me say that I’ve never done this before and its just an idea…..but I think it might be well worth trying on some of your smaller plots…..Just realize that a lot of debris is gonna really require you to throw the N on it for it to rapidly decompose. Try not to import a lot big woody debris and keep it to stuff like leaf litter and small understory growth. I think this would help get your smaller plots out of the hole a lot quicker than trying to grow the biomass needed in the beginning. It can be hard to do on small acreage when there’s even a moderate deer population present.

Putting the QDMA sub-forum back on the map like........... .............................

Is the guy who wrote that article related to Clint Eastwood?

I mentioned this briefly in another thread in the serious deer forum…….as if there’s such a thing around here……..but if there’s anyone out there with a high fence operation who wanted to try some new out of the box techniques…..I really would like to help someone introduce cattle or buffalo to the situation and see what kind of management results could come from it. It’s a pretty interesting idea because most management tools cost money……fire costs, herbicide costs, running heavy equipment cost…..etc, etc…….Cattle or buffalo would be a management tool though that made money in the end and eliminated the need for many of those other accrued costs. I’m sure it would require some trial and error to get a feel for how many would be needed and any unforeseen problems that may arise…..but it would be a very cool thing to see if it worked out like I believe it could. Instead of rotating the buffalo herd around with hot wire and such like with mob grazing…..you would just let them run wild inside of the high fence and manage the understory the same way they did the great plains for centuries…..allowing them to freely move from one area to another according to their needs and the level of the vegetation……This is where some tweaking would be required to find the number of animals that wasn’t too much or too little to accomplish the desired objectives…....Just an idea in case anyone with the means to do such is reading along……..

A couple other thoughts to add to the high fence buffola/cow idea before moving on……I’d imagine one of the first things that will pop into someone’s mind when reading this is…..”Won’t the buffalos/cows reduce the amount of vegetation available to the deer?”……This is just an educated guess but I’d say no….Why?.....Because deer are browsers and cattle/buffalo are grazers…..While there will be come overlap of species that each one consumes…..your grazers are gonna be hitting many of the species that deer do not use…such as your grasses. Also, the increase in soil fertility that would obtained from managing succession with a cow or boffola herd versus other means that may be currently used….that increase in soil fertility would cause a subsequent in increase in forage production and quality…..I’ve been told from folks who mob graze ranches in the Midwest that are also used for hunting purposes that the deer herd follows in behind the cattle herd as they move it around the ranch…..cattle move off of a paddock and the deer immediately flock to it to feed on the new growth.

In a high fence environment I would think that the cow or boffola herd would move themselves around just like they did in the great plains…..They would not stay in one spot until the vegetation looked like a typical cattle pasture…..they would feed on the tips of the plants that are highest in energy, trample down some of the veg, deposit manure, and then move on…..They would constantly revolve around the property setting back succession, fertilizing the landscape, and improving the soil quality. The key would be figuring out how many is needed and then selling off the excess as they produced offspring. I’m sure there are some specialty restaurants like the one that opened awhile back in Boaz who would welcome a local source of buffalo meat. How cool would it be though to go deer hunting and have a herd of wild boffola roam through during your hunt. I wonder if you could offer a few special hunts for the ones you thin out over time?

What ever happened to the beefalo? It was the craze in the early 90’s

Holy Chit batman... Your shot out with your ideas, i swear you are. Keep tinkerbelling your food plots all you want, but don't degrade good cattle with your wierd ass thoughts. Farmers been over seeding pastures for winter grazing humpteen years.. So you can't steal that idea and make your own, like everything else. Wow is all i can say

What the hell are you evening talking about…..”Overseeding pastures???”…. I’m talking about the principles and concepts behind mob grazing cattle….also called rotational grazing……..


https://www.beefmagazine.com/pasture-range/ranchers-sing-praises-mob-grazing-cattle

Yea no chit, I do this for a living, I know just a little bit about rotational grazing. But I promise you it’s different here than the mid west. But your saying you wanna turn cattle loose in a high fence and see how the deer react to the bio mass they leave behind. That’s nuts man, I honestly think you rub one out at night thinking about TnM. Your blowing smoke out your ears, it’s all you ever try to push on here is some dumb stupid shucks. Like the coyote trails and why they follow them etc. They go where the food and cover is. It’s that simple. So is this TnM. Spread any winter grazing seed and it’ll grow with rain. It’s not magic, it’s plain ole simple GD common sense. So stop spinning it and trying to be all professional about it. Its just throwing out seed........

I’m with ya. Holy chit where the Tylenol. 🤣🤣🤣

Well........bye..........

Your mangina will get hurt again soon enough. You’ll stomp around get all pissy. Say you’re gone. Then magically you’ll be back.

Just doing a little more reading........Here's one more link taking about the idea of mob grazing and wildlife management for anyone interested......This is a good subject to read about even if its not something you plan to do...It helps you see how the concepts are all the same even if we apply them in different ways......

Not sure why this doesn't directly link you to the article....If you want to read all of it just copy and paste the address into your browser and it'll pull it right up........


https://theeagle.com/landandlivestockpost/mob-hit-grazing-cattle-to-boost-whitetail-deer-numbers/article_3f2ca5f9-c86c-5604-a065-ebd3abaee741.html#:~:text=%22I%20can%20say%20that%20mob,green%20growth%20that%20deer%20relish.

Deer improvement

We high-fenced the property in 2000 and in 2010, we started mob grazing," Addison said. "By 2012, deer with maximum antler scores of 208 inches were harvested. In 2014, 10 bucks scoring more than 190 inches and five with more than 200 inch antlers were identified. The largest buck was harvested and scored 254 6/8 Boone and Crockett gross. Our deer currently have more antler mass and points than anytime during the 14 years of being in the hunting business. We also have more deer than before. Was mob grazing responsible for the improved deer population? "I can say that mob grazing of cattle has improved deer habitat," Addison said.


Mob grazing allows me to impact everything growing in a given area, which creates a more diverse plant community. Cattle break and tramp down brush promoting sprouting of new green growth that deer relish.There is very little woody plant understory in our native hardwood groves due to the cattle. The result is a mixture of grass, forbs and sprouts which entice the cattle and deer to feed in these areas. Deer on the Addison ranch eat only native vegetation. There are no food plots or supplemental protein feeding. Corn is fed during hunting season to make the deer more visible. Wildlife on the ranch is cared for through management, not money.

Cattle improvement

The same principle of low-cost management is utilized in the cattle enterprises also. There are no purchases of feed, hay, fertilizer or cattle insecticides.



Alright moving on........Let's get back to planting food plots.......

There is a guy in Louisiana about to do this exact thing on his high fence. He has all native deer and already kills deer over 200 inches. He feeds protien year round and plants over 50 acres of summer plots. He doesnt disk, has a roller crimper to terminate growth and just drills his seed through the weed mat. And now he is about to put cattle in for the reason CNC is talking about. A well known wildlife biologist came to his place and said it would be the best thing he could do to improve his property. I really didnt think there was anything he could do to make his property an better than it was, but he is going to do this.

That’s awesome!……I imagine cattle would a be more feasible option to deal with overall but man how cool would it be to do it with an actual buffalo herd. I imagine it’ll take a number of years for the guy in Louisiana to see the total impact that will be made but I have to imagine it will be pretty substantial. Its one thing to improve a food plot or put out a feeder, etc…..Its quite another to change and improve the soil across an entire property and the overall quality of the forage that comes from it. I track for several high fences.....I've thought about mentioning it to some of them while we were tracking but figure they'd look at me like a space ship had just landed or something

Does this guy's name happen to be Baker??

That should’ve been made illegal from the beginning. The States really dropped the ball on that issue years ago.

What should be illegal? High fencing? Owning cattle??

Alright so lets get ready to do some food plotting and talk about some ideas as planting time approaches. Folks are gonna whine about what I’m gonna say I’m sure…..crying about “the wrong way”……”the right way”…..”my way”…..”your way”…..blah blah blah……If you don’t like the way I present the information then just quit reading and whining…….

One of the most talked about things you’re gonna hear folks saying over the next month or two is gonna be about rain and moisture…..”Man it’s turned off dry now!”…..”It won’t rain for the whole month!”……Conserving soil moisture is gonna be one of the most important aspects of your planting success.

Right now in my area we’re getting plenty of rain…..It’s raining nearly every afternoon and things are lush. That could end any day though and turn off dry. How long will your soil remain moist and able to support plant growth when that happens? A day……A week?.....Two weeks?......It’ll be very common to hear folks talk about getting ready to plant over the next few weeks and many will go ahead and start breaking ground. What happens when we break ground and expose the bare soil to the sun though? That’s right….it dries it out quickly……Why spend all that effort just to dry your soil out ahead of planting? Once you do throw out the seed…..how long do your seedlings have after it rains before the suns dries the soil back out again?

This is why I choose to keep my soil covered over with a layer of thatch. To start with…..the thatch helps the soil efficiently soak up the rain that we do get. It starts as soon as the rain drops reach the earth by dissipating the energy in each drop of rain as it hits the thatch. Instead of the drop of rain hitting bare soil and dislodging soil particles and quickly forming “run-off”…..it instead hits a layer of thatch that stops it in its tracks and allows it to slowly work its way down to the soil surface. This allows your soil to efficiently soak up most of the rain that falls instead of having most of it run into the ditch…..Sure, we may get an inch of rain…..but how much of that inch went into your soil and how much ran off into the nearby drainage when that inch came in the form of a 30 min downpour?

Secondly……leaving a layer of thatch over the soil surface conserves that moisture once it has soaked into the soil. Having the thatch layer across the soil protects it from the sun and can be the difference in your soil still being moist 2 weeks after a rain versus 2 days….What kind of effect do you suppose that could have on your new seedlings when dry October conditions hit and we go days or weeks without rain? Will it become important to soak up and conserve all the rain we get?

I’m gonna try not to get too long with any one post so I’ll stop there for now and pick back up on it later with another post………

Outback says that I make my posts too long so I’m gonna try to throw out some real short ones along the way here that are simply for stimulating “thought” about whatever it is we may be talking about……Here goes.....

Does this look like a fertile growing environment? Is this what you are essentially creating with your food plots on a smaller scale?.....


”Wheweee it’s nice and clean!!....Ain’t that purty!”

There goes CNC again, having a conversation with himself. :

So just who the phuck is it YOU' are talking too?

More on the discussion of thatch……

If we get a little deeper into the discussion on thatch then another big, big factor becomes feeding the microbial community. One of the most important things that helps a field germinate and jump out of the ground that I never anticipated in the beginning is the impact from mycorrhizal fungi. When folks first start out trying to change planting methods or they simply go and do a side by side one year test etc……this is one of the most overlooked aspects that doesn’t get accounted for. It will likely take several years of soil building for microbes like these to naturally return to the soil after its been turned into a biological desert from using traditional methods. This is why I’ve said in the past that using some of the inoculants on the market today that helps reintroduce this lost component to your soil may very well be worth the money spent.

If you look at this pic you’ll see the web of m. fungi coming up and engulfing this little pile of seed I spilled on the edge of the plot while loading the hopper…….



That spider web like substance…..when present…..fills the soil and creates and interconnecting web that link all the plants together……This is one way in which I achieve good germination and establishment of seedlings despite not using traditional methods that focus on seed bed prep……The m. fungi come up from the ground and connect my new germinating seedlings into the massive web……I like to think of it like being plugged into the “Matrix”….There’s lots of good videos out there talking about the importance of m. fungi and how they form a symbiotic relationship with plants…..I let folks do their own research if you’re interested in digging deeper into it….More to come on thatch and feeding the microbial community.

Here’s a link to a good episode of Growing Deer TV…….I have given Dr. Woods a hard time in some of my past posts but he’s probably the best one out there for brining you as close to the actual truth as any main stream “TV celebrity” is gonna do. They have sponsors and that just is what it is………


https://www.growingdeer.tv/#/better-food-plots-breaking-down-the-benefits-of-the-buffalo-system

Here’s another video of his…..again with a lot of good information in it…….However, this is where he and I diverge paths as he has to keep selling Eagle Brand seeds and the truth must run through their product line. This video is talking about small “Hidey Hole” food plots that you can plant by hand. Now in the last video he just got through explaining about how the great plains and Yellowstone have recycled soil nutrients and supported wildlife for centuries using native vegetation…..yet now in our Hidey Hole food plots they are simply “weeds” that don’t accomplish our goals and they must be replaced with a seed blend you buy from Eagle Seeds. The damndest thing about it is that the seed blend even includes things that the deer won’t eat. This is where the truth gets blurred. The real truth is that native plants would work just fine in this situation….they just wouldn't sell his sponsor's products...... Actually, I’d probably trust that “our creator” developed a better blend than the guy at a Eagle Seeds. Like I said though……still great information…..you just have to keep in perspective and realize they have sponsors……You never know when the message goes a little astray because of it…………

https://www.growingdeer.tv/#/plant-a-small-food-plot-with-hand-tools

Here’s one final video……Again full of excellent information…..but listen to how the messages conflict one another. Now not only are native species great and wonderful…..but they are suddenly “high quality forage”……”with huge diversity”…..”something palatable all the time”…….”great for the soil”…… “where he has taken the most mature bucks” …..Just as long as they’re not growing in our food plots I suppose………Why couldn’t we have grown them in that hidey hole food plot? As far as that goes….why wouldn’t it be ok to grow them in all of the food plots during the summer months? Man, if only $$$ and sponsors didn’t put that slight taint on things…..or if he even said that both ways would work or something….hell I don’t know…..Its just like a grain a sand in the crack of my butt for someone to try and teach the public about these principles and concepts but still blur the truth along the way. I’m quite sure I’m probably that grain of sand for others.....I guess thats just the yin and the yang that brings a little balance to the whole thing.

Alright back to our do nothing plots………

https://www.growingdeer.tv/#/the-results-how-prescribed-fire-improves-native-habitat

Before I move on…..for the sake of practicing what I preach and so that folks aren't confused about what I’m saying….. ..There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the way he’s managing his plots….If you have the means to buy a Genesis drill and Eagle Brand Soybeans and whatever else goes along with it…..Its a perfectly fine way to do it that’s in line with all of the principles and concepts were talking about. My message is just that it doesn’t have to be done that way in order for you to feel like your doing thing right. You don’t have to buy a grain drill or plant soybeans….You can still accomplish the same goals using other techniques and other plants or seed blends…..Just like with mob grazing…..it may be a different method and approach to managing the soil and vegetation but the concepts are still the same. Look at the cost/benefit of doing it different ways and choose whichever one you feel best fits your situation and budget.

Alright......NOW moving on........

If yer 185# ass woulda been running at me and my defense in high school youda been swallowed up by hell real quick.

Sure

WTF is going on here?

CNC is crying out for help in the only way he knows.

Mostly just arguing with himself. It must be torture, living in his head.

Relax fellas….its not like anyone’s actually paying attention to any of this nonsense…….Is this real life???

I mean absolutely nobody is paying attention..............

This is getting a little side tracked but I tend to do that.......I'll bring us back around full circle eventually........

Looks like the guys at the Management Advantage are starting to experiment with some “do nothing” practices. I like the seed mix their promoting in this video. If the price is reasonable then this is not a bad way to go for someone planting a few acres instead of having to buy all the components of the mix separately. What they’re talking about doing in the video is basically the same exact thing that I do in the spring. A “do nothing” approach is not just about a planting method….


Sometimes the best thing you can do is……well…..nothing.

http://themanagementadvantage.com/home/

There again.... It’s not the product your selling, it’s YOU being the salesman, that the problem. You continue to act like you created this type of way to plant, your the alpha omega of no till plots, but at the end of the day, is plain Jane common sense.... it’s not complicated at all, and it works, and works great in Certain places. But it’s not always the best choice or the right choice. And I’m sure you’ve prob helped someone out here that never had even heard of this method, and that’s good. But damn if you don’t act like a prick ass, only child that got everything handed to you, my way or no way, sob sometimes. And when you talk to us farmers that have to deal with soil, grass and weeds for a living and try to act like you know what’s good for our ground and soil, that’s when your wrong.... Nothing but spider Will ever prefer dog fennel over a edible grass. Just remember that

That's good then.....spiders are predators of the insect world and help control other insect populations. There's a word I haven't used in awhile that's fitting.....and it's not "dumbass" although that would work well too......it's holistic

Good Lord... now Will Primos wouldn't be trying to sell you something now would he?

What's he getting $18? per 15lb. Might be just a little profit in that.

You decide to come back for more?....I don't think they were selling anything in that video that I recall.....just explaining how you can throw out seed and cover it with thatch without having to disk.....Almost fail proof Brad said.....You think they'll be planting more fields like that in the future?

So since you’re trying to twist things around again….let me say that I’ve never had a problem with folks selling stuff. I believe in the free market and letting the market bear its fruits like I explained in another thread last night. I do have a couple problems with how some of it is done though. One is what I just got through explaining in my past few posts about how the “truth” that comes from some folks always has to be blurred in order to run through their sponsors product lines…..The other problem I have…..and this is really the biggest one…..is how some folks just flat out knowingly lie to the public. As times are changing some products are becoming obsolete. Some of the folks selling these products are knowingly lying to the public about the newer ways of doing things and purposely trying to keep them in the dark. Its one thing to sell your product in an honest way….It’s quite another to do it a shady manner that tries to shield folks from and discredit the truth.

What is your experience with no till and hogs? Are hogs worse on a no till field?

I really don't have enough experience dealing with them to be able to answer that. I don't see why they would though. I'd probably avoid things like turnips and stick to cereal grains and clovers

I posted this quote in another thread but I’m gonna repost it and talk more about it. It’s a very good thought provoking quote made by one of the titans of the early hunting industry. I encourage everyone to spend some time thinking about what he is saying …….

“The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant, "What good is it?" If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not. If the biota, in the course of aeons, has built something we like but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.”

--- Aldo Leopold

I’ll use dog fennel as my example since everyone seems to refer to it so much. Look at how many folks “hate” dog fennel and curse it for having no use…..However, how much do we really know about the plant and its place in the larger ecosystem. Why do folks hate it so much?.....Do they even know or is it "just because",...... Everything about a healthy flourishing food plot during the summer months does not simply revolve around stuff the deer will eat. It’s the soil after all that’ s the foundation for producing those forage species and something has to take care of it. Might dog fennel be a keystone specie in the management of the soil? I for one believe it probably is……More on that to come…..

CNC - just put yourself into Time Out for a while. You just made 3 posts arguing with yourself. This is developing into an unhealthy situation. You really do need to think about this and evaluate what your goals are and what you want to accomplish by being a member of these boards.

This is an extremely tough crowd on here to being with, and you will eat yourself shortly if you stick with whatever it is you are doing. There have been more than a few people go down in flames on here.

1 tree will make 1,000 matches but 1 match will destroy 1,000 trees. Think about that in terms of promoting an idea. Think about what you are saying and doing. I just can't believe this is the direction you really want to go.

Holee chit.

Where's a moderator when you need one to stop this chit again.

If you want to have a serious discussion then let's have one......Are you ok with fudging the truth to sell a product? What is it that you suggest I do when answering a question? Give a different opinion than what I know to be the truth? Ignore the science behind it? Would you ask the biologists to do the same? I'm asking for real honest answers here

I think you're being a little naïve at this point......If folks like Primos, QDMA, Grant Woods, Jeff Sturgis, etc.....are already promoting these practices......do you really think it matter anymore what I say on here? I mean I could walk away today and let you bury your head back in the sands here pretending that none of it is happening.....but its not gonna change a thing. At best it may buy you a smidgin of time. Why does my opinion matter so much to you anyways? What is that you think I'm gonna burn down? Do you think this is gonna bring down a whole industry? No.....Sure it will change the way things look in the future but the real entrepaneurs......(damn how do spell that? I can't even get close enough for spell check to help me! :D) ........but the real entrapaneurs will see new opportunities and the market will bear new fruits......Those folks who keep their heads stuck in the sand will be like Blockbuster Video.

I don't want to discuss growing weeds at all, but apparently you can't get enough of it.

Then don't......Don't click on the thread.....How hard is that?

Gostkiller.......Did you know that the other thread that got locked has been viewed another 75,000 times just since it was shut down? I say that just to point out how naive and senseless it is to continue to harass every post I make.

But its so much fun to poke you.

I appreciate the info in this and the old post. We have limited implements and live about 1.5hrs from our property but we’ve managed to plant 4 acres the last couple years with just a bush hog. And our plots grow great and the soils getting better. They aren’t lush perfectly manicured plots, but the deer eat the heck out of them and make for a target rich environment. Unfortunately the land owner had our plots bushogged about 2 weeks ago so I’m not sure our method will work as well this year with limited growth. We spread seed with a atv/ spreader then just mow over the top. We don’t even use roundup we just wait till normal growing seasons over and typically plant 1st weekend of November.

Adapt, improvise, and overcome……..If the thatch he laid down creates a mat by the time you get ready to plant then try to make you some kind of drag that’ll fluff it up and drag it over it after broadcasting the seed……Something like a square metal frame with mesh wire strapped to it maybe…..You’re just gonna fluff it up a little and agitate the seed down to the soil. It’ll still do fine. The part I kinda worry more about is if he just reset the growth of the summer veg before it seeded out and was ready to terminate. You may need to spray if so…..especially of there’s a lot of grass present. Step back where your done and see how much green is still left and you’ll know if you need to. If you had a tractor and disk I’d tell you to lightly disk over it to fluff up the thatch with the gangs turned out nearly straight....but if that’s not an option then go with the drag.

Edit.......You said you don't plant until November.....I let that slip my mind when typing the response. ....You should be fine without having to spray....Frost will have it all killed by then unless you've got a bunch of nutsedge or something.....

What CNC says prob work great - Fishboy - you could Also spray and those fields Stay dead for Good while and all u hav is the thatch - wait for good rain then plant just before rain - should be good. You can get good 25 gallon sprayers for around $250 - $350 that go in back of ATV or ranger

So circling back to the discussion on the possibility of dog fennel being a keystone specie……If you look at the early successional plant communities and the change in species composition from one successional stage to the next…..grasses tend to be what I'd call the foundation plants ….They tend to be deep rooted plants that hold the soil intact and supply the food chain with carbon….In the first successional stage crabgrass played this role in my field…..Now that my field has progressed out of that first stage and onto more fertile conditions with more stage 2 plants….the crabgrass has slowly disappeared……

So what is now taking its place as the “grass” component of the summer mix……dog fennel. Eventually there will likely be things like switchgrass, Indian grass, big blue stem, etc…..that will come in and make up the grass component when the field reaches more of a climax condition…..However, during this time in the middle between the true pioneer species and climax species…we're (talking about repairing soil now keep in mind)…the dog fennel is our foundation plant …..When I look at it growing in my field I see it from an engineering standpoint. It looks to me like huge pillars that’s holding the soil intact as well as being one of our main carbon producers…..just look at the root masses. Not only that but its transitioning us away from the solid mat of grass like crabgrass and into more of a bunch grass type situation where other plants species have room to grow in its understory…..as well as allowing wildlife room to move around and be sheltered underneath it.

Another key role I think dog fennel is playing has to do with helping the whole plant community with soil moisture management. If you’ll watch when we go through a drought….dog fennel will be the last thing to suffer....if it ever does. I’ve seen us in severe drought where everything was brown yet the dog fennel was still green. It apparently doesn’t require massive amounts of moisture to grow or either its tapping into deep reserves. I think it does two things to help with moisture management. 1) I think it forms a symbiotic relationship with the other plants through m. fungi which allow the other plants to access the moisture that the dog fennel is pulling from the soil. I know I’ve seen some kind of definite relationship between dog fennel and clover. 2) The other way in which I think its helps the other plants is simply through providing shade.

I’ll stop there for now so as not to get too long………

That ship sailed long ago...

I touched on this just briefly in the last post but one of the final reasons I believe dog fennel is an important species is because of the type of biomass it provides for the soil. If you look at the stem of dog fennel its dang near like a small tree sapling. There are very few…..if any….of the other early successional species that provides the system with this type of woody biomass. I think its this type of biomass that likely helps to transition the soil conditions onto the next level by bringing in a fungal component that the other plant species likely don’t do.

I think that one of the reasons folks dislike it so much is its tendency to dominate their food plots during the summer. I think much of this though is due to our over use of nitrogen and the excess amount that’s present in the soil. If a more balanced approach is taken I believe that dog fennel wouldn’t be nearly as aggressive and it would be more like the "foundation pillars" I described in the last post…..with one here and there across the field allowing room for the other species to grow underneath it. I think it’s a misunderstood species that’s hated without really any knowledge of its true role. This is just one person’s opinion so take it with a grain of salt.

Y’all like music……I like music……I like to throw out a song or two every now again in my threads just to keep it entertaining…….Here’s one now…..I think they call these “guilty pleasure songs”…..

We’re about 5 weeks out from planting now……To get ready for it I’ll go ahead this weekend and not do anything to the plot……In another couple weeks I’ll come back in and not do anything again…..Then maybe like 2 or 3 days ahead of planting….…..I’ll not do anything that day either…..When I see a good rain event coming after Oct 1…..I’ll spread my seed….run over the vegetation and then walk away…..It may take 30-45 minutes to plant a few acres depending on many times I stop to get another beer. After I’m done planting, I’ll come back in a few weeks later and start back doing nothing again.

Ok

Hell yes I love looking at a wild brushy food plot. While your doing nothing I’ll be drinking beer preparing food plots. I live for this time of year. There’s nothing better than finally getting in the woods and doing some tractor work. I loose sleep at night thinking about how I can make my hunting land better. My kids love to go help do the tractor work and see how things are done to make nice pretty food plots

Lose sleep pal. Get it right.

Just something about that smell of fresh turned earth, gets my motor running.

I don’t even own a disk anymore. I love the smell of gramoxone getting poured in my sprayer then my Great Plains drill no tilling a few weeks later. That dam drill is nearly as aggressive as a disk.

Nobody said that I don't improve my property.......Work smarter not harder........Its not all about how much and how hard you can go at it. Its about how productive you're actions are being that you do take. I make tweaks and changes but /I don't fight nature all the time trying to beat her into submissio.n....I work WITH what I was given.....i just give things a helping hand to nudge in the direction I wan them to go.

Here’s a good example of what I’m talking about…..Come Feb as soon as season ends…..I’ll hook up to my disk and begin to trample down some 3rd successional vegetation…Not disk it up now mind you.....just trample the vegetation to the ground during dormant season. I’ll only do a portion of the understory though because there’s other areas that are in their 2nd year…..I’ reset them next year….Its a little mosaic if different classes of early successional plant communities….on a pretty small a scale….like 3-4 acre units….most all of it is in prime cover except for a few acres of winter plots that open up. You could manage like this on as small or as large of a scale as you wanted....Larger scale operations need done with cows or buffalos instead of tractors
....and of course fire too when needed or more practical

Using the disk to just trample down and reset the vegetation down in Feb just makes it to where that area doesn’t really miss a beat. It’ll be a little open at the first of spring but then it’ll flush out and grow. We don’t mind a few open areas for bugging in the spring any who…..Then cover later on for poults......You can set succession back during the growing season in this same manner and have a little different impact. Done at the right time under the right conditions….Reseting the veg about mid summer this way can cause annuals just to reset and put off a new flush of young growth during the second half of summer…..Numerous units or paddocks constantly shuffling through different early stages of growth at different times.......Hell, here I go rambling again………

Your also beating down the woods in the weeks leading up to opening day.....I'm not......Really give that some thought.....While you're coming in like road crew.....its silent and quiet here relatively speaking,...Its every day normal anyways.

Some times the best thing you can do is........nothing.





Here's one for the grammar police.....Was that the correct use of "Some times"???

It's a hell of lot cooler after hunting season too.......

Did any of that come across too much like a “prick a$$”……If it did just let me know and I’ll go back and see if I can sprinkle a little sugar on it for some of the more sensitive readers…..

Your also beating down the woods in the weeks leading up to opening day.....I'm not......Really give that some thought.....While you're coming in like road crew.....its silent and quiet here relatively speaking,...Its every day normal anyways.
[/quot
Haha you have a theory for everything I guess. Funny how I can manage and keep up a couple thousand acres and will be done working way before bow season comes in and have good success early season. Have fun doing nothing I’ll send some pics later of me enjoying doing the work before the season comes in🤘🤘

Knock it out John!!!!! .......... Weeesew....

I enjoy sitting on the tractor way more than hunting.

I completely agree with yall about the smell being a special part about it….But if you want to smell the really sweet stuff then stick your nose off in some of this…..That the same smell but a little stouter…….Its of a “release” of organic nutrients, compounds, microorganisms,……releasing it burns it……burning it too much creates a deficit in the cycle organic matter…..long term deficits eventually go to zero and then you’re just smelling the ground up rock in your fields with a small annual release of any minor amount of humus that might have been built...."soil" is a combination of the ground up rock in the deep sublayers of the earth combined with the decayed organic matter from the plant life above.....without the organic component you only have ground up rock and only half of the recipe for "soil"....one of the reasons that base soil is different from place to place is because the base rock in the sublayers is a different type of rock

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with some tractor time…..but too many people just go burn diesel fuel with little understanding about to the impacts of their “management decisions”……That’s what they are no matter how little…..Simply “mowing” in and of itself is a management tool and decision that can have vastly different impacts just depending on the timing and frequency of it being applied…..Plowing and turning soil just for the sake of “liking it” comes at a cost…..Too many people stick their chest out though and never give anything any true thought…..they only look to what grandpappy taught them and how to reaffirm it to themselves…..

A lot of human psychology at play…..Heck, for sure think about how grandpappy taught you but give the other ideas their due thought as well. It doesn’t hurt a thing to broaden your base of knowledge about ALL of it. You can still manage however you see fit…..You might just have more information to draw off of when making decisions....There's lots of tools out there and ways of using them

Your elevator stops on the 13th floor.

Its not really an elevator and it rarely stops anywhere for long……I’d say its more like a subway train running on a loop…..It just goes round and round…..Its designed that way. If we lost on the last lap….we’ll pick you back up the next time around.




All aboard!!!!!

I had couple questions sent to me through PM’s…..I asked the folks if it was ok to answer publicly on the thread so that everyone could read along and in case others had the same questions….The OP will remain anonymous as long as they wish to…….

Question: I am sending you this private message to get your opinion about my situation. I have a small hunting tract (34 acres) I purchased this year in southeast AL. It is all thick/overgrown/untouched woods and some wetter ground surrounded by agricultural fields. I was going to make 3-4 small 0.1-0.25 acre food plots. I have cleared the areas with my chainsaw, sprayed glyphosate, used a lawn rake to try to get some of the leafs up. My specific question is since there still exists a layer of leaves from years and years of accumulation/breakdown, would you use a an ATV disc just to break through that layer so my seed will actually contact some dirt? Or, would you broadcast over the existing ground coverage? I’m leaning towards the former. The only equipment I have is a 4-wheeler and some hand tools, so either way I would probably need to buy an atv disc or cultipacker (for latter option). It sounds like you have been working your land for a long time and I’m just beginning my journey.

Thank you in advance for your time,


Answer: .......Basically what you have is just a build up of carbon on the soil surface. Let me explain a little bit about long term management of that litter and it’ll answer your question in the process……As we go from one rotation to the next to the next…..summer crop to winter crop back to summer…..and so on…..What you want to have happen from one rotation to the next is to put your dying crop to the ground and have it breakdown and just get about decomposed when its ready to rotate to the next crop….Its biomass management….We can talk more about the finer details of this in another post so as not to get too long winded. With things like carbon/nitrogen set up in the right proportion as well as a vibrant microbial community…..etc…..it’ll manage itself and not be much an issue for you once things are in a proper balance……What you’re shooting for though is for a brief few week period to have that fluffy soft potting soil on the soil surface exposed a little to broadcast your seed onto…..Instead of the soil surface being covered over with a heavy layer of duff like you have in your scenario.

So yes I would take a drag or disk or whatever you have available and use it to just scratch up and flip around the surface debris to get us to that point I just talked about. You’re not trying to “disk it all in”…..you just want to help get the duff decomposed on out of the way while kicking up a little soil in the process…..This will also mean giving it little a shot of N to mix with the carbon you’re about to put into play….That’ll help get it broken on down a little faster and more importantly it’ll prevent from tying up the N that you want for you’re little seedling about to emerge.

You should have a good reserve of organic N in the soil in your particular situation since its probably prime topsoil under that leaf litter.....but a small rate of 50 lbs/ac wouldn’t hurt just to nudge it along. Use your best judgement….The more leaf litter that’s built up….the more N you need and the more you’ll need to churn it up a little….If it’s a thin layer…small amount of N and just scratch it up……

You can throw your cereal grains out before you do this or you can churn it up first….broadcast them and then run back over it with another pass or so….any clovers or brassicas just surface broadcast at the end

Second Question:


This is one of the more common questions lots of people ask……

Question: I'm trying to avoid spraying the whole fields. What has been your experience with planting and not spraying first?


Answer….It can be done a couple of ways. For anyone just starting out this process I would suggest just to go ahead and spray so that this variable doesn’t screw you up on your first runs….As you become more comfortable and start seeing the whole picture better then that’s when I’d try and take the step to cut out spraying if you choose to do so.

That being said…..when you do get ready…..Being able to plant without spraying with depend on a couple of things…..

1) It will require you to be patient when fall rolls around and not run out and plant too early. You need to hold off just a little bit and rotate your fall cycle with the natural cycle that occur. Depending on your location north to south that will be mid to late Sept through October or even later if you choose....you can plant into November and many farmers do wait to plant cover crops…..I’d rather be a week late than a week early but you plant when moisture is coming once your within that planting window…..Waiting until the natural time to cycle allows all the summer stuff time to fully run its course and start dying….If you jump in there too early your gonna be fighting fully grown plants with fully established root systems…..Hard for lil seedling to compete with that. If you wait though..... the summer vegetations life cycle will be over and it will be taking its final breaths as new life emerges....your seedlings


2) The species of plants growing in your field is gonna play a big role in this as well. If all you have is annual summer broadleafs and the like….Those things run an annual cycle that grows a new plant from seed each year….it produces offspring at the end….dies... and new growth comes back from seed the next year…..All of those are finished at the end of summer beginning of fall….. ….If thoe plants make up the majority of your species composition then you'll likely be fine to plant without spraying if you just wait and plant at the right time.....Some of the plants that WILL be likely to give you issues are nutsedge, bahai grass, Bermuda……Those have been the ones I’ve dealt with but there’s likely others…..You'll see which plants try to bounce back in your particular situation once you do it a time or to...ITs likely to be your grass species or whatever the hell nutsedge is considered....i forget.... The more of these species that are present though…..the more you’ll want to spray ……If its just a small smattering of them then you can get by without it if you can live without things being pristine clean. As you manage for better soil long term these type plants won’t be so abundant.

Like I said in the beginning though…..if your just starting out then make it easier on yourself and go ahead and spray ahead of time and just eliminate the possibility of this being an issue for you in the beginning.....Concentrate on recognizing some of the other important variable first like soil surface condition and biomass management

CNC's has got not clue what the plot and soil conditions are on someone else's property he's never stepped foot on. What is going on here is someone posting a bunch of wild ass bullchit to feed their need to carry on some sort of self righteous opinion.

If anyone wants to ask these type questions in the forum please do. There are plenty of other people on here that can give real-world guidance. Literally 100's of AL Deer members on here do plots every fall with minimal equipment. They just don't feel the need to post paragraph upon paragraph of useless dribble about it. Because it isn't that complicated. You put enough seed and fertilizer on it and it will grow.

You like Guns n' Roses Goatkiller???.........

More folks probably would if they didn't feel like they had to arm themselves with a shank first

Well.....is that it Goatkiller? What the hell was that anyway? You done pulled the cork on a jug of fighting likker?? You know your getting low onnammo when you gotta resort to chunking molatov cocktails and shagging ass

I like your new title CNC.

Hell yes. Awsome.

Kiss my ass......

......and Outback didn't "nail it".....Not cornhole.....The correct answer was "porch stand"

Goatkiller's Last Stand,,,,,,,,

I love that you are trying new techniques, we are alway experimenting and it keeps it fun and interesting. Keep up the good work and report back !

Thanks Whild Bill…….I read about this thing called a sanctuary one time and gave it a try…..That ended up working out pretty good for me.

The way I look at it and the reason I keep an open mind about everything from food plotting to deer behavior is because I believe that no matter how much knowledge man acquires about nature and our world while we’re here…..we’ll only have scratched the surface of what’s truly there…..We’re not able to fully understand the complexities of nature any more than we are able to fully understand God…..and its because they are one in the same. To ever think we have it all figured out is arrogant and foolish. It’s the reason I hate the word “expert”…….It’s almost laughable to say such when our true knowledge of nature is so small and minute. We should carry ourselves instead with an open mind and the humbleness that we don’t really know anything at all…..To me anyone who thinks they’ve become an “expert” on nature is only showing that they don’t really know nature at all.

Whoa!!

Have you been taking English classes Bill?? Not one misspelled word in that post.

I’m gonna make one more brief comment and then put in behind me and let fate and God handle sorting the good fruits from the rotten.

I’ve had to spend the last 10 years with a knife drawn at all times ready to fend off any and every kind of attack and insult possible trying to tear me down internally and discredit anything I say or do. I don’t even think most people really know me because I’ve been so on guard and ready to cut and slash at people just to be able to speak….I hate that it went that way because I’ve rarely ever been able to just be me. Just the version that was ready to cut a mf if I have to!I Endulge me her for a moment. Let me say a little more about the past because it will lead into what I hope we see in the future.

I joined QDMA years ago and got involved in going to some of their fields days and events….I supported them and always looked at them as the one organization or entity amongst the bigger hunting community that was dedicated to bringing the science of deer and deer management to the public. I rolled my eyes a little at all the BS gimmicky products and shows everyone was doing but I was ok with that stuff because I thought there was still someone providing us with the raw truth….the scientific truth without the sales pitches and products.

Then suddenly I started seeing QDMA on Big and J commercials promoting of all things…..OF ALL THINGS!!....the magic bag of powder you dump on the ground that big bucks suddenly start sprouting from. But the worst part was that they attached a biologist to it using the word “science” to subtly manipulate the consumers. I made a pretty good stink on the old forum letting them know how wrong it was because science is supposed to pursue truth and avoid having money manipulate the direction it takes…..…...

It wasn’t too long after that when the no-till methods started really snowballing and more folks were talking about holistic approaches like using cattle to mob graze, etc….when suddenly QDMA just pulled the plug on the whole forum nearly overnight…..and not just any forum either. The old QDMA forum was full of all kind of great people from professional deer managers…biologists….consultants……arborists… you name it…..They were giving honest, real world advice to hunters all over the country on a daily basis. It was the best resource out there on any media platform to actually help educate and teach the science of “deer” to the public…..and they yanked it out from under them in the middle of the night …. It was obvious what was going on and it stung me pretty hard when I realized that they were $elling out science and the truth.

A little later when the T&M technique started getting picked up, modified, and rebranded I’ll admit I was hoping one of them would at least give me a subtle tip of the hat and wink for me as well as the others who spent years helping to get the torch lit…..But they didn’t….and it felt like slap in the face. I guess I was just being naïve as to how the world works. Still I was happy and took pride to see deer managers like Grant Woods pick it up and run with it …. ….But the more I watched the more I realized that yes, it was the truth…..but kinda sorta still selling stuff. At that point I lost all faith in anyone actually being a source to educate the public with the science and it soured my attitude. My problem though has never been with any individual…..but rather with the process….…I never did any of it because I wanted to be “the inventor of T&M or to be the man. I kept on coming back because when I tried to show the results of some of my first experiments with sincere happiness that it had worked…… I was met by harsh a-holes telling me that what I had done was stupid, wrong, and I was a fool . I’m still here 10 years later because of my stubbornness and persistence and because the harsh comments only made it get worse....….until it finally just became about principle with a little F-you to go with it.

So why does all of the stuff about science and truth bother me ?? Because how do we expect the hunting public to be able to properly manage the deer herds if there isn’t anyone educating them with facts and truth. We bitch and bitch about the state managing for us and making this choice or that choice as our hunting resource continues to dwindle……. But what else are we to expect if the hunters have very little clue about all of the different management tools and options being practiced today and the true impacts of each. How can we expect them to manage the natural resource…..aka nature……if they’re nearly as disconnected from her as the rest of society…..most just dont realize it.

What could Alabama look like if it had a resource like what the QDMA once was but have it on a state level that moved them forward into a new era of land management and hunting…..A forum that educated the hunters, landowners, outfitters, etc on how to manage early successional plant communities for maximum wildlife production……or how to raise cattle and deer together……the social dynamics of a deer herd……Assessing understory vegetation and carrying capacity…..and so on…..and so on

Now you wanna talk about something that would benefit EVERYONE…… then take a look at your state map for a moment and check out the area to the south of Montgomery. See the light colored area from about Union Springs nearly to Selma where there’s no dark green?? That whole area is some of the best soil in the state capable of producing some of the most productive high, quality deer populations….It already producers some of our best bucks but the vast majority of the acreage as you can see is in huge open cattle pastures that robs the area of what it could be.

Just hypothetically think about this for moment…..what if we could wave a magic wand across that area and change it to what that area would look like if the cattle were being mob grazed instead of raised the traditional way? If all of that area void of dark green suddenly became highly productive deer habitat while still keeping the cattle production….Imagine how much that one area alone would improve the resource and increase the potential $$$ of hunting revenue for the state and the associated “industry” chain?

Now keep scrolling around and look on a broader scale at how much of our state is in fragmented pastures and such…..Its everywhere…..Marshall co where I’m from is nothing but fragmented pasture land…..Don’t get me wrong….I don’t think the whole state or blackbelt is gonna suddenly start managing holistically with their cattle next year or that all of it ever will be…..but what if mob grazing and other holistic management practices started taking root on this property and on that one…..and another….and another…..All the while the ideas and the results being shared and spread and more folks became educated on how to manage land for multiple uses that benefited cattle and wildlife and hunters …Maybe we dont change the whole state but maybe instead of continuing to fragment the landscape and lose wildlife habitat….we start reconnecting some of the dots and trend the other way. Maybe there’s new ideas and methods that spring up using these same concepts as more folks begin using them.

What might our landscape look like 10 years from now…..50 years from now? When one of those big cattle farmers below Montgomery looks over and sees his neighbor using some new management practice and he likes what he sees……Where is he gonna go to learn about it?? When the deer manager or forester hears about it and wants to try running a few cattle through a couple stands to test it out….where will he go to get advice? When folks see the improvements and increased productivity to the soil that results from these practices and want to improve theirs....….who will teach them about it? After all the soil is probably our most underappreciated resource. Soil is the foundation of life and where the true wealth of our land is held Who will inspire and help that first wave to take the plunge? Hmmm……..

I know I would like nothing better than to spend the next ten years helping to transition us in that direction and be able to lay down my prison shank for a while….. I’m just scarred up and tired boss. ….Some will read this and think it’s a good idea but will never happen……some will read it and laugh thinking that I’m nuts and its absurd………but I think its very real……I know the power of one straw and I believe it can start a revolution.

Good thing you kept it brief.

I thought you'd like that.....

Do you understand what "breif" means?

Or brief, even.

iether or

Most of us don't come here to read War and Peace, so I doubt if anyone reads the CNC novels either.

Ill admit I have a hard time reading long posts. Short attention span? Maybe.

Makes 3 of us. I’m way too ADD to waste tiMe reading long posts. Much less one from the resident rambler

I suppose it’s a relative term that would depend on the subject matter and one’s induvial interpretation……But if your so much of an illiterate, window licking, , short bus riding retard that you cant read a single page anymore and need it broken down to a Fun with Dick and Jane level…….then you need to reach down under your chin….synch your helmet down a littler tighter..... and just concentrate on not mixing up your carrots with your orange crayons. Let Chuckie handle the management decisions and you stick to trying to comprehend the revised version I made for….. See deer run!

Revised version

See no deer……No deer here……
Need more seeds……come from weeds
Watch cow poop…..poop cow poop….
Cow go bye!.......Plants grow high
Hold many deer…….feed many steer
Deer eat good…….. Cow make food
Didn’t get food right??……Then ……..hel-me-t……he-ad……..ti-ght
Aww!!....Its ok!!....don’t feel too crappy………
You still…….muh-muh-muh make me happy!!!


I'm just messing with you !.....Needed to get that out of my system...

You eat lead paint as a kid?

Paint Hell, Thats some major drugs at werk right there !

Herbicide poisoning

Youre not supposed to drink it silly. I know it smells good but you just cant drink it.

Oh you can drink it. You can. This is the result

Nah. I usually marinate my steaks in roundup. Ain't hurt me yet. 😂

Damn. I'd rather read Huckleberry Finn instead of whatever BS you're talking about in that diatribe.

......and to think that folks cry that (whiney & high pitched)..It's not the message ....it's that you're an a-hole" lol!!.....I know better than to even let myself go there.....best to just walk away when I let my emotions trigger me....Next thing you know it's an hour later I'm shanking ass holes, mods, innocent by standers, and anybody that jumps too quick....When I come too Im bloody.....out in fhe street....filled with shame and remorse.... Muttering about the Constitution and how IT IS! supposed to be about the principal!!!

Knock yerself out,,,,,Both worthwhile.....When you get done let me know.....I got a brand new audio book that just came out I want you to check out called "D's.... N...U...T's....On Yer Chin".....I'm quite sure you'll draw some value from it too

I'm sure I could read Huckleberry Finn before I finished reading the chit you're shoveling.

There's gonna be an opportunity and a need for guys who want to run cattle through other people's property....Damn....that was accidental!! .......But Im quite sure that at some point they'll be landowners who don't want to deal with it themselves but would rather pay someone to periodically run a herd or two through their property to manage some understory veg..... the logistics of it all needs lots of brain storms......won't work if it's too cumbersome.....even individual property management needs ways to simplify the management.....a person moving them around by hand every few days and moving hot wire is gonna be unappealing to some.....new innovations needed....the new EZ temporary fence with timered gates that open automatically and give cows a few hiurs to move to next square....if veg is best down in current square then they would move on their own to the new growing tips.....Now if a guy has a supply of ez squares and gates.....he could drop in and setup several weeks worth of grazing paddocks in a day..... logistics of moving that many cows would need somdone with 18 wheelers dropping and picking up loads as a service.....a guy could simply tend to the herd and outsource his shipping .....May be a little dreamy but in time who knows

Karma and God

About to go rip my field up with bottom plow and see how it's doing.....I just like the way it smells

Ehhhh.......nahhhh,,,,,no need for all that....t's still all good....why burn up all the OM "just because"

Next......Do I need to wear a mask?

I know.....let's have a revival......Who ready to come on down to the alter and tell it all? I'm good with it....

I’m certainly not trymg to say that this my way or the right way or wrong way…….it certainly isn’t how I’d pick who to take into fox hol with me….When the word goes out a couple weeks into the SHTF that 257 was killed by quote unquote “friendly fire”……Don’t blame it on the snagle toothed hillbilly he’d been cracking toothpaste jokes on all week when he tried to tell him that the guy that’s been in the corner for the last 2 days whispering to his gun ain’t “just the quiet type”…….

Sigh…..I guess it makes sense checking someone's resolve.......All you men get you two infant twins and hole up in a house taking care of them alone and let me know how that makes you "feel"....I'm good...

Throw it………..throw it…….

Ready for hunting season and cooler weather.....sure will be nice to get in that how stand opening morning

Lawnboy.....75000

Family dog pic .....Can you see?.....Tales of Harold and AL

Wrasslin!

Can you see?.......Still looking?........Look again……...Deeper…....Harder.......Oh yeahhhh...…..Folks don’t think it be like it is… ....but it do…..Hmmmm… ..just like that…..….

Well....on second thought,,,,,maybe not JUST like that..... but......Mmmmmm.

Did I tell you the story about my mew tracking pup…..she’s a natural…..already tracking like a grown dog ……she’s a little aggressive though……But I Iike that… …Find it Ruby Roo!…..

Yes it IS about the fugging CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES!!!!!!

Exam for Simple Jack.......Trust or Verify!?!? Do or do not,,,,,, Try "bad"

Starting to get tired of it??......Is it starting to get a little old??.....Simple Jack head check …….only 10 more hours to go……Hammer = weak …..Test – 12 diaper changes…….12 bottle fed…..Break = weak …..Did you see it????........Go!!.....Plenty pics….going for heart…. It's all good....

Thank you sir.....

On second thought…..maybe this is a good way to choose a bunker mate…..Head up!.... Time for everybody to post wife pics.....No pic = Weak

Glad the lil’ un made it…..

Stay focused…..Guy in the corner is whispering to himself….Wolf at door real? Yin need yang.....

Need ammo…..Only got truth……Fault? Asset?......Singular focus good?? bad??…..Balance......{I aint nowhere near crumbling…fine and thats the truth…..No need for rescue party….rather have true friend...

My first deer rifle.....Boy, boy,,,,,,mmmm......lot of good memories back in them days.....I sure do miss him.....turns out some things aint good for you in excess…….


Bing muzzle too…..use when necessary……..not hurt pride…..fine motor skills slowing a little ….but…..Its all good…..Truth is that it gets way worse than that….Still.....I'm good


Can you see it?

Dont worry......gonna put the ball down before and not hurt myself.....Don't need "fixing".......Just make sure I aint in the street bloody when I come to... Ehhhh.....on second thought....maybe there is a little something there.....Ying and yang have to balance.....Principles.....Concepts are all the same.....may have to slightly adapt them.....

IPic of state

Insert holistic pic of wildlife
'
$$$$$

Happy hunter pic

Pic of CnC getting on tour bus!!!!!

Night Night John Boy.....Keep watching though.....Who knows what's actually true anymore.......

Harold call me if you need to talk. This is stupid as frak and makes everything you are trying to do look bat shucks crazy.

Man he’s really got some deep issues.

Paradigm Shift......Wheeeeew......I'm a natural

[

I think I got a little chubby just then,,,,,,,

There really IS something to dog fennel.....I cant say for sure but it kinda loos like foundation pillars or walls ....it a structural component of the whole......It has some purpose even if I dont know what it yet,,,,,you just need a little faith.....or a lot and itll be easier on your mind that way

Ehhh .....on second thought.....it probably just coincidence.....plow that chit down.....I hate it......i like the way rich soil smells when its burning.....

Insert pic of desert

Insert pic of flourishing ecosystem

Insert pic of donkey and DW

Matter of fact I think I'll go out here right now and just plow up 3 times for the hell of it...Thats just normal and the way its always been done....Errrrrbody is doing it

I dont know...I guess if you have an open then there's all kinds of possibilites.........that or I'm just being paranoid.......

The difference in me is that I'll come up with a system to separate wha's real and what ain't......"Alright.....shhhhh.....only shoot the ones that move.........."

......and that's the truth......I mean your wasting ammo and just you'll just blow the bathroom door off shooting at chit that aint real./...or is it!


See thats what will keep people from committing when your selling the product......If its a struggle to decide if your getting bent over or if your really getting something of value .....Then it might as wl not be real just like the other......One really wasnt real.....The other is.....The truth is easy.....kinda.......I guess if you consider beating your head against the wall over and over and over.....for years.....then to see it commercialized anyway!.....That one stung but its all good.....The thing that bothers me the most is when I'm told that its just me and y'all fuggers did that too I'm realizing as I type.....See now that pretty good turn around time.....I may be wrpmg sometimes.....errrbody is.....but I'm not a bullchitter......I'm a truth teller......to a fault!!

and when you try to tell your neighbors that....."Hey......uhh.....I kinda see some of the tell-tale signs going on of poachers being dropped out onto the neighborhood...."........and you've waited until you'vew seen the drone 4 times just so you could verify and not be THAT guy......It triggers the hell out of you when they go Hmmmmm......I dont think folsk would actully do that.....So you end up in the street bloody with a ten page diatribe laying out the blueprint for wha they're and the reason you know is because your cousin did the same thing back in the day.....big dope dealing = $$$....idle time and lots of toys to assist you......"Man nobody would have a drone using it to poach......that;s absurd!......By the way, are have you been noticing less bucks running around the last couple years....our place has had a drop offf.......Insert DW's golf fuggit meme right here......

Me: All I know is.....its the poachers or the game wardens and the next time blasting....I wouldnt have even histated but I had just called them out and didn't know black from white

I wont post anymore pics.....yall made me......


I'm think their local.......possbily....likley but hate to call a "for sure" the kids of the millionaires behind me.....1100 acres......one of only 4 properties like that......poaching on the guy with 25 acres.....aint that some chit......But I guess theres a reason why

Never a bad idea to plan ahead just in case chit happens you can react fast........

Now don't mistake what I'm saying here......I see the blueprint and how managing a property in this manner would be........hell it could change the way we feed the world.....Hmmmmm.....Open mind or openmouth........I'm not worried about feeding hte world though.....I'm doing it here on my place.....It would change deer hunting in the state of Alabama over time if the whole process could be made feasible.....that's where y'all take the ball.....I got all kinds of idea if you just let have them.....Just because they have E-fence already on the market doesnt meant that we can make our process simpler and faster....more efficient.....Look at way to simply every thng that can be.....I use to be a shipping supervisor at Walmart disrubution.....I ran a crew of arond 60 people shipping grocerioes.....loader, orderillers, lift drivers....trucks pulled in and out......I was in charge of keep it flowing smoothly.......One of the head giys comes to me one day and say....Harold, you are by far running the bst numbers of any shift....but we're gonna have to work on your people skills!!!.. ..Folks just wouldn't do their jobs.... They may not be right.....the coyotes make take big chit on my signs......but you'll never really know if you don't keep an open mind ....a humble heart.....well.....yall fill in something.......If there's problems we'll find solutions or beat our heads against the wall ..

......at least it'll be together this time......I really DO like the Mark Twain of Weeds label.......i had to think about it a little while to get how much meaning that really had....AND then

You're causmg me as much irratibility with the ass holes as anything.....I guess thats why.......The one thing that was being missed....I guess I need to tend to mine now

Go lay down. Tomorrow gonna hurt yo head at church.

Yep it’s about bed time.

I dont need fixing.....I'm good with my faith.....and I'm tired of fighting battles ......


What I was actually gonna say is......No, I'm really the guy who recognizes that its just your eyes are tired.......So it 15 for sure and possible more like 30.....Truth.....Now stop playing with my head just to het your rocks off.....A test is one thing.....but just because I'm fun to mess with.....that's just unprodictove for errbody

Nope.....I didnt poach them either,,,,,,hadnt done anything stipped like that since I was a teenager.....and never was an "outlaw".....just dumb stuff,,,,,,,Nope, what I was actually doing is studying deer behavior.....The irony is that I learned more than I had in the previous 20 combined about some of the stuff they do.....It would be hypocritical of me if I didnt give my happy neihbor a tip of the hat for the dog pic.....but its a genuine tip....that's pretty awesome if you can see it? Can YOU see it? How many are there $$$......I;m talking about the WHOLE picture now,,,,,

When you tag along to go try and fiture out why no one had showed up with his money after a week or two,,,,,and foljs are in trees and hiding umder the house…..Everybody is looking like they meed tp ne a nut house……you recognize just how ugly shucks can really get when you wish for it to hit the fan. His fault though,,,,,he was told him to cut itbut Noooo....he thought it was funny....at first....……when survival of the fittest minds occurs and normal people suddenly snap……I don’t care what color, religion, political party,,,,,name it……I want folks who bring their A game to the table and wont crumble under pressure

Diversity......useful individuals......preform task to help whole

Truth.......I'll be one of the last to snap.......but i've got a sack of seeds of the good chit in my survival pack so we can have ansiety medicatino into perpetuity.....some plan ahead some judge and cant see wwhat would really happen

Acid usually wears off after a day or so. I think CNC got ahold of some of that good good.

What in the hell is going on here?

You are witnessing a meltdown. Pull up a chair

It’s a meltdown alright. Dudes lost it. If he ever had it. Which is suspect in first place. I hope no one volunteered to ride along with this guy in tracking season. Would be miserable

Dang sure appears that way.

Whats up fellas......It's all good.......Sure is a pretty outside.......

Well......on second thought.....maybe 257 is still just a little bit of an asshole.............it's all good though,,,,,,....so am I ....

There’s no substitute for trusting that the blueprint is sound……but no matter where it leads us or how much understanding we develop over time……we’ll never be to look and see it all in its entirety……there will always be a little part of it that requires faith…..Once you know that you can trust that we’re on the right path……then faith is actually all you really need that to know that it’s all good…..

One day, when you are sober or back on your meds, go back and read what you actually type. I swear you argue with yourself 😂😂😂. You do make it VERY easy to pick on you.

oak savannahs........reclaiming deserts.......cattle subgroups

Cant let something as simple as not having an antagonist hold you back......

I’m also forced to fight fair or my schizophrenia and my computer back where I can really type would have had folks diving for cover in every direction…… …I adapted though….….

Need to modify how we’re managing SMZ’s…..the blueprint is the same regardless of scale…..Those areas are some of the most productive areas for producing forage because that’s where the best soil moisture is found and right now they being shaded out in most areas……Erosion control needs to be considered but that is what the vegetation will do. I believe it would actually do much better than what we have going now

Damn, I just scrolled through all of the BS from last night.

CNC, whatever you're smoking, I want some of it. 😀

Ha!.....I'm beginning to think y'all llke my BS cause you just keep coming back for more....

Big focus on improving watershed management.....water is key component ,,,,,,ground water.......This no longer occurs now.....Improved management of the understory vegetation and the improvements that the vegetation has made to the soil allows me to retain much more of it......ground water......small creeks and streams may change from just being carriers of runoff to always having a lttle water flowing throght them....there's a name for i.t....alluvial? I think its something else

Sure is a nice day to just kick back and do nothing......


“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’[a] 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.

Ecclesiastes 3

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Well now my thumb is numb from scrolling through all this BS. Are you serious Clark. You need to go disk your little field you have way to much time on your hands. It’s would take me a month to type all the stuff you posted

Its all good......

I appreciate your input. I try to think outside of the box on occasion. My thoughts, yet simple in form, is this...Mother Nature has been growing stuff since her birth. She hasn’t ever used a single piece of equipment to do it. This process can be done but requires some time and study. I’m about to spray my fields now. I will disk a couple fields as well mainly to smooth them out for this process in the future.

Check your inbox

No you didn’t?

C nC. I life the fact that you try new things. Have you ever built a sanctuary?