Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Quality Deer Management Throw n Mow Q&A

I'm not gonna sow this weekend. Still a fudge early on millet

It does make a hell of a screen. That's the only thing I like about it.

It's not a "bad" plant.....it's just misunderstood.

Just don't let any small children go wanderin in it...

Wheeeew!!......Just took the dogs out to play this morning and while I was walking around I damn near got bit. I put my foot down about the time I spotted him drawing his head back to strike. It was a medium sized copperhead laying about 10-12 inches from where I had just stepped. I jumped back and made an involuntary sound that reminded me of something Curly from the Three Stooges would make. I’m definitely counting my blessings this morning because he had me but just didn’t strike.

Scary stuff. Makes me appreciate snake boots.

It’s those times when you least expect it that get you…….just like this morning…..I simply walked out of my back yard a little ways while the dogs played and BAM!....I’ve had it happen numerous times in the past but that was the closest I’ve ever came to stepping on one.

I was pulling a few weeds out of the garden the other day on my hands and knees….I looked over to my left and saw a good sized rat snake curled up under some vegetables just watching me. He was close enough that it startled me and got me to thinking about….”what if it had been a copperhead?” I’ve been really trying to be careful about not just blindly reaching into my garden ever since.

This is a good time to remind everyone to really watch out around these fields this time of year when the cereal grains mature and fall. That cereal grain is a major source of food for mice, birds, etc.....which in turn bring in the predators.....like snakes.

That's one of the main reasons I don't keep a ton of corn in the barn.

I'm off Friday and hoping to get some work done. I have not been to my place in about 2mo, so hopefully I will not be spending all day with a chain saw cleaning up roads. I have one area that was really eroded and I got a decent stand of rye on it. I need to get something else on it to really up the biomass. Would you put millet or sun hemp. It's well drained really crappy soil. Think about as crappy as you can get.

I wear my snake boots outside if i'm working near the woods or just walking around.

I’d probably just go heavy on some millet along with a shot of nitrogen…..Millet will create the grass carpet you’re looking for to initially stabilize the top layer of soil. If you have to you can spread more seed later on to fill in any bare areas. As long as we have rain in the forecast, millet can pretty much be planted for the rest of the summer.

See I knew throw and mow was bad for you

While bush hogging a field friday the tractor ran out of gas... I got off to go grab a gas can from the tree line and the only thing that kept me from stepping on Rattler was him letting me know he was pissed! That sound is scary as Hell!

I’ve got a lot of cutleaf primrose that has emerged as the rye has terminated. I’m good with it though. If you get down and look closely, you can see where the deer are hammering the tops out of ‘em. Nearly every stalk I looked at in this patch had the top eaten out.

This is one of the reasons why I choose not to plant in the summer on my small acreage. If your goal for deer during the summer is simply “continual attraction”…..then a fertile field of lush native growth will accomplish that with a lot less inputs and likely more soil improvements in the long run than trying to grow summer crops for deer on small plots. Now give me a 10… 15…. or 20 acre field and we’ll talk about different goals and ideas…..but with only an acre or so…..I say fertilize it, lime it, and let mother nature do her thing. Sure it makes you feel good to see the deer mowing down those beans you planted…..but in the end, what more have you accomplished by going to all the trouble??

I’m not trying to discourage anyone from experimenting and planting summer plots….hell, have fun and plant what you want. I’m just giving my perspective on it……..and before anyone asks, that's spray paint on my thumbnail. I know how folks like to pay attention to that type chit around here.

I think I may just need to quit walking around the edge of my fields for a while………On a positive note though, I suppose it does point toward a flourishing ecosystem…….

That’s gonna be some good eating

That's one thing I've never eaten before....I've had dang near everything else from squirrel to turtle but never rattlesnake.

My son and I got a few fields planted. The first pic is how high the rye was. You can barely see my son on the 4wheeler above it. The field was pushed out last fall and had brown top, then winter rye. The field by the lake was like the surface of the moon, very eroded and pretty much just chert rock. I hammered it with brown top, then rye, now brown top again. We have also been laying the fertilizer to it.
My tractor kept getting the air filter clogged and running hot though with all that rye.

Nice!....You may get some doves coming into that pond field with a good stand of millet.