Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Quality Deer Management Looking like a great plot year

Thanks guys. It’s been a good plot year for us on all 3 pieces of property. We had some pretty timely rain.

Still absolutely ZERO fertilizer…..Now that’s got to count for sumpin no matter what else you can find to beech about…..Jwalker, maybe they’ll eventually be more benefits in it for you than just wear and tear.

My big food plot consists of about 1/3 clover field i never do anything but bushhog twice a year. It has built up a pretty good layer of compost, for lack of a better word. The other 2/3 i disk every year, sometimes twice. I noticed this that everything that grows up in the clover side looks healthy and vigorous. The stuff that grows up on the other side looks weak and unhealthy. There was a very noticable difference that can only be explained by what ive done there in the past five years. Im gona quit disking the other 2/3 as much as possible for a while. Mostly just gona rotate between ic peas and oats. Ill disk up some of it each year for some brassicas. Although i have thought about spreading my brassicas thin in the oats over the 2/3 im throw and mowing. Its not necessarily just about the wear and tear. I know ive been stripping nutrients out of part of the field, im gona put some back for a while.

Your deer must have plenty of other stuff to eat cause they sure ain't touching that mess of a plot. Glad your tickled by it, though.

We think that “change” concerning these types of things is more monumental than it is…..more of a mountain to get over than it really seems like.......even though that's absolutely the case!!…..Just look at blood tracking with a dog though…..Idahomike came on here about 6 years ago and stirred up everyone’s interest in it ….We held a few tracking conventions and more folks began to train dogs…..myself and others came along and started telling stories….and now tracking is mainstream……Its no different with the idea of using cattle to manage the understory or no till principles for food plotting……Human psychology is the main hurdle.....and its an odd beast

Yes they do.....The majority of my understory is a jungle of browse and cover that's over head high....The overstory trees are mostly water oaks that have the ground loaded with acorns.....I have my last dropping pears just laying on the ground not being messed with at the moment

So in all seriousness jwalker…..I’ve been pounding my head against a wall for nearly a decade trying to convince people of something you now see is so, so simple…..What gives??? Is change just this hard?......I guess it SHOULD be this hard though really from an evolutionary standpoint….I guess that makes sense…..Humans sure can be a pain in the arse though sometimes with their resisting!

Ill try about anything once. I kindof convinced myself though. All youve got to do is look at the two sides of the field and consider what has gone on there the past five years. Its plain as day. Like i said, im not goingvto sell my turning plows and disk but my food plotting methods are changing.

Just remember all the bonus rain you hit this fall too. That ain’t gonna happen every fall

Yeah i know it all lined up just right. I dont know if you saw my other thread but ive got oats and daikons sprouting right now. Weird stuff. What i would really like is to go full on perrineal. Thats just hard to do.

.....and in my mind that's one of the reasons FOR planting this way.......I've got a buffer built up against droughty conditions.....I'm way past getting seed to germinate. That's simply the first step that has been such a hurdle to get folks over initially. Did I also mention that planting cost on this is around $50 an acre and took around 20-30 minutes total in time....I actually planted in the rain when one of those tropical systems began to hit

Just add a little bit of white clover into your seed mix each fall and broadcast it....like 1 pound to the acre even....$5.....You're about to switch to something that is more like perennial plantings.....You'll have a little of both going at the same time in the same field

Its funny what we humans let get in our way sometimes.....The appearance of the plots is one of the biggest issues in most people's minds.....I find that interesting I guess....Of all of the variables in the equation to be concerned with.....we are worried about it being messy and ugly like a bunch of west coast granola crunchers looking at a recently logged clear-cut

On the topic of utilization......go back and look a little closer at the top pic again......Look at the clumps of dog fennel you can see on the ground getting consumed by cereal rye.....See how much taller those areas are than the areas in between them???......Those areas are getting some early protection from browsing pressure....It'll slowly disappear as the winter progresses

Is be embarrassed if I spent $50 an acre on plot seed and had results like that. For $50 an acre it better be way better than those pics I’ve seen

3 bags of cereal rye.....a few lbs of crimson clover....couple gallons of fuel……Hard to get much more minimal than that…..Oh sure someone will say “Oh my God 150 lbs of seed!!”…..but did I mention ZERO fertilizer…..I don’t care what kind of bullchit you throw out there….that’s major.

Keep humping your dog fennel patches. I’ll keep running sound practices with fertility and weed management.

I'm good with that if you are......

Ya'll 2 crack me up

Abbott & Costello

Dumb and dumber most days

Yall do realize CNC could bushhog his plot and in another week it would look better than most of the plots people have posted pictures of on here. Maybe not 257s plot, it is exceptional, but he does grow things for a living. I think CNC leaves the trash in it just to drive yall crazy. The deer dont care.