dave6x6

Forgive my selfish plug but pretty excited to have a small segement in the Iron Mikes Military Exchange outdoor radio show this week. The plan is to discuss Property management and what steps you can take to improve the hunting experience on your land. I believe the show will air Sat morning from 7-8am on WYSL 1040am and 92.1fm. Tune in if you can. Even if i bore you to death, the show is pretty entertaining. They do a great job of supporting our troops and preserving our passions for the outdoors.

Erussell. Thanks for opening up some discussion about the rye's.. Have to admit that i have been a hater but your posts have caused me to dig in and learn up on this food plot option. Seems to have some very good benifits under many different growing conditions and your certainly right about their attractiveness to deer. Thanks again

Nice work G-man. Wish i could say i was as ahead of the game as you seem to be.. The three W's (work, weather, and wife) have put me a bit behind schedule on a plot i've got going in for a fellow in Honeoye Falls(8h). Did manage to work some dirt this weekend but looks like rain is gonna be here a few days. Looks like you nailed your timing..

I personally am a blue collar deer hunter and dollar for dollar it's hard to beat the accuracy of a savage. But when i do have more money then i know what to do with, I'd like to own one of all the guns on the list..

Bailey and i went to camp this weekend and did some work. Well me and my brothers worked and Bailey relaxed... Great weekend for both of us.

Good pics pav. That coyote came through on;y 50 minutes after the deer. Pretty cool. By the way, to add pics just hit the "more reply options" button and it will allow you to attach a file.

OK, That was funny Bubba..

I think it was an attempted murder made to look like an accident.

Pav. In some ways clover is almost foolproof but i have made a few mistakes in the past. Make sure your seed bed is smooth and not to fluffy from tilling. The seeds are very small and simply need to have good soil contact to grow. If the soil is to loose and it rains, it will drive the seeds to deep and won't sprout. So drag or cultipack or just drive over it with your wheeler to firm the soil bed a bit before broadcasting the seed. Also 15-15-15 will work but the extra Nitogen is not really needed for the clover and really only goes to feed the weeds. If you can do some 0-20-20 the clover will like that.. Not the end of the world though. Should be good moisture in the ground and good planting conditions right now. Unless it snows again next week. LOL

Tried and true, deadly combo there..

erussell, Not sure if your looking for advice or not but as i looked at the attached pic, the thought of clover and chicory in that spot seemed a bit of a risk. Both those plantings really like sunlight and they both do best in heavier soils. Given the small size, the slope and the tree canopy, i would seriously think of changing to a fall planted annual. There are a number of good ones out there and they are much easier to grow and the deer seem to really pound them. Just my thoughts

Some great points guys. We'll be doing WI clover, Pure Attraction and TT Tubers as well as corn and soybeans. Plantings will be in 8h and 9p. I would agree with g-man that my clover plantings seem to do best if you stay on the early side of the planting window. Early May seems to work much better then early June and with the soil temps ahead of schedule this year(as the snow starts to fly outside my window???) I am certainly planning on early plantings. Also all rye grass must DIE. Maybe they mis-spoke and meant winter rye.

We have found that some of the plots we manage have been perfect for trying the liquid soil enhancement products from Aggrand and we have been very impressed. Rather then stripping the soil with chemicals, herbicides and synthetic fertilizers, we've found that using these liquids will rather quickly improve the natural micro-organisms in the soil and the plots seem to respond very quickly to the applications. What started off as an effort to find a simpler way to apply nutrients to those plots that are only able to be reached by 4 wheeler, led us to these Aggrand products but we've found that they have many other benifits as well. We'll be incorporating both liquid and traditional fertilizers this year depending on what the client's needs are.

Great looking bird and awesome photos also. Be down on Rattlesnake next week..

Heres my 2 cents on treestands. I hang about 25 stands a yr. Over the past several years we have been slowly upgrading all the stands away from all those $29 small hang-ons. With age, some back issues and a hunting style that requires all day sits through much of the season, large comfortable stands are priority now. My new favorite hang on is a Rivers Edge Big foot xlt. I will be buying another this year. It has everything i like in a stand. Big platform with footrest, solid flip-up seat,(sling seats are too noisy in frosty weather) and the best part is the arm rests which you can remove for bow or better yet, cam them in three different positions. Normal, straight off to the side, or straight back toward the tree. Brilliant design. Check them out if you have not seen them. When looking for ladder stands, i like solid seats that flip and platforms with footrests and extend all the way back to the tree. Standing with your back up against the tree trunk will greatly improve you shot opportunities on approaching deer as opposed to sitting or standing like a big blob two feet off the tree trunk.

As Burt clearly pointed out. Bubba knew full well that he wanted to point out an accident that occured while someone was wearing bo. Thats why he mentioned it in the very first post. Then he calls Burt out when no one takes his bait. Then he rants that the thread has been hijacked into a BO debate. Then he continues to reply with 4 or 5 posts demanding that Doc answer his question on BO on the same thread he was bitching had turned into a BO debate.. WOW Hope this achieved what you hoped it would Bubba. Taking the loss of a mans life to spread you veiws against wearing an orange hat..

Right between the eyes,,,

Welcome to both Mike and Jerry. Glad to have you aboard..

Since this has turned into somewhat of a religious discussion i'll respond to this as gently as i can so you don't take it out of context AGAIN. If you understood God, you would know that he himself had very little tolerance for anything that would lead his beloved people to a life of misery, emptiness, dispair and destruction. If that is not the definition of Todays Welfare system then i don't know what is. As Christians and Conservatives we have always been at the forfront of championing the fight for those in need dispite what the media and educational system has done to distort this through there ignorance. Please don't be ignorant yourself. To me there is nothing more narrow minded than to think that giving able bodied people money is somehow better then giving them the dignity of making their own? Our compassion has always been rooted in impowering individuals through freedom, as opposed to enslaving them. And our compassion has always included providing support for the downtrodden and those with challenges that can only be overcome with help. I think our frustration come out when people, apparently like yourself, fail to see the destruction that these policies have had on so many lives. Truelly a sad business. How do you live with that..

As a christian it pains me to see what welfare is doing to a whole segment of society. And it makes me mad as hell that people think that they are being compationate by being an enabler. Did any of you left leaners ever raise a child. You don't give without expectations of people. That produces dependence and un-greatfulness. Even Jesus who gave his life so that we could spend eternity with Him asked us to do something for this free gift. Believe in Him and Repent. The liberal policies of the past 60yrs. have created a whole society of people enslaved to them and their views. At first it was embarrassing to except the assistance, then it was excepted under the compation montra, and now it has been perfected by this generation as a way of life and a right as a citizen. How sad that all these children growing up in this way of life will never know the joy of accomplishing great things. The joy of making and producing something with their brains and bare hands, or of giving back to people in need because they now have more than they need. Liberal welfare in the form we know today is nothing short of criminal in what it has done to these people. I am sad when i think of what their lives could have been like had liberalism simply been made illegal or classified publicly for what it truelly is.. A clinical mental disorder..

Sounds logical G-Man. I'll definetly look in to this a bit more and maybe try it on my next clover spot. Thanks for the advice.

This could be important because your plot is very small and the deer may totally wipe it out by summer. If you avoid using a spectracide you can go back in late summer and throw down a quick growing annual and be back in business for bow season. Lots of annuals have some sort of broadleaf in them and you may not be able to take advantage of this option if you spray with certain spectracides. Just a thought..

All great advice but i just had one thought G-man. I know clover produces it's own nitrogen but i still think he is better off with a 20-20-20 to start with. The clover needs the nitrogen to get started and then from that time on simply maintain the plot with a zero N blend. I don't think i've ever been given a lab report that didn't require N at planting time for clover.

By the way, i couldn't agree more with G-mans observations and advice. Every piece of property is different and what works great for you may not work at all for me and visa-versa. I also have a bit of a bias because i do installation and deer property management for clients. For this reason, i cannot afford to put anything in the ground that i am not 100% convinced will make the clients happy and will perform to their high expectations.. Pretty good seed products and attractiveness to deer is not going to cut it. Crop failure or a lack of increased deer hunting satisfaction is not an option. When it comes to overall costs involved in installing and maintaining a perrenial plot like clover, seed cost is a pretty small part of the equation. And spread out over the 6 or 7 year life span of the plot, your really saving only a couple bucks a year. That being said, for anyone working your own plots, you need to feel good about the products you choose so pick whats best for you. In many ways it's kinda like you telling me that i should only buy a Silverado when i already like my Ram. Plant what you like and have fun doing it. Thats what counts.

Again, this is why i use WI products. Insight and Advantage Ladino Clover !!! You can't buy these varieties anywhere other than WI. If you want to buy Agway Ladino or Biologic or Antler King then go ahead. You are absolutely right, those clovers are probably the same exact thing. But you can't say that about WI. Only they have Insight and Advantage Ladino because they invented it. (so to speak). I realize that this is one of those no win debates because unless we can be transformed into a deer then we'll never know. Lets just say your way makes you feel good because you saved a few bucks on seed and my way makes me feel good because i bought the best clover out there..