LetEmGrow

Southern Ontario County I got out there and started spreading lime/fert as soon as the rain ended today. Thank god I have some time this week and thank god I was able to work most of my fields earlier this spring. I am so behind because of lack of rain. But we had a lot of rain today from about daybreak to 3 PM. Ammendments and tilling should be done in a couple of days and if we get more rain this weekend then the brassicas are going in. And then pray for a wetter August. Good luck everyone.

It sounds like your only option at this time is to open up the canopy. Hemlock will grow in shade but not very fast. It is a slow grower anyway. Unless you get some sun to the floor then I don;t think you have many options.

I wouldn't put in anything that benefits wildlife too much if it is on your neighbors border. Assuming this is for hunting then I would plant two rows of white spruce/norway spruce 12 feet apart with plants in the spaces permitting you mean partial shade (4 hours of sun per day). If you are in a hurry and got the money then get them in 4-5' range. Otherwise, start with bare root and maybe mix more stuff in. So hard to tell without seeing your property.

Cheapest way..... Get a soil test. The University of Massachusetts does them for $17 and you get the results within one week via email. http://soiltest.umass.edu/ordering-information Kill all the grass. Spray once and wait two weeks and then spray again. Once it is all dead go out with a mower and mow it all off. You should have plenty of bare ground at that point. Now wait until late July until the forecast calls for a good rain or a couple of days of rain. Get out there right before that and hammer it with Brassicas. It is only 1 acre so I would probably start with just one thing. Or go 50% brassicas and 50% clover. Grains may not last long on a small piece like that. Then again, you could try a mix of winter rye, wheat, oats, clover, purple top turnip, and some radish. Check the QDMA and the Web for opinions and mixes. They should do good (maybe even great) when broadcast over bare ground. They will start to be effective after a couple of frosts. If you can scratch it up prior to planting (and after fertilizing) then that would be great. If you know someone with an ATV disc or a harrow to scratch it up a little. Its a learning experience my friend. Enjoy every minute of it and find what works best for you on your property/situation. It will take a couple of years but you will find that - regardless of what you try - something is better than nothing.

Congrats on the tiller. If I were you I would keep a good eye on it. Tilling virgin ground puts a ton of torque on those things. I know first hand because I destroyed one a couple years ago. Unbelievably, the manufacturer (big brand name tractor maker) rebuilt it for free and I was clueless as clueless gets. We have clay soil around here and it gets very hard. Like you, I was going along great, early in the year, when the soil was moist and there were no weeds. But then it got a little later in the spring, a few more weeds (roots are tougher than you think), and harder ground as days got warmer on our clays. First I completely broke the hitch arm on one side (suddenly the tiller just fell to the ground and started to drag). At the same time I bent the other arm. We replaced those and exclaimed "POS Tractor Maker". But then we went back out with it (setting it much shallower) and basically blew it up. The ground was way too hard. This was with a brand new 25 HP tractor with a brand new 50" tiller. I finally realized it was my fault. You think that a big $20k investment will go through concrete but don't be fooled. It might depend greatly on your soil but I would seriously, and as a fellow sportsman, caution you about rototilling virgin ground. You should really have it flipped over first. I hate to sound like a know-it-all but you will find this to be the general consensus. It takes a lot of force to rip up ground and that force becomes torque if the soil has not been loosened up in decades. I hope everything works out for you

This state is so broke that the pussies at the DEC will not try anything that goes against the "quantity" of deer hunting as opposed to the "quality". But it is good to see so many interested in protecting yearling bucks. That would only mean a lot are doing it on their own. I actually think a lot are starting to let the 90-100" 2.5 year olds go by as well. Maybe if NY starts to see a population growth in the future they will get a lil more ballsy. Funny, they flirted with it last year. But now it seems like they have gone completely cold on the idea.

You found a body? What?

I think most die-hards would 100% agree with you. And an even bigger difference 20 years ago when very few hunted them.

I am in Southwest Ontario County and this would be assessment as well. Pretty bad but not as bad as the past 3 years or so. I have heard a little more this year than in years past.

#1 - This guy did not do anything illegal. I is perfectly 100% legal to shoot any BEARDED turkey in New York. And he did identity the target as a bearded turkey. Honestly, I cannot say I would not shoot one. I might! 2. @Terry So have I. In fact I took a bird a few years ago with a full booming fan, 8" beard, 18 lbs. And no spurs! None. He was either one hell of an exceptional jake or an unlucky Tom. But from the size of everything else I believe he just did not grow spurs. 3. This was posted to NYOutdoorNews.com last week. It is pretty amazing. It is a hen strutting just like a Tom. http://www.outdoornews.com/April-2016/Wild-turkey-hen-struts-like-a-tom/ Good job on getting a bird Zeus! And if next time you'd prefer to not shoot one then you will have a little more experience under your belt. But personally I think it is kind of cool

I would sit right there and not say a word. I would get there at daylight (but not necessarily in the dark either) and set-up just like deer hunting. Long wait but why risk messing it up. Plus right now you don't know where they roost but you might the first morning you are there. Once again, I would not call at all.

Hey Bernie - much appreciation and you too as well Let Em Grow. I have done some discing on them and it really killed the weeds. Gonna do it every 2-3 weeks like you said. I might just plant some buckwheat too just for a rotation. I bought this King Cutter Flip Over Disc and it is awesome. Did not use any weight. The ground was flipped over last summer so it has been loosened but I actually was tearing up sod pretty good where i turned around. It weighs 325 pounds. Just thought i would mention. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200328427_200328427 Thanks!

A+. Bought from them many times.

Damn shame Cabin but hang in there. At least you will have some free time for turkey hunting to keep your mind off things. Sorry to hear. That has to be hard.

Sounds like it'll be raining turkeys in the morning. Hopefully they don't sit in the tree too long. Good luck!

Thanks boys! I'm gonna rip em very once in a while and see where we are for weeds later on this summer.

I don't work for them nor do I live in Allegany County but I am going. I just spoke with someone close to the fire and registrations are on the light side this year so I thought I would post. If it must be removed then no worries. Just trying to help them out. Just a reminder that it is this weekend for anyone interested. Tagged trout worth $25 - $1000 with one fish (known as the Community Fish) that could be worth a few thousand. Last year it was worth $6,000 with half going to the one who caught it and the other half going to a raffle ticket. If any of you are interested then you can check out the link at the Lions Club Website below. http://www.trout-derby.com/

Greetings This question pertains to ground that has already been worked in previous years that had food plots on it. Do any of you ever disc your plots in the spring for weed control and/or to keep the soil loose? Or do you just let the weeds grow and wait until later in summer to spray and disc? I have only done this for a couple of years and I am wondering what my approach should be. Thanks, LEG

I liked Ted Cruz. While Trump is my #1, I had no problem with Cruz being my #2. But the same elites that he was fighting are the same one that he is now in bed with and there is no way he can accomplish any of what he set out to. I doubt he can repeal Obamacare anymore because the republicans are not going to turn down all that money. It belongs to the establishment now - all of them - Reps and Dems alike. It will not surprise me if they also throw Cruz out at the convention after the first ballot. They do not like him but they like Trump less. And for records sake, Trump is not perfect and Colorado was his own fault. He needs a much better ground game in all the states. But Cruz is not a tool be it a short-term tool or a long-term tool. Unfortunately, the #NeverTrump movement has created the #NoTrumpNoVote movement. https://twitter.com/hashtag/notrumpnovote

I looked in to them to thicken up a property border with a neighbor but I went against them simply because they can get out of hand and become invasive. I am not saying it is going to happen but I feared it could. It has a higher probability of happening if you don't keep them pruned. 10 or 20 years down the road you might regret it. Why not a nice mix of norway spruce, white spruce, red pine, white pine, red cedar, and scotch pine? Mix em up and plaster em in there. If they grow well (and get too close together in a few years) there is always a chain saw and Christmas Just my .03. Little more info if you are interested https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privet_as_an_invasive_plant http://homeguides.sfgate.com/there-form-ligustrum-not-invasive-89419.html

Nice going first

I think people's hunting habits have changed and they concentrate more on antlerless while letting the small bucks go. So people see less deer because of this which means, in places, there are less deer. I live in 8N and I am not seeing the "overload" of deer the DEC says exists and I do not seem to be finding anyone who tells me different. I have talked to a lot of people this year in several counties who do not seem to be seeing much. Hell, there was a guy on HuntingNY today that said they pushed 800 acres and did not see a deer. It may only be one guy. But it was only 800 ACRES! For me, it is two reasons: 1. There is not an over-population of deer and this is just NYS marketing 2. People are shooting more antlerless deer than ever before in exchange for letting the little guys walk.

I agree. And maybe if you reached out to a ECO to get his "interpretation" of events then they may just look this guy up to have a friendly chat with him to see if they cannot "convince" him to give it back. But every situation varies and certainly I am not there. But it was posted to a public forum and if it was bothering me that bad I just might try (or would have tried). Might be too late now.

Its not like the guy who found it needs to get in trouble or anything. But I can't understand why he kept it. I mean - he must hunt if he kept it? Maybe he doesn't believe him. Or maybe he finished it off and just said he found it dead

I think so Papist (from an ECO). Maybe the guy did - who knows. But I am pretty sure you cannot walk out of the woods in season - any season - with a rack that does not have a tag on it or a tag on a carcass nearby.