stubborn1VT

Deer don't like ripe soybean pods? I don't know where you get this stuff. Deer don't feed on soybeans when they first turn yellow. That's the only time they don't eat either the leaves or the pods. I have kept soybeans for years in sealed containers, and they stored just fine. As an experiment, I planted 1/4 acre of regular ag beans in July last year and they matured. I never hunted over them, but I can see the plot from my house. I fenced them off, along with a few newly planted apple trees, until the end of September. If I hadn't fenced them, they wouldn't have stood a chance. I tried that once before, and had does and fawns chewing them down at all hours of the day. An exclusion cage would be a good idea. Good luck. If they get chewed to death, you can always put in a fall plot like brassicas or cereal grains.

I am also way behind on "spring" planting. I'm not worried about my soybeans. I planted mine in July last year, during the drought, and they grew well and had pods and beans. I will plant brassicas (rapeseed, purple top turnip, groundhog radish & forage kale) for fall. I'm using them to condition the soil as much as anything. The deer pick at them a bit, but don't love them. I got my seed from Deer Creek seed. I had better plants and deer interest with WI Wintergreens, but that was also in a different part of the state. In places where there isn't as much food/ variety, brassicas seem to work great. Where I live there is alot of ag, which means alot of alfalfa, clover, soybeans and corn. Brassicas just don't seem to compete.

I had too look it up. I hunted 10 days. The majority of those days were rainy. I was hunting because I couldn't work. The birds didn't gobble well at all, but I had a couple good mornings. I was fortunate to fill both tags with longbeards. Some other highlights: Finding out the cornfield near my house was sold, no longer posted, and is now owned by an acquaintance of mine. Walking and calling a loop before work, not hearing a peep, then finding 3 big jakes waiting 30 yards from my truck Getting all jammed up because I had 5 birds gobbling in 3 directions at fly down. I shot none of them. Setting up on exactly the right spot and watching a 20lb tom spit and strut for a couple minutes at 30ish yards. It was an odd season, and I feel lucky to have got my birds. The weather was awful. The ticks were bad. I enjoy calling in birds, but I had multiple days that I never heard a gobble. With that said, I was successful. Now it's my busy season for work. I'm finally starting on food plots. I'm running half my cams. I'm head to Canada to fish walleyes at the end of the month. Congrats to all the folks who filled tags, and kudos to everyone who got up early and gave it a try. I hope you got some enjoyment out of it, and learned a thing or two.

I have had very good luck with the Sonic Dome calls. I agree that calling in the car/truck can be a huge help. As for how to, I like some of the Mossberg videos, but they focus on hunting mostly, not so much on calling. It's a bit hokey, but I grew up on a farm where we raised domestic turkeys, and it was a huge help in learning pitch, volume, and cadence. Spending time around turkeys is a huge bonus. Glad you two get to hunt and spend time together. That's awesome. Staying awake is a big part of all hunting, but aren't they cute when they're asleep!

Pygmy "straddled a snapper" and didn't even snicker. What gives?

Was clover for 3 years, then brassicas for 2, now back to clover/chicory. I plan on using glyphosate on the orchard grass, as well as the old sod I plan on tilling up. I'd like to use as few chemicals as possible. I won't plant oats or buckwheat, but they would help smother the weeds. I don't want to plant anything that I know the deer won't eat. I talked to a farmer that was using soybeans as a nurse crop for his alfalfa/clover/fescue. He didn't end up with enough triticale seed, so he was replacing it with beans. Kind of a neat idea. He will mow and chop the whole shooting match in 65 days or so, depending on weather. We don't see disease or pests in clover here, just winterkill. Clover spreads all over the place on its own.

That's a pretty good deal, especially in your neck of the woods. It works out well for you as a package. Just the stumps alone might run you $800-$900.

I looked them up before I posted. The information was incomplete and conflicting. It isn't the same as hearing from somebody who has one in their backyard. You didn't really have an answer, yet you posted anyway. I have a college degree. I have served in the military. I farmed for over 20 years. I run my own business. Don't treat me like I'm stupid. You didn't answer my question, so why bother posting at all? You have tons of useful information to share, and a great deal of real life experience. In this case, you don't seem to have anything to offer. That's ok. It would have been fine to admit you don't know, or not post at all.

Yeah. Nobody is buying me trees. Was just looking for personal experience. In a perfect world I would get other varieties. Thought it was worth asking. "Look it up" isn't really an answer.

I can research and compare, sure. The biggest deciding factor is that they are free. I will try a few just for the sake of variety. His tree is on his lawn, very close to house, so I don't have a sense of if the deer fed on them. The grey squirrels lugged them off and stored them, which is where all the seedlings are coming from. Reading up on them is fine, but it doesn't replace real world experience.

My neighbor offered me a bunch of horse chestnut seedlings. I know they are toxic to horses and people, but not squirrels and deer. Is it worth planting them? Will they be a draw for deer or turkeys? Hoping somebody has some first-hand experience to share on the topic. Thanks.

835 with turkey loads was awful. On top of that, I never got the gun to pattern, so I sold it. My buddy and I patterned his 835 one fall. That afternoon I watched him put a stalk on a jake flock and whiff completely. He flinched and shot right over. I shoot a 7 Rem Mag and don't mind that. I did put a decent recoil pad on it.

I love it when a plan come together!

I agree on the small grains. Spraying and seeding would be great! Since it has been tilled in the past, it would probably work. Would a poly lawn roller be enough to get seed to soil contact? I don't have a cultipacker. I wish. What concentration of glyph would you recommend? Not having to till it again would save me alot of hassle. Thanks for the advice.

Background: So last year I tilled up a small (1/4-1/3 acre) clover plot that had run its course and been over-run with grass. I tilled it, limed it, fertilized it, and planted it to brassicas in one afternoon. The brassicas grew, but not well, thanks to the drought-like conditions. The deer got into them early and chewed them to the ground by bow season. After that, the orchard grass had no competition and went wild. This spring it has completely filled the plot. I want to plant a clover/chicory mix for the does and fawns. The questions: Is it possible to tame the orchard grass without spraying? I'd rather not have to plant a nurse crop, but if I did, what would deer find attractive? We planted oats as a nurse crop for years, and our deer could care less about them. If I did spray it, what concentration do you recommend? I'm running a bit behind, but as wet as it has been I don't feel like I could have gotten much done. I have my own ideas, but no experience with spraying glyph. The plot is over and hour from my place, so I don't think I will be able to get over to till it multiple times. Any advice is welcome. Thanks in advance.

Nice write up, and thanks for sharing the fawn pics. Posts like this make me glad I spend time on a hunting forum.

Turkeys are super adaptive, even more-so than deer. I plant clover that the turkeys use. I'm with Turkeyfeathers! A couple ounces of shot. BOOM! Right where the corn goes in! (Not where corn comes out.) Most of the things that I do for deer also benefit turkeys.

I have had a tough season as well. I finally called in a LB, but set up under a hemlock with low branches. He was at 35yds, coming through some baby Christmas trees. Tried to shoot under the hemlock limbs and over the little balsams. Clean miss. I feel your pain Pygmy. Luckily, the following morning I hunted the other side of the road and had luck on my side. I set up on a patch of dirt on the edge of hay field. The hens get sick of the tall, wet grass, so they come to that spot to preen and wait for it dry out. I went in plenty early and set up behind a dirt berm. The tom was tight lipped, but gobbled when the crows were right on top of him. I called soft on my slate and homemade wooden striker to let him know I was around. He did me the favor of gobbling when he was on the ground to let me know he was coming. A hen came out to the dirt spot with a jake and the strutter in tow. They hung out for a few minutes with some 4 foot poplar saplings between me and them. Got to watch them preen and the tom strutted, spit and drummed. He bumped the hen and she moved away far enough to get him around the saplings. The berm served as a bench rest. 32yds with plain Federal #4s. He barely flopped. Like most of you, I've been tired and frustrated. It was nice to go to the farmhouse for another coffee, and to sleep in the next morning. For those of you with tags left, have hope! I did see a lone tom gobbling all by his lonesome. It seems late, but the toms might finally realize that the hens are totally ignoring them. My 2nd LB. 20lbs even. 10" beard. Inch spurns. Also pictured: my trusty 870 turkey slayer. Not the best pic, but it kept showing my other photo vertically. WTH, I'll post that one too.

Looking good Chef! Which variety of clover did you go with? I've gotta get the stump grinder and tiller out in my plots. Work has been crazy busy though. Between turkey hunting and work, I haven't made time to deal with plots and cameras. Good on you for getting your stuff in so early.

Got out on time on a new spot I just got permission to hunt. Birds were there at 4pm yesterday. This morning they were roosted on the complete opposite side of the cornfield, behind some houses. They gobbled on the roost, but not on the ground. I'm still seeing flocks of birds, which makes no sense to me at all. They must have pitched the other way, because they never made it out in the field. They have been there every single day during the last week, but not this morning! That's turkey hunting. It was brisk and breezy. Not much for bugs. Starting to wonder if I will get a 2nd tom. Congrats to those of you getting it done. It's been a struggle for me. I may make the hour plus drive to the farm to hunt tomorrow morning. We'll see. Shoot straight everyone...

Finish a couple food plots. Plant a few apple trees. Move a couple stands. Practice with my bow at longer yardages. Build a round bale blind. Move my one "shooting" house to a better spot. Do more scouting for buck sign. Consider buying better trail cameras. Shoot my first 10 pointer. Big deer are few and far between, but I killed a nice 8pt with a sticker (almost a 9!) and have gotten a few bigger deer on camera over the last 4-5 years. I don't know what I would do without hunting to keep me focused on the big picture.

I'm far from retired, and not on welfare. I run my own company, and set aside time to deer hunt. I make my money in the spring and summer. I don't think that lost wages apply. I have only shot 2 deer that I would consider small, both with a bow. I don't get the anger toward people who chose to shoot small deer. It's their tag, and in some places there are too many deer. Food is food. Who are you to tell somebody how to hunt? I will never understand it. I have a friend who shoots small deer every year, and I'm not sure it's necessary, I wouldn't say a word. They eat every bit of the deer he kills. I don't understand guys that hunt for inches of antler either, but if that's what they're into, go for it. I guess I don't see the point in pissing all over another hunter for their choices. If they do it safely, legally and ethically (we can hope) then that' good enough for me.

What's so expensive about venison? Maybe you should stick with being a butcher, world class chef and trophy hunter. "The rest of us" will be just fine working and hunting.

Awesome as usual Wooly! Was that a deadhead? That's seriously impressive. My buddy owns a small taxidermy shop. He would LOVE something like this skull for a display. If I had that kind of talent, I would Euro mount every buck I killed and then carve/burn in some details on the skull to remind me of the hunt. Thanks for sharing your "work".

I wore chaps when I was younger, and I can say they never really helped me. I rarely have a chain come off, and only had 1 break in the past 25+ years. I am more likely to wear them in the winter, to help stay dry and warm. With that said, I've almost fallen on a saw because the straps got caught up in brush. I do think chaps are a good idea, but they can be a trip hazard and they're too hot in the summer. I'm bright enough not to judge or tell other people what to do.