Plot Begins

[ATbuckhunter]

Looks like the plot is already full of food with all the native grasses and forbs. What are your plans for the plot? Should be even better next year if you leave it the way it is now.

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[Zag]

Looks like the plot is already full of food with all the native grasses and forbs. What are your plans for the plot? Should be even better next year if you leave it the way it is now.

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your right, its a good natural food plot. Its not the best soil so i think the first yrs will focus on soil building then id like to transition to soybeans and seed over them in late summer with another blend of something late season. Always wanted to try beans. I can get cheap corn thru NWTF but its such a drain on nutrients.

[Zag]

Well all three of us were able to get out today. Its been a chalange getting up there so far and this was the first time all of us ere plugging away. Today we burned some brush for some heat and continued cutting up trees that were already down. I was so damn tired i forgot to take some pics. Now my feet are up and its football time!!

[Zag]

Boy if you were not in the woods today you missed out!!! We got a little shed hunting in this am and a couple hrs cutting. Brought some hot dogs to ook over th fire for lunch, great first dog of the yr. Heading back up tuesday to cut more.

[catskillkid]

Looking good!   keep up the hard work, it will be a great feeling when you down that first nice buck

[Zag]

I thought sunday was a nice day in the woods today was even better!! Worked the other side if the pinch point today. We have about another 60yrds to hit the south end of the plot.

 

What a hole in the sky!! 2nd & 3rd pics about 70yrds wide and about 60yrds to the tree line!!

Edited February 2, 2016 by zag

[dbHunterNY]

looks good.  only thing I would've done different so far is leave tops in intact.  a lot of fire wood probably but use dozer to push them to the edges.  it's temporary deer food.  it'll break down on it's own after that.  that'd give small game habitat as well as help create entrance/exit points into the plot.  more importantly you don't want edges to be open.   You can plant Egyptian wheat, sudan grass, or similar function planting along edges and/or hinge cut.  continuous curves or your hour glass shape is good too.  you want a deer to enter and travel through the plot to view what's in it.  easy to keep up mix of seed like DeerAg Back40 that's tolerant of shade and lower pH would be probably be good for the plot itself.  then lightly frost seed it with late season annual like turnip or something.  do some cutting to make better bedding on one side further away as possible and access it from the other end (open timber with not much cover, steep terrain, or anything else that would limit chances of bumping into deer in and out).  all that hard work will definitely pay off.

...just thinking as I type not telling you what to do.

 

Edited February 2, 2016 by dbHunterNY

[dbHunterNY]

close off a 6'x6' section in the middle with chicken wire or something to tell much browse pressure the plot is getting.  it's hard to tell sometimes without walking through it and looking at stems close up.

[Zag]

dbh, thanks for the feed back, I'm always looking for other opinions,

For the most part were using the tops long the edges but mainly when were cutting close to the edges. When were cutting more towards the center its been quicker to pile and burn vs dragging to the edge. I should have taking a picture on the one pinch point I worked around today, its loaded with brush and some trees along the edge I was able to hinge some away from the plot and into the point. I'm thinking once we get this cleared and dozed then ill assess the edges. My goal is to make the west side completely blocked to access ( will have a stand on the west pinch point). I'm thinking ill have to hinge some of the edges.

As far as bedding (phase two of project) on the south end of the plot were going to create an 8 acre bedding area by hinge cutting the whole area and planting clumps of pines.

Edited February 3, 2016 by zag

[dbHunterNY]

sounds like a plan to me.  keep up the good work.

[dbHunterNY]

some more thoughts.  in your 8 acres of bedding and hinge cutting.  your plot will probably allow a couple doe family groups to use it at once if they can't constantly see each other.  when doing your bedding area break up the cover/bedding locations so they can both use it at once.  they won't share.  also if you have both bedding locations parallel the plot they can take a different trail to each section of it.  otherwise the more dominant doe family group will travel to the plot first with the second lagging far behind.  they don't hang out much with each other.  that way if the lagging doe family group is attracting a buck he'll come in sooner.  also there's always a trail the forms around plots and this is often used by bucks.  good setup for limited use treestand when you have patterned a buck checking a plot.  I just used this idea to kill a dominant buck this past season with a bow.

[Zag]

dbh, thanks for the thoughts. for the bedding area its currently a mix of younger ash/maple mixed in with some goldenrod and I think autumn olive. I was thinking of hinging a good portion on the trees and planting clumps of pines (maybe 5-10 per clump) to cater to multiple doe groups, I hadn't thought about multiple trails to the plot but that makes sense ill have ot incorporate that. Does hinging the whole area and clumping pines sound like a good plan? 

[dbHunterNY]

well it depends a lot on your specifics.  hinging the whole area gives lots of options for the deer which is good but doesn't create that segregation between doe groups to make them play nice sometimes.  such as only deer can decide which area within the hinged bedding they prefer for certain winds or times during the season or whatever.  this could mean the greater potential for them to pick a couple spots too close.  also you've created a very unhuntable area.  if you've got the space open unimproved timber isn't necessarily a bad thing if you use it to help you versus trying to just hunt it.  if you split the hinged areas up and had "dead"/open timber between you might have huntable locations between them as long as your access is clean in and out.  you want to let deer be deer with choices but at the same time encourage predictable movement.  keep your eye out for converging ridges, saddles, low spots in a ridge, etc for likely travel.  also points of ridges or higher ground that bucks like to use as bedding in between or downwind of larger doe bedding.  the more you work with what the deer are already doing or prefer the better it'll all take and show use.

[growalot]

Hey Zag.... things are looking good....In the areas that I hinge mostly Maples in the oak flats I like to leave open areas in between groupings of hinged maples...for one, in that area it leaves the ground open to the acorns that fall and I have groups of dogwood brush...the dog wood unlike the Autumn olive is used as bedding cover and food...they hit dogwood bushes hard year around here.I also have small plots in between these hinges...I hinge that area heavily because I have to maintain a good spacing for the oak stand it is prime movement ...being at the base if one hill section and sits on the edge of a maturing maple slashing...I also have a few other prime trees in the area that need light(hop horn,apples,hazelnuts,persimmon,plum). These are some of the things I consider when hinging besides past bedding experience and bed sites seen in an area.

 

If you are going to put in pine groupings, please consider height and sun rotation...pines are great sun blockers also protection ..because the buck LOVE rubbing pine trees and all deer love eating wht. pine...PS whether they have tons of food or not....

 

BTW Steuben water  sent me my tree plant sale slip:

Blue,Norway,wht.pine,concolor...they have paks:evergreen,native flowering and nuts then a list of friut tree(that order needs to be in by March12. all others March18..They have let me call ahead to make sure they had what I wanted still and took order BUT I had to have check to them immediately (mailed that day)

 

[Zag]

well it depends a lot on your specifics.  hinging the whole area gives lots of options for the deer which is good but doesn't create that segregation between doe groups to make them play nice sometimes.  such as only deer can decide which area within the hinged bedding they prefer for certain winds or times during the season or whatever.  this could mean the greater potential for them to pick a couple spots too close.  also you've created a very unhuntable area.  if you've got the space open unimproved timber isn't necessarily a bad thing if you use it to help you versus trying to just hunt it.  if you split the hinged areas up and had "dead"/open timber between you might have huntable locations between them as long as your access is clean in and out.  you want to let deer be deer with choices but at the same time encourage predictable movement.  keep your eye out for converging ridges, saddles, low spots in a ridge, etc for likely travel.  also points of ridges or higher ground that bucks like to use as bedding in between or downwind of larger doe bedding.  the more you work with what the deer are already doing or prefer the better it'll all take and show use.

Thanks for your feed, i think im ok making the whole area un huntable. Its basically the midde section of that 45 acre block. I think will hunt the edges with access from either side. I want the bucks thinking ive got the best whore house (no offence ladies) here in town!!

[Zag]

Hey Zag.... things are looking good....In the areas that I hinge mostly Maples in the oak flats I like to leave open areas in between groupings of hinged maples...for one, in that area it leaves the ground open to the acorns that fall and I have groups of dogwood brush...the dog wood unlike the Autumn olive is used as bedding cover and food...they hit dogwood bushes hard year around here.I also have small plots in between these hinges...I hinge that area heavily because I have to maintain a good spacing for the oak stand it is prime movement ...being at the base if one hill section and sits on the edge of a maturing maple slashing...I also have a few other prime trees in the area that need light(hop horn,apples,hazelnuts,persimmon,plum). These are some of the things I consider when hinging besides past bedding experience and bed sites seen in an area.

 

If you are going to put in pine groupings, please consider height and sun rotation...pines are great sun blockers also protection ..because the buck LOVE rubbing pine trees and all deer love eating wht. pine...PS whether they have tons of food or not....

 

BTW Steuben water  sent me my tree plant sale slip:

Blue,Norway,wht.pine,concolor...they have paks:evergreen,native flowering and nuts then a list of friut tree(that order needs to be in by March12. all others March18..They have let me call ahead to make sure they had what I wanted still and took order BUT I had to have check to them immediately (mailed that day)

Thanks Growie!! I walked the areas sunday and reminded myself how good a spot this. Pines it will be, we really need thermal cover on this piece. We do have a block of pines in one corner, not sure of the type but there isn't a branch for 60ft. Ill start a thread before I break into it and show beginning to end pics. Thanks for the feedback and following!!

[dbHunterNY]

thermal cover is important.  also deer like "edges", that aren't just limited to those of food plots or fields.  good you thought about thermal cover.

[Zag]

Well I'm chomping at the bit to get back going on this. Freezers full so its time to switch gears. First task will be clearing out all the firewood piles. I counted over 20 a few weeks ago walking by it on my way to a stand. Were getting a dozer this spring so what we don't have finished the dozer will. We have a bunch of things going so and I'm excited to see the end results!!

[dbHunterNY]

keep us posted.

[NFA-ADK]

Labor of love, good luck with the project, looks awesome! 

[Zag]

On ‎12‎/‎29‎/‎2014 at 8:22 AM, growalot said:

Zag is there water very near by?... if not...I'd concider having at least a small pond put in near the plot...it will make the area great for hunting a bunch of critters...even fowl...many a time I have had duck come into our little wet area when the rains have been high of we've had early snows and quick melts...one day I'll get a pond in there! its loaded with grey clay...Makes sense if your going to have a dozer in there any ways...just think of the prevailing winds during fall leaf drop....having it on the correct side of the plot will help keep it clean..along with other tricks...

I think that's what were going to do. Will have the food plot that's longest length runs north to south. The south west side will transition below into a pond. Hence having a dozer come in.

[Zag]

Well I took about 10 - 15 loads of firewood out of the plot today. Sadly that all came from one pile and I have about 20 left. SOB this has been a job but once done it ill all be worth it!

[stubborn1VT]

What did you haul firewood out with zag?  I wish I had that problem!  I love doing firewood.  Thanks for posting.  I was was starting to wonder if anyone was working on plots out there.  Rain/freezing rain here today, or I'd be doing some cleanup and getting a little wood out myself.  

Hope all your hard work pays off.  Nice to see the progress.  

[Zag]

On 1/3/2017 at 8:17 AM, stubborn1VT said:

What did you haul firewood out with zag?  I wish I had that problem!  I love doing firewood.  Thanks for posting.  I was was starting to wonder if anyone was working on plots out there.  Rain/freezing rain here today, or I'd be doing some cleanup and getting a little wood out myself.  

Hope all your hard work pays off.  Nice to see the progress.  

Flu ran thru our house so I'm just getting back to normal. We just use our atv with a small wagon on the back. Heading back up Sunday to move somemore.

[goosifer]

zag, thanks for this thread. It's great food for thought for people who are considering doing similar work on their land.