Last plot ...

[G-Man]

Got my.last plot plowed today still had standing water ,but it's that time .. this one will be going in to winter wheat and clover. No time really for much else as it need to be disked, dragged still.

Quick check on some hard mast.. the hazelnut ( American filbert ) are loaded this year

Rest of day to be spent wetting a line and looking at the lillies.

[G-Man]

Got it disked before the rain.. I'll wait about 2 weeks spray and plant it.

did another mast check..American chestnut looks to be very productive this year

..now the hard part do I leave them for wildlife or eat, or plant them..

[ATbuckhunter]

1 hour ago, G-Man said:

Got it disked before the rain.. I'll wait about 2 weeks spray and plant it.

did another mast check..American chestnut looks to be very productive this year

..now the hard part do I leave them for wildlife or eat, or plant them..

Wow thats really rare to have an american chestnut thats survivng so well. Have you ever thought about planting some more of the seeds from that tree?

[G-Man]

3 hours ago, ATbuckhunter said:

Wow thats really rare to have an american chestnut thats survivng so well. Have you ever thought about planting some more of the seeds from that tree?

The squirrels have planted many found 12 last year alone the rodents planted.. I have over 50 this one is largest left after 3 biggest died of blight

[ATbuckhunter]

13 minutes ago, G-Man said:

The squirrels have planted many found 12 last year alone the rodents planted.. I have over 50 this one is largest left after 3 biggest died of blight

Too bad about the blight, but its great that this one is still standing. Any idea how old it might be?

[G-Man]

2 hours ago, ATbuckhunter said:

Too bad about the blight, but its great that this one is still standing. Any idea how old it might be?

This one will be 14 next spring

[ATbuckhunter]

8 hours ago, G-Man said:

This one will be 14 next spring

Id kill to have a tree like that where I hunt. Id be planting the chestnuts all over the place lol. 

[G-Man]

17 minutes ago, ATbuckhunter said:

Id kill to have a tree like that where I hunt. Id be planting the chestnuts all over the place lol. 

I did that back in 94.. 100 of them. They are seeding themselves now  I've lost quite a few but the largest produced for years before they succumbed to the blight,  and they grow readily from stump and produce quickly.. acorn are hit and miss this year but chestnuts seem to be loaded at the moment setting burrs about the size of a quarter right now

[moog5050]

29 minutes ago, G-Man said:

I did that back in 94.. 100 of them. They are seeding themselves now  I've lost quite a few but the largest produced for years before they succumbed to the blight,  and they grow readily from stump and produce quickly.. acorn are hit and miss this year but chestnuts seem to be loaded at the moment setting burrs about the size of a quarter right now

We grew some dunstan chestnut trees from seed this year.  They are still only 8" tall or so.  I told my son we would grow them through the winter in a pot in a basement grow tent and plant next year.  Only 2 made it so we really need a couple more.  But envy you.  Those things have to be deer magnets.

[G-Man]

Just now, moog5050 said:

We grew some dunstan chestnut trees from seed this year.  They are still only 8" tall or so.  I told my son we would grow them through the winter in a pot in a basement grow tent and plant next year.  Only 2 made it so we really need a couple more.  But envy you.  Those things have to be deer magnets.

The deer stand under them and wait for squirrels to shake limbs so they drop, squirrels cant get in the burrs but when they open they shake limbs and run down the tree to gather.. the cinnamon bear was checking out a 7 year old tree that just got its 1st crop this year.. hoping it doenst pull tree down like other I've lost to them.

[UpStateRedNeck]

I need to try and get some seedlings off my Chestnut oaks one of these years.  Big long fat acorns that when they drop, deer go absolutely bananas for them.  Saved a few last year but never froze and potted them.

[Putnamcounty Bowhunter]

Hi G-man everything looks great! 

Would love to hear more about how you got the hazelnuts established- They look fantastic!  My lease partner and I are planning on creating wide transition zone around our main plot complex that we envision as sort of an "fruit and nut savanna" that looks similar to the area in the upper right corner of your food plot picture.    Looking at adding a mix of spaced out fruit trees,  leaving the handful of native oaks in the area standing, and installing small clusters of hazelnuts, plums, blackberries, and high bush blueberries (already several of these in the area).     With a lot of bear and deer in the area, we're concerned that the shrubs and trees will take a beating unless protected.   Rather than protecting individual bushes we thought we could fence of a couple 10' and 20' diameter circles to protect clusters of shrubs from the bears and deer for a couple years.     

Depending on how the high sugar ryegrass performs this year, we'll probably use the sweet spot mix and some nwsg's to create the savanna under and around the trees and shrubs.   Hoping the finished product will provide good fawning cover and significantly increase forage production around the food plots.    

[G-Man]

1 hour ago, Putnamcounty Bowhunter said:

Hi G-man everything looks great! 

Would love to hear more about how you got the hazelnuts established- They look fantastic!  My lease partner and I are planning on creating wide transition zone around our main plot complex that we envision as sort of an "fruit and nut savanna" that looks similar to the area in the upper right corner of your food plot picture.    Looking at adding a mix of spaced out fruit trees,  leaving the handful of native oaks in the area standing, and installing small clusters of hazelnuts, plums, blackberries, and high bush blueberries (already several of these in the area).     With a lot of bear and deer in the area, we're concerned that the shrubs and trees will take a beating unless protected.   Rather than protecting individual bushes we thought we could fence of a couple 10' and 20' diameter circles to protect clusters of shrubs from the bears and deer for a couple years.     

Depending on how the high sugar ryegrass performs this year, we'll probably use the sweet spot mix and some nwsg's to create the savanna under and around the trees and shrubs.   Hoping the finished product will provide good fawning cover and significantly increase forage production around the food plots.    

I actually.got 10.free hazelnuts from the arbor association as part of their project. For a couple of years. They were givi ngf them.out for free when you joined.. I Just stuck them in forest openings in the sun in early spring and in 3 years they were reproducing,  they spread by nuts or roots and I have several.clusters that are 10 ft tall and 8 ft around. I have read you can mark and cut off the new sprouts with a shovel and transplant in fall to eatablish in other areas, some thing I plan on trying after they go dormant this year.