A few pictures taken from July 27, 2012. This is the first time anyone has been on the property since the rain we had in mid July. The Tractor Shed Field, Owl Field, 3 Way, Bow Hole and Dove Field all look pretty good. All could stand to be sprayed for grass, but we'll take what we've got right now. We definitely could use another rain on the farm as well. Coming in a "far cry from pretty" are the Pecan Tree Ladder and duck holes 2 and 3. For some reason they didn't take very well and have been overrun with weed competition. I hope to have some new picture of those spots next week when I make it down. The milo/millet at the dove field is coming along nicely, although not as quickly as I'd hoped. I plan to start discing and getting some new ground broken next weekend around the homesite for our "normal agricultural practice" dove attraction to begin. We'll need to start sowing some wheat if we want to have a shoot opening weekend. The milo and millet will certainly be ready for the 2nd season but doesn't look like it'll make in time to shoot over in Sept.
0 Comments
This marks my first "blog entry." I'm not much on writing, but I'll do my best. It's been well documented the best way to have quality, healthy and numbers of deer in the Fall and Winter is to make it hosptiable in Spring and Summer. We were faced with many obstacles in the Spring of 2012. Although we were blessed with a Spring in which the property was not challenged by backwater, deaths in the family, illnesses and surgeries prevented us from maximixing the growing season to it's fullest potential. Even so, dad forged ahead only a couple of weeks removed from major back surgery and went to work. We were able to get 18 acres of fields planted in a mix of RR soybeans/iron clay peas/sorghum mix. All 3 of our duck holes were planted in sorghum and additional space was left unplanted for us to come in with Japanese Millet at a later date. He also planted a 3 acre dove field in browntop millet and grain sorghum. All of this went in on 6/28/2012. As of today, 7/12/12, our summer plots have been in the ground for 2 weeks. We've gotten a little over two inches of rain in the past couple of days after going 11 days without any precipitation. We are also currently running 3 tripod feeders with a mix of 18% protien pellets and corn as well as having 6 mineral sites scattered around the 300 acres. Currently our feeders are stationed in the Owl Field, Landing Strip and the 3 Way. The mineral sites are located at the Pecan Tree Ladder, Owl Field, Landing Strip, 3 Way, Oak Ladder and Bow Hole. We have not deployed any cams yet, but plan on putting several out the first weekend in August. I'm anxiously awaiting the pictures from the first pull to see if we have any bucks that will make the "Hit List" for the fall. I fully believe the high water in the spring of 2011 had a detrimental effect on the antler growth last year. After reviewing photos from last year, I believe we should have 10-15 bucks in the 3 1/2 + age range. There were more 100-120" deer on camera than anything else. We did not take a single buck from our property last year. Not having the flood waters, coupled with some high protien feed this summer should translate into better bucks this fall. I'm holding out hope, anyway. |
Archives
July 2016
Categories |