April 2008 Food Plot Update

Digital Trail Cameras - Delay Between Pictures

The Attack Grouse

In April the weather improved but the activity in our food plots slowed due to problems with our tractor. On April 3rd the hydraulics to our three point hitch quit working. This still allowed us to use the pull behind disks, but when we started working on the tractor on the 19th we had to leave it tore down while we waited for parts. I picked up the parts on the 28th and we completed the repairs on the evening of the 29th.

In general our food plots have not been impressive this spring. Those planted last spring are doing well, those planted last fall are poor and those we had planted so far this spring are disappointing.

Oldhouse Food Plot

I had applied about 200 pounds of lime on the old house food plot and started disking on April 3rd until the three point hitch stopped operating. I applied 75 pounds of 10-20-20 fertilizer and dragged our old bedsprings but the dirt was still too damp and clumping so I decided to wait and let it dry out more. I felt that it would be best to let it dry more and disk it again. We spent the rest of the day trying to figure out why the three point hitch had stopped working.

On April 8th I used our old pull behind disks and disked the plot after which I dragged it with the bedsprings. The soil was still a little damp but the additional disking and dragging the bedsprings had helped a good bit. I sowed Durana and decided to let the forecasted rainfall work the seeds into the ground. I had the food plot planted but the conditions were not ideal.

As of April 25th the clover has just started to pop up. Hopefully it will continue to come on strong since I already see some grass trying to beat it out of the ground.

The cornpatch plot doesn't have much clover left in it. There could be some more clover pop up as we advance through May but it doesn't look good.

My next decision with this plot is when to disk it up and plant something else. I'm thinking about planting an annual here for the summer and putting a perennial back here in the fall. It depends on whether or not any more clover pops up, the weather and how much time I have available to work in the plots.

On April 25th we mowed the plot with the garden tractor. It was on the verge of turning back into a hayfield.

The Old Garden looks bad. The area planted last fall is relatively bare, except for some wild onions. The strip I planted on March 29th is only showing some small sprouts. The interesting thing is that the chicory inside of the exclusion cage is doing great. After seeing this I know that I can't blame the poor plot completely on the dry conditions after it was planted. The deer must have contributed to the problem as well.

It looks like the overseeding may be providing some very small new growth, but it sure doesn't look like I had hoped it would.

This plot isn't in danger of being disked up just yet, but if it doesn't come along soon I just may do that.

Middle Clearing Food Plot

Although the middle food plot isn't a tall lush patch of clover and chicory it is still one of our best plots. There are some weeds and a little grass but the clover and chicory are there.

The clover and chicory inside the exclusion cage is much higher and thicker than outside the cage.

Whippoorwill Food Plot

The whippoorwill plot is similar to the middle clearing plot. The clover and chicory are coming on and the growth inside of the exclusion cage was great. The weak spot in this plot is that it stays thin close to the woods. This hurts this plot since it is so small.

Hayfield Food Plot

The hayfield plot has some real nice areas and some rough areas.

The Alfa Rack has come back strong and the growth inside of the exclusion cage shows us what would be possible with less pressure from the deer. The grass herbicide we applied last year has also killed much of the grass.

The Durana that was planted last spring is very impressive so far this year. There is a nice carpet of clover covering the ground.

The Durana we planted last fall looks like it is trying to come on strong but it is spotty so far. I'm curious to see how it does.

The small area of Monster Mix is very sparse, including inside the exclusion cage.

The extension to this plot has been derailed by wet weather and the problems with our tractor. I may get to work on it in May, we'll wait and see.

Right Of Way Food Plot

The Monster Mix we planted in this plot in late March hasn't shown us much yet. It started to sprout up but has been at a stand still. I'm hoping that some rain followed by warmer temperatures will bring it back to life.

One of my goals this year was to get the plots planted earlier than in years past to try to get them established before the grass started to choke them out. This may have backfired on me since the plots I have planted so far are not doing well. If they do not come on strong soon I'll have to rethink my early planting ideas.

I also haven't seen much of a benefit from our over seeding we did earlier this year. If I can't see any difference as spring progresses I'll likely not over seed again. I'm trying to watch this close to see if this was a valuable practice.

In our plots that showed good growth inside of the exclusion cages I have moved the cage. I want to see how soon the deer will eat the newly revealed plants and I also want to see if eaten down areas will bounce back when protected. I'll let you know how it goes.

This month I would like to discuss the different time delays of our digital trail cameras.

Although you wouldn't think that the delay between pictures is a big issue it has actually been something that I have found to be very important. The biggest problem is that some of the cameras do not have a delay of less than one minute.

I have cameras with the shortest delay ranging from 5 seconds up to one minute. I like to see trail cameras with a large variety of small delays. If I put a camera out at a scrape, along a trail or on a food plot I like to have the shortest delay possible. I think a one minute delay is too long in these situations.

One feature that some digital trail camera manufacturers are now offering is the capability to set the camera so that it will take multiple pictures on each activation. This is not the same as a short delay but it is better than the one minute delay. One difficulty with this feature is that the flash may not be recharged to capture multiple night time pictures.

One of my newer cameras also has the capability of a different delay for daytime and nighttime pictures. This is another improvement on the shorter delays.

When placing the cameras at feeders or mineral licks delays of one minute or more are generally sufficient.

I know that choosing a new digital trail camera is difficult but keep the delay between pictures in mind when you are shopping.

You can take a look at our digital trail camera reviews here.

Now that we have captured pictures of bobcats, coyotes and black bears in our area wild animals acting like predators should not surprise us, but we have been surprised.

We have a grouse that seems to have some predator tendencies. A few weeks ago we were disking in the oldhouse food plot when the grouse came walking up into the plot and walked right up to us. When I got off of the four wheeler he turned and slowly walked into the woods.

Two weeks ago he chased me out the road, running after the four wheeler.

Last Friday our neighbor came back and told me that he was attacked by a grouse. I thought that he was joking.

Later I went out to check our plots and cameras and there were two grouse alongside the road. After I slowly drove past them, one of them started flying after me. He was right on the back end of the four wheeler so I sped up and left him behind.

Ryan decided that he wanted to ride out and see if the Rambo grouse was out there but he didn't see it on his way out. When Ryan was on his way back the grouse was sitting in the middle of the road waiting for him. Ryan decided to try to put him in the dust and blow right by him. Ryan said that after he went by he looked back and there came the grouse emerging from the dust with both wings flapping hard.

Is this a female grouse that has young ones close or could this be a male grouse with strong territorial tendencies? I'm not sure but I'll keep my head on a swivel when I ride through this area from now on.......and we were wondering if the bobcats, coyotes and black bears would be dangerous.