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In this issue.... August 2010 Food Plot Update A Favorite Picture Antler Measurements August Food Plot Journal Welcome to the August Food Plot Journal. We got a lot done in our food plots again this month but I'm not sure our efforts are going to be fruitful. The weather has been hot and dry in the latter half of the month which isn't what we needed. We also got our tractor running again which allowed us to get things done. Now that the tractor is running the weather has been our enemy. Our clover plots are not fans of hot dry weather, but they are hanging in there for the most part. Grass has become a problem so I'm thinking hard about getting a better sprayer next spring to start using more grass herbicide and try to knock the grass back. My hand sprayers are too little for the size of plots I now have. Oldhouse Food Plot The Durana in the oldhouse plot looks like it is mostly grass, but I think that it will survive another year. There is still a good bit of clover in the plot and it should jump back next spring. I mowed the plot on August 10 with the brush hog.
You can see that the grass has taken over this plot for now. This buck is the big nine point that I talk about below. Corn Patch Plot The Durana in the cornpatch plot is hanging in there among some grass. This plot is connected to the Area 3 Hayfield Plot so from now on I'll just include it in that discussion.
You can see that grass has also taken over this plot. It is a little deceiving because there is still a good bit of low growing clover. Old Garden Food Plot The Durana clover in the old garden plot is doing well although a good bit of grass has crept in here as well. I have still been mowing it with a lawn tractor, but I'm not sure how much difference there is at this point. We mowed the plot on August 10.
You can see that the clover in this plot is low to the ground in the grass. Middle Clearing Food Plot The Monster Mix in this plot has dropped off again this summer, but I still get pictures of deer eating in it. There is a little clover left along with other greenery. I'll make a decision on what to do with this plot in the spring.
These two bucks are still finding something to eat in this plot. The buck on the left is the eight point I talk about below. Whippoorwill Food Plot The Monster Mix and Durana in the this plot looks like it has been taken over by grass. We moved the trees out of the plot but have not had a chance to mow it, which it needs.
It's easy to see that this plot needs mowed. There is still some clover beneath all of the grass but you sure can't see it in this picture. Hayfield Food Plot The Durana in Area One is doing well. Some grass and weeds have sprung up with it, but there is a lot of nice clover in this section of the plot. Area Two was plowed in July, so on August 10 I disked, applied 200 pounds of lime and 50 pounds of fertilizer and dragged the plot. Then in two different sections I sowed Wildgame Max Brassica Mix and Wildgame Max Perennial Mix. I also lightly sowed some Whitetail Addiction BuckHunters Blend over the entire plot. The BuckHunters Blend was old seed that I had left so I just sowed it over the other seed to see if it would come up. On August 28 the only thing that had grown to any extent was the Brassica Mix. It looked pretty good although it looked like a little rain would help it out. I could find only very limited growth in the rest of the plot. The Durana in Area Three is doing alright and varies over the length of the plot. I had considered plowing up one end of the plot but decided to see what it looks like in the spring. The Durana in Area Four is not doing great, but I'm going to watch it and see what happens. We planted this section of the plot in less than ideal conditions in the spring and a lot of grass and weeds are present. I should mow it the next time I get a chance. I had plowed Area Five in late July and on August 10 I disked, applied 120 pounds of lime, 50 pounds of fertilizer and dragged the plot. I then sowed Evolved Harvest Winter Pz and Evolved Harvest Buck'n Oats in two areas. As of August 28 there was little growing here as well. The failures of my August plantings could possibly be caused by a couple of different factors. The weather was not on our side. Planting in the fall has always been a roll of the dice for us. Sometimes we plant early and get very little rain and sometimes we plant late and the growing season is cut short by cold weather. This year I thought that I would go the early route and then hopefully get good weather. This didn't happen. The other factor may be not getting the bigger annual seeds covered. It was so hot the day we planted that both the tractor and our ATV overheated so I didn't get to cover these seeds in any way. I know from experience that these seeds will still grow well uncovered if they get the right weather, but from now on I'll have to try harder to get some dirt on them. My current plan is to try to get some brassicas sowed in these areas when I see that we are going to get some rain. I'll just broadcast the seed on the bare ground with out disturbing the soil any. Hopefully I can get something to grow in these areas before the weather turns cold.
The brown spot in this picture is Area Two. On the right you can see the brassicas coming up and you can't hide the bare dirt in the rest of it. To the left and running out in an arc to the left is Area Three, but it is hard to differentiate from the rest of the hayfield at this point. 
When I walked into Area One to take a picture I caught this doe having a snack.
Right Of Way Food Plot The Durana in the Right Of Way plot looks pretty bad. I have decided to try to keep annuals in this small plot to experiment and give variety for the deer. I mowed the plot on August 10.
You can see that this plot is mostly grass.
That is the way it goes so we'll keep on trying and documenting our mistakes for you all to see. Hopefully our September issue will have some success to report. This was my first use of our plow. In the past I had to spend a lot of time disking but the plow has helped reduce the time it takes to prepare a plot. Our Favorite Pictures We get thousands of pictures each month with our digital trail cameras but we narrow down each set of pictures to our favorite six or seven and these are usually buck pictures. As you can imagine there are always several more that are very good but don't make the cut. Below is one of our favorite pictures from August. Sometimes we get lucky and catch a bird in flight and this time we caught a cardinal. You can take a look at our favorite deer pictures from August 28 here.
Antler Measurements One of our biggest deer this year is an eight point that we are blessed to have his shed antlers from last year. This buck probably doesn't have the best genetics for big antlers but he does seem to be the dominant buck and he may be the oldest buck we are seeing. His sheds had the biggest bases of any antler we found last winter. His shed antlers rough score about 95 inches including an assumed 14 inch inside spread. If this buck puts on 20 inches of antler growth he would be about a 115 inch deer. We are also seeing a nice nine point buck whose antlers we have from last year. We rough scored these sheds at about 98 inches with an assumed 13 inch inside spread. I'm pretty sure this buck is a year younger than the eight point. He had less mass but his tine length was longer than that of the eight point bucks. I don't like to make our harvest decisions on antler score alone, but it sure is fun when you can find shed antlers and you get to compare them to the next year. You can see both of these bucks at our August 28 Picture Page.
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