June 2008 Food Plot Update

A Favorite Picture

One Mean Grouse

June finally brought rain and some warm weather that has finally allowed our plots to grow some good green nutrition for the deer. I'm feeling a little better about our plots but our overall results are still a mixed bag.

Oldhouse Food Plot

The Durana clover planted in April is growing but not quite as much as I would have liked. At the end of June the plot is a little more than one half clover and reminds me more of a two year old plot. It will be interesting to see how well the Durana competes with the grass and weeds that have grown in the plot.

We're finally seeing deer eating in the plot so we know they're using it.

On June 25th I mowed the plot and we'll see how it does over the rest of the summer.

The brassica in the Seclusion Blend has come on strong over the last month and is a good six inches tall. I'm not quite sure if there is much wheat or clover growing, but I was sure glad to see the brassica pop up.

The interesting thing is that the deer are already eating the brassica. The last time I planted them in the spring the deer didn't touch them until late August. I watched deer eating in the plot on our last visit and you can see that they've eaten the brassica leaves. It doesn't matter to me when they eat it, after all, that's why we planted it.

It will be interesting to see if they eat all of the brassica early and if the clover and wheat show up.

I got tired of waiting for something to happen in this plot so on June 6th I started disking the plot. On June 11th I disked, applied 160 lb of lime, 50 lb of 10-20-20 fertilizer, dragged, planted Biologic Lablab, dragged again and then pulled the small disks over it with the four wheeler.

On June 25th the Lablab was up a few inches but it was rather sparse. I used plenty of seed for the plot size, but it seemed to be a lot more sparse than it should have been.

I don't think the deer are bothering the Lablab much yet, but I don't think they will let it get very high before they clean it up. We'll see how long they wait.

The small strip of Provide clover and chicory has quite a bit of grass in it but you can see some clover and chicory.

The middle plot is nice and green but it looks like it's mostly plantin (I hope I spelled that right). I'm not seeing a lot of clover and chicory but there is some there.

I'll be watching this plot close, it could be up for a new planting this fall. We'll wait and see.

Whippoorwill Food Plot

The whippoorwill plot has really impressed me for a small plot. It has held up better than most of the other plots and from looking at the exclusion cage and the pictures it is easy to tell that the deer are using it heavily.

This is the only plot that hasn't even needed mowing and the purple flower weed hasn't reared its pretty head yet.

Hayfield Food Plot

Again in June the Durana and Alfa Rack we planted last spring have continued to come on strong.

The Durana we planted last fall is growing well in patches but was definitely hurt by the dry weather last fall after planting. The Monster Mix is very thin.

The Durana we planted in late May is starting but not overdoing it. We'll keep watching it to see how it does this summer.

I'd rather not keep planting this plot in sections so I may keep the thin spots until the entire plot needs re-planting, but you know I can always change my mind.

Our digital trail cameras showed us that the deer starting using this plot heavily in June.

Right Of Way Food Plot

This plot just doesn't seem to want to grow anything. The Monster Mix planted in late May hasn't done much of anything. Shortly after planting, it seemed to want to pop up, but a few days of dry weather seemed to put the brakes on. Once the rain and warmer weather came the seeds seemed to have lost their desire.

My patience are thin with this plot and it may see some Lablab in July to see what happens. It wouldn't take much disking to get the mostly bare dirt ready to plant again.

What a spring, but we finally have some green growth and the deer are using it. I guess that is our goal even if the plots are not lush.

Are we learning anything? I'm not sure yet. If I get a revelation I'll be sure to let you know.

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 June that did not make the cut. There is a turkey in the picture but that's obviously not why I liked this picture. A storm had rolled through on May 31st and the turkey walked by as the clouds hung low.

You can take a look at our favorite deer pictures from June 25th here.

The last time I wrote about our attack grouse I'm not sure most believed that we had a deranged grouse on our hands. Unfortunately I had another run-in with him. I'm assuming it is a male grouse. I don't want to admit I'm getting my clocked cleaned by a female grouse.

In early June I was leaving the oldhouse food plot after retrieving my cameras and was just putting along slow on the four wheeler thinking about a camera problem of some kind. (I think it was what to do with some ants that had taken up residence in my Camtrakker.) All of a sudden something slammed into the back of my head. I felt the wings slap around my ears and I'll have to admit that I was quite startled. He had quite a hard punch and I didn't even know he was coming. After realizing what had happened I once again gave the four wheeler a lot of throttle and cleared out of there.

Last week Ryan and I had stopped along the road to talk and Ryan spotted him coming out of the woods on foot or claw. We started away in two different directions while he came on out and strutted around in the road showing his dominance.

Later we were in the area with a chainsaw and he didn't show. I think we may have intimidated him.