September 2007 Food Plot Update

Digital Trail Cameras - Power Up Time

Trophy Squirrel Hunting

We had rain in August but September was a whole different story. The little bit of rain we got in September wasn’t enough. On September 29th the ground was dry and dusty and we had just had some rain two days prior.

The two plots that we planted in late August and early September need rain bad so we’re hoping they can jump up in October. If not maybe they can get a good start next spring.

One good thing was that the Arrest grass herbicide that we used in August had done a good job knocking back the grass. Hopefully this will help these plots next spring. Our new exclusion cages have also started to show us what is going on in our plots so we're glad we finally came to our senses and made them.

Oldhouse Food Plot

The sorghum in this oldhouse plot is doing great. Some of the sorghum is well over my head and the deer haven’t starting eating it yet. The brassicas were eaten a while back and there is a bean here and there hidden in the sorghum.

I’m hoping that the deer do not start to eat the sorghum until bow season starts and I’m there to see that, but the chances of that are slim. I can always hope, they only need to wait two more weeks.

I had thought about planting something else here for the fall and winter after the deer ate the sorghum, but obviously this won’t happen. If the deer eat the sorghum soon I may mow a few strips through it so we can see through it to hunt during deer season.

Our planning for this plot will now be geared to the spring when I’ll likely put in a perennial again.

The cornpatch food plot isn’t looking that great although the herbicide did a pretty good job on the grass. The problem is that there doesn’t seem to be enough clover to take the place of the grass. The clover inside of the exclusion cage is doing well, maybe the deer are still using the plot more than we thought.

I’m hoping this plot comes on strong next spring so we don’t have to re-plant it yet. It wasn’t on my schedule and it’s already full enough.

We started killing the vegetation in the old garden food plot in August and on September 2nd we disked, applied 200 lb. of lime and spot sprayed with herbicide.

On September 7th we disked, applied 50 lb. of 10-20-20 fertilizer, dragged and sowed Evolved Habitats Provide Clover seed blend. Provide Clover is a blend of clovers along with some chicory. We didn’t drag or run over the plot because it was supposed to rain the day after we planted, but we got very little rain.

Since September 7th we’ve had very little rain and the Provide Clover is struggling to get established. The best growth we’re getting seems to be from the chicory. I hope we get some rain soon before the fall weather gets too cold.

The sorghum in our strip of Power Plant is still doing quite well and there are actually some beans growing in amongst the sorghum. The deer don’t seem willing to wade into the grass and sorghum yet to get these beans, but sooner or later they should go after them.

Middle Clearing Food Plot

The Monster Mix is looking sparse in the middle food plot as of the end of September. The herbicide did a good job on the grass but weeds have come on strong. The good side is that there is some clover and chicory still there and it looks good inside of the exclusion cage. It looks like the deer have kept the clover and chicory nipped down in the plot and allowed the weeds to grow.

Hopefully this plot can bounce back strong in the spring. We’ll spend some time hunting here this fall so we’ll watch this plot and see how much it continues to be used.

Whippoorwill Food Plot

The Bucks and Bosses blend is still doing well in this plot. The Durana in the lower portion of the plot is not doing as well, which leads me to believe that it is not very shade tolerant. The tiny strip the Durana was planted in doesn’t get much sun. It also isn’t doing as well in the shady portions of the hayfield plot where it is thriving. I’ve been surprised by how well the Bucks and Bosses is doing in this small plot.

The herbicide that we sprayed in August has done a good job of killing the grass in this plot as well.

Hayfield Food Plot

The hayfield food plot is now more like four different food plots. The Durana planted in the spring is still doing well and the deer are still spending a lot of time there as can be seen in our digital trail camera photos and the taller clover in the exclusion cage.

The Durana planted over five weeks ago is struggling. It was planted right after we got a lot of rain but it hasn’t rained much since that time. It needs more rain bad. I hope it still has time and gets enough moisture to pop up this fall.

The Monster Mix we planted five weeks ago is doing OK. The chicory in that seed blend seems to handle the dry weather better and it has popped up about three inches to green up that portion of our new plot. We saw three deer eating the chicory on our last visit.

The Alfa Rack is pretty rough looking right now. The dry weather along with the deer traffic have taken their toll on the alfalfa, clover and chicory in this section of the plot. I hope it can come back strong in the spring.

The grass herbicide we used is also working well. The grass in the Durana plot is nearly gone and the grass in the Alfa Rack has been set back. There are a few weeds left but we’ll wait until spring to deal with them.

This plot needs rain!

Right Of Way Food Plot

The Bucks and Bosses is almost non-existent in this plot. It’s funny how this seed blend did so well in the small whippoorwill plot but has been wiped out in this plot. I’m not quite sure what happened here. The plot is now mostly grass and weeds. There isn’t any difference inside of the exclusion cage.

The herbicide we sprayed is killing the grass but there isn’t much left to grow other than weeds.

I’ll probably try something else here in the spring. This would have been the plot to experiment in this fall but I think that it is too late now and the weather has been too dry with no rain in the forecast the next few days.

Our exclusion cages were a nice addition this fall and have already started giving us valuable information. We made three more for our newly planted fall plots so we can watch them from the start.

Our fall plots, on the other hand, are having a tough time in the dry weather we had in September. They are all planted in perennials so I hope they jump up in the spring if they don’t get a good start over the next month.

We have also had good results with our grass herbicide use although the clover hasn’t filled back in yet in some of the plots. Maybe in the spring!

Bow season opens up in mid-October so we’ll be getting first hand knowledge of what is going on in our food plots. Hopefully some rain will come our way and we can report strong food plot growth to you next month.

Since we enjoy testing digital trail cameras I thought that we would detail some of what we have learned by taking a look at a different subject each month.

The fifth column in our chart is power up time, which could also be called trigger speed. Power up time gets a lot of press but in my experience this isn’t the major determining factor on how much I like an individual trail camera. Although faster is better I believe some of the other factors are more important when selecting a trail camera. This being said, there are trail cameras I have tested where the power up time is so slow that it can be issue.

The major factor is where you set up your digital trail camera. If you have it along a trail and place it perpendicular and close to the trail you will need the fastest power up time to hope to catch the deer. Along a trail you need to try to angle the camera to the trail, which puts the deer in the view of the camera longer. An even better situation is to find a place along the trail where the deer are practically walking directly toward the camera. I’ve done this successfully with one of my slowest cameras with good results in the past.

The best option is to get the deer stopped to get its picture taken. This can be done many ways including a feeder, mineral lick, food plot, scrape, rub, etc. I believe that stopping the deer is the best option since some of the cameras will blur the pictures of moving deer.

Remember, do not limit your search to the fastest power up time when you shop for your next digital trail camera. Take all of the factors into consideration.

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

Saturday was youth squirrel season and Ryan decided that he wanted to shoot a nice big squirrel and have it mounted. When I picked up our bucket feeder and camera he stayed behind in an acorn saturated neck of the woods to try to bag a trophy squirrel.

About an hour later he showed up and sure enough he had a trophy squirrel. The only problem was that he shot it twice with a 20 ga shotgun. Needless to say this squirrel won’t be getting mounted.

He went back out in the evening with a .22 rifle and shortly after he chased me down while I was merrily putting out my digital trail cameras. He had hit another trophy squirrel but couldn’t find it.

After an extensive search the squirrel we determined it was nowhere to be found. I was just glad I was able to stay on my feet. The oaks are dropping their acorns and the ground was like walking on marbles. Wouldn’t you know, the trophy squirrel went over a hill to elude him and that is where we had to look.

I’ll have to admit that although I wanted to help him find that squirrel I may have spent more time looking for deer rubs and scrapes. That’s why I gave up squirrel hunting several years ago. I had always kidded myself when I said I was going squirrel hunting. I was really going deer sign hunting.

He’ll try again next week.

Here he is with the first trophy squirrel.