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In this issue.... September 2009 Food Plot Update A Favorite Picture Shedding Velvet September Food Plot Journal Welcome to the September Food Plot Journal. After getting a lot done in August I was prepared to sit back and watch the food plots grow. What happened was that the weather was dry and cool and the deer didn't sit back and wait for the new food plots to grow. Oldhouse Food Plot The Durana in the oldhouse has been used heavily by the deer and growth now appears to have slowed. The clover liked the cool temperatures but it would have been nice to have gotten more moisture. It looks like there is still a lot of clover in the plot and I think it will come back pretty strong next spring if the weather cooperates. I mowed the plot in September after we got a little rain to knock back the weeds and grass.
It’s good to see two bucks in the plot along with a third unidentified deer. Corn Patch Plot The Durana clover in the cornpatch is still a nice plot of clover but has slowed down this month. Since it is now connected to the hayfield plot it has benefited from ease in pressure. It wasn't uncommon to see deer in this plot in the evenings. We mowed the plot this month to keep the grass from shading out the clover.
You can see that the plot is still green and the clover is closely cropped to the ground. Old Garden Food Plot The Durana clover in the garden plot is still doing well and has slowed as the temperatures have cooled. Nighttime visits are still a common occurrence. This plot should jump up and grow again next spring. I mowed the plot in early September.
You can see the clover in this close-up picture. This clover growth is similar to the other clover plots. Middle Clearing Food Plot The Monster Mix in the middle plot is still hanging in there. This plot just doesn't seem to give in. It has been on the chopping block for a while now, but it is still easy to spot clover in the plot. We'll wait and see what it looks like next spring and see how much it is visited during deer season this year. We mowed the plot in early September to keep the weeds and grass at bay.
Again this month we caught two bucks eating in the middle plot. Whippoorwill Food Plot The Monster Mix and Durana in the whippoorwill plot looked like it was losing the battle in August and didn't jump back in September. It also should have been mowed and I dropped the ball and didn't get it done. I'll probably disk this plot next spring and see what else we can plant.
You can see that grass has overtaken the plot, but there is still some clover left under the grass. Hayfield Food Plot The hayfield plot now contains Durana, ShotPlot, Forage Oats and Buckhunters blend(wheat). The Durana performed similar to the clover in our other plots. The cool weather didn't hurt it much but moisture would have been nice. It should come on strong next spring. I thought that the brassicas, oats and wheat would have a good chance to grow and provide a nice snack for the deer through deer season. What actually happened was that the deer started eating them in September. The brassicas grew to about six inches high and then the deer came in and ate about 75% of the plot by the end of September. The oats that were planted the earliest also got to about six inches tall and the deer trimmed them off as well. The other plot of oats and wheat appears to have gotten started and the deer have been in them as well. I got these fall plots planted earlier than last year and had hoped to reap the rewards, but the cool temperatures and dry weather didn't allow the plots to grow as expected. Once again I am reminded that the weather will make all final decisions in my plots. Last year the deer ate in the oats throughout the season and into the winter so I hope that they will do the same in the oats and wheat this year as well.
There are still some brassicas left in the plot, but they have been eaten down. Right Of Way Food Plot The Durana in the Right Of Way plot seems to have lost the battle with grass and weeds. I'll have to admit that I don't understand what happened here. Next spring I'll probably try a summer annual and see what happens. I mowed the plot again in September but it didn't seem to help the clover.
You can see that this plot looks pretty bad right now.
Since the deer have already taken a big bite out of our fall plantings I'm not sure I'll do an October journal. If I have good information I will let you see it, but if not have a great season.
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 September. This is the first time we have caught a bat on one of our cameras, especially with this clarity. You can take a look at our favorite deer pictures from September 23rd here.
Shedding Velvet One of the things that has amazed me is the velvet shedding process. When I first started using digital trail cameras I thought that I would get dozens of pictures of bucks shedding their velvet. On the contrary, I learned that the velvet shedding process is a quick process and catching it on camera was not as easy as I had expected. We caught the picture below early this month and it is one of the best pictures we have captured of a buck in the midst of shedding his velvet.
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