August Food Plot Update

Digital Game Cameras

Deer Spas

August continued to be a dry month and the deer have been able to keep the clover in our plots cropped down close to the ground. Due to my injury we didn't get to start anything new and exciting with our plots but we did our best to maintain them.

We're thinking about resurrecting a small power-line food plot that we've planted a couple of times in the past. This would be a good place to experiment in addition to the Whippoorwill plot.

The end of August has brought some rain over the last weekend and again when the remnants of Hurricane Katrina passed by. Near my home it looks like the rainfall has started to green things up again.

Oldhouse Food Plot

The clover in the oldhouse food plot is still plentiful but it is close to the ground. We mowed the plot twice but the mower blades likely never touched the clover. We also fertilized the plot with some Impact fertilizer in the beginning of the month. It was one of the few things I could do while riding on an ATV with my leg propped up.

There has been some grass crop back up but fortunately there are few weeds. We'll hit it with some Arrest grass herbicide again next spring.

With the rain that we've received I'm looking for the plots to jump up in September and provide more good forage for the deer. This area is one of my favorite hunting spots.

The corn patch plot is having a rough time even though it was only planted last spring. The apple trees in the area keep the deer coming through and they usually stop for some clover.

The part of the plot that was planted in the hayfield is having the toughest time. Hopefully we can knock the grass back next spring with some herbicide. I think we can keep this plot going with a little work.

We also mowed this plot twice and fertilized it. Due to my lack of mobility we probably mowed it a little late and let the grass get too high.

On Saturday the 27th I saw a nice looking eight-point buck in the plot. I took some pictures of him but he was about 100 yards away. It's nice to see bucks in the plots.

The old garden plot looks like it needs the rain worse than the others. I'm hoping that the rain we’ve received will help the clover jump back up.

Here again we mowed this plot twice and fertilized and likely never touched any clover with the mower blades.

It hasn't been uncommon to see deer eating in the plot. Last Saturday I spooked two deer out of the plot on my way to the outhouse at 12:30 in the afternoon. My Dad says that the deer just can't leave the plot alone. He sits on the screened porch and watches them eat.

The middle clearing plot isn't looking too bad considering how sparse it was in the spring and early summer. There is a fair amount of clover in the plot and you can see some of the evergreen from the Extreme here and there.

The plot does have some weeds but we'll wait until spring to decide what to do. Since you aren't supposed to use weed herbicide in an Extreme plot we'll have to decide what to do next spring. We could use both grass and weed herbicides and try to make a good plot of clover or just use the grass herbicide and keep the weeds mowed back. The third option would be to re-plant but I would like to stick with this plot to see how well we can revive it.

We mowed and fertilized this plot as well.

The area this plot is in is probably the dampest ground of all of our plots and the dry weather has affected it the least. Although it has a lot of grass and weeds the middle clearing plot is probably the greenest.

I'll also be doing a lot of hunting near this plot and will watch to see if the deer use the plot this fall.

The pretty weeds are still the main plant in the whippoorwill plot but I’ve noticed that some are starting to turn yellow near the end of the month. If the weeds die there may not be much left. I looked for some evidence of the Extreme but had a hard time finding any. On our next visit I'd like to mow the plot to see if there is at least some clover that could jump up in September.

As I said previously we plan on experimenting in this plot next spring. I'm looking forward to it.

We are now using our sixth digital scouting camera, it is a SpyCam S4250. The preliminary pictures look good so far. Go to the site to see how the reviews are going and check and see how the SpyCam performs over the next few weeks.

It's been fun having the cameras out year round. We've watched the bucks grow their antlers and we are now anxiously awaiting the velvet peeling process. Hopefully we get some good pictures during this time.

I've also begun doing a little scouting with a couple of our cameras by setting them up on trails. We know what is coming into our feeders and now we want to see if there are any feeder shy deer that are lingering on our property.

On the site I detail our deer management plan. We now have two areas where we've tried to give the deer all of the comforts of home. In these two areas they have food plots, feeders, minerals, water, deer feed in the winter and access to thick cover. My family thought I was nuts when I put a couple of old plastic containers out there to hold water. I'm going to watch them during deer season to see if the deer drink out of them. We already know the birds like them. They think they are oversized birdbaths.

I can also report that the two-foot diameter varmint cages are keeping the raccoons out of our deer feeders so far, but nothing would surprise me.