MnMoose's 2017 Foodplot & Habitat Journal

Last weekend I checked our clover and put out trail cams

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Looks like you're off to a good start! Keep up the posts, I'm enjoying watching this

 

What are you seeing Moose? Looking for updates!

 

I have been so busy lately I haven't done anything with the hunting land in a few weeks! I have some pictures to post this weekend. I should have some time since I am doing one of those clinical studies. Next weekend (7/15) I plan to get back out and start prepping for fall foodplots with some spray!

 

Brace your selves, an update is coming

 

I've been bracing myself for the last 24 hours and there is still no update. How much longer should I brace myself?

 

Well I pulled 56,000 pictures, so its gonna take some time! I may have been premature on the announcement...

 

How many cameras out to get 56,000 pictures in a month and a half?!

 

12, Some were on time lapse, some were set up wrong. Lots of wind pictures. I also am running 16gb SD Cards because I hate finding out that it filled up!

 

Well you better hurry up, I bet Jake is getting tired of bracing himself by now!

 

Im just gonna do the habitat update without trail camera pictures for now, I dont wan't to wait that long. Ill try to get something posted in the next 24 hours sorry guys

 

Can't take it, not bracing anymore.

Carry on.

 

Alright here is is guys! So last Saturday I got to my parents house and loaded up the JD and headed out to the hunting land. We started leaving our implements out at the hunting land since they were starting to pile up at my Dad's. Hence no brush hog


I pulled up and parked next to a small 1/4 acre corn plot that we plant mostly for pheasant hunting. Last year the coons and deer destroyed our corn beyond all belief and hopes of having cobs! This year there is some browse damage but our hopes are still up that there will be some cobs in this plot.


The first thing I did was throw on the brush hog and mow our tree rows in the front of the property. These trees were planted without the mat so it is even more important to stay on top of the mowing. Hopefully in a few years they will be tall enough to block the view from the road and inhibit poachers. We do have a few food plots directly visible over these trees so i can't wait for them to get tall! The second picture is a set of tree rows connecting our swamp to my uncles woods and separating my uncles Ag field from our CRP. It really is a great funnel and you can bet I have a tree stand on the end of them


Here is an update on the clover plot that I planted last spring. There is some great growth in this plot (18-24") but there is some grass still mixed in. I decided to mow it down to about 6" to get some new growth and try and control the grasses. If that is not enough to kill out the grasses I will come with clethodim next weekend and spray it.

Here is our main corn foodplot at this property. It is only about a half acre but this is the first time we planted the entire thing into corn and it is also the first time that it grew well. I am really excited about this, it seems that between timing the planting right, more fertilizer, more corn planted, and planting beans right next to the corn for a distraction that the deer have left this alone and we might get a good plot of corn this fall. I would like to come in just before the corn turns yellow and over seed some brassicas into the corn, but it is at 24" rows so there ma not be enough sunlight to germinate and grow well.


Here are a couple pictures of the beans that we planted close to the corn. Every single bean is picked off except the ones under the cage that I put in to test growth. Those beans are 8-12" tall compared to 2-3" in the rest of the plot. This is really the first time that I planted beans with the corn planter and I am really happy with the results. I doubled up on the rows to get 12" instead of 24". I wish I had a way to plant beans and have enough growth to justify saving them and just overseeding brassicas into them, but they are going to get tilled up this year.

Here is one of the apple trees I germinated and planted in the trees rows. Last week I put a 6' tree tube on it to save them from getting eaten by deer. Hopefully they poke out of the tubes by the end of next year and in a few more we may start having crab apples show up! Im sure it will make for great trail camera pictures. There is 4 trees total planted at this farm so far.

The wireless stealth cam that I still can't get to work. It was a refurb and I am going to call customer service again after this weekend.

 

Here are a couple more pictures of the beans that I was talking about. I love these cages because it allows you to see what the plots would have done without deer pressure. simple hog wire construction.



Here is the reconyx that I put on our clover plot. last time it took 17000 picutres becuase a milk weed grew up 3 inches infront of it


This is a new plot that I sprayed last weekend. The woods in the back isn't ours, but this is between our woods (behind me) and our sanctuary willow swamp (Right side of picture). It is going to make a kick ass shotgun or muzzleloader stand since my ladder stand is about 100 yards away. It may be fun to see deer out there while bowhunting too but I won't be able to shoot this plot.



Downloading pics from cards since I only have enogh 16 gb cards to cover the cameras I have and no more. 56,000 pictures is a lot to handle! Lots of wind pictures though so far


And we ended the day with more spraying, this time at our second property which isprimarily pheasant hunting but I did place a couple cameras out here this weekend cause there is starting to be more and more deer and this is the property my ex gf shot her 154" at!



I will be back at it again this weekend and hopefully will provide a more timely update this time! I am also in process of editing some film and putting together a video from and earlier foodplot and habitat weekend this summer. Don't start bracing for that yet, it will be a while!
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Nice update! Looking forward to some buck pics.

 

This is a "corn year" meaning my uncles fields around our hunting land are corn, and we usually dont get a lot of summer buck pictures for some reason. I dont know if the bucks move to find soybeans or they are just dispersed in the cover of the corn but we just dont get a lot of pictures until around October. I am hoping to locate these bucks this year though and get some pictures. So far we only have one buck on camera that is over the 3 year old mark, and I actually think he is one we have some history with. When I am done going through all the pictures I will do a TC update

 

how old are those pines and what kinds of pines are they?

 

4-5 years old

One row is cedar, I believe the other row is blue spruce. There is supposed to be one row of lilacs but they aren't doing well..

 

Its a miracle! The wireless camera uploaded 98 pics last night from this week! I thought it was a lost cause for sure! Now I need a 12v battery to keep the thing alive!