Wildlife & Timber Management / Food Plots / Equipment

[ehart814]

Did a search and found some posts about food plots and equipment being used. I wanted to start a thread for everyone to post up images and feedback on attachments and implements being used with Pioneers, as well as before/after photos and success stories. I started working in our property to improve the deer habitat. Started out very small last year with just some cutting and trimming and a couple throw n grow kill plots - with more success than I expected. So in 2022 I'm getting more serious. With the pioneer and other equipment available to me, I'm planning a couple nice 1/4 - 1/2 acre clover plots to be planted this spring, overseeding mid to late summer with something (to be determined). Frost seeded some clover around the edges where it will be hard to get equipment.

The property I'm focused on needs some brush / cover / screening / bedding areas. So I have already frost seeded some switch grasses around the edges in certain places. Will take a while to get the switch established but it's a start.

Thinking long term, last fall I planted nine crabapple and wild apple trees (year old trees), tubed and caged with 5' high steel mesh fence.

Also planning to learn more about timber management. Need to thin out some of the useless trees, and smaller trees to help the larger cherry, oak, black walnut, and maple we have. Considering eliminating the black walnut since it is so valuable and it doesn't play well with some other vegetation.

 

[Remington]

Nice work!
Ive been doing this on my property in northern Mi last 5years. Its alot of work. Got buddys that help A few times a year. I use the P1 for hauling seed, logs and pull the cultipacker behind it. Otherwise Im using my 8N with the larger implements. We have alot of sandy soil up here, so we brought in some good clean mix of black top soil and some Dairy doo. getting into the woods was a treat so my buddy hauled his skid loader up during the scamdemic lock down and we all pitched in to get er done! Weve had better success but not what i was expecting. i too added some apple trees in tubes. some dies some have Survived. Its a tuff prosess but we keep on going! We have more trouble with “seed steelers” Turkeys than anything else.

 

[Farmer]

Lookin good fellas.... I've had cattle in my woods since we moved here a few years ago. Always took the hot wire down and kicked the cows at on Oct 1. for venison season. Sold the cows last fall but might rent the woods out again this summer to keep the ag exemption. Here in IL every acre counts. But, there are a ton of deer around here and we hunt them too so I've always wanted to put in a cow proof food plot by my tower for bambi season. If it weren't for super high IL taxes the deer would have it all year.

Vines have pulled down alot of the old hawthorns so I've been out with the Pioneer today getting more firewood. It's perfect for this time of year and we also use it to haul stuff out to our campsite in the summer.

 

[Buckshot07]

Did a search and found some posts about food plots and equipment being used. I wanted to start a thread for everyone to post up images and feedback on attachments and implements being used with Pioneers, as well as before/after photos and success stories. I started working in our property to improve the deer habitat. Started out very small last year with just some cutting and trimming and a couple throw n grow kill plots - with more success than I expected. So in 2022 I'm getting more serious. With the pioneer and other equipment available to me, I'm planning a couple nice 1/4 - 1/2 acre clover plots to be planted this spring, overseeding mid to late summer with something (to be determined). Frost seeded some clover around the edges where it will be hard to get equipment.

The property I'm focused on needs some brush / cover / screening / bedding areas. So I have already frost seeded some switch grasses around the edges in certain places. Will take a while to get the switch established but it's a start.

Thinking long term, last fall I planted nine crabapple and wild apple trees (year old trees), tubed and caged with 5' high steel mesh fence.

Also planning to learn more about timber management. Need to thin out some of the useless trees, and smaller trees to help the larger cherry, oak, black walnut, and maple we have. Considering eliminating the black walnut since it is so valuable and it doesn't play well with some other vegetation.


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Plant some forage chicory.
I use Whitetail Institute Chic magnet. Once established, you can spray it with everything you spray on your clover.
I have 1 plot of nothing but WI Imperial Clover and another with Imperial Clover mixed with chicory.
The deer will cherry pick the chicory out gnawing it to the ground before touching the clover.
Chicory has a long tap root and continues to grow in hot summer when the clover growth slows.

 

[chaos19671]

nice looking bucks guys. will definitely be keeping an eye on this thread. hope more people chime in with their experiences. Anyone have recommendation for a crop that can be planted in wet areas? Have a stand near a creek that floods out early and late season. Thanks

 

[ehart814]

nice looking bucks guys. will definitely be keeping an eye on this thread. hope more people chime in with their experiences. Anyone have recommendation for a crop that can be planted in wet areas? Have a stand near a creek that floods out early and late season. Thanks

Check out Ernst Conservation Seeds. Local company to me. They offer so many different seeds for erosion control, wildlife, pollinators, reclamation, etc. Their website is a little tricky at first but there is a ton of info there and I do remember seeing a wildlife mix for seasonally flooded areas. Some of it is expensive stuff.

 

[ehart814]

One of the photos in my original post shows a yellow wagon behind a yamaha. It's from Northern tool. Extremely handy! I have drug it through the woods, through 2' deep water, up and down the roads loaded with close to a ton of wood in it at 35+mph. It tows very nice. Greasable hubs. Comes with chainsaw and tool holders too. The only downside is that it does not dump. But that's no big deal. If you buy one you won't regret it!

 

[Remington]

Plant some forage chicory.
I use Whitetail Institute Chic magnet. Once established, you can spray it with everything you spray on your clover.
I have 1 plot of nothing but WI Imperial Clover and another with Imperial Clover mixed with chicory.
The deer will cherry pick the chicory out gnawing it to the ground before touching the clover.
Chicory has a long tap root and continues to grow in hot summer when the clover growth slows.

What time of year do you sugest to plant that, and can you overseed, or does it have to be precise?

 

[Buckshot07]

What time of year do you sugest to plant that, and can you overseed, or does it have to be precise?

Whitetail Institute’s website will give you planting dates for your area.
I also have a brochure somewhere that lists it for all their seed.
I have overseeded clover and chicory with good results.
Started my one plot planted with WI Edge. Seed mix didn’t allow for spraying with a broadleaf herbicide. The plot got overrun with dock weed as a result. Turns out when I plowed and rototilled the plot before planting, all I did was chop up and spread the dock roots. You also bring weed seed to the surface anytime you turn ground. Some weed seeds can be dormant deep in the ground for many years.
I talked with the WI weed biologist and we came up with a plan of attack. I ended up continuously mowing for the rest of that year to prevent the weeds from producing anymore seed. Following spring I sprayed for both broadleaf and grass type weeds, then overseeded with clover and chicory.
Im still dealing with a little dock in that plot but slowly eliminating it with spraying twice a year and mowing off the seed heads before they mature.

ChicMagnet Planting Dates - Food Plot Planting Dates - Deer Food Plot Seeds Planting Dates

whitetailinstitute.com