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I'm in the process of converting 10 acres of cattle pasture to deer/turkey habitat. I was unable to spray the fescue last fall and sprayed a portion of it in May this year with Gly and got a good kill. The remaining fescue is extremely tall. I am assuming it will start to lay down at some point...

Dark Sky app is great. It has been extremely accurate, especially with timing of precipitation and changes in wind direction. Allows for weather based on a GPS pin.

I planted some annuals at the same time and then some additional Balansa and Berseem a few weeks ago in a spot that I thought was done flooding for the year, I was wrong. I'm sure some in the first plot will make it but there is a lot of pasture clover, ragweed, and fescue mixed in.

As anticipated by the experienced members of IW, the clover I frost seeded on March 20 has prospered. The areas that held lots of moisture, even standing at times, did much better. We didn't have much frost after I seeded, so the moisture may have also contributed to seed/soil contact. I have...

Approximately two weeks ago I seeded Red Clover (Persist) and White Clover (Renovation) on bare dirt. The soil was wet but frozen that morning so I was confident it would get proper soil contact. The soil received about .5 inch rain within a few days. I noticed some, especially the Red Clover...

I took the afternoon off yesterday to spread some lime to help raise the PH in my future food plots. My soil tested at 6.4 pH in this location which is on the low end for alfalfa. I will not be planting these plots until late summer so the lime should have some time to start working. Lime, in...

It floods, but not necessarily every year. Usually, it is just extremely wet in places. Removal of the grass should help dry it out. I am planting patches of native shrubs (ROD, Silky Dogwood, Holly, Buttonbush, etc.) that enjoy such habitat and adding a food plot near my current hunting setup...

Deerdown, thanks for chiming in. Yes, I have spent a lot of time researching reed canary grass. I am usually not a supporter of overreaching government regulation, but I would applaud a ban on the sale of reed canary grass seed. In the drainage my farm is in, many areas have been completely...

I have gained a lot of knowledge from this site regarding habitat management so I thought I would attempt to give back by sharing my progress and plan. I purchased my property in late October of 2020. It is located in west central Illinois (about 25 minutes of southeast of Keokuk, Iowa.) The...

It appears that I may need to install an access road between a crop field and timber edge to access parts of my property. Anyone ever done this and have suggestions as to what to plant? My initial thoughts were some type of perennial clover. Road will run North-South so it will not get very much...

I want to incorporate those species into my food plot plan for the for the diversity they add to the landscape. I have rather large diverse plots of perennial clovers and alfalfa in the vicinity so this annual clover plot is more of an addition than a substitute. I agree 100% with your...

Anyone ever established an annual clover plot that would reseed itself? Craig Harper suggests that this can be accomplished with Crimson, Arrowleaf, Berseem, ect. by letting the clovers go to seed. My thought was to use Crimson, Frosty Berseem, and Balansa in West Central Illinois. Has anyone...

Absolutely. It would be great to have youtube content such as "Planting Alfalfa for Deer." I'm thinking a multiple episode series where everything a habitat manager would need to know about alfalfa plots would be presented. Really get in the weeds regarding broadcasting v drilling...

I guess we did highjack your thread. I'm planting a single row of eastern red cedar for my road screen, mostly because they are free. I don't have a huge road hunting problem so I want them spaced far apart so the bottoms limbs don't die. This won't result in a quick road screen. I would think...

Waiting to see what happens with the seedbank will be a lot faster than any benefit you are going to see with a tree planting. Cedar trees will grow 6 foot limbs, therefore at your spacing, 7 foot with 10 foot rows, you will have a biological desert in the future, as the limbs will overlap and...

I have to agree with Tmayer13. 600 cedars an acre, or any tree for that matter, seems counterproductive. If you don't have any forested areas I could understand a tree planting, however, if you do, I would take an old field management approach to the pasture. Remove the cool season grasses and...

They're definitely pin oaks. I'm in southern Hancock County near West Point blacktop. I'm almost overrun with Pin Oaks. I have some shingle oaks as well. Maybe I should consider myself lucky.

Lot of bottomland for sure. I’m only cutting down the Pin Oaks to release White, Bur, and Swamp. Plan is to plant Swamp Whites and persimmon in bottomland sites. White, Bur, Post, and Chinkapin on upland sites.

I just finished reading all of the TSI thread in Dbltree's Corner. Great stuff and very informative. There was a lot of discussion of black oak and eliminating it in many situations, however I could not find a reference to Pin Oak. My place in west central Illinois is chock full of it. It grows...