Search results

Your farm seems extremely dialed in. Makes me wonder about successive EHD outbreaks. Bucks are one thing, but you should be loaded with does with that setup. You can install an alfalfa plot without baling. My plot is mowed (bush hog) 3-4 times a year and has not been hampered by duff/debris. I...

How are you estimating how many deer are on your farm? (Trail Cam, observations, etc.). How often are you on the farm in the off season? Do you have "sanctuaries"? What type of food plots (I saw you mention clover, beans, brassicas) do you have and what approximate acreages of each type? What is...

Short answer, yes. Latest I have planted was November 8. This year the weather looks to be warmer and wetter for the first week of November. If you got it in prior to yesterday's system you will be looking good.

Available now and do not appear to be sold out yet. https://mdc12.mdc.mo.gov/Applications/TreeSeedling/Home/ProductDetails/25 The specimens I planted two years ago, which I purchased from the MDC, are all still alive and thriving in spite of last year's drought.

Does the majority of your crimson come back in spring? Does it depend on intensity of winter?

I won't be harvesting any does this year unless I foresee running out of venison. I have the food and cover and my doe population seems pretty steady, I would assume the EHD and coyotes provide the necessary culling or the doe groups run other does off the property. Also not a good idea to...

A couple hot takes in here. For Illinois: - One buck tag per year and some sort of limit to doe tags (With current predator populations and EHD coming through every other year, the need to harvest does is overblown in a lot of areas, imo.) Second buck tag if you provide access...

CWD is certainly an interesting and divisive (often unnecessarily) topic. Prion diseases are particularly scary because, if I am not mistaken, they always end in death with no known cure or method of treatment. Perhaps even scarier is the ability for these prions to pass from plant to the...

For the experienced fruit tree growers, is stone around the base of the tree a necessity? My newly planted trees are fenced and screened, etc but I have not added stone. I am assuming this is for voles?

Burning will not harm cool season grasses, they will come back with a vengeance. Unless the pasture was seeded with warm season grasses, you probably don't have any, its probably pure cool season species. I don't have much advice for converting to NWSG, but if you want an old field with forbs...

I used a hedge branch hanging from the tree I cut it from this year and it got constant action and was eventually torn down. Not sure that the species of wood had anything to do with it (branch was from past season, so scent was likely not an issue). I think the placement of the scrape is the...

Will depend on your contract or practice. As an example, my CP22 Riparian Buffer CRP does not allow for food plots.

The verdict is still out. Many of the bush honeysuckle plants leafed out after being sprayed so I think I will need to see if they leaf out again this spring before reporting the results. The MFR appeared to be toast from my observations last year. I should know in a few months whether my...

I have used various apps but they are not incredibly accurate unless the trees are leafed out. Identifying tree species is most difficult when dormant and once you get experience it will be second nature. Try to focus on the buds, stems, and form of tree as opposed to the bark.

I have found that hickory hinges quite well, so I definitely implement that technique on many if the location is right. Most of my hickory is shagbark and I tend to leave one every now and then for diversity sake, especially if they are already well established and there is no nearby oak. I have...

Seems like deer preference can vary a bit by region as any native shrub I plant with the exception of button bush is browsed heavily. I also like to plant some that have a canopy form to promote ideal nesting cover. Ninebark and arrow wood are good choices, serviceberry also good but a little...

Thanks for all the feedback.

Mulberry - A lot of these trees (in Illinois) are nonnative white mulberries as opposed to our native red mulberries. They also readily hybridize so its difficult to discern between the two. I'm as anti-invasive/non-native as they come, but mulberry gets a free pass from me. I promote it...

Been running a Stihl MS 261 and really like the saw for just about everything. However, running a single saw can be frustrating with changing chains and dealing with pinching, etc. What would be a good companion saw? I'm just using it for general habitat work: girdling, felling, and some...

If the plant is big enough and canopied to the ground, especially on steep slopes, yes, one occasionally has to get down on the ground to get to the base of it. A lot of the terrain here does not allow for the use of machinery to pull honeysuckle (which will have a massive seedbank of BH under...