I’m good with it if you are…. .. One thing to keep in mind about some of the stuff I’m doing is that it's trial and error with this and that to see what happens and test different ideas. If what I do fails then my dick isn’t any shorter for it. It’s called experimenting. The very reasons I like to see others join along is 1) It gives genuine testimonials as to other peoples’ experience which in turn makes other people less skeptical and more open to trying something different………

2)….and two it expands the number of people doing their own experimenting. This stuff takes time and I can only test so much myself each rotation without turning everything into squared off 100 plot test facilty…I’m not wanting to do that because some of the ideas I’m testing too have to do with the bigger picture of things. I’m nearly 10 years deep into experimenting now with different ways of doing this and I still have a number of other things I want to tweak and see what happens. I also expect the natural process of things to change as the soil continues to evolve toward more a climax soil and species composition. I expect some other species to start coming in behind the dog fennel. I may have to help stunt it a little to allow the other things to take hold. In the beginning there was only crabrass. I see clearly what its role was now…..A lot of folks would have said to get rid of it….its bad….but it was the very thing I needed in years one and two. It had a purpose. I think I’m actually helping to promote the dog fennel to thrive a liitle more than it would have by the fact I’m adding a decent amount of 34-0-0. I that combined with my organic N may be causing the fennel to explode…..excess N…..I ‘m thinking of backing off on the N next year just to see if I can grow cereal rye now without it.

What in the hell are you talking about? You say it’s experimenting and a learning process, but anytime someone offers a suggestion or poses a question, you seem to get defensive and go off on some kind of rant.

You asked, what we saw in your pic of your foodplot. I told you and posed a question, but you didn’t like it. It seems like you would want only beneficial plants taking up your soil’s energy. That’s all I’m saying.

But, I guess, carry on with your rant.

Throw n Mow 2019 is looking to be another successful year.

Sweet.

Nice!

A dug these pics of from a few years ago to show how they’ll eat that extra forage you’re growing as long as you’ll keep it green.

My opinion I think it looks terrible. I understand your trying to build soil conditions and that really good. We have done the same thing over the years and it all ways seems like we have better luck actually disking and planting. To me that’s a lazy mans food plot and how I was raised I would get my butt tore up if I didn’t put the time in to make a nice pretty food plot. My thoughts if I took someone hunting and they didn’t see any deer I’d at least want them sitting there thinking this is a beautiful food plot that any minute a big buck will step out. Like i said it’s just my opinion and I understand it’s just an experiment but I couldn’t stand to leave it that way. I was always raised to have good looking stuff

X2. You know, if you had a decent made tractor we might could be friends.

Who are you worried about it looking good too….you or the deer??......Do the deer care about “looks”…..What is wrong with it in your eyes besides “looks”? Do I not have a well established productive food plot? Is it not healthy and green and putting out forage? What’s “looking pretty” gonna do for me?

But that comes down to the most important thing about hunting. Do you want to see deer or just a pretty green field. I dont know if it's a lazy way of doing things or using the tools you have at hand. It has taken me a while to accumulate the tools I have and I still WANT more toys for food plotting. It's not a pretty plot but if it works, it works.

Honestly for me it’s the fennel weeds. They need to be cut or your gonna have a hard time seeing deer in there especially when it goes to getting dark.

So here's my thoughts on that dog fennel. If you dont plow it under it is stubbly, which imo would poke the deer in the face and retard them from using that plot. My test plot has less dog fennel in it now than last year. Maybe after a few years it will go away.

It does make it a different beast from a hunting standpoint…..I don’t want to take the cover all the way down yet though because I want to see if the bucks feel more comfortable walking out into this type of setting during the daylight. It has a little bit of a cutover feel to it as compared to just an open food plot. My stand is up in a tree looking down on it so I can actually see a little better than in these pics

The dog fennel is still whole....it hasn't been bushhogged so there's no sharp cut stubble.....It's just laid over as a whole plant. I'm curious to see how they react to it as the season progresses and other food sources get used up. The smaller stems you see standing are from ragweed and they're getting pretty brittle now.

Time, money and circumstance make us do what we have to sometimes. I promise deer don’t care either way on plots as long as they are productive.

I actually look at this almost the complete opposite of the way they’re seeing it……I see a more productive plot……using less inputs……My field had 4200+ lbs/ac of CA the last time I checked it and holding strong with a pH of 6.8…..If I achieve better productivity with less time, money, and effort spent….I don’t see that as lazy……I see that as a smart decision.

Should have clarified a little but leaving it standing should make them feel more comfortable. It will probably get stomped down in the future after a good freeze. It's not pretty but that's not your objective. Most hunters, especially pay hunters want a pretty green field in front of them. As long as there's good food in there, they'll be there.

I was gonna leave it standing in the beginning but it was just gonna be impossible to see them well enough in it....I hunted it a couple of time with it standing and it was too tough to see the deer.......so I had to do something that was in between. I just lowered my bucket on the tractor and laid part of it over to help me be able to see the deer better but not completely open it up.

I’ll pose this question again for debate…..What do I gain from it “looking pretty”? …..I can list a bunch of benefits that all the ugly debris is doing for me…..What does pretty do?

You could cut lanes through it.