I'm liking what I'm hearing now. I share your thoughts on crimping. At one time I thought I needed one, but after learning more of what it takes to effectively terminate by crimping, I don't see the benefit. With you on habitat too. A hatchet and a spray bottle will do a lot to improve a piece of property.

Absolutely! Your greatest strides will be made through habitat work. It’s a whole lot more cost effective too. You can do a lot of good for not much money using a chainsaw/hatchet & some herbicide.

Precisely. If people knew how little effort I put into food plots they’d likely be disappointed. Not that I’m lazy with it, but habitat is what supports deer and Turkey 24/7/365. It’s all about habitat. I focus on timber, fire and understory. Food plots are just something to enjoy playing around with.

SEWoods…I’ve really found this interesting…what would you recommend for a great deer and Turkey plot? I’ve used mixes and honestly, the deer magnet from wms was flat out awesome for both the deer and turkeys. Interested in other ideas as well. I’ve never really considered not discing in good soil until this thread.

I cut down hundreds of volunteer loblolly in my long leaf stand this spring. I also hack/squirt girdle/squirt and sprayed hundreds of trees this summer. I went full out assault on my sweet gums and killed a lot of other trees. I’ll do more next year for sure.

What can those of us on timber co leases do? It would be one thing if when they cut or thinned they cut or ground stumps, then at least we could bush hog some lanes. Now in a summer the briars get so tall you really need a skid steer with a mulching head to get thru them.

With your lease manager's permission, I guess you could hire a skid steer mulcher to clear those thin rows of stumps 1 year post harvest.

Personally, the couple days a year we spend planting are my least favorite days. I’d much rather be running a chainsaw.

Fall Blend 2023

Wheat - 40%
Austrian Winter Peas - 13%
Oats - 17%
Triticale - 17%
Crimson Clover - 4%
Purple Top Turnip - 3%
Dwarf Essex Rape - 3%
Daikon Radish - 3%

65 Ibs/acre no till drilled

This is where I’m at with my blend I’ve been tweaking for a couple years now.

Or just have a 5ft bush-hog you’re really mad at lol!

I’ve worked for a timber company before and they wouldn’t go for the club guys having dozers/mulchers on company property. Some others may be different.

I got a 5ft county line that will cut what you can ride down. Been working on a sweet gum thicket for almost a year

Seems good for deer but not so much clover for the turkeys

If you want clover plots for turkeys you need to plant short perennial varieties like Durana. Excessive heat for long durations with no rain on well drained upland soils has proven to be a challenge, but on lower sites it does well. It’s actually adapted well to southern climates, as it’s a variety that was developed in GA. I don’t like using perennial clovers in annual plots because it’s a waste of money. You can establish a good stand and drill or broadcast cereal grains in the fall and get more diversity and variety for deer. The above mix is very similar to what I usually plant, minus the radish.

There will be plenty of clover.

Sorry man, you're not allowed to lay down and take the pictures...........forum rules.

Thats interesting considering that mix only has 10% of the amount of crimson clover called for per acre for a solid stand

Man my clover never looks like that.

Are you tilling sandy soil??

Ive gt a field a little thicker in the spring. Been that way 8yrs now. Easiest field i have to take care of. Cut it twice a year, thats it. The year i planted it, i planted 20lb/axre. Also put out a couple bags of oats that first year for good measure. The oats are gone, of course, but the clover has come back every year since then. I bushhog it right after the seed heads dry and bushhog in again first of October. It just keeps coming back, thick as ever.

Red clover is notorious for reseeding so it builds up quick.