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Planting a new field
#5941000
09/22/15 05:51 PM
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Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 693
JTS
OP
Tracker
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OP
Tracker
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 693 |
I am currently having a pasture root plowed because the mesquite is so thick that it impossible to get around and there are so many mesquites that if you get a wild cow you can never find it.
The pasture is 200 acres and has a couple of small seasonal creeks that run through it. I am having 90 acres root plowed and raked in a big S shape to maximize the edges for deer etc. I plan on running cattle in this pasture during the summer but moving them to a different part of the ranch from September through the end of hunting season.
This isn't going to be a food plot exclusively for deer, so I would like to plant things that would grow on its own year to year for the deer and cows to eat. I am going to spread out grass seed to have grazing for the cows but would also like to plant forbs or other things for the deer to eat during the hunting season and the rest of the year. If I need to I could plow the edges and plant food plots in strips along the edges each September.
I mainly thought I would ask here and get ideas from the experts here. Thanks
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Re: Planting a new field
[Re: JTS]
#5941018
09/22/15 06:07 PM
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Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 29,024
Western
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 29,024 |
Not an expert, but been there done that.
I'd plant the best Bermuda sprigs you can afford and get that going. Then each fall on your last hay cutting/grazing, go in with a no-till grain drill and plant wheat and oats, after deer season, turn your cows in it. You will get great year round feed for the cows and great draw for deer.
If at first you dont succeed, then skydiving is not for you..
"Don't trust everything you read on the Internet"- Abraham Lincoln Dennis
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Re: Planting a new field
[Re: JTS]
#5941104
09/22/15 06:52 PM
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Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 5,225
Rustler
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 5,225 |
This fall / now, I’d take soil samples & amend the soil accordingly & plant Turner seed fall deer mix or MBS fall deer mix in the areas you want to use as food plots, the rest I'd plant with with rye, triticale, oats, wheat, turn the livestock into it after deer season.
Late winter / next spring, if the cows haven’t grazed it short, mow, fertilizer application, light disc, then I'd plant the whole area with a mix of wwbdahl, cowboy/buckaroo bermuda, kliengrass, haskel side oats, green sprangle top, blue grama. You'll have to move the cows out of it in July / August so it will go to seed the first year. Use red river crab grass seed in areas prone to erosion.
Next deer season drill small areas of the MBS or Turner fall deer mix.
By the third year you'll have enough established plant life and volunteer sprouts & seeds to carry both the livestock & wildlife for many years without doing much.
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Re: Planting a new field
[Re: JTS]
#5942872
09/23/15 06:33 PM
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Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 693
JTS
OP
Tracker
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OP
Tracker
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 693 |
Thanks guys, just what I was looking for.
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