After watchin the deer come to a small 1/4 acre plotmaster food plot that i got in late (oct 1) and might i add half (Deleted for skirting profanity filter) ,! i am very excited about getting the 2 acre plot for 2010 ready. what i have is a 35 acre field that has not been planted for years,,, but has been mulch hayed every year.I will try to add some pics tomorrow of the place but my idea is to have two, 2 acre plots . With the field covered in grasses,,,should i now lay out the two plots and bush hog the areas and then spray with round-up pro to get a jump on ridding the areas of grass or should i wait until spring to begin preparing the areas? The plot that i did this year was plowed using a bobcat and a tooth bucket (i dont recommend this method to anyone) and after an endless body beating on the machine i found that i uncovered ROCKS! and plenty of them. Since then i have gained access thru a friend to a ford 8n tractor and disc and now im lookin for a 2 bottom plow,,,and my intentions are to plow and disc this spring and then hand pick the rocks off before liming and planting. What are your thoughts on my planning and timing?

Sounds like you're on the right track. Any idea what type of grasses is in the field? And about what height? I suspect fescue, orchardgrass, bluegrass. It's getting a little late to get a good kill on some grasses, but some of the cool season grasses like mentioned above can still be killed in spite of the first frost tonight. This week is supposed to be warm and anytime this week would work. Also if the grass is 8 to 12 inches or so, no cutting would necessary and actually be about ideal for a roundup application. Killing the grass now and letting the roots rot up over the winter would make things a lot easier come next spring. There most likely will be new seedlings sprout next spring, but tillage should diminish those to a degree.

Applying lime now would also be good, but it's now hunting season and not enough time for that maybe. If you do decide to apply lime next spring, it would be best to do that first and then disk/plow it in good.

I get some of my chemicals and seeds from Southern States co-op and I think there is a store in Manasses. If you haven't already bought the roundup pro, you might want to check with them about a cheaper form of glyphosate called Gly4 it's a 41% formula and works just as good.

And I know what ya mean about rocky ground. I'm very reluctant to plow up a field on account of it. Some areas are so bad I just kill with chemicals and reseed clover and other perrenials directly into the dead grass/weeds with fairly good results.

Last week, I found a interesting "rock" while checking a plot after a good rain. This was a plot that I tilled in lime and a treasure surfaced along with many other rocks.



There's hundreds if not thousands of these through out this area.

Haystack:
1st,,,,Those "Rocks" you found are awesome! Thanks for your input,,and i think im gonna go with your suggestions of not plowing,,,i just cant get over the amount of rocks i brought up in the top 6" of soil,,,after spending last evening cleaning leaves up in the yard,,im gonna get my priorities straight and go huntin tonight,,and on the way in to the stand i'll get some pics of the area and grasses that are growin and then wed. night i can spray,,before forecasted rain on fri.

Thanks
MIke

Mike,

A couple more things, what are you wanting to grow in those plots? And have you got a soil test? A lot of times it takes a while to get the soil where it should be. You had mentioned hay had been made there for a while, it's a good chance that if lime and fertilizer wasn't being applied, your ground could be very depleted and may take some time to correct before clover and other plants can be successfully grown. There are some seed choices that can tolerate less than ideal conditions that can be grown while the lime becomes active in the soil and the correct fertilizer is amended.

Once we know what you have, the more options and ideas will come about and hopefully be of help to ya.

Good luck on your huntin!