Best Farm In The Deer Woods COMING SOON!! LOL
07-07-2012, 02:07 PM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 31
Best Farm In The Deer Woods COMING SOON!! LOL
Just bought a 180 ac farm in Missouri and am fired up. Started Clearing Food plots to wip this baby into shape. Im doing all the work myself considering I put all the money in the farm lol sowas just wondering things that other people have done they really liked that I might want to try
Thanks
P.S. It will be the best farm in my eyes lol
Thanks
P.S. It will be the best farm in my eyes lol
07-08-2012, 06:06 AM
#4
Spike
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 44
a lot of it will depend on your farms terrain, and the expectations you have for the place,
did you buy it as strickly a hunting farm, or are you expecting the farm to pay for itself as a farm
does it have a good bedding area for the deer population, or is it all open
the 180 acres will be a part of the deers range, so what is around your farm that you can take into consideration when planning your food plots
there are a lot of things that come into play when managing for wildlife
if the 180 acres are in the middle of a 1000 acres of grain, you plan different than you would if it is in the middle of 1000 acres of woodland
have you scouted the property and found the trails
the main thing in my mind is to get it set up so the dominat does will have enough feed to keep them close and happy, the does will have a smaller range than the bucks, but the bucks will come to the does during the season
alfalfa, oats sown in late august will be up and drawing deer by hunting season, and they will use it year around, next spring if there is no grain around you should plant some to help the deer gain weight and strenght to get thru the winter
did you buy it as strickly a hunting farm, or are you expecting the farm to pay for itself as a farm
does it have a good bedding area for the deer population, or is it all open
the 180 acres will be a part of the deers range, so what is around your farm that you can take into consideration when planning your food plots
there are a lot of things that come into play when managing for wildlife
if the 180 acres are in the middle of a 1000 acres of grain, you plan different than you would if it is in the middle of 1000 acres of woodland
have you scouted the property and found the trails
the main thing in my mind is to get it set up so the dominat does will have enough feed to keep them close and happy, the does will have a smaller range than the bucks, but the bucks will come to the does during the season
alfalfa, oats sown in late august will be up and drawing deer by hunting season, and they will use it year around, next spring if there is no grain around you should plant some to help the deer gain weight and strenght to get thru the winter
Last edited by ky wonder; 07-08-2012 at 06:16 AM.
07-08-2012, 10:27 AM
#5
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 31
It will just be a hunting farm. I have hunted the farm for a couple years, and it has a great deer population. It is all woods except for a 20ac L shaped pasture in the center.
It has grown up in some small thorn trees that im in the process of removing to make a food plot. The farm is surrounded on most sides with hayfields, with one side that goes into the bottums usually have corn or beans. There is great cover on the farm with a big cedar patch an thick under growth the deer like to stay in, and since its the biggist patch of woods around I figured a year round food source would really bring them in.
It has grown up in some small thorn trees that im in the process of removing to make a food plot. The farm is surrounded on most sides with hayfields, with one side that goes into the bottums usually have corn or beans. There is great cover on the farm with a big cedar patch an thick under growth the deer like to stay in, and since its the biggist patch of woods around I figured a year round food source would really bring them in.
07-09-2012, 09:17 AM
#8
Spike
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 44
my first questio is do you have a basic tractor and tool combination to go with the farm? if so then i would reccomend the following.
sounds like you will be served well by breaking up that 20 acre L shape bottom, and getting it into food plots,
if the ground has not been turned in a while i would start by planning to put it in grain crops next year,
i would start this year by breaking up 3-5 acres this fall and sowing in alfalfa , orchard grass and oats ,
these can be planted late august /early september and will be up and green all winter drawing deer,and turkeys.
once planted this should give 3-5 years of use from this plot with normal maintenance, a local farmers will jump at the chance to cut the hay on shares. requiring little work on your part to keep it maintained.
a seeding rate of 20 lbs buffalo alfalfa, a bushel of oats, and 3 lbs of orchard crass will cost you less than $100 an acre for seed,
and a quick soil test will reveal the nutrients you will need but you will probably be well served to get lime spred over the entire 20 acres where as, it takes about 6 months for ag lime to start breaking down and begin showing effects
alfalfa being a legume makes its on nitrogen and nitrogen being the expensive ingrediant in fertilizer, i am going to suggest that you will be able to get by with 2-400 lbs of low nitrogen fertilizer per ace so 1000-2000 lbs of fertilize will run between 350-700 dollars,
the seed can be mixed with the fertilize and broad cast at the same time you spread the fertilizer
but you need to have a good seed bed and then cover lightly with a drag or preferably a cultipacker
this will result in you having invested 200-250 per acre in fertize and seed and this if cared for will give you 3-5 years service so a cost of 50-70 dollars per acre per year
i am going on the asumption that your place is in fescue and is in need of some soil building
the remaining 15 acres i wold work up over the fall and next spring and plant in various things and strips so as to provide a number of different food sources,
if you are not a member , i would look into the local NWTF clubs, this organization has a good program with many different seed companies thet provide them with great seed oppurtunities for wildlife farmers
i bought roundup ready 2, 150 bushel per acre corn form them last year for $8.00 per bushel whereas i would have had to paid $220 for the same seed at the local coop, but you will have to sign an agreement that you are using the grain to provide wildlife habitat and not for comercial sale, this year it was $18.00 per bushel,
and a bushel will plant between 2.5-3 ares per bushel depending on planting population
sounds like you will be served well by breaking up that 20 acre L shape bottom, and getting it into food plots,
if the ground has not been turned in a while i would start by planning to put it in grain crops next year,
i would start this year by breaking up 3-5 acres this fall and sowing in alfalfa , orchard grass and oats ,
these can be planted late august /early september and will be up and green all winter drawing deer,and turkeys.
once planted this should give 3-5 years of use from this plot with normal maintenance, a local farmers will jump at the chance to cut the hay on shares. requiring little work on your part to keep it maintained.
a seeding rate of 20 lbs buffalo alfalfa, a bushel of oats, and 3 lbs of orchard crass will cost you less than $100 an acre for seed,
and a quick soil test will reveal the nutrients you will need but you will probably be well served to get lime spred over the entire 20 acres where as, it takes about 6 months for ag lime to start breaking down and begin showing effects
alfalfa being a legume makes its on nitrogen and nitrogen being the expensive ingrediant in fertilizer, i am going to suggest that you will be able to get by with 2-400 lbs of low nitrogen fertilizer per ace so 1000-2000 lbs of fertilize will run between 350-700 dollars,
the seed can be mixed with the fertilize and broad cast at the same time you spread the fertilizer
but you need to have a good seed bed and then cover lightly with a drag or preferably a cultipacker
this will result in you having invested 200-250 per acre in fertize and seed and this if cared for will give you 3-5 years service so a cost of 50-70 dollars per acre per year
i am going on the asumption that your place is in fescue and is in need of some soil building
the remaining 15 acres i wold work up over the fall and next spring and plant in various things and strips so as to provide a number of different food sources,
if you are not a member , i would look into the local NWTF clubs, this organization has a good program with many different seed companies thet provide them with great seed oppurtunities for wildlife farmers
i bought roundup ready 2, 150 bushel per acre corn form them last year for $8.00 per bushel whereas i would have had to paid $220 for the same seed at the local coop, but you will have to sign an agreement that you are using the grain to provide wildlife habitat and not for comercial sale, this year it was $18.00 per bushel,
and a bushel will plant between 2.5-3 ares per bushel depending on planting population
07-09-2012, 12:34 PM
#9
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Comance county, OK
Posts: 11,408
There is great cover on the farm with a big cedar patch an thick under growth the deer like to stay in, and since its the biggist patch of woods around I figured a year round food source would really bring them in.
Its not enough to attract deer to your place: The deer need a sanctuary when the guns crack on opening day. We have a place with about 30 acres of thickets where the deer stay.
Don't go into that sanctuary. Set up stands on trails that lead from the sanctuary to the plots and fields.
