Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Planting a food plot on 20 acres

Thanks bz. I'm going to try it next year.

Has anyone is East Texas had success with the commercial seeds like Bio-Logic,Imperial clover...etc? I planted it once or twice and didnt have much luck. Maybe i'm doing something wrong.

Gator

Dave, If you haven't tried peas, give them a shot, deer eat mine down to the bare stalk when it's dry...but they hang on pretty good and when it rains, they put on fast. When they are growing good, the deer eating them look up and have streamers down both sides of their mouth...kinda like Popeye eating spinach ! Peas are my #1 choice.

Eastland, I mixed 100 lbs of Australian peas with wheat and oats last year. They really didn't get much of a chance. They germinated and died. Drought hit just about everything except acorns. However, I planted them to naturally fertilize the ground. I never really saw the deer mess with the ones that did make it.

Now that I've finished planting and everything is growing, it's too late to put down anything else this year. My biggest regret is not getting some turnip seeds. They need to go on top of freshly tilled (loose) soil. I usually plant about 10 lbs of turnip seed. The deer mop up on every single one. I always get them from the Justin Feed store for about $1.50 per pound. That is a bunch of turnip seed.

Dave,

Do the hogs dig the turnips?

Gator

Not sure, Gator. But they seem to get everything else so I expect they would. Heck; they're omnivores.

Actually, I've been using turnips for years and this is the first year I've had hogs.

If you decide to plant oats don't waste the money on certified seed oats, whole oats from the feed store have excellent germination and cost less.

I think I will toss in a few pounds of turnip seed when I plant in the next few weeks. thanks Dave.

Gator

what happened to jimmy holt on this thread? anybody seen him?

Mr alligator get to going on that seeding, its the almost the first of october and the moon will turn soon plus you guys may get some raing. I gotta ask you, what is a hog waller? and what does 2 swamps consist of?

He's a dentist, so he's probably fishing. :p

cliffbrook,

Yes we are a little behind on planting in East Texas. The field has been plowed, but no rain. And when I say no rain - I mean we are in the worst drought in 50 years. Hopefully we will catch some fall rain.

This is a picture of a Hog Waller, (the guy posing is unknown; I found the picture on the internet). Wild hogs like mud. They roll around in shallow water areas in order to spread it all over their bodies. All that "wallerin" around creates a hog waller. Thats about all that remains of one of my 1/4 acre small ponds, it has all but dried up:

My “swamps” are low land areas that usually hold water year round. I have to admit they are high and dry right now as is most of the country around me. Lots of copper-headed-rattle-moccasins, bigfoot monsters, giant snapping turtles, alligators, hogs and all sort of creepy things live in swamps.



All kidding aside, the "swamp" areas on my place hold many surface acres of flooded timber and provide a great protected place for the wildlife. Deer, ducks, beavers, hogs, and yes, a few alligators - all seem to stay close by the swampy areas on my place.

Gator

Dan, Call the Justin Feed (or seed) store and make sure they have them. Most places sell winter turnips seeds for 69 cents per qtr. ounce. Justin sells them by the pound. They are tiny. Get a hand bermuda seed slinger and walk. I would recommend the one that rests back on your arm if you can find it. It gets heavy and pretty tiring. I got one at Walmart. Actually, when we put out 10 pounds, my wife drives a 4 wheeler and I sit backwards on it cranking the seeder. You can actually keep it closed and still sling the seed. Don't cover it. Just let it sit on top of the ground. I like to disturb the ground but I expect they will work with just letting rain drive them into the ground. Boy, how's that for a big assumption?

Cliffbrook, after the mud dries, they find a tree with rough bark or any creosote treated power pole and scratch themselves. I bet I have 100+ muddy trees around the house.

Holt had to go to Dallas today regarding business. I expect he will be on a tractor tomorrow.

thanx mr alligator, those swamps sound terrific, so i presume you could have more than 1 hog waller, those feral hogs, do you guys call them javelina or is that further south? we have more hogs than people in Iowa but not many of those wild ones.

100+ hog rubs, sounds like the number of my deer rubs. the deer do like those turnips, most get nibbled before making a root. do you spread the 10 pounds right on your trails?

so, we have a Holt sighting, and he is working up his 20 acre food plot this weekend, good thing he has a tractor, figures a Dentist would have a mouthfull big enough for a 20 acre food plot, but he never shared his plan for critiquing, but with 3 pages of advise he could have plenty of ideas...

i am anxious to get home and see the big buck oats i planted in August right before the rains came, they tell me they are knee high, and the marshes and the forests and the prairies. thanx

CliffBrook; lots of difference in javelinas and ferals. I've never even heard of them crossbreeding. Essentially, the hogs we are talking are about are tame hogs that have gone wild. Within one generation, their tusks start growing, their tales grow and straighten plus their snouts elongate. I'm finding them more wary than deer and 99% nocturnal.

I plant the turnips along with the wheat. I cover the wheat seed and then spread the turnips on top of the prepared ground. It is extremely rare for a turnip to make a tuber. The deer eat the leafy tops before they can root. I guess you could plant them on trails. You would probably need to loosen the soil and assure that they had adequate sunshine.

Dave
Sorry for the delay. The BeeWild was NOT expensive. I looked for an invoice and have yet to find. The Pogue sight has a discussion area and they are helpful. They can answer questions on most any area in the state.

A friend in the Johnson City area is mixing alfalfa in some of his native grass fields. He insist the deer use it first and longest of anything he's tried.

We have been blessed with 6-7" in the last 2 weeks. 2 ponds are running over. The big pond creek will probably run a few more days. Herons are working the creeks running into and out of pond.

We transfered some CCs in June to a small pond and I saw some 2" cats feeding. Had bullheads in this pond before it was drained and deepened. The small fish had green sides and dark tops. I hope they are CCs. Maybe one of the 30 we caught and transfered in June had eggs? Do you think they are large enough to identify? The only method I know is by the tails. May try to cast net one.

Better go check the doves, entertaining business associates this afternoon.

Boy, Al, at 2 inches I can even make mistakes on tails. But, that color doesn't really make me think of CC.

We had what looked like a good storm going thru my place a couple of days ago and one now. I need to get up there this weekend just to look at the rain guage.

Does the alfalfa live through the summers? We raised it when I was a kid but that was in the Panhandle where the summers were relatively cool. We also irrigated by flooding. Bowie is neither cool not prone to flooding.

alfalfa in native, thats an interesting idea.

This weekend I mowed the grass as short as I could and then disked it. I then had the guy from red river farm co-op come out and put fertilizer and rye grass on top. He asked me what ratio of fertilizer I wanted and I told him to use whatever was most common. He put out 17-21-17 I hope I told him right. I guess time will tell. On a side note I have so many baby tilapia right now in the 2-3 inch range that you can pick them up with your hand right out of the water!

1 week later, looking good so far. 4 rubs, 2 scrapes nearby...big tracks in the plot too. 4 days until opening Bow season. I may switch arrows mid-day and take out a few tilapia for lunch/dinner Life is good.

How can you have scrapes this early in Texas? I don't see scapes until some time in October here in MN. Since it's Texas you probably have bigger scrapes too hugh? Deer must be on a whole different schedule down there. I have food plots with corn, soy beans, chicory, rye, and clover. I see the deer hitting the clover beans right now.

Too funny bz, but there's a bigger problem down here in Texas. The acorns are starting to fall, and they're the size of basketballs !

bz, the rut is starting here or about to start. I saw 2 yearlings together a couple of weeks ago. Mama's had kicked them off. I haven't seen any lone bucks yet. They still seem to be together but that won't last long.

Eastland, you had more rain than I did. My acorns are tiny. Are the blank spots in your food patch caused by hogs rooting? They are sure getting after my wheat.

According to TPWD the rut on the upper Texas gulf prairies and marshes actually peaks around the 30th of September.

web page

According to our state DNR the rut peaks on November 6 here in MN. Why the difference I wonder?

Bz, did you look at the TPWD link? Texas varies from late September all the way to late December depending on the geographical region within the state. The areas I hunt in peak around November the 12th while I'm on vacation.