[coyotehunter]

okay,okay,i said i wasn't going to do a plot this year after last year failure to the drought.but the pipeline boys came through last week and did some cleaning up after the logging fiasco.they did a excellent job and i got to thinking this would be great place for one..so from the creek to the blind is a dead on four hundred yards.i thought maybe a three hundred yard food plot and a hundred yard high tall grass of some sort so they will continue to use the area by the creek.soo what is do you guys suggest on the plot and high grass, fertilizer and so on.the camera is shooting straight west so it will get mainly morning sun.and since we are on the subject about some kinda of a vine that will cover my blind.since the guys cleaned so good they took all camo away from the blind.the first picture is taken away from 400 yards away the second is taken from the same place but zoomed in all the way with my digital camera.i think i am gonna like the camera maybe this year i can get some good pic's

 

[henry]

Cedars cut and stacked around the blind will hide it nicely. The vines would tend to grow even when you want them to stop. Fertilizer for the tall grass probably won't be an issue. Most warm season grasses do well in poorer soil conditions. Probably a mixture of switch grass and little blue stem would do the job for you. Big bluestem is cheaper than little is, but I think the switch and little blue stand up better in bad weather. If it runs east and west, the center of the cut will probably grow about anything you want,,,the edges may need to be seeded later with something that needs less sunlight. If it were me,,I would get my soil samples and keep that thing sprayed to kill all the vegatation thru the spring and early summer,, and then go with wheat or oats and a good ladino clover in the late summer (august). Then later next year the plot will show you where it shaded out the clover, and you can till and plant where needed for a more shade friendly annual mix.

:cheers::cheers:

 

[Mailman]

The pipeline boys came through my place last fall and sprayed every tree and bush growning there. They left everything standing. It looks terrible. All the scrub oak trees with the dead leaves still attached. The only thing left alive is the grasses, blackberry and gooseberry plants. My pipeline is so rocky I can't get much to grow there except patches of warm season grasses and a little clover. I think anything you plant will draw in the deer. I do know they like to bed in the switch grass because I have seen the depressions in the grass. Here is a pic I took friday morning looking out over the valley from my raised deer stand. You can see my corn feeder on the lower left side of the pic. I do take it down before season opens by the way. I wish the pipeline people would brush hog their mess. I'd much rather have live brush than dead brush.

 

[Hoytshooter]

that looks awesome yote!
If it were me I would do some thing similar to what Henry recommended. I would ideally try to get a soil sample and do a spraying in the meantime. When you get your soil sample back you'll have your answer to the fertilizer question, especially if you specify what you are wanting to plant.
If it were me, I would probably to basically the same thing that Henry suggested except I would do a mix of both wheat and oats and I would think hard about throwing in some milo or austrian winter peas. Then like he said, this coming fall you can plant a good ladino, synergy would be my choice. Then a year from now when things start coming back in the spring you should have a pretty good stand of clover come up. You could also segment the plot and make part of it a perennial with the clover, and I would add chicory, then keep the most accessible part in an annual that you can easily get to and replant.
As for the tall grass...Henry knows a whole lot more about it than I do, but if I were doing it in an area like that I would use switchgrass. I've never seen that stuff get shaded out so I'm sure it would grow in there and once it is up it stays up fairly well and will see lots of action. I personally don't know near as much about the grasses as the plots, but I was told by the MDC that the bluestem varieties should be avoided when planting for wildlife. Not sure why though.

 

[henry]

Big blue stem goes down bad in nasty weather. The little blue is a foot or two shorter and has alittle better standability. The little blue is what the quail restoration strips are required to have.

:cheers::cheers:

 

[coyotehunter]

sounds good but the only problem with that is once the beans go in.there is no way i can get back in there with anything.and this farm is the last one out.so more than likely it will be after gun season before i can get back there again.so what do i do now?

 

[henry]

Originally posted by coyotehunter
sounds good but the only problem with that is once the beans go in.there is no way i can get back in there with anything.and this farm is the last one out.so more than likely it will be after gun season before i can get back there again.so what do i do now?

You can do the warm season grasses for sure. April is a good time frame for warm season grasses. You could do a spring planting of clover,,but without access for weed control you may get mixed results. Perhaps you could get the farmer to put it in beans with the rest of the field and just pay him X amount to leave the beans standing,,then you could frost seed clover into the beans early next year,,,its not ideal to put clover behind beans,,but it may be your best bet since your summer access is cut off.

:cheers::cheers: