Deerslayer I might have to take you up on the offer. Hopefully we get some more rain next week too.
I finally got the beans in late this afternoon. Tomorrow morning I will cultipack them to get a good seed/soil contact. A cultipacker is also known as a roller in the event that some people are unsure of what it is. I just partially fill it with water to add weight and hook it up to my pickup's trailer hitch. I start driving around on the plot and pack the soil. I will put an impact sprinkler on the plot to get some moisture in the ground and wait for some rain. The deer have walked across the plot each night to see what I have accomplished. Do ya think they might be getting anxious?????
THE RAIN CAME!!!!!!!!! Yesterday I squished thru my half acre plot of soybeans stepping on any beans that had washed to the surface. Most of the beans have swollen and cracked their shell. If most of them make it I am going to have a jungle of high protein for the kids. The weatherman last night indicated that a wet weather pattern may be emerging next week. WAHOO!!!!!!!!
Fellas, sometimes in the face of adversity ya gotta go ahead and plant anyway. Yes, sometimes you lose and sometimes you win. If the weather pattern changes as suggested next week then my beans may be off to the races with the deer in hot pursuit munchin to their hearts content. If the weather indeed does change then it is not too late to plant a good warm season plot for your deer. Get - r- dun before the rain if it is emminent. Picture to follow.
Fellas, sometimes in the face of adversity ya gotta go ahead and plant anyway. Yes, sometimes you lose and sometimes you win. If the weather pattern changes as suggested next week then my beans may be off to the races with the deer in hot pursuit munchin to their hearts content. If the weather indeed does change then it is not too late to plant a good warm season plot for your deer. Get - r- dun before the rain if it is emminent. Picture to follow.
There has been some concern with a toxin that can contaminate corn and possibly kill bobwhite quail. I had heard about a wildlife biologist from Texas that was advocating switching to a pea instead of corn. The corn contains approximately 5-6% protein while the pea contains about 20% protein but does not have the toxin. This product would be superior because the quail and turkey could eat it with no fear as well as other songbirds. This sounds great to me as long as the price is reasonable. Well, today I was updating Tom Ross,Ross Seed Co. about the "GameKeeper" soybeans that I had just gotten from him and just planted. He was glad I called because he wanted to tell me about a new type of pea that he has been looking at. You guess it....... its the same pea. He said corn is now around $9.00/ 50#bag and he thinks the bag of peas will be a little higher. Comparing 5-6% protein + a possible toxin vs. 20% protein and no toxin this could be a good value. I suspect that the pea will work fine in a spin feeder. I hope to have more info on this shortly and maybe get to trial it this summer on my deer herd. Stay tuned.
COME ON RAIN!! The beans are coming up but we need another good rain to kick them in high gear. The deer are checking out nightly the area irrigated that day.
The other fields were sprayed yesterday with Chlethodim which kills ONLY grass. This was done to eliminate the grass competition for moisture and nutrients. I had a bunch of dallis grass which had come out of dormancy and with no rain went to seed. I will have to spray the field again once or twice this summer to eliminate the germinating seeds. The grass being knocked out allows the clover to have full benefit of the moisture and nutrients.
The other fields were sprayed yesterday with Chlethodim which kills ONLY grass. This was done to eliminate the grass competition for moisture and nutrients. I had a bunch of dallis grass which had come out of dormancy and with no rain went to seed. I will have to spray the field again once or twice this summer to eliminate the germinating seeds. The grass being knocked out allows the clover to have full benefit of the moisture and nutrients.
The black eyed peas are in and I will pick them up next week. I am curious to see how quick the deer will accept them. I believe the cost will be about $12.95/50# bag which is a wee bit higher than corn BUT a whole lot better.Protein is supposed to be around 22% so you can feed half as much as corn and still provide better forage than corn.
The soybeans are coming up with every day that I irigate. It is funny in that each spot that I irrigate the deer paw around in it after dark. I expect the field had a couple inches of rain so the beans should be jumping out of the ground by Sunday.
The deer have nipped a few leaves off the new sproats. I am looking forward to seeing the fresh crop of fawns feeding on the beans this summer.
The soybeans are coming up with every day that I irigate. It is funny in that each spot that I irrigate the deer paw around in it after dark. I expect the field had a couple inches of rain so the beans should be jumping out of the ground by Sunday.
The deer have nipped a few leaves off the new sproats. I am looking forward to seeing the fresh crop of fawns feeding on the beans this summer.
deerslayer i believe your thinking that the black eyed peas would be better is right on track i would also mix rice bran with them deer love the stuff and your peas will last longer send us some pics if you can later we just got 3 inches of rain thrusday night sure needed it
Deer 24/7 - Thank you for mentioning the rice bran. I also use it with my corn and alfalfa pellets. I will be picking up a bag of black eyes this week and will start an experiment. I expect that my deer will accept the peas fairly quickly,but I want to see if the coons leave it alone. I will put up a trail camera and see what happens. If the coons leave it alone then the peas will go farther. The song birds may go for the peas as they did the corn. Exchanging 5% protein in corn for 22% protein in peas is a no brainer. There may be another hidden benefit with using the peas and that involves the bobwhite.
There has been some recent speculation that a mold or fungus on the corn could be causing liver failure and cancer concerns with Mr. Bob. Check out www.peasplus.com and read up about this concern. ODWC has launched a research project targeting the demise of our quail. I used to hunt around Arnett and Harmon and we typically jumped 15 coveys of 20 to 30 birds / trip. Now it appears that the dawn is next to silent. Few whistles of "Bob, bob white" are heard. This saddens me. There are many successful comeback stories in the outdoors such as NWTF, DU, RMEF etc. Now, I hope it is time for a comeback story on our "gentleman bob". If the toxin is found to play a part in the decline of our quail then switching to peas will,hopefully, play a part in the "comeback".
In 1981-82 the use of corn feeders was becoming popular and the deer herd was exploding. The quail were plentiful but soon a decline was noticed. Now the birds are in trouble. Let's hope that answers may be found.
I will report in a week as to what I see. Stay tuned.
There has been some recent speculation that a mold or fungus on the corn could be causing liver failure and cancer concerns with Mr. Bob. Check out www.peasplus.com and read up about this concern. ODWC has launched a research project targeting the demise of our quail. I used to hunt around Arnett and Harmon and we typically jumped 15 coveys of 20 to 30 birds / trip. Now it appears that the dawn is next to silent. Few whistles of "Bob, bob white" are heard. This saddens me. There are many successful comeback stories in the outdoors such as NWTF, DU, RMEF etc. Now, I hope it is time for a comeback story on our "gentleman bob". If the toxin is found to play a part in the decline of our quail then switching to peas will,hopefully, play a part in the "comeback".
In 1981-82 the use of corn feeders was becoming popular and the deer herd was exploding. The quail were plentiful but soon a decline was noticed. Now the birds are in trouble. Let's hope that answers may be found.
I will report in a week as to what I see. Stay tuned.
deer slayer i know what you mean about the quail,i from caddo county as everywhere else the quail population is very bad i do'nt think it is a issue with the corn because it was bad before anybody in my area started using corn for deer they have been only doing it around here in the last three years or so,i believe the problem is abundence of varmits,more bobcats then we ever had 20 yrs ago when we had quail i might see 1 bobcat every 2 yrs or so and now i see three or four a year. they use to bring good money so people trapped and hunted them not now,and if you have a feeder i do'nt have to tell you about the coons we have i would say at least 20 times the about coons we use to have,i coon hunted when i was a kid and killed ever coon we would tree,there is'nt anybody coon hunting much any more,no it is against the law to kill a bird of prey when i was a kid along with other country kids we use to kill hawks,owls but not enough of them to hurt there numbers,then ther skunks snakes,then ther is habit loose alot of farmers now spray there pastures for weeds which made up alot of food for the quail that is no longer there.thats my 2 cents worth but it might be like the bee thing nobody has figure it out yet what is wrong i sure wish i could bird hunt again like i use to keeps a fellow in shape and i love to see good dog work,look forward to seeing pics
Deer 24/7, I've posted many pics of up to 11 racoons on my feeders at one time. I've been activly trapping them for about three years. they just never stop coming. As the big boars get caught, the younger ones keep coming. I trapped 23 this last season in 15 days, on one quarter section of ground with a creek running through it.
Just about that many skunks and possums each. Three bobcats.
Predators as well as game birds look to feeders as a source of food, putting them in close proximity with each other.
In past years the ODW in conjunction with the Bollenbach chair did a study at Packsaddle on quail mortality.
They implanted radio transmitters in quail, and looked for them every day. If they didn't find the bird, or found just the transmitters in a pile of feathers, they noted what killed the quail.
Another thing they found was that habitat was key to their survival. Current farming practices that remove fence lines, hedge rows, and water ways, have depleted the prime nesting/loafing and feeding areas for quail. One person putting in a perfect habitat on a quarter section of ground will do little if nothing to increase quail populations. It must be a habitat area of several thousand acres. Farming is a tough business at best, and convincing farmers to leave areas for the birds is a losing proposition for the land owners. (I farm) There have been recent incentives with cash payments to land owners to lay ground out for the birds, but with the grain prices being so high, again, its a losing proposition for the land owner.
Avian predators seems to be the worst at killing the adult birds, and nest robbers like the racoon, snakes, possums, etc take care of the eggs.
Virginia and Texas are also conducting studies on-going to see what is the problem with quail.
I'm intrested to see if the ODW is going to include Aflatoxin in corn as part of the newest study.
Some years its high, in the corn with wet growing seasons, and some years its low.
Here is another thought. The corn belt, Nebraska, Ohio, Indiana, have the highest pheasant populations.
Obviously they are not affected by Aflatoxin. It will be intresting to see what the ODW study comes up with the quail eating it. For some animals in the wild, certain specie of plants are deadly, yet other animals relish the same plant. The study will be interesting
Just about that many skunks and possums each. Three bobcats.
Predators as well as game birds look to feeders as a source of food, putting them in close proximity with each other.
In past years the ODW in conjunction with the Bollenbach chair did a study at Packsaddle on quail mortality.
They implanted radio transmitters in quail, and looked for them every day. If they didn't find the bird, or found just the transmitters in a pile of feathers, they noted what killed the quail.
Another thing they found was that habitat was key to their survival. Current farming practices that remove fence lines, hedge rows, and water ways, have depleted the prime nesting/loafing and feeding areas for quail. One person putting in a perfect habitat on a quarter section of ground will do little if nothing to increase quail populations. It must be a habitat area of several thousand acres. Farming is a tough business at best, and convincing farmers to leave areas for the birds is a losing proposition for the land owners. (I farm) There have been recent incentives with cash payments to land owners to lay ground out for the birds, but with the grain prices being so high, again, its a losing proposition for the land owner.
Avian predators seems to be the worst at killing the adult birds, and nest robbers like the racoon, snakes, possums, etc take care of the eggs.
Virginia and Texas are also conducting studies on-going to see what is the problem with quail.
I'm intrested to see if the ODW is going to include Aflatoxin in corn as part of the newest study.
Some years its high, in the corn with wet growing seasons, and some years its low.
Here is another thought. The corn belt, Nebraska, Ohio, Indiana, have the highest pheasant populations.
Obviously they are not affected by Aflatoxin. It will be intresting to see what the ODW study comes up with the quail eating it. For some animals in the wild, certain specie of plants are deadly, yet other animals relish the same plant. The study will be interesting
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