Food Plots Update: Summer 2023

 

Another growing season is coming to an end at Hunter's Eden Homestead. This season I decided to focus mainly on planting perennial species in my plots and while most of them have turned into successes, the few failures we have had have become important learning experiences that will help us design our plots in the future.

In early spring in our main large food plot we planted a pretty diverse mix of perennial species which included cicer milkvetch, crownvetch, small burnet, blue flax, chicory, alfalfa, falcata alfalfa, aberlasting clover and birdsfoot trefoil. This mix did very well for the most part. However the cicer milkvetch and the crownvetch did not do as well due to being outcompeted by the faster growing alfalfas and aberlasting clover, which were planted at much too high of a rate for the planting. This next year's plot we will remove them from the seed mix altogether and increase the rate of the cicer milkvetch and the crownvetch so they will have a better chance at establishing. We also decided to remove the birdsfoot trefoil from future mixes due to its low forage preference. Also something interesting that happened in this plot was that both the cereal rye and the german millet from last year reseeded and did quite well. This means that I will probably add these annuals into most of my future mixes because of their reseeding abilities and high forage value during hunting season. Another thing that happened in this plot was that it had a lot of perennial grass weeds come up in it either from the tarps not getting a complete kill or from grass seed blowing in from adjacent grass areas. Because of this I had to mow this plot several times to keep the grass from going to seed. I also mowed the perimeter of the food plots and current tarped areas in order to prevent grass from seeding into the new upcoming plot once the tarp is removed. Hopefully this will help prevent grass establishment in next year's plot so mowing would be less necessary. I also decided to leave the tarps down all growing season (March- October) to get a complete kill of the sod. 

Later in the fall we are planning on expanding this food plot and we will dormant seed it with a new mix that includes cicer milkvetch, crownvetch, small burnet, blue flax, chicory, little bluestem, big bluestem, switchgrass and basin wildrye. We are choosing the legumes and forbs in this mix because they are highly preferred forages that should still be green and palatable during our fall and early winter hunting seasons. The bunch grasses in this mix were chosen for thier vigorous growth to add organic matter to the soil and to help keep out less desirable sod forming grass species as well as to provide forage for wildlife and livestock. Also next year after this plot is mostly established I will likely add in some of the other more aggressive species such as cereal rye, german millet, forage plantain, alfalfa, aberlasting clover and red clover. By splitting the mix up and planting the more aggressive species the second year I can hopefully ensure that the less aggressive species have time to establish without being outcompeted and hopefully I will still end up with a highly diverse plot with all of the species being represented. 

This year we also created a new plot on the dry hillside above our pond. We burned off the vegetation in the early spring then seeded it with cicer milkvetch, alfalfa, falcata alfalfa, small burnet, blue flax, birdsfoot trefoil and aberlasting clover. After broadcasting the seed we harrowed the seed into the soil by hand by dragging the harrow across the hillside. This plot did not do very well because of competition with already established weeds such as sulfer cinquefoil, canada bluegrass, medusahead and yellow starthistle. Also this is a very dry site because of it's steep southern exposure. During the summer I mowed it twice to reduce weed pressure and I believe that helped somewhat. We will see what all comes back next spring but I believe we got some decent establishment from the small burnet, blue flax and possibly some of the alfalfa. I will probably plant a high rate of cereal rye here this fall just to have something green growing during the hunting season and to improve the organic matter on the plot. At some point I may also try to plant basin wildrye here as it is a large robust and drought tolerant perennial cool season bunchgrass that should do well here and be able to help build the soil.

Another area we seeded this spring was an area I had cleared out as a firebreak on the border of our property. Most of it already had established perennial grasses but some of it was bare ground where I had cut back shrubs and small trees such as roses and hawthorns. In these areas there was enough bare ground where I could broadcast and rake in our seed mix. I used the same mix I seeded onto the hillside plot. In this area, however, most of the species I planted seemed to establish quite well especially in areas that were partly shaded by adjacent trees and brush. The soil here also seemed to be richer and more moist. This area probably had the best establishment of cicer milkvetch out of all the areas I planted this year so that was encouraging to see. 

The last area we planted was along the roadside on the top end of our property that used to be almost pure starthistle, but that we had removed the majority of it by weed-eating it the last few summers. We also planted it with the same mix we used on the hillside plot and the property line plot. This mix did not do well due to being outcompeted by weeds, mostly annual grasses. Also our chickens that we free range kept getting into this area and scratching up the newly established seedlings which didn't help anything. This fall I will likely broadcast basin wildrye onto this plot in order to create a visual barrier for our property from the road. If this species was able to establish it should be able to create a "plot screen" effect that habitat managers in the east use switchgrass for when they are designing corridors to sneak to a blind or treestand in order to not be detected by deer. If this is successful then I could see using it for the same purpose on my plots in the future, but I will test it out on the roadside first.

This year has been another busy one, but productive as well. And this fall I am planning on continuing my food plot progress by expanding plots and planting new areas. And next spring I will tarp grass areas that I will be able to plant the following year. Slowly but surely I am turing our property into a hunting paradise and I am learning a ton along the way that could help give me the knowledge to help other's do the same on thier properties. One day I'd love the chance to help others make their hunting property dreams come true and I'd ideally like to make a career out of it some day. But for now I'm still learning the on the ground lessons that I will need to gain in order to have the wisdom to become a master of wild game habitat management. 

Food plots 2022: Year in Review

This year was by far our most successful year in food plotting. Not only did we have lush productive plots, but my fiance and I were able to harvest animals off our property that were being attracted by them. My fiance was able to fill a doe tag and I harvested my first elk, a huge cow, right as she was walking out of our food plot. It was an amazing experience and it feels so cool that we can attract and harvest game from our own property. This year was a huge success and a milestone for the game management on our property.

My last update was at the end of spring last year and at that point we had just started to see some good growth from our newly planted summer annual plots.  Because of our relatively wet spring last year, I was able to plant a warm season annual mix into our main food plot. It is split into two parts. On one side it had an annual cool season mix planted on it in the fall of 2021 and grew through the spring of last year. In June, we broadcasted our summer annual mix into the standing vegetation and then crimped it down onto the new seed. Because of crimping too early, however, a lot of the rye in this plot stood back up and/or regrew new flowering stems from its roots and competed with the newly planted summer annual mix. Because of this the mix did fairly poorly, but had some growth and provided a decent amount of food for the wildlife. 

The other side that was newly established last spring with the black tarp method did very well. Early on, every species sprouted and started growing. As time passed and the deer found the most palatable species, including soybeans, sunflowers, buckwheat and safflowers, they were almost completely wiped out, leaving only millet and a few sorghum plants. But, wow, did the millet thrive! Even though we got practically no rain from July through mid-September, which is normal in our climate, the millet, which was mostly german and white wonder varieties, was still able to grow and produce a lot of seed.  Because the actual grass leaves are fairly unpalatable to deer, the millet and sorghum were largely avoided while everything else was eaten to the ground. 

Even though this meant it was not providing a lot of food during most of the summer, after the seed ripened in early fall, it started attracting a lot of game birds such as turkey, chukar and quail. Once winter hit, it was also getting heavily used by deer and elk. And that's how we filled our tags from the attraction of the millet.  Also, the other side of the food plot was somewhat of an attraction as well, because when I had failed to terminate the rye in the spring, it grew back and ended up reseeding itself. When the fall rains started, we had new rye seedlings growing as well. I didn't even have to plant them. It was pretty cool to see such a success despite all of my mistakes and the harsh conditions of our climate. 

Going into the winter, we had one side with mostly dead standing millet that still had a lot of seed available to wildlife. On the other side we had mostly rye, but also some clovers, camelina and vetch that reseeded itself from the previous year's cool season mix. I am expecting this mix to do well through late spring. 

For the first time in a few years, I decided not to plant a new cool season mix anywhere on the property this past fall.  My main line of reasoning for this was I wanted to see what would naturally reseed itself from the previous year's planting. For example, on the roadside plot where I have been trying to reduce the invasive star thistle plants, I have been able to see a good amount of regenerating rye reseeding itself. I suspect we will get some other cool season annuals reseeding themselves also.

Despite my huge success with these annual plots, going forward, I'd like to start focusing more on perennial plants. This is because, ideally, I'd like to create food plots that are largely self sustaining. That means buying and planting seed one time and then maintaining what grows for multiple years. It's really great that many of the cool season annuals are self-seeding. However, I suspect that over time, if I didn't plant anything new in these plots, then weeds, especially perennial grasses and forbs, would slowly take over.

Ultimately I need more permanent root structures in the ground to prevent perennial weeds from creeping in. I will likely still overseed reseeding annuals into some perennial plots in the future, such as using cool season annuals like rye in warm season perennial plots a la "pasture-cropping". However, I believe perennial plots should be the staple of my food plot management moving forward due to their ability to resist weeds and sustain themselves in harsh conditions.

This spring, I'm planning on turning both sides of my main food plot area into a diverse perennial plot using species like cicer milkvetch, small burnet, chicory, blue flax, alfalfa and kura clover. This means I will need to successfully terminate the rye to prevent re-seeding so that it doesn't outcompete my new planting of perennials. 

I'm also planning on tarping a new area of perennial grass to expand my plot, but I will likely not be able to plant it until the following spring. This will be where I will plant my "pasture-food plotting" mix. This is a project I'm really looking forward to.

Lastly, I am planning on creating some mini single-species test plots this spring to test out native wildflowers that I could use to create a pollinator friendly native food plot mix. This is something I've been researching a lot lately. There will be a lot of work this upcoming growing season and I'm super excited to see if I can hone in on the ideal food plot recipes for creating amazing wild game habitat on my property. 

Management Determines Vegetation

The climate and soil of an area will determine the range of potential plant species that can grow in a particular area. However, it is management alone that will determine the actual plants growing in any one area. 

For example, apple trees do really well in my area because they are well adapted to the climate and soil on my property. However, if I simply planted 100 apple trees on a nearby piece of land in full sun conditions such as an open field environment and did no further management then most likely none of them would survive.  

Why is this you might ask?  Well it is because of the management of our area. Apple tree buds are highly sought after by deer and elk. These game species, especially the deer, have relatively high populations, and especially in winter as these game migrate from higher elevations to the lower elevation areas. So in this scenario the deer and elk would likely over-browse the apple trees until the point they would die out. So in order to get apples to grow in our area we would need to manage these high game populations. This could be done several different ways.

 One way would be simply through hunting to lower game numbers. However because game populations are managed through the state and only a limited number of tags are allowed per individual hunter it would be nearly impossible to control the deer and elk populations in my area to the point where the apple trees in this scenario could grow. 

Another, much more viable option would be through exclusion. By constructing a barrier, generally a tree cage or fence, one could prevent access to the apple trees from the game and thus allow them to grow without getting browsed into oblivion. Besides fencing, other barriers one could use would be piles of thorny brush around a tree or even planting the tree within a thick patch of roses or briars.

 In my area there are actually wild apples that have been naturally planted from wildlife eating and spreading the seed and because of the abundant roses some were lucky enough to have the natural barrier of a rose bush grow around them and thus allow them to escape the browse pressure from the deer and elk. I have used all 3 methods to plant trees on my property, that being tree cages, brush piles and rose bushes, in order to prevent overbrowsing and they all have been successful. 

Another example of management determining vegetation type is the large amount of invasive weeds, like yellow star thistle and medusahead grass, on south facing slopes in our area. These plants are growing in areas that used to be vibrant native prairies with native perennial grasses and wildflowers, but because of poor management annual weeds have been allowed to take over.

 These weeds dominate these areas mainly because of 2 management actions. These are overgrazing and rest. Because of the high wild game populations in the area the more palatable plants are overgrazed while the least palatable plants are avoided and left to mature and reproduce. This over time favors the unpalatable weeds such as starthistle and medusahead and the more palatable natives die out. 

The second management action leading to these weeds is rest. Surprisingly it's the fact that there are not enough large animals on these landscapes that are allowing the weeds to dominate. This is because the weeds shade out any new perennial native seedlings before they can establish because the weeds are not being trampled to the ground, which is what the native perennial plants are adapted to. In the past larger herds of elk, bighorn sheep and even bison herds would have moved through the area periodically grazing and trampling everything to the ground allowing the native perennial grasses and forbs to thrive. And if you go back far enough there were even larger animals such as mammoths, mastodons, etc that would have definitely contributed to the periodic trampling of native plants. 

So if one were wanting to get rid of weeds in our area and return their property to a more natural prairie state then the best option would be to periodically allow livestock to graze and trample down the weeds and allow the perennials to come back. 

As you can see in these examples it's management alone that will determine what kind of vegetation is growing in any one area. This is an empowering realization that you have complete control over what types of plants could grow on your property (assuming they are adapted to the climate and soils), but it also means you have complete responsibility for managing it and any negligence would lead to undesirable outcomes including a lack of habitat for the wildlife you are trying to manage for. Therefore it is of the utmost importance to practice responsible management of the ecosystems in our control in order to create ecological paradises for wildlife and ourselves.