Food Plot Work

Thanks for that info sir.

Yep the three holes im thinking of doing are at best 30 by 30 yards so more then doable with my fourwheeler, got a blow, seed thrower, and a packer.

Its dry now but will be back with water over them by mid to late augest typically by september teal season its between 6inchs and a foot and by november big duck its 2 to three foot deep.

May do one hole in japanese millet and one in browntop and the other in biologic rice.
 
Browntop doesn't take water like Jap millet does. Jap will continue to mature in water as long as it is mature enough. I'd be concerned water that early would damage browntop.
 
Tod, he did have his iPhone with Spotify but I doubt he could ever hear it over the tractor.
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I am around a variety of heavy equipment all summer for work, then yard work at home, and machines in the garage. I have a few solutions to the tunes vs noise. Cheap AM/FM radio ear muffs, Howard Light ear muffs with a blue tooth dongle, or blue tooth ear buds under my behind the neck ear muffs when hard hatted by law at work.

The cheap radio ear muffs have a headphone jack, but cord management always gets me. Blue tooth dongles or ear buds are the way to go. The earbuds are getting cheaper. The ones with the components at the ear don't work with ear muffs very well.
 
On the property we hunt there is a low spot we call Heritage Pond. I think it is a hole left over from some dirt removed many years ago. It sits much lower than the surrounding area, has steep banks, and a bottom that is perfectly flat. It's surround by willows, button bush, and other woody plants that do well with their roots always under water.

Today while working on another food plot and thinking about the drought we've been having my curiosity got the best of me so I went to check it out. Unbelievable. I've never seen it dry enough to drive equipment on. With rain headed our way I made the snap decision to plant it because the window of opportunity could be gone tomorrow and stay gone for years.

The moisture content was perfect and it disced like a dream. After discing we broadcast Japanese millet. As good as it all looks I'm cautiously optimistic. Reason being this pond should be choked out with water primrose and alligatorweed like all the rest that are like it. This has me wondering if the soil is so acidic it won't support much plant growth. I have seen smartweed in it at times but am perplexed why is isn't covered in the nasty invasive species that have ruined nearly every backwater swamp I hunted in the 80s and 90s. Obviously from the first picture below there is some vegetation but is it quite sparse compared to what I'm accustomed to.

Time will tell if it flourishes or fails. If the millet thrives like I hope it will I expect this to be one of our better spots. In years past it's been a top producer for early season woodies and late season mallards. My minds eye can see mallards pouring in to feed on millet heads right at the water's surface.

HeritagePondFoodPlot1.jpg


HeritagePondFoodPlot2.jpg


HeritagePondFoodPlot3.jpg

 
Poor kid, no air conditioned cab, probably no satellite radio. :).
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Scott,

Not only does Thomas have no access to an A/C cab and satellite FM, Eric won't let him put strobe LED lights around the tractor headlights or underneath the frame. What? Good to see you are still on the forum, from one original to another.

Jeff
 
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I can't even fathom how productive this hard work must be for you and your hunting partners. I wish NJ would do something like this for their flooded agricultural areas. Instead they stay flooded 365 days a year and are nothing but overgrown with invasive unproductive plants. What kind of water control structures do you have on your property?
 
Will

Water control isn't the best. I finished two food plots over the weekend and both are basically low spots that collect rainwater. No inlet or outlet or water control other than mother nature. Wet years it is hard to plant, dry years are good. Come hunting season average amounts of rainfall and we have huntable water. The food plot at the top of this thread has a levee that holds water. The last food plot I'm working this year has a levee and a flashboard riser. It is our best setup.

Eric
 
Well that's even better in some ways, no structures to maintain and less DEP regulations to worry about. I'm extremely jealous
 
I'm waiting for the next step: Eric starts refurbishing old quality diesel driven pumps, picked up surplus, for next to nothing. Then he'll be able to actually control his water levels.

Eric I do enjoy these posts and getting glimpses of the boys growing up.

Keep them coming,
Scott
 
Scott

Mind reader! We rented a trash pump to dry one area out in order to plant. It was really too small for the job but all we could do. Since then I've been looking for a used PTO driven pump.

Appreciate the encouragement and will try and get some pictures of Thomas working the last field we have left to do. After that on to blind making.
 
It's good to work hard, glad you are instilling this in the kids.


looks like a fun place to hunt, especially when you've put all the hard work in yourself to make it what it is. I hope to someday own a property I can do this sort of stuff on - problem is, I like diver ducks too much...
 
While the types of fields Eric is working with is not ideal diver territory divers can certainly be attracted to well managed agricultural properties. You just need the ability to hold more water in your fields (this is where water control devices and dykes are necessary). Many of the big clubs in SC target divers over rice. Of course those hunts were out of my budget, but it was still fun to glass their impoundments and salivate over the red heads and ringbills stuffing their stomachs with waste grain
 
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