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Food Plot Update - December
   WeHuntSC.com - Tecomate Seed Food Plot Journey
  Tecomate Seed Food Plot Journey

If you've been around long enough (or checked out the Food Plot Journey blog series) then you know that we've been busy for the last year installing, messing up, making, working on, and learning about food plots.  I have been the quintessential guinea pig blogging about what we've been doing along the way and we are nearing the end of the journey for this year.

As you have seen, we've been highly documenting the power line food where we put Tecomate's Max Attract and Ultra Forage.  We used the GroundHog MAX and a tractor to get the ground ready and the plot has done well.  You may have also seen the epic "Hunt of 1,000 What-Ifs" that took place in the power line food plot.  When we walk through the plot now the plants are over our ankles and are up to our calves in many locations.  Needless to say, this plot has done well.

I will say that early in the season we didn't see a lot of action in the power line food plot.  Though as it has gotten colder and the deer's food sources have been lessening, we've been seeing a lot more deer passing through and browsing as they walk.  For this reason I think fall food plots can prove crucial to bring deer in front of you as deer hunting season nears its end.

Below are some updated pics from the power line plot to give you visuals for what it looks like at this point in the season.

WeHuntSC.com - Tecomate Seed Max Attract Power line Plot

You can see where we mixed the Max Attract & Ultra Forage in the power line plot

WeHuntSC.com - Tecomate Seed Max Attract Power line Plot

The Ultra Forage is the broad leaves and the Max Attract are the tall skinny blades

WeHuntSC.com - Tecomate Seed Max Attract Power line Plot

Which side of the power line would you go to if you were a deer?

WeHuntSC.com - Tecomate Seed Max Attract Power line Plot

Looks like a deer or two may have laid down in this one!

As you know, we have also been working on other food plots in various locations that we planted a little later on, but have not been reporting as much via the blog because we were just repeating the same processes at each location.  The MAX Attract and Ultra Forage are both doing well at all of the different plots that we planted. From what I can tell, the MAX Attract seems to grow a little faster and taller than the Ultra Forage, but the Ultra Forage, when it grows, has very nice, green, broad leaves. Below are some pics from other plots that we planted.

WeHuntSC.com - Tecomate Seed Max Attract Plot

WeHuntSC.com - Tecomate Seed Ultra Forage

WeHuntSC.com - Tecomate Seed Ultra Forage

WeHuntSC.com - Tecomate Seed Max Attract

The green in the midst of the brown and grey looks really good!

WeHuntSC.com - Tecomate Seed Max Attract

WeHuntSC.com - Tecomate Seed Max Attract as high as a Bojangles Cup

From the deer we've been seeing in these plots I can tell you that we'll definitely be trying to plant fall food plots again next year! These fall plots give the deer something to eat (and a healthy product at that) when their food sources lessen in nature.  Hopefully this will help hold deer in our area and give them the nutrients they need to stay healthy year round. 

Regards,

Clint
 


The Hunt of a 1,000 What If's
   WeHuntSC.com - The Camera Setup on the Tower Stand
  The camera & the burlap I got hung in

What if the deer would've come out 10 yards further down the plot?  What if I would've just had my gun already propped on the shooting rail?  What if the deer would've kept walking toward the decoy?  What if my gun barrel didn't get caught in the burlap?  These were the questions running through my mind moments after blowing a perfect chance to harvest a nice 9 pt. Let's rewind?

This past weekend, I had the privilege to sit in the deer stand a few times.  Saturday morning didn't offer any luck even though I felt like I was in the perfect setup.  I called Clint to see if he wanted to film me hunting over the Tecomate Seed Food Plot on the power line Saturday afternoon.  We decided were going to setup a buck decoy and use a rut smoking stick by Tink's. I placed the decoy and smoke stick about 60 yards down the plot. About halfway between the decoy and the stand, there was a fresh scrape on the edge of the food plot. The wind was blowing in our face at an angle, which was good considering the deer should be coming out in front of us. The deer we have been seeing have been coming out close to the scrape or at the very bottom of the plot. It was around 3:30 pm when we finally got situated in the tower stand. Clint and I were whispering what we hoped would happen and just texting people on our phones, trying to kill time until the ?golden hour? arrived.

WeHuntSC.com - The 9 pointer just 5 yards in front of us   
The 9 pointer just 5 yards in front of us  

Since there hasn?t been much rain, the squirrels were making a ridiculous amount of noise in the leaves to our left and right. Around 4:40 pm, the sporadic scampering from the squirrels had ceased and a rhythmic pattern of steps started resonating from the hardwoods to our right. I instantly looked at Clint and said ?That?s a deer!? Adrenaline suddenly rushed through my body and heightened my senses. I could hear every twig snap and every leaf crackle as the deer approached. He was walking right towards our stand!  As the deer approached the food plot, he was so close that we couldn?t even see him. At this point, Clint and I were so excited that we literally felt like puking. Finally, Clint saw some antlers moving below us. Since I was in the right corner of the stand, I didn?t see the deer until he was a step away from entering the food plot. First thing I spotted was antlers. So I started taping Clint on the leg for him to let me know if it was a shooter. Clint gave me a thumbs up!!! It was game time! The deer was so close we had to be extremely quiet in our movements. I gently sat my binoculars on the floor and started to get my gun raised. By this time, the deer had spotted the decoy and had taken a few steps toward it. Perfect! I was thinking the deer was going to head straight for the decoy and Clint was going to capture the magic. The deer suddenly got spooked. He paused, turning his ears in every direction trying to pick up the slightest noise. I was frozen! I still hadn?t gotten my gun raised. The deer started walking toward the woods instead of the decoy. It?s was now or never! I quietly, but frantically tried to get my gun positioned on the shooting rail. The deer was just a few steps from disappearing into the woods when my gun barrel got tangled in the burlap on the top railing.  As I untangled the barrel and clicked the safety off, the deer darted for the woods. BANG!!! ?Did you get him!?!? Clint whispers. My heart sank. I just had the greatest opportunity to take a nice buck and failed. I?m pretty sure in my rushed state of mind; I shot over the deer?s back at 15yds! We sat until dark and then got down to make sure I didn?t hit the deer.  We didn?t find any sign of the deer being hit. This was the greatest hunt, with the worst outcome, in my life.

The image of the buck spotting the decoy & getting all stiff-legged

WeHuntSC.com - The buck spotting the decoy and getting scared

   WeHuntSC.com - Does in the plot on my dad's hunt
  Does in the plot on my dad's hunt

Even though I missed the deer, I had to show my family this awesome hunt. So when I got home, I played the footage for my dad, mom, sisters, and brother-in-law.  As soon as the buck came into the screen, my sister was like I can?t believe you missed that nice buck. Great! Here we go, time for the clowning to commence. Then my dad chimes in, ?That deer about licked your barrel!? Now I?m trying to defend myself by describing what is happening behind the camera. My dad said he was going to get in that same stand in the morning. I said that was cool because I could just film him. He said that I wouldn?t have to worry about that deer again if he came out on him because he would ?put him to sleep?.  So Sunday morning we headed back out to the tower stand. After getting in the stand, my dad couldn?t be still. His back was bothering him and he was on a bucket seat that didn?t have any back support.  He kept squirming around and occasionally stood up.  By this point I thought there was no way we are going to see a deer.  So I just started playing on my phone and started texting people. Suddenly dad whispered ?Don?t move! A doe just stepped out.?  By the time I get the camera turned on and zoomed down the plot, two more does stepped out. None of these does where on high alert like a buck was with them, so I immediately tell dad to pick one out and shoot.  Before he can put the binoculars down and grab his gun, there were six does in the food plot.  Three of these does are at least 120 lbs. Dad got his gun on the shooting rail and we pick out which doe he is going to shoot.  ?Ready?? he whispered.  BANG!!! ?Haha? I chuckled. The deer bounded off. Dad asks ?Did I hit her?? Then you hear me kind of laugh and say ?I don?t know?.  I started picking on him because that is the first deer I?ve ever seen or heard of my dad missing. For some reason, he placed the cross hairs on top of the does back and shot over the top of her. I was like why would you do that, she was only 140 yards out. Then I realized that was the first deer my dad had ever attempted to shoot with a rifle. We decided to get down and check for blood just to make sure. As I waited for my turn to climb down the stand, I glanced back down the food plot and another deer had just walked out after all the commotion. I started whispering to dad to hand me the gun, but obviously he didn?t hear me. By the time he finally handed me the gun, the deer had run off. Now it was time for dad to get clowned by the family. Luckily for him, it was only mom there. So all he got was, ?I can?t believe ya?ll missed those deer.? 

WeHuntSC.com - The WeHuntSC.com Scent Control 1-2 punch

Even though pops and I were 0 for 2, those were two of the best hunts I?ve experienced in my life. I have to give special thanks to Mckenzie Scent Fan Duffle Bag, Atsko Scent Elimination Products, True Timber Camo and Tecomate Seed. Without the Mckenzie Scent Fan Duffle Bag and Atsko?s Scent elimination products, I don?t think Clint and I would?ve ever been able to get that close to the 9 pt. To be in a stand that is about 12 feet high and get within 5 yards of a buck like that speaks volumes for these two products. True Timber has great camo patterns for our area and the material is quiet. I will be purchasing more from them soon! Tecomate Seed just keeps bringing these deer in.  We haven?t hunted that stand much, but now we have seen 3 or 4 bucks on it and a lot of does. So I highly recommend you guys try these products. 

Below is the video of my first hunt

Below is the video of my dad?s hunt

 

These are 2 hunts I'll never forget!

Adam

 

 


Remote Food Plot Update
   WeHuntSC.com - Scrape Pic
  The Scrape on the edge of the plot

As you know, we've been planting some Tecomate Seed Food Plots this fall. To date we've taken the soil samples, prepared the soil by spraying Round-up, plowed the soil up with the GroundHog MAX, came back in and put down fast acting lime and the seed.  After that we came back and put down some 13-13-13 fertilizer and just prayed for rain.  It was dry for a pretty good while, but then we finally got some rain.  Since then the plots have started doing better.

Small Plot
The small plot is growing a little bit slower for some reason.  It may be because of the density of the soil, but I'm not really sure. We planted Tecomate's Monster Mix in the small plot and it is growing, but it's not growing at the rate of the power line plot. The small plot currently has some growth and looks like a light green carpet on the surface of the soil. Hopefully we'll get some more rain to help boost the growth in this plot some more. It's coming along, but we'd like to see it "jump" a little bit more.

Power line Plot
The power line plot is growing really well.  I think the soil in this location is a little more "sandy" in comparison to the small plot.  This may be the reason for the better growth because the two plots are relatively close to each other.  Whatever the reason, the power line plot is looking good.  Because it's long and narrow (and currently green) it's looking similar to a golf-course. You can see what the plot looks like below.

We've also got a buck that has decided to make a scrape about 20 yards down from the tower stand. He's been regularly checking this scrape because he's frequently cleaning it out.  We're trying to get him on film checking his scrape and we're keeping our fingers crossed. Hopefully he'll come out in the day-time before too long.

Here's a shot from the bottom up of the plot

WeHuntSC.com - Power line plot pic

Here's a before/after pic so far from this plot

WeHuntSC.com - Before & After Pic

I made a short video to show some different pics of these plots.  You can see it below

Regards,

Clint
 


Fertilizing the Fall Food Plots
  WeHuntSC.com - Power line Plot 2 weeks out
  Power line Plot 2 weeks out

This past weekend we were able to get out and do the final work-related step on the food plots.  To this point we've taken soil samples, sprayed and disked up the ground, limed and seeded the soil, and now the last step is to put down some fertilizer.  It's been really dry in the past few months, but this last week we got some good, much needed, rain.  The rain has helped the food plot products (Teomcate's Max Attract, Ultra Forage, and Monster Mix) germinate and start to take root. 

We aimed to put the fertilizer down when the forecast called for rain a couple of days after we spread the fertilizer. We did this so that the fertilizer wouldn't sit on top of the ground and burn up the plants that had already started growing, but would rather be broken down by the rain and absorbed into the soil and eventually reach the plant's roots.  We also chose Weaver's 13-13-13 for the same precautionary reason of protecting the plants.  The plants are growing and we're trying to help them grow rather than killing them!  We're taking a lot precaution with the strength of the fertilizer that's why we're putting out 13-13-13 instead of 17-17-17.  

The fertilizer we put out on the first remote food plot back in the spring really had a great effect on the growth of the plants.  We put it out and I came back about 2 -3 weeks later and the plants had really "jumped" as they call it.  The plants drastically increased their size within a matter of weeks.  I'm hoping the same will hold true with these plots as well.

WeHuntSC.com - Powerline image

In the power line plot we've planted Max Attract with Ultra-Forage and to this point we've got a good, green looking carpet on the plot. The plants are growing and because they're just starting to break the surface they give the plot a green tint on top of the soil. From what I can tell everything is going well with this plot and I think it's going to be just like we want it, time will tell though. There are also a couple of spots in the power line plot where we spilled some seed by hitting bumps when we were driving.  This leaves the surface with a dark green spots where more seed is growing.

WeHuntSC.com - Fertilizer Close up shot

In the smaller plot we planted Monster Mix and I think it must grow a little slower or something because we could tell that it's growing, but the plants wasn't as high up off the ground yet.  You'll see the picture in the video of what it looks like.  You can definitely see the plant growing, but you had to look for the bright green dots of the little leaves coming through.  I think this one will do well too, but I think it may take a little bit longer than the power line plot.  Both areas receive good sunlight so I don't think that will be a factor.

I created a video where you can see the growth of the two plots and also the fertilizer.

Hopefully before too long we'll be posting some pics of the food plot growing taller and with luck, some pics with deer in it.

Regards,

Clint

 


Liming & Seeding the Fall Food Plots
   WeHuntSC.com - Adam and the drag
  A pic of the old drag hare that we used

This past weekend Adam and I got out and did a good day's worth of work on two food plots that we're installing in the fall session of the Food Plot Journey.  Boy was it hot too!  Up until this point we have taken soil samples for both areas, sprayed, and disked both of these plots.  Given the best case scenario we would have preferred to get the lime in the soil a few weeks ahead of the seed, but due to the fact that we're just like you (weekend warriors) we've kind of gotten in a bind with our time and are putting down both the lime and seed on the same day.  Again, I don't think this is the best practice method, but it can still work or at least we hope so!

The soil samples we took for these plots returned a pH of 5.2 for both of these plots...which is a little low.  We are putting lime in the ground to help bring the pH up to a level that creates a better growing environment for the plants that we are planting.  Also, this fall we are using a new type of lime.  We?re using "Fact Acting Lime" which (I believe) is a recent development within lime products.  Fast acting lime is supposed to do just what it is named "act fast"!  Normally it takes several months for lime to start breaking down the acidity in the soil and changing the pH.  Though, this fast acting lime is supposed to be able to start changing the pH at an accelerated rate.  On the bag of the lime it says that it's 15 times more effective than regular lime.  Since we're late putting the lime down due to our schedules, I sure hope it acts fast!  We'll be interested to see how it works.  The bags are about 30-40lbs a piece and we put 4 bags on the small plot and 8 bags on the larger, power line plot because that was the recommended amount given the size of our plots and the coverage of the lime.

WeHuntSC.com - Fast Acting Lime   
The Fast Acting Lime  

After we made the passes with the lime and spreader, we then hooked up a drag to the ATV because we wanted to drag the lime in.  We're doing this to hopefully cover the lime up with dirt and get the lime near the area of the soil where the roots of the plants will be located.  If all went well, the lime will be right where it needs to be right when the plant needs it.  You'll see in the video where we drug both areas.  We used an old drag hare to do this and it seemed to work well and started leveling out some of the small hills as we drug the soil. It was real similar to dragging a baseball field.

After liming and dragging, it was now time to put the seed down.  On the small plot we are putting in Tecomate?s Monster Mix.  The seeds for Monster Mix are very small and look neon green in color.  We only had to make 3 or 4 passes with the spreader because the seed got out so quickly.  It didn?t take too long to get all this done on the small plot as it, of course, is smaller in size.  Adam also climbed up in the stand to take some pics of the envisioned food plot to demonstrate our perspective on what we will be seeing this coming fall.  Hopefully we'll be looking down on something that is green and thriving!

   WeHuntSC.com - Tecomate Seed's Monster Mix bag on the soil
  An image of the Monster Mix

We repeated the same process on both food plots of liming, dragging, and seeding. As mid day approached, it started getting really hot.  We worked on the power line plot for a while.  We both were soaked and I even went to the store and bought 6 drinks and we drank them all within an hour?but there was still work that needed to be done.  Since the power line plot is steep and "hilly", it was a little tougher to manage.  The drag would get clumped up, the spreader would bounce and act as if it was about to tip over, etc.  The power line plot required a little more time because of all of this mixed with the fact that I was going back and forth from the video camera to the regular camera etc. 

With regards to the seed and food plot product for the power line food plot, we're planting Tecomate's Max Attract & Ultra Forage.  We mixed these seeds together to offer the deer in the area a smorgasbord of food sources.  Optimistically we?ll have a hillside leading to a creek that is covered in green right about when other food sources start to diminish for deer in our area.  This will not only get them where we want them to be, but will also help them with their year round nutritional and dietary needs.

Now that the weeds have been sprayed, ground disked, soil limed, and the seeds have been sowed, all we can do is sit back and hope for rain.  It has been extremely dry these past few weeks/months.  You can see this in the videos we've previously posted where dust is flying everywhere and covering us from head to toe.  Without any rain, there's nothing much that can grow so we?re going to be praying for rain in the coming weeks. Hopefully everything will come together.  On a positive note, Tecomate's seed is covered with a "Yellow jacket" coating that retains any moisture it comes in contact with.  This coating is specifically designed to aid in dry conditions. 

The seeds of the Monster Mix were bright green and very small as seen in the image below

WeHuntSC.com - The soil with seeds in it

Below is an HD video collage of the lime, dragging, and seeding install.

And now...the wait for rain!

Regards,

Clint
 


Fall Food Plot - Preparing The Soil
   WeHuntSC.com - Adam riding the ATV with the GroundHog MAX doing the dirty work
  Adam riding the ATV using the GroundHog MAX

If you've been reading along, then you know we are on the second half of our year-long, Tecomate Seed, Food Plot Journey. We learned a lot during the past summer about food plots and even had some food plots that came up pretty well. Though, we did have one weed infested food plot that didn't turn out as well as we hoped, but it served as a good learning experience for us. We've been getting some good game cam pics of deer in the plots (mostly does on camera though) and for the past few weeks we've been working on our fall plots.

We're putting our fall plots in some different locations and we are carrying out the same processes of taking a soil sample, preparing the soil, liming, planting, and adding fertilizer (if needed) in all these locations. The main difference between the summer and fall plots is that we're planting plants that can grow in cold weather for our fall plots.  Over time the frost and cold will end up killing what we planted for our summer plots. I will note that so far throughout the process with the fall plots everything has been really dry. I mean every time we do anything there is dust flying everywhere.  After riding the GroundHog MAX last weekend for a few hours I was covered in dirt and my eyes were burning. I looked in the mirror and my whole face was covered in orange dust. I say all that to say if we don't get some rain soon, I'm not sure what is going to grow in such dry soil. Again, I'm a web guy and don't claim to know much about farming and/or food plots so I may be surprised, but for now I?m still hoping we get some rain to have some kind of moisture in the soil.

At this point we've taken the soil samples and are now preparing the soil. By preparing the soil I mean we have sprayed the envisioned plot with RoundUp to get the weeds out and gave them time to die. The weeds died and the video will demonstrate this as you can easily see the stark contrast between the dead brown weeds and the dark green weeds on the other side of the hill. I was actually surprised at how well the RoundUp did with only spraying it once. Initially I thought we'd have to spray it a little bit more to get it all to die since there were a ton of weeds, but I was wrong in that assumption.  We waited about a week and a half and then came back to get the weeds out by disking up the soil. Thus far, we have been disking up the soil by using the GroundHog MAX, but for this large area we brought in a tractor to assist. 

WeHuntSC.com - The Look through the camera

We're trying to put in this particular plot in an area that was an old power line. The power line is long and narrow and we're trying to install the plot at the lower end that leads down to a creek. This place hasn't been touched in about 2 - 3 years so the dirt there is hard and dry.  The lower area of the power line has steep hills and rough terrain. These hills, rough terrain, and narrowness of the old power line combine to present a difficult situation for the tractor with regards to plowing. Parts of the power line are more flat and in those areas the tractor did well, but the other areas near the bottom presented more of a challenge for the tractor.  So, as you would imagine, we brought in the GroundHog MAX and it got the job done again! The GroundHog MAX greatly helped us out in those hard to plow locations. Ultimately the soil in this plot was plowed by a combination of the tractor and GroundHog MAX with the tractor handling the flatter, upper end and the GroundHog MAX on the more rugged, lower end. 

WeHuntSC.com - Before/After Pic of the Remote Food Plot on the Powerline

Before/After Pic of the Remote Food Plot on the Powerline

It took a lot of time to get the soil the way we wanted, but in the end I think it looks pretty good given what we started out with. Again, this dirt was very hard and very dry so I think we made some good progress.  We'll try to continue to install food plots in these areas year after year and over time we think it will get a little easier if we stay on top of it.

I'm praying for some rain so keep your fingers crossed. Now we'll give the power line food plot a week or two to see if anything germinates, that is we'll wait to see if any more weeds start growing back. In our first go round with our summer plots, we sprayed a field and got a good kill on the weeds then we disked the field up and planted. The field ended up being full of weeds because the plowing covered some of the dormant seeds with dirt and moisture and then they germinated which lead to a mess by the time it was all said and done. So we'll see if any weeds start to come up and if they do, then we'll spray it again to kill them, then we'll wait a little while and put the seed out. We'll probably also put down some lime and fertilizer, but we're still waiting to get the soil samples back before we assess that situation.

I made the below video to show you what the area looked like after the spray and to give you an idea of how we worked both the tractor and the GroundHog MAX together to get the soil the way we wanted it.

And the journey continues...

Regards,

Clint
 


GroundHog MAX Work on the Fall Remote Food Plot
   WeHuntSC.com - The GroundHog MAX
  The GroundHog MAX

This past weekend I spent a couple of hours out in the woods with my main objective being to get the soil for the fall, remote food plot disked up and prepared to be seeded.  I set out with the GroundHog MAX and a 4-wheeler to get the job done and I had a blast riding this thing around the envisioned food plot.

The area where we are trying to install the fall, remote food plot is back deep in the woods, but it has had crops on it before?though none in recent years.  So the soil was not extremely dense, but it wasn?t ready like we wanted it to be.  The area had grass and weeds on it and when we came in last weekend we took the soil sample for the area and then sprayed some Roundup as seen in the previous videos.  When I returned back to the food plot you could tell that the Roundup was going to work as many of the weeds had started turning darker colors already.  This was a good sign as we are trying to get the weeds out! 

I got the 4-wheeler off the truck and then had to ?attach the MAX?.  To do this, I simply carried a wooden block and drove up on it and locked the brakes once I get on top of the block. The 4-wheeler was then elevated a little off the ground and provided just enough clearance to attach the GroundHog MAX to the ATV.  I pulled out the pen, slid the GroundHog MAX into place, put the pen back and then got ready to roll.

Normally we go out in groups working on the land, but on this day I had to soldier up by myself and get it done as my counterparts were unable to assist.  So, I did the work and documentation both (which took me a little bit longer than normal).  I got the cameras and tripod ready and shot some different angles and videos.  By the end, the video camera and tripod were extremely dirty not to mention how dirty I got.  I had dirt everywhere on me!
We haven?t had much rain recently so the dirt, especially on one end of the plot, was really dry.  This resulted in a lot of dust being thrown up in the air while I was riding.  You can easily see it in the video below.  When I got through working I went to the truck and saw where my face was covered in orange from the dust of the clay-like soil.  I washed my face in some watered-down, diet coke that I had leftover from earlier that morning.  It was not the best feeling, but it got the job done and helped me regain sight!  My face, shirt, and pants were just as orange as the soil was.  Though, it does feel good to get out and work when often times I?m sitting behind a computer, so I didn?t mind it too much. 

I rode the 4-wheeler in circles, figure-8?s, diagonally, and in straight lines trying to churn up the dirt in every way possible.  It seems that the GroundHog Max churns up the ground a little better when riding in circles or figure-8?s, but then again that could be because the 4-wheeler I was using is a 2 wheel drive ATV.  When you have a 4x4 ATV you have the muscle to put the MAX a little bit deeper in the ground, but since the ATV I was using didn?t have the cc?s necessary to pull through deeper dirt, I just made a few more passes and it still worked fine.

I probably rode the GroundHog MAX for around 1.5 to 2 hours and I?d say that I rode it way longer than I really needed to simply because I was having so much fun!  After a while I had the top-soil so loosened up that I began sliding around and it felt as if I was playing bumper cars at the beach or something.  It was really fun to get out there and ride.

All in all, I got the job done, had a lot of fun, got extremely dirty, and got the soil disked up and ready.  We?ll now wait a week or so and go back in to see if any weeds have germinated from being disked under the dirt.  If this is the case, we?ll spray again and then we should be ready to plant.

Again, I was very impressed with how the GroundHog MAX performed.  The winner of the Big Buck Competition is going to be one happy camper!

See the video of me riding the GroundHog MAX in circles and attempting to talk over music below

Regards,

Clint
 
 


More Fall Plot Soil Samples + Spraying
   WeHuntSC.com - Adam Smith taking a soil sample
  Adam Smith taking a soil sample

This past Saturday Adam and I spent a great deal of time working in the heat and boy was it hot!  We are preparing to put in some of our Tecomate Seed fall food plots.  We went out collected a few soil samples and sprayed some round-up.  At this location we're going to put in two food plots.  One will be a half acre plot where we will plant Monster Mix.  The other will be around 3 acres located on an old power line where we will plant Max-Attract and Ultraforage in alternating sections. The smaller plot has had crops on it before so conditioning the soil won't be too bad in that location.  There are some weeds there, but not too many. The old power line, however, is slam full of grass and weeds so we've got our work cut out for us to be able to have a successful plot in this area.

While we were there, we also spent a good deal of time scouting and walking the land.  We found some rubs, saw some sign, and even saw a deer as we scouted.  We feel these are good signs, but we shall see as the season goes on. Our goal was to find areas where we wanted to put our food plots at this location and get the soil samples + start spraying and that's exactly what we did.  I think I soaked 2 shirts with sweat and I got really dirty by the end of it all. I wore pants out this time since last time we did this I caught poison ivy. I also wore boots since I've been seeing a lot of pics of snakes lately.  I had the perfect combination for being protected from the elements and also being hot and sweaty.

The Small Plot
The smaller location is at the back end of the property and it looks to be a good location. Our area of SC has parts of town that are all clay, some are all sand, and then there are areas that are mixtures of both. The area of this plot is made up more of clay than dirt. The small plot is probably about 100 - 120 yards long and 25 yards wide.  This should turn out to be a nice food plot and it also has a few oaks on the edge with a good crop of acorns. We'll need to trim back some of the other trees to improve the vision to all end s of the plot. This location will be the easier of the two to plant. As you'll see in the below video, Adam took the soil sample and then sprayed the field with Round-up to kill the weeds while I documented everything.

In hopes of not getting our plot overtaken with weeds (as we did in the summer at the one location), we're going to spray it with Round-up, then come back in with the GroundHog MAX to disk it up, then return a few days later to spray it again.  The reason we'll spray it the second time is to kill any dormant seed that we may have turned up while disking. After we spray again, we'll give it a few days before we go back in to plant the seed.

The Large Plot
The larger plot is the one that's located on an old power line. The power company use to have poles run through this section of woods, but in recent years they have removed the poles. This left a great place to put in a food plot.  The only problem we have is the weeds and grass that now resides in the area. There are a ton of weeds currently in the area and so we've got our work cut out for us to get an effective food plot installed. 

WeHuntSC.com - The large plot along an old power line

We are going to try to put another long and narrow plot in this location. Here again we collected another soil sample and sprayed Round-up heavily. We're going to let it sit for a few days and hopefully get a good portion of the grass and weeds killed. The weeds are so tall that I may even go back in and mow it down some. Then we'll go back in, with a tractor and the GroundHog Max, and disk. Following suit, we'll let it sit for a few days then return to spray again as we want to kill off any dormant seeds turned up while disking. 

You can see the video of all this below to get a visual for what we?re talking about and attempting to do.

So you've seen the hopeful locations of 2 of our fall plots. We're optimistic that we can pull it off, but again only time will tell. In the mean time, we've got a lot of work to do. More to come.

Regards,

Clint
 


Update: Game Camera Pics from 2 of the Tecomate Seed Food Plots
   WeHuntSC.com - Tecomate Seed Lab Lab Plus growing up outlying trees
  Here is a pic of the Lab Lab Plus growing up a sweet gum limb on the edge of the plot

Remember when I said that I was taking some new batteries back out to the game-cam on the GroundHog MAX, remote food plot?  Well, turns out that if you actually have working batteries in the game camera that it does take pics!  Also, lithium batteries work better than the regular.  Looks like I?m learning about all kind of stuff this summer.

Since putting new batteries in the game camera, I?ve been able to get some decent pics of does in the plot munching on some Tecomate Seed Lab Lab Plus!  Still have not gotten any bucks to walk past the camera yet though.  I?m thinking about putting a camera on the other end of the plot as well since it is very long and narrow and I can tell that the deer are browsing the plot and crossing through it at various locations. 

Another thing I?ll note is that at the remote food plot, the Lab Lab Plus is growing so much that it?s starting to grow to the edges of the food plot and up the sides of other trees and branches of nearby plants.  It?s pretty neat to see it doing that.

Here is a pic of the remote food plot as of August 20th.  This food plot made possible by GroundHog_MAX & Tecomate Seed

WeHuntSC.com - A pic of the Tecomate Seed Remote Food Plot

Below are some of the pics that I pulled from the camera of does browsing the remote food plot.  I think it has taken them a little time to get use to this new food plot being in their area and again, it looks like they?re being selective of which plants they eat.  Nothing amazing, but does show how high lab lab plus as well as some deer getting tangled up in some Tecomate!

WeHuntSC.com - A doe in the Tecomate Seed Remote Food Plot   WeHuntSC.com - A doe in the Tecomate Seed Remote Food Plot   

 

WeHuntSC.com - A doe in the Tecomate Seed Remote Food Plot   WeHuntSC.com - A doe in the Tecomate Seed Remote Food Plot   

 

WeHuntSC.com - A doe in the Tecomate Seed Remote Food Plot   WeHuntSC.com - A doe in the Tecomate Seed Remote Food Plot   

 

WeHuntSC.com - A doe in the Tecomate Seed Remote Food Plot   WeHuntSC.com - A doe in the Tecomate Seed Remote Food Plot   

 

WeHuntSC.com - A doe in the Tecomate Seed Remote Food Plot   WeHuntSC.com - A doe in the Tecomate Seed Remote Food Plot   

 

WeHuntSC.com - A doe in the Tecomate Seed Remote Food Plot   WeHuntSC.com - A doe in the Tecomate Seed Remote Food Plot   

 

WeHuntSC.com - A doe in the Tecomate Seed Remote Food Plot   WeHuntSC.com - A Doe in the Tecomate Seed Remote Food Plot   

 

Location 2 Update Pics

   WeHuntSC.com - The Tecomate Seed Milo from the Lab Lab is getting tall
  The milo is getting pretty tall

I also got some pics from one of the other food plots we?ve been working on.  This location grew well and did not have a drastic weed problem like the other area I was documenting so thoroughly.  As you can see from the pic to the right the milo is growing strong and is getting tall.  I believe these plants are the ones that once they get hit with a frost that the starches in them turn to sugar and the deer will start eating them more.   At this location, the deer are accustomed to having food plots in it year after year and are ready to eat as soon as the plants start growing.  The deer have wiped out most of the broad-leaf plants already, but they?re still coming through to eat. 

Below is one of the pics we got of some does in the plot at night.  I could post several more, but it?s the same does in the plot over and over again.

WeHuntSC.com - Does in the Tecomate Seed Food Plot - Night Pic

It?s good to get some pics of deer in the plots and hopefully we?ll get some bucks in the pics before too long.  Sure hope that I have working batteries in my camera should a monster buck come through?and if he does, I?ll post it here for you to see.

Regards,

Clint
 


Tecomate Update: Mike Lee takes on a New Role
   WeHuntSC.com - Jon Charles of River Oaks Wildlife Management
  Jon Charles of River Oaks Wildlife Management

As many of you have read on the site, Mike Lee has been our go-to guy at Tecomate Seed throughout the Food Plot Journey and he also spoke at our ?Hunter?s Night Out?.  Mike has been great throughout the whole process and he has endured my elementary level of knowledge of all things food plot related.  Mike is now transitioning into a new role with the company and we wish him well in his new role.  When you wear many hats at an organization this sometimes happens and so Mike will be concentrating on a different division and will thrive there as well. 

Mike?s transition into a new role helped us meet another knowledgeable resource with regards to food plots and game management.  Jon Charles, out of Raleigh NC, is stepping in to be the new Southeastern Regional Representative for Tecomate.  I?ve spoken with Jon several times and he was also a featured speaker at the Pee Dee Deer Classic.  I can tell you that he?s very educated about game management and food plots.  Jon owns River Oaks Wildlife Management which is a professional wildlife management and consulting firm specializing in deer health, nutrition, wildlife habitat development, high forage food plots, crop production, custom deer feeds, and mineral supplements specifically designed for deer and elk.  Jon brings a nice mesh between science and the outdoors that we can greatly benefit from.  He is a well noted speaker and writes for several outdoor publications.  Jon will be our new go-to guy at Tecomate for the remainder of the Food Plot Journey and is the new contact for Tecomate Seed in the Southeast.  So if you?re looking for a very knowledge resource in the Carolinas with all things food plot / herd management related?or to get some Tecomate Seed, then Jon Charles is your guy!

So the Food Plot Journey continues and we are half-way there!  It?s been a while already and I?ve learned a lot since January.  We?ll be starting the process again and installing our fall plots in the coming weeks/months.  I?ll continue to document that as well and I hope that we can get some good pictures throughout the fall/winter.  I?m excited to try to get some more Tecomate products to grow again!  I think I?m learning and the deer are benefitting?more to come.

In the mean time, here are 2 updated pics from the Remote Food Plot.  I?m going to try to get updated images of the other plots soon as well.

WeHuntSC.com - Tecomate Seed - GroundHog MAX Remote Food Plot Update Pic

WeHuntSC.com - Tecomate Seed - GroundHog MAX Remote Food Plot Update Pic

Regards,

Clint

 


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