Pros and Cons of Chicken Litter

Things that I have learned from using chicken litter as an relatively inexpensive organic fertilizer for our food plots:

1.       It smells

2.       It continues to smell for a long time, especially if there is no rain

3.       When it is spread by a truck it doesn’t just land on the field; sometimes it lands on nearby trees.

4.       Flies arrive with the litter.

5.       It clings to boots and tractor tires.  Then they smell, too.

All of this can be accepted if the litter works as a good organic fertilizer.  But how can we tell?  It still smells.  Perhaps, due to a serious drought, that is the only evidence we will have this deer season.

Truck Delivering Chicken Litter

 

Fox with 3 Kits Make a Home Under Our Storage Building

We were surprised and thrilled to discover that a beautiful gray fox has made a den under our storage building.  Just this week she let her three kits out to play while we sat silently on the porch.

Notice that one of the kits is climbing a tree.  Gray foxes are unique as one of the only canids that climb trees.

Screech Owlets have arrived!

We were eager to see if the Screech Owl's eggs had hatched, so we silently approach the wood duck box and gingerly opened it.  Two adorable screech owlets were sleeping with Mom in the corner, who was also napping.

Screech Owlets

Mouse Dinner

And in the other corner Mom had provided a tasty meal for dinner - a freshly caught mouse.  Unfortunately one owlet didn't survive and has been placed in the corner behind the mouse.

Porch is the Battlefield: Mom Bird 2, Bill 0

We enjoy sitting out on our porch which is covered by the roof and from which a light fixture hangs.  This is an ideal place to sit anytime, especially on a rainy day, because it is covered and stays dry and is shady.  Unfortunately, a bird has also decided that it is the perfect place to build her nest.

Several years ago she built it inside the light fixture.  The porch floor was a mess, because, in order to keep her nest clean, she sat on the edge of the light fixture and used the floor as a target for the bird poop.  Finally Bill dragged a tall ladder onto the porch and wrapped wire all around the lamp in order to encourage Mom Bird to build her next nest somewhere else.

Birds sitting in nest build by Mom Bird after the wire was wrapped around the light fixture

Evidently Mom Bird liked this added protection for her nest and next set of babies.  Soon a new family found the light fixture with the wire a neat place to live.  And the wire had the added advantage of providing the perfect ledge to sit on and observe the surroundings, as well as to continue to use the floor as a target for the bird poop.

After these baby birds finally grew up and flew the nest, Bill decided that more drastic measures needed to be taken.  More wire was bought and aluminum foil was added to the mix:

New nest build by Mom Bird on rafter next to light wrapped with wire and foil

We thought that surely Mom Bird would give up and find somewhere else to build her next nest.  So were we surprised when, after a short absence, we were greeted with lots of mud on the floor of our porch and a new nest on the rafter next to the light and positioned right over our table, which I am sure will be the new target.

The battle continues, but so far the score is Mom Bird 2, Bill 0.
  

Spring is Back and So Is the Owl

Finally - Spring has arrived.  The pear and plum trees are in bloom.  Hopefully the apple trees will soon awaken after a fairly cold winter.  And our screech owl has returned to the wood duck box.

Each Spring we eagerly sneak up to this beautiful cedar nesting box and quietly open the side door and peer inside to see if a wood duck has found a new home.  And each Spring we find instead an adorable little screech owl that has taken up residence with plans to raise her owlets in the plush surroundings, recently filled by us with fresh cedar shavings.

Screech Owl with Eggs in Wood Duck Box

For More Wildlife Sightings Consider a Golf Cart

If you want to see more wildlife on your hunting property forget the ATV or MULE.  What you really need is a golf cart.  Slow and quiet beats fast and loud if you want to fit into the surroundings and not announce your approach.  We recently invested in a vintage golf cart that rolls along at a slow but steady pace and is so quiet that we can’t even hear ourselves coming.  We got it to help get around the property while nursing a healing knee but were surprised at an unexpected result.  We actually started seeing wildlife again!

When we first bought our property we often would get glances of wildlife, but after a few years we noticed that we hardly ever jumped a deer or spotted a rabbit or turkey, even though the cameras around the property proved that the wildlife was still around.  The first day that we used the cart to get close to a favorite spot for hunting turkeys, we saw a deer browsing in an open field.  It looked up at us and just stared, not sure about this odd creature.  We stopped, it stopped, and for a few minutes we enjoyed a beautiful sight of a deer at sunrise enjoying fresh greens. Later that morning we called in a turkey, and, although it was a hen, it was a thrilling duet of fake and real turkey chatter.  Later we even called in a turkey hunter, whose face I am sure was very red beneath his camouflage mask.

But the most amazing experience happened later that same morning when we moved, stealthily, in our cart along a fire trail and then slowly started walking toward a new hunting spot.  We spotted two deer in the open field next to us, they spotted us, we froze, they froze, and then they slowly walked toward us to check us out.  To them we must have seemed like ghosts, just materializing out of thin air.  The encounter didn’t last long, but it will last in my memory for a long time.

Graft Sexcess!

Since we know that deer like the persimmon fruit, we have been watchful for any female persimmon trees on our property.  What we have discovered is that, while we have many persimmon trees, most of them are male and so do not produce any fruit.  An article in the QDMA magazine Quality Whitetails from June-July 2011, Grafting Persimmons, by David A. Osborn and Dr. Karl V. Miller, recommended a remedy to this situation.  The article provides detailed instructions on how to graft a small branch with several buds from a producing female persimmon tree on to a male tree or a young persimmon tree that has not produced any fruit yet.  The result would be a hybrid tree producing fruit.  This was definitely worth a try!

We have several prolific female persimmon trees, so we carefully followed the directions on 9 healthy young persimmon trees of unknown sex, using scion wood cut and stored during the winter from one of these prolific females.

Prolific Persimmon Tree

We were hesitant of sexcess; however, months later, we were thrilled to see that the process was sexcessful on 3 of the 9 trees.  After rereading the instructions (always a good idea) we discovered that we should have cut the foliage below the graft in order for the scion to receive most of the energy from the roots.  Possibly the other 6, all of which had a great deal of foliage beneath the graft, would have been sexcessful, too.

Sexcessful Graft

No Equipment is "No Maintenance"

When a salesman tells you that you never have to worry about maintenance on a piece of equipment, be very wary.

We are learning that every piece of equipment needs maintenance, some more than others.  Keeping maintenance logs for the various machines can be very helpful.  But a regular careful inspection is also a good idea.  I'm not sure how long one of the disks on our harrow had been freewheeling, but by the time we noticed it the disk had done some serious damage to the shaft. The hole in the middle of the disk, which should be a square and fitting tightly onto the shaft, was almost a perfect circle.  By twirling around the shaft instead of fitting onto it, the disk had worn a ring into the shaft that can't be repaired.

So we have added disk observation to our long list of inspections and shaft replacement to our long list of maintenance.

Camera Observations

Now that we have 3 cameras for observations we decided that we need to coordinate the data.  Having read that using a camera for every 100 acres can give a good picture of the wildlife, we have divided our property into 3 areas.  Within each area we have designated smaller parcels that have unique characteristics, such as a stream or large groups of oaks, so that we can more accurately pinpoint where the cameras are placed..

Our cameras have the ability to print out not only the time, date, and temperature at the time that a photo is taken but also the name of the camera.  For the name we can use a number and letter combination that helps to note exactly where the photo is taken.  The number 1-3 designates the general area in the property, and the letter A-Z then designates a particular parcel.  When we set up a camera we can just designate the name for that particular location.

For example, if a photo shows the name of the camera to be 2 M, that would mean that the location of the photo (and the camera) is in the 2nd large area of the property but also in the section of that large area denoted by the letter M.  Since the camera name can be printed on the photo it will give us a clearer picture of who is active where and when.

The Power of the Screw

Recently we attended a large garage sale at a high school.  The sale consisted of mostly furniture, clothing, and electronics.  However, under one of the tables we noticed an unusual piece of equipment.  It had a wooden handle and looked like it belonged on a farm, so we picked it up and examined it.  We finally realized that it was basically a large screw that, when placed vertically on the ground and turned with the wooden handle, would dig a hole.
This intrigued us, because we were planning to build a fence and needed to dig about 25 holes for the fence posts.  We have a post hole digger, but it is awkward and difficult to use in hard clay soil.  We had also contemplated buying an auger to use with our tractor, but that tool is quite expensive.  So we decided to take a chance on this antique, or at least very old, farmtool, helping the school and hoping to help us with the fence.

We were quite excited to find that our garage sale discovery did an excellent job of digging the holes that we needed, and, as an additional benefit, it was fairly easy to use.

Two Post Hole Diggers

Design of the Screw

Up Close with Turkeys

We have been able to capture some good photos of turkeys on one of the trails during the day with the Moultrie M-880 game camera.  Since this photo was taken during the day it is in color.  Note the information that is written at the bottom of the photo: date, time, temperature, and name of the camera.  When using several cameras in the field it is a good idea to name each one separately which helps with pinpointing the location of the individual photo.  Having this information written on the photos is optional.

Photo of Turkeys Taken with Moultrie M-880 Game Camera

What is Better than 1 Game Camera?

If 1 game camera on the property is good then we are thinking that 3 game cameras  might be even better.  So we are planning on putting out 2 more cameras in areas where we have noticed traffic along the trails. Digital cameras are reasonably priced, the batteries last for several months, and it is easy to replace the SD card with another one so that the card with photos can be studied, either with a card reader in the field or a tablet or computer back at camp.

We are using the M-880 camera by Moultrie.  The daytime photos are in color and have good resolution.  The nighttime photos are shot with a new technology for game cameras that produces clear photos in black and white while using a "low-glow" infrared flash that is less disturbing to animals than an incandescent flash.

Labeling Our Fruit Trees



The label is attached to the fencing

We have planted a large variety of fruit trees on the property over a 10 year period.  During this time we have also lost some of the trees, and we have had to transplant others in order to more effectively utilize the land.  I keep a list of each tree, including information on when and where it was planted and what type of fruit tree it is.  However, it is difficult to carry this list with me into the field, so I have been considering how to cheaply but effectively label each tree so that I will know these details onsite.

Aluminum cans gave me the answer.  They are easy to cut into strips, are easy to attach to fencing, are very durable, and are easy to engrave.  With Bill's help and a simple legend, we now have labels for our trees.  The label attached to the fencing of this tree shows that it is a Bruce Plum planted in 2011.





Merry Manurey Christmas



Bill's Gift of 6 Tons of Cow Manure



The soil on most of our property is quite poor and very sandy.  It does drain well which has the advantage of not becoming a quagmire after a rain; however, the soil does not hold moisture long enough to be of much benefit to the trees or crops that we have planted.  We have tried several things to improve the soil:  getting soil samples and following the recommendations for adding lime and the proper mixture of fertilizer, spreading ashes collected from our fire place, discing in last season's vegetation, prescribed burns.  Bill’s latest attempt is the time honored tradition of adding cow manure to the soil.  So he put in a request for 6 tons of cow manure for his Christmas gift.  The farmer who provided it assures him that it does wonders in a garden, as it contains nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium plus humus which is helpful in retaining moisture in the soil.

After hauling and spreading 6 loads of this rich (in more ways than one) dirt on half of the field with the poorest soil we were surprised to see the following result:



Green vegetation at far end of field where manure was first applied



After a good rain the vegetation at the far field of the field where the manure was first applied is noticeably greener.  Since nitrogen is one ingredient of cow manure this could have a short term impact mostly benefiting the weeds.  A brassica called rape seed has now been distributed throughout the field, and we will observe the effect that the manure has on the development of this seed.

Winter is a Good Time to Tend to the Trees

We have used the cooler weather also to work on our various soft mast trees.  During the summer the ground can be so hard that it is almost impossible to clear out any weeds around the trees.  We just have to put down a deep bed of mulch and hope for the best.   After a few recent rains we found it fairly easy to pull out most of the weeds that can overwhelm the smaller trees. 



Tree Protectors Also Protect Weeds



Since many of the trees that we have planted were initially quite small, we used tree protectors to help them get started in the sandy soil.  Moisture and heat trapped inside the blue tubes create a mini greenhouse effect that can provide a safe environment for small trees to take root.  However, we think that we might have protected the trees for too long.  Trees that have wire baskets around them to protect them from deer and rabbits are developing more quickly. 

The trees that had the tubes around them for more than a year or two seem spindly.  Part of the problem is that weeds also proliferating inside the tubes are taking some of the nutrients away from the trees.  So another winter activity is the replacing of all of the tree protectors after a year or two with wire baskets.

Winter Activities



Two Active Scrapes Found in January



During the winter, when the foliage is minimal and the weather is cool, is a great time to walk through the woods and check for signs of wildlife.  If one is lucky it might also provide an opportunity to find a set of antlers that a buck has shed.  Recently we decided to check out a section of the woods that had been left undisturbed for several years.  Were we surprised to see multiple signs of deer activity in this several acre patch of woods, including several buck rubs and lots of scrapes, all in close proximity to each other.  Buck rubs and scrapes are effective means of communication for deer to use, similar to a bulletin board that we might use to place notes for others to read.  We have found that there is always a limb directly above a scrape.  A buck is not only creating a visual and scent message of its presence with the scrape itself; it is also creating a scent message by rubbing a gland near its forehead on the limb.  Obviously this patch of woods was a popular hangout for deer, possibly because humans had left it undisturbed.





Closeup of the Two Scrapes





Notice from the photo to the left that the scrapes are still very active.  This was a surprise to us, because, by January, all rut activity should be finished.  However, there are multiple theories about the message that scrapes send.  Bucks are not the only ones to create scrapes.  Sometimes does also leave scrapes.  So the messages that are involved could be far more complex than just a sign of rut activity.

Wood Duck Box Has a Tenant



Wood Duck Box

 After seeing a Wood Duck on our stream Bill decided to build several Wood Duck nesting boxes to encourage one of these beautiful ducks to nest on our property.  Often the offspring will return to the same place to nest.

He built the boxes to the exact dimensions recommended and used cedar as suggested.  On the inside, below the entry hole, he used a file to etch steps into the wood.  This allows the chicks to climb up out of the box.  To ensure that predators could not enter the nesting boxes he attached them to a PVC pipe.  Special paint that adheres to plastic pipe was used to blend it into the natural surroundings.

We have diligently cleaned out the boxes and placed fresh cedar shavings into them every winter at about nesting time.   Although we have never seen a Wood Duck inhabit one of the nesting boxes we did find a broken egg shell once that could have been from a Wood Duck chick.



A shy screech owl inhabiting one of our nesting boxes




However, owls have found these nesting boxes to be a perfect habitat.  We were delighted to discover a screech owl and her owlets one season, and now another very shy screech owl has moved into the same nesting box.  Perhaps this could be one of the owlets that has come back home.

A Fire Circle Adds Warmth and Fellowship

There is nothing quite like watching a fire while sitting under the pines and a sky filled with stars.  A fire circle is a great, and safe, way to enjoy just such a fire.  And if a grill is at the ready to be rotated over the fire with a steak or deer sausages on it, this only enhances the ambiance.

Fire Circle with Rotating Grill

"Annex" Adds Unique Value to Property

When we initially bought our property there were no facilities on it.  At first we used a tent, then set up a small trailer.  But we didn't have a septic system.  Fortunately we learned about a porta-potty graveyard in North Georgia, and we decided to visit it.  What a surprise to see rows upon rows of retired porta-potties, all still usable and for sale.  We picked out one that looked ready to be put back into service and brought it over to our property.  With a hole cut in the bottom and placed over a deep hole in the ground, plus a bucket of lime for environmental purposes, this porta-potty was ready for business!

Bill was able to find paint that would adhere to the fiberglass and transformed the porta-potty into a camouflage "annex" that definitely adds value to the property. 

Transformation of porta-potty

Now that we have a septic system in place near our camping area, we have moved the "annex" to a convenient location at the other end of our property.  There it can continue to provide service for years to come.

"Annex" in new location

Oaks Have Brilliant Colors

Scarlet Oak

Many oaks still have brilliant fall colors late into November.  We are always observing the oaks on our property in the fall, because we want to know what the acorn crop will be for the year.  The red oaks, such as this Scarlet Oak, produce acorns that are more bitter due to the greater amount of tannic acid in the acorns.  White oaks are more popular with the deer, because the acorns that they produce have less tannic acid and are thus sweeter.  Acorns are a preferred food for the deer due to the protein that the nuts provide.