Food Plots Erupting

Food PlotErupting. That’s how I would describe our food plots so far. We just planted them about 4 weeks ago but they are all green and growing. And they are covered with deer tracks!

We have a few feeders out too and the ground is torn up under them. I’ll get some better images from our trail cams in a couple weeks when we’re hunting. This is the first time we’ve used trail cams.

Deer at FeederThis photo is actually a picture from a computer screen Paul took with his phone. It does show a pretty clear image though.

The best news IMO is that The Pig has pigs. Yep. We’ve got a number of images of hogs at our feeders. They are nocturnal but even so, this is the first we’ve seen any sign of them since we leased the property.

A little hog and venison on the barbie is what I’m talking about.

2015 Summer Work Days

Bad Boy BuggiesIt’s food plot planting time on The Pig. Next weekend the Pig Team will be on location to till, fertilize and plant our plots! Yep, I’m going to have trouble concentrating on work this week.

Just thought I’d share my most recent purchase to use out on the property – a used Bad Boy Buggie. It may look kind of like a golf cart but it is not a golf cart. I’ve got two floor mounted gun racks in it along with the back facing seat that folds down into a solid table and more. It’s electric (code for quiet).

So, I’ll be putting it to good use on The Pig as Paul, Gary and I get together plant our fall crop. ‘Bout Time.

Food Plot Lesson

Food Plot IssuesThe CPCH got a lesson in food plot preparation and planting this year. In this photo you can see that we have not established a really good food plot and we wondered why.

So we called on the experts at Tecomate and sent them photos and the history of what we had done on this land. The bottom line is “lack of topsoil.” It didn’t occur to us that between the land being clear cut and pines planted and then having our plots bulldozed and groomed, we had basically removed what topsoil there was. So we were treating and planting into pure clay soil which just doesn’t have what the seeds need to establish a good root system or even to properly germinate.

However, all is not lost. We do have seed coming up and we are going to over-seed with some rye grass and red clover and cover that with a good batch of straw. Deer will still have something to attract them and to feed on and all of that will contribute to new topsoil. It may take a couple years to grow ideal plots but we have the base properly started.

Fall Food Plots are Planted

Plowing DirtThe final part of the whole food plot management plan for the CPHC this year was to disk our dirt before sowing the seed. Paul got his tractor out on the property a couple weeks ago and got it done. It was a hot one in central Georgia.

So after we had the plots bulldozed, cleaned and leveled and limed this dirt should be just right for putting down some fertilizer and seed.

Tecomate SeedWe’re working with Tecomote and purchased some seed from our local dealer in Dublin, GA. Our choice was their pro line GREENFIELD seed, “Fall “Hunting Plot” Formulated for Fast Action.”

This mix has one purpose – attract and concentrate fall deer for great hunting! Yet, also provides vital fall and winter nutrition needed to keep rutting bucks in good shape. Premium cereal grains and high-protein winter peas combine with forage turnips and sensational forage and bulb-producing rape/turnip hybrid to guarantee greatest attraction during hunting season after “frost-curing” causes the brassica’s sugar content and palatability to increase and after the sugar-loaded bulbs mature. Suitable nationwide.

Annual

Fast growing, high production
The real deal “Hunting Plot”
Great early season forage
Brassicas yield high-sugar forage & bulbs after frost

We’re only weeks away from opening day and I can’t wait to see how things are growing!

Tecomate Knows Value of Well Managed Food Plots

ZimmCast 447It’s time to order some seed for our food plots on the CPHC. While we have been doing some research on seed I got a news release from a company you might be familiar with, Tecomate. So, I got connected with them to do a phone interview about their announcement of a strategic partnership. The interview is part of a weekly podcast I do on my AgWired.com website.

So, I thought I’d share that podcast with you here about the just announced alliance between Tecomate Wildlife Systems and Pinnacle Agriculture Holdings. Tecomate excels at modern food plot management with Tecomate Seed products and Pinnacle is an agricultural distribution business you might know best under the Sanders brand.

TecomateI’m going to share a conversation with Gaines Slade, VP of Operations for Tecomate. The alliance is opening up new distribution channels for the company via all the Pinnacle retail outlets. Here’s what Tecomate President David Morris has to say about the deal

“This is a game changer for Tecomate and the wildlife food plot industry,” said Tecomate President, David Morris. “Pinnacle, best known for its flagship southern brand, Sanders, brings vast production, logistics and distribution resources to the table. No other company can match their vertical integration, in seed, fertilizer and chemicals. Our continued longstanding partnership with Barenbrug, USA for premium and proprietary forage seed, together with the unsurpassed strength of Pinnacle in the cereal and commodity seed market, will allow Tecomate to offer targeted, competitively priced wildlife seed products of every type to meet every need – from that of the casual food plotter to the most serious game manager planting hundreds of acres of year-round plots. Our relationship with Pinnacle also facilitates the possibility for Tecomate-branded fertilizer and herbicides aimed at meeting the specific requirements of the wildlife food plot market.”

And here’s what Tommy Jumper, Pinnacle’s VP had to say.

Pinnacle Ag Holdings“We are extremely excited to join forces with Tecomate and combine our individual strengths for mutual success in the agricultural input and wildlife markets,” said Tommy Jumper, Pinnacle’s Vice President of Seed Strategy and Procurement. “By name and reputation in our respective industries, Pinnacle and Tecomate have long known a great deal about one another and recently determined that the time was right to work as a team to further enhance the product and service offerings we bring to our valued customers. Together, we hope to build a business that is exponentially more significant than either of us has previously enjoyed, and one that further benefits our loyal customer base.”

Listen in to this week’s program to learn more about what this alliance means and the value and importance of well-managed foot plots here: Tecomate and Pinnacle