LAST UPDATED: May 8th, 2015
I hate this time of year. Late August and early September to me is like Christmas Eve to a 5 year old youngster ready to jump on mom and dad’s bed the minute they wake up on Christmas morning. So close, yet so far away. What I enjoy most in my simplistically complex world is about to begin so, so soon: college football, the fall season, but more importantly the start of another bowhunting season. This last stretch is brutal, because I can see myself sitting in an opening day stand, but it’s all a little blurry still. However, the days are getting shorter, the nights are getting cooler and I’ve just spent the final month prepping my final food plots and getting a gauge on the caliber of deer in my area. It won’t be long folks, it won’t be long…
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I am counting on these oats to provide a consistent and reliable food source this fall.
My food plot season has been very erratic this year so far. If you are a follower of my blogs, you read back in May how exceptionally well my clover was doing. With spring rains and warm nights, it had grown to lush 17 inches in height and the deer couldn’t eat it down if they tried. Fast forward to mid-August, and my clover was on the brink of exhaustion. As deer farmers across the country are well aware, this summer has been brutally hot and dry, and West Central Virginia was no exception. From July 4th to August 15th, we went without a drop of rain. And when I say not a drop of rain, I don’t mean a trace here or there, I mean zero drops of water touched my food plots. Still, there was a respectable amount of Imperial Clover in the plot, but it was hurting badly.
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Quality fertilizer will give your food plots an added boost!
I still had to get my fall food plots planted, though. So, with on August 14th my dad and I got the tractor, seeder and spreader ready to plant our fall plots. There was rain in the forecast so we going to take advantage of a sunny Sunday and trust the weatherman. We had a lot of success last year broadcasting oats, turnips and rape so I stuck with that combination again this year. I manned the hand seeder and dad hopped on the ATV with the spreader and we got our seeds in the ground in no time, although we were both a bit dusty. The next step was to throw down some fertilizer to give the crops a boost once they germinated and hopefully taste a little bit sweeter to the deer this fall. The final step, a step that is critical for all food plotters and one I feel they often neglect, pray for rain. And rain it did! That night and into the morning we got a slow steady soaking rain, the perfect rain to get those seeds germinated and growing in no time! The following afternoon we received another good soaking and I, along with the wildlife in West Central Virginia all took a deep breath and gave Thanks.
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What’s bare earth now will hopefully be loaded with turnips, rape and oats here soon!
The moisture we received from those rains should be enough to shock my clover plots back to life, and get my fall plots off and running. Provided we get average rainfall (and I type this with my fingers cross, pretty talented, eh?) my plots should be alive and well come October 1st. I have never had a consistent, reliable food source on my property during the hunting season, but I am confident I will this season. Despite the harsh weather this summer, I stand by my prediction that I will shoot a whitetail opening day. While a specific stand hasn’t been decided on (why can’t the wind blow from the North West all the time?) I will either shoot a buck or doe going back to bed after a nightly feeding in my food plots during a morning hunt, or arrow one on their way to snack during the afternoon. It will happen.
I was also able to get out and snap some photos on the deer on my property as well. I’ve had my worst summer ever running trail cameras, but I had a little bit more luck with my Canon 7D. I was able to get some decent photos of a couple does and a young 8 pointer making his way to feed in a hay field one afternoon. If outdoor photography is something that interests you, let me recommend Cambell Cameras to you. They have everything the aspiring outdoor photographer and videographer could want or need. Enjoy the photos!
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This doe already has it figured out and the season is still over a month away!
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I intercepted this buck on his way to a freshly cut hay field for an afternoon snack. I still haven’t made up my mind if I would shoot this buck or not?
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Over the years my family and I have done a good job of keeping doe numbers in check, but each year brings new opportunities to harvest does. Hopefully, I’ll get an opportunity at one opening day!
As close as I am to sitting in a tree stand, I still have over a month to wait. That’s a harsh reality that I, and many of you out there, must accept. True, it will be here be we know it, but that doesn’t make that time go by any quicker. Think of it this way, after reading this blog, you are that much closer to your opening day.
