Oak Tree Maintenance:

I have mentioned before that growing oak trees from acorns is a fairly high maintenance endeavor. However....if your farm is named "Lone Oak", you do need to try to improve the habitat, so I have been planting oak trees for a long time.

Eventually, your trees will grow to the point where they can stand on their own and are tall enough that they no longer need to be caged...

Yesterday I removed the cages from about a dozen Northern Red Oaks which I started from acorns in about 2018??

I trim the lower branches to discourage deer from trying to browse on them. This time of year when bucks will be going into hard antler soon, I wrap old tubes around the trunk to protect them from buck rubs. I remove these in the spring but will put them back on every year until they are big enough that they won't be rubbed. It only takes a minute to put them on so it really isn't all that much effort involved. In a few more years this tree will be producing its own acorns...

This tree isn't quite strong enough to stand on its own and it is in a 4 foot tube so the deer could still browse it if I removed the cage. I will keep this one caged for another year or two until it can stand on its own and the lowest leaves/branches are about 6 feet above ground level. All the leaves branches inside the tube have been pruned off.

This one in front is in a 5 foot tube and its lowest leaves/branches are at the 6' height so it no longer needs to be caged, but it isn't quite strong enough to stand on its own so I will leave the tube on it for another year or two. In the mean time, the tube protects it from buck rubs...

I removed the cage from this tree. It is in a 4' tube but I pruned it high enough up that the deer will not be able to browse it. It had branched into 2 main stems. I should have clipped off one of them a year or two ago but I neglected it. I really don't want oak trees to branch this low to the ground so I trimmed off one of the uprights to turn it back into a single stem tree. In a few years this trunk should straighten out.

Of course there are many other tubed trees around Lone Oak that also need protection. When they start coming out of the tubes, I will slide the tube up the stake to further protect the terminal end until I can get around to caging them if necessary. This one is in a 4' tube which I had slid up to about the 5 foot level. In most cases the deer won't browse a tree coming out of a 5 foot tube but sometimes they will so it is probably wise to cage them or slide the tube up higher to be safe.

The cages I remove from the bigger trees are moved to protect younger trees. I have been using and re-using the same cages and stakes for at least 25 years now...

I removed the tube and gave this one a "hair cut"...I remove as many leaves and lateral branches as I can each year to encourage growth at the top and the stem.

and then I replace the tube over it, and then a reused cage over it to further protect it. In a few years when this tree can stand on its own, I will remove the cage and use it on another young tree.....and the beat goes on...

I have a lot more to do maintenance on but I just do it as time allows. I have been pecking away at it this summer and hopefully I will get through all 300 or so that still need attention before hunting season. Next year I will do it again, but I am getting to the point where I am not planting near as many trees as I used to.

 

Darned skunks showed up again and started digging up my lawn. Set a live trap and 2 others as soon as I noticed the damage. Baited with some old canned salmon. No takers and the skunk didn't show up again - until 5-6 days later and started doing his dirty work again!!

Elaine said set more traps, so I set 4 more and baited with some old Lake Trout I found in the freezer. Nothing in the traps yesterday but this morning...

Got him in a 160 Conibear in one of my Fisher cages...

Hopefully that was the only violator but I will leave the traps out for another few days to make sure...

 

Update on 2025 Milo Mix - 67 Days after planting:

Took a few pics of the Milo Mix yesterday - 67 days after planting. This is a 90 day maturity variety.

Probably at least 95% of the seed heads have developed...

The Milo was drilled at the rate of 4#/Acre. I think it is maybe a little too heavy. If I plant this again next year, I think I will reduce that to 3#/Acre which would allow for more sunlight to the peas.

and I am getting some pods on the pea plants

Interesting to note is that I did have some Pigweed come in in a few spots....and the deer are browsing it!

I much prefer that they browse the Pigweed at this point rather than my milo or peas! I just wish they would browse more of it

 

Update on 2025 Milo Mix - 67 Days after planting:

Took a few pics of the Milo Mix yesterday - 67 days after planting. This is a 90 day maturity variety.

Probably at least 95% of the seed heads have developed...
View attachment 1032227

View attachment 1032228

The Milo was drilled at the rate of 4#/Acre. I think it is may be a little too heavy. If I plant this again next year, I think I will reduce that to 3#/Acre which would allow for more sunlight to the peas.
View attachment 1032229

and I am getting some pods on the pea plants
View attachment 1032230

Interesting to note is that I did have some Pigweed come in in a few spots....and the deer are growing it!
View attachment 1032231

I much prefer that they browse the Pigweed at this point rather than my milo or peas! I just wish they would browse more of it
View attachment 1032232

That's a lot of green.

Your pigweed nutrition is likely well beyond most fallow poor soils.
Maybe it's palatability as well.

I see maple second growth getting browsed in the yard and edge of woodline where a doe and fawn browse often. But not the occasional stunted pigweed.

 

Never seen pigweed get browsed. Just proves my point that nothing is safe from deer, lol. The term "preferred browse" is irrelevant. If said browse is in a deer's face long enough, they are going to try it.

 

Starting to think a low fence of wire around something is an invite to them. Or a challenge to eat it.
Might have to test that theory around a dead stump.

 

Any pictures of the perpetrators hitting the pigweed

 

Not yet Setter. Other than having cams on bear baits and a couple security cams, I still haven’t put any cameras out this year. Need to do so soon.

That being said…I have seen a LOT of deer using those milo plots.

 

Update - Cereal Grains at 6 Days:

Buck Forage Oats and Peas at Art's Corner:

Northwoods Whitetails Fall Forage Blend at Pete's Place (Oats, Wheat, Rye, Peas & Radish)

Some brassicas in front which I chose not to terminate

Northwoods Whitetails Rye in the Camp 94 SE plot

Milo Mix in the foreground - rye in the background

I need to get some utilization cages out this week to monitor browse pressure but it looks like they are going to have plenty of grains to browse on.

 

Looks fantastic as usual frank.

 

Thanks Kevin...but cereal grains are pretty easy - as you know. They can make all of us look good

 

Found a couple of young bucks browsing in the small brassica plot I have on the far side of the Milo mix this morning...

 

Elaine's bear keeps rolling my bait stump into the water hole!

And he was pretty much eating all of the bait it contained. She had a bigger bear come in only to find nothing to eat, so we thought we should increase the volume for now. Found another stump and opened it up some...

This should be plenty of bait for one day...

A skinny bobcat checked out her other bait. I recently had a trail cam video with a bobcat that had a serious limp. This could be him as he does not appear to be all that healthy. Probably wasn't able to catch up with any of our fawns...

Racoons have been discouraged by not being able to get into the bait stumps

 

I’m thinking you need a barrel chained to a tree so it doesn’t end up in the water hole