Joe Hallmark

I do have a buzzard or two that fly regularly. I’ve noticed no effects that I can recognize. I asked my brother. He definitely has both crows and deer. Though I can’t say the amount. I have tons of crows this year. Like 40-50 at a time.

My “evidence” is anecdotal at best. Probably just looking for a reason why my last season here is looking poor.  

I’ll try not to make this too long winded.

Have you noticed crow effecting your deer herd? I’ve lived here 4 years. My bucks have never hung out here very early so I never see or get them on camera on velvet. They usually start showing up about September. I have not seen a buck since July 31. One time. Usually between me and the neighbors we see just a handful of does. I am getting nothing but does and there’s 8-10 different ones.

The only thing different other than I’m in the fields waaay less since my car wreck (expecting more deer for this reason) and crows are here nonstop. Do crows scare off deer? They clearly come eat corn but otherwise don’t cause damage that I know of on my place.

Or it’s totally possible I’m just unlucky this year. With all the does the rut will probably bring them here but all our properties are small so by then they are very likely to be moving at night only by that time.

Any info to confirm my crazy theory?

Side note I have heard they run off the predatory birds. Which I don’t really care for. I love watching hawks and I haven’t seen any since the crows showed up this spring.

Almost all tank damn mixes have annual rye and teff (basically annual rye but for summer. I don’t think mine had any flowers but it also had Bermuda and some deep rooted clumping grasses like Klein and bluestem.

Actually here is the one I used. It’s suited for Texas but I’m sure you can find one suited for your area. Basically you need something fast to stabilize until the perennials come up. Depending on where you are you can remove the summer annual but those grasses are super cheap anyways.

I would lean heavily into what dozer guy says assuming he’s been vetted out good and has a lot of experience. I’ve regretted every time I didn’t take my guys advice other than when he told me to fertilize the crap out of it. They do this all the time.

I’m no snake expert by any means but googling didn’t seem to match pic of that snake. Plus it has no rattles. When snakes are young they shed skin at least twice a year. So even a very young snake would have rattles.

Handle with caution either way.

The problem with coppicing in the field is now you’ve left a spike to poke a hole in a tire. Unless you dig around each one and get it below the surface. They make a skid steer attachment that pulls them up that works pretty good. The main reason people hate them is when this happens to your field you can’t cut hay.

Those who say they aren’t that bad tell that to your Texan rancher neighbor lol. Now if your neighbors are hunters they pay no mind.

I suggest the skidsteer attachment then when they come back off of a root piece it’s much easier to deal with.

I used t post and cattle panels. The holes are really too big though but I had them already. That’s no help for raised beds though. I made them out of cinder blocks. Then I started buying aluminum beds. About the same price if you find them on sale and a lot less work. Not that the blocks look bad but the aluminum ones look better. Neither of those are overly environmentally friendly I don’t think though.

Having small perches gives them a vantage point to hunt. I’ve noticed more in my yard this year since I staked a bunch of veggies instead of using cages. They are on my property since I have a very large pond but I never saw them in the yard until this year. That and a small 30? Gallon pond is the only difference. So I’d say a water source and perches.

I used bamboo but I doubt that matters.

Currently I use a pole saw that’s powered. It was pricey but makes quick work. In the past I had a stihl manual pole saw it was very good at cutting smaller stuff. Way better than the fiskar. I have to say that the only fiskar tool I’ve found that I thought was crappy.

It’s hard to justify a powered one if you don’t have a lot to do though.

If you will need to continuously mow for a while I think it’s worth it. Depending on hp you can get motor from harbor freight for 150-250. They have bigger ones but I’m assuming it’s a smaller motor. I’ve never personally used these motors but my neighbor has and likes them.

That’s pretty much correct. It will take very deep smothering. Several layers of cardboard and at least 12” deep wood chip. But you will always fight it growing back on the edges and even some will probably make it through the smothering. I fight it constantly. I eventually gave up on that side of the yard for my annuals and planted berries and just mow around them. The other side of my yard was native. It was easy to smother everything out with only a weed here and there popping up but I didn’t put near as much chips.

On the flip side that’s what makes it great for pasture…near impossible to kill

Edit~ I would use the other side of the yard if possible.