About seven days ago I noticed a mature white oak tree at The Proving Grounds with leaves that were brown, curled and appeared to be dying. This was a very unusual observation for late May. The oddity of the observation and the fact that it was a white oak made me a bit sad. The timber on The Proving Grounds was grossly mismanaged before I purchased the property and as a result there are very few mature white oaks. However, I know that trees age, get sick, are struck by lightning, etc., and die.
I was very suspect when I returned to that portion of the property a day later and noticed another mature white oak tree in the same area with brown leaves. In less than a week, all leaves had fallen from the original tree and several more white oaks on the same hillside had brown leaves.
I prefer that deer at The Proving Grounds consume better quality food than acorns, but these trees were stately and very attractive. There are no food plots on this hillside and it hadn’t been burned in two years. Realizing I needed help diagnosing the problem I called a friend, Randall Roy with the Missouri Department of Conservation. Randall manages several thousand acres of public land about an hour east of The Proving Grounds. He called a forester at the Missouri Department of Conservation that stated his “phone had been ringing constantly this morning.” To their credit, the Department had already mobilized some experts to identify the cause of this phenomenon that had been reported over a several hundred mile area. Jumping oak gall is the early diagnosis.
Jumping oak galls are produced by gall wasps. According to Johnson and Lyon (Insects That Feed on Trees and Shrubs, 1991, page 440), as the larva inside of a gall matures, the gall falls to the ground. The gall then “jumps” repeatedly a few centimeters because of the activity of the insect inside. I researched jumping oak gall and learned that most trees that have jumping oak gall survive. I hope the authors are correct. It’s tough to see beautiful trees become totally defoliated during prime growing season.
It seems I’m constantly being taught new lessons. I’ve driven by this grove of mature white oaks hundreds of time during the past eight years. I thought frequently about hunting in or near them. A professional photographer friend of mine, Michael Engelmeyer, has taken multiple print ad and magazine cover images near these trees. I’ve watched turkeys fly up and down from them. I used prescribed fire to manage around them. It never crossed my mind that I might out live them. I hope I learn to not take natural beautiful spots for granted, even though I work outdoors constantly. I hope they survive.
Today is another day of learning at The Proving Grounds. I checked all the corn food plots on the property yesterday afternoon. The best stand of corn has a maximum of 30% of the population that it should (we planted about 26,000 kernels per acre). The culprit is wireworm. Wireworms live 3-6 years, are about 1’ long, brownish in color, segmented and they live to eat the carbohydrates out of the middle of a grain of corn. This kills the grain of corn and prohibits germination. I took a screwdriver and dug down several yards of drill rows where the corn was planted. There was simply no seed corn to be found. Suspecting this ahead of time (based on problems last year), I had already obtained enough corn to replant the plots after treating it with a much higher level of insecticide. This insecticide doesn’t harm the corn or beneficial insects (like earthworms) that might pass by the kernel. It only kills the pests that eat the corn.
Today we sprayed most of the existing corn with Gramoxone to remove any volunteer crops. This may sound counterintuitive but volunteer crops are unwanted because of how closely together the plants usually grow. Seedling corn simply views any other corn seedlings, beans, etc., as competition (weeds). Gramoxone herbicide is a surface killer. That is to say it is not active in the soil. We couldn’t use Glyphosate as the volunteer corn and beans are Roundup Ready. Because Gramoxone is only surface active, we literally unhooked the sprayer and attached the no-till drill. Brad is planting corn as I write this update.
The soil temperature is warm and there is plenty of soil moisture, so we should know by next week who wins round two (us vs. wireworms). I’ll keep you posted so you won’t have to learn this lesson the hard way.
I returned from turkey hunting in Knox County, IL early this morning (2 am). It was a very enjoyable hunt! Even though it was raining and cold my hunting partner, Michael Engelmeyer, harvested a mature tom that responded to his calls. I also had some birds respond. Two jakes approached within a few yards of my blind the last morning of the hunt. Then, about 11 am (turkey hunting is only legal till 1pm each day during season in IL) a mature bird came into view about 80 yards away. He had been gobbling in response to my calls. Blake, the GrowingDeer.tv editor, was with me and we were confident the tom would close the gap. After he strutted at the crest of the hill so long Blake turned off the camera, the tom started our way. He took a right turn rather than coming straight at about 40 yards out. I wasn’t worried as the occasional gobble confirmed he hadn’t ventured far out of our sight. At 12:40 pm I did begin to doubt he would offer a shot. At 12:55 he appeared at 38 yards… That was an easy shot with my shotgun – that was in gun safe in Missouri. 38 yards is a bit far for me to shoot at a turkey with a bow in windy conditions.
I pulled the release off at 1 pm and joined Michael to celebrate his success! There are those that joke about eating tag soup – a term describing what a hunter has to eat when they didn’t harvest a critter and all he has to eat is his tag. I’ve came home with tag soup many times in my hunting career. However, my experience tag has almost always been full after a hunt. I learned more about a beautiful property (North Creek). Michael shared with me some of his late season turkey tactics and I observed several bucks with velvet antlers above their ears already! I hope you have the opportunity to fill your experience tag soon!
I like to review the success or failure of all management practices implemented on my projects. Each hunting season is a management practice that produces quantifiable results (harvests) that can be compared year to year or from property to property.
We harvested six mature gobblers and one jake (GDTV 23). We had more opportunities that did not end with a harvest for various reasons — the camera and shooter weren’t lined up together, etc. Every hunter except one saw mature toms in harvest range. Three hunters harvested their first bird. Any way you measure, it was a great turkey season at The Proving Grounds! However, other folks in our county didn’t share in our success. The Proving Grounds is split by the Stone/Taney county line. The following data indicates that that turkey population in Taney County is down.
However, the establishment of good food, cover, and predator control helped build a great turkey population. It was an oasis for wildlife and for hunters. We enjoyed a fabulous turkey season at The Proving Grounds! The good news is — you too can create your own oasis by implementing good habitat and population management programs and strategies.
Another fabulous morning at The Proving Grounds! Scott Smith with Trophy Rock killed a 3 year old gobbler (24.6 pounds, 10 ¼” beard, and 1 ¼” spurs). Good habitat management programs directed at improving the food, cover, and water resources here at The Proving Grounds is paying huge dividends! Remember, this area is known for its extremely poor soils. A BC or PY buck has never been recorded for these counties (The Proving Grounds is split across county lines).
Big gobblers in the spring usually indicate big bucks in the fall unless a drought occurs. After filming several mature gobblers this spring, I’m extremely excited about deer hunting this fall.
Later today I will be giving a presentation to the leadership of the hunting department for Bass Pro Shops. I’m working on the final touches now and hoping to get back out in the turkey woods tomorrow morning. I’ve noticed some of my crops are already germinating and will be checking on them also. I have an Illinois turkey tag for next week. I hope to have enough time to head that way and chase some Knox County birds at North Creek Preserve.
It’s raining in western Oklahoma and has a 60% chance of rain at The Proving Grounds tomorrow so Brad is no-till drilling Eagle Seed beans today. I’m finishing some office work and will take over for Brad later this afternoon. When conditions are right, the tractor stays running till it’s too dark to see where to plant. Some recent research from Iowa State strongly indicates that getting soybeans in the ground early results in higher yields than waiting until there is no chance of a late frost. Planting crops is always a gamble and I’m going for a larger yield and gambling the air temps won’t get below 28 degrees or so after the beans germinate. Only time will tell…
My friend, Scott Reynolds, and I went turkey hunting this morning. This is the 23rd year that we’ve turkey hunted together — no missed seasons! The morning was misty and cloudy. After we got set up we heard a bird gobbling off of the roost 400 yards away. We held our ground and about an hour later the bird made it to us. Scott was on him, but I couldn’t get a good view of the shot with the camera because of our position in the ground blind. The gobbler walked off twice while we waited for a good shot, for Scott and the camera. The third time was a charm and Scott had a 2 year old turkey: 20.6 lbs, 9 ½’ beard, 13/16” spurs. This is a big 2 year old for the Ozarks. Once again, another indicator that the habitat work here pays off at hunting time! Tomorrow it is my turn. Scott will be filming and I’ll be taking a new Matthews Z7 out.
My friend, Scott Reynolds, and I went turkey hunting this morning. This is the 23rd year that we’ve turkey hunted together — no missed seasons! The morning was misty and cloudy. After we got set up we heard a bird gobbling off of the roost 400 yards away. We held our ground and about an hour later the bird made it to us. Scott was on him, but I couldn’t get a good view of the shot with the camera because of our position in the ground blind. The gobbler walked off twice while we waited for a good shot, for Scott and the camera. The third time was a charm and Scott had a 2 year old turkey: 20.6 lbs, 9 ½’ beard, 13/16” spurs. This is a big 2 year old for the Ozarks. Once again, another indicator that the habitat work here pays off at hunting time! Tomorrow it is my turn. Scott will be filming and I’ll be taking a new Matthews Z7 out.