[Groucho]

Gotta love checking/removing ticks.
Hate snakes,spiders,wasps,dear flies and fire ants also.
Although great to detour others for obvious reasons.
Walk softly and carry a big stick.

Hey Goucho. I hear you on the fire ants. Sometimes you can be on your knees or not paying attention and 10 are on you before you evern notice they're around and then they all start stinging at once. Ouch. I would like to see a quick trial and fair hanging for the person that introduced them to the US.

Ive got 2 spots where I walk up a creek schlomo. They can be good access routes. Ammonia filled squirt gun and act mean for the bear.

Hey tokinjoe,I started planting outdoors today and i spent 10 minutes picking ticks off of me. They are early and thick here this year as we didnt' get any really cold weather over winter. The ground never really froze.

Youre right about some spots being difficult, but if its a really good spot i'll find some way to grow there. A container or something. Flood plains are some of the most difficult places to grow. In the Brown dirt vid he looses one patch to flood plain hazards. I have some spots that have flash flood dangers but if it doesn't flatten them to the ground, they usually survive. It just so happens that flood plains are natural sites for cannabis as they have disturbed sandy loam silt, which cannabis loves.

This is the time of year i start building and planning paths. Ive spent all last week and this cutting small trees, blocking deer trails and establishing new ones away from my grow. Ive got one spot that the deer are using as a central lay. Each time I walk up, a bunch of deer run away and the vines and weeds have been mashed/walked flat. Its going to be real challenge to keep them out but ive been successful before.

Its also the time I try to influence the condition of my site by putting nitro on vines and small cedars or pines so that they are good and green . Ive used 40lbs of pure nitrogen already and have another 40 to apply before it rains this weekend.

[Shlomo]

Originally Posted by tokinjoe

For the bears, don't they make a bear repellent? I'd deal with a million ticks before I'd want to come face to face with a bear.

Awww bears aren't that bad. In my parts, it is mostly black bears, and I've passed them 20-30 feet away without a worry. I usually don't even pack bear spray, unless I'm going into grizzly country.

What I'm shit scared of is running into a rutting elk or moose .

edit: Yeah silverback, all you need for most bears is a loud "Yaaah! Skat!"

[tokinjoe]

Good luck keeping the deer out bro. Deer bedding areas are often where we plant or on the edge of them as the deer usually bed in thick areas such as cutovers or in my case, bottom areas with lots of brush and of course near water in the summer. I always run deer out when I go in. Dude I know I've said this before, but if I don't cage my plants it's over. I've tried cutting brush and brushing them in by basically creating a box or triangle of brush with my plant in the center but without fail they will get in there and get them every time. It's a PITA caging the plants and even making/painting the cages but absolutely necessary. Glad to hear you got some plants out, man. Mine are still seedlings at this point but coming along nicely. Glad I didn't put any out yet cause we got one hell of a storm on Sunday with a shitload of hail. Was weird, man, had 3" of hail on the roads, etc and it looked like snow. Weirdest thing I've seen and definitely made me thankful my plants weren't out yet.

Hey joe, how long is it into the season before they stop eating the plants?( in normal years. Not during drought or overpopulation, a starving deer will eat bark, clothes off the line or anything it can find)
Usually by 9-10 weeks they don't try anymore do they?
Ive been paying attention. Here, at least for now, there is lots of clover and alphafa growing so Im not to concerned. I hope it stays that way.

I saw your weather on tv. I have some friends that live just south of you and they had some rain and hail from the same system. They are still in drought and need the rain, not the hail.

[acidfire]

Originally Posted by silverback

Acidfire, thats the stuff man. It will set you on fire and it don't wipe off. Those hair like needles get into your skin and for the next 30 minutes, misery is yours and you will no the definition of discomfort. Once touched, the victim no longer looks for anything other than relief.

You are talking about the nettles correct?
Yes they are very annoying, and are noticable right away.
I just wear long sleeves and put my arms in the air when I walk through the patchs.

Deer walk right through the nettles but not the devils clubs.
Ive been lucky enough not to have gotten poked by any sofar.
A friend of mine was and he ended up with a nasty infection from it.

This year I am going to harvest some of the devils fruit, seperate the seeds and then attempt to start them indoors.

[facelift]

I've never been ripped or spotted the only plants I've lost were due to flooding. The area I was growing in tended to be on the edges of the shady forest so walking to the plants was no problem with trails. The canopy kept most of the ground bare of plants well into the fall.

If you must walk an area where a path can be made due to bending plants, I suggest zig zagging your way to the plot. I remember I was going to grow in a state park up on a hill that I may have been the only person to venture up simply because there was no trail. On the top of the hill was a field of flowers about 5-6 feet tall. I tried to walk sideways to avoid breaking plants, but when I got to the spot where I was going to grow, I turned around and saw the path.

When I got back out, I tried walking in about 20 yards and started walking horizontal with the edge of the field and just zig zagged through the field until I got to the spot. this worked well. From outside the field any trail was not visible and it looked secure. the issue was water so I abandoned the site.

[tokinjoe]

SB, due to past experience I've always believed that deer would not eat the plants once they reached 5' or so and definitely believed that they wouldn't eat budding plants. That changed in '06 when I had a deer eat the shit out of a white widow that was in full bloom. I mean full freakin bloom with heavy trichs, etc. It's hard to tell by this picture, but this is the plant. Look at the branches on the bottom that are nipped off. I lost 2-3 ounces easy when this one got hit. They also hit another one. If I had to guess I'd say they were 3/4 into bloom. Beautiful buds and it shocked the shit outta me. I dunno bro, the deer are my biggest PITA especially on the potted plants I have. I have to remove the chicken wire at some point as the plants outgrow it and I don't want the growth restricted if I can help it. The ones in the ground have more room inside the wire. I have to slip the wire on the 20 gallon pots like a sleeve and have yet to figure a way to get the wire wider than the mouth of the pot and still be able to keep it on, or keep it from falling over on the plant.

[Ulysses]

Frak! I thought deer wouldn't touch a resinated plant!

Ok, I've tried to divert a deer path away from the patch by staking thorn bushes to cut off access- hoping the deer will take the path of least resistance... Semi effective.

Now, I want to try this- Staking chicken wire down flat on the trail. I understand deer don't like to have their feet/hooves entangled. Hooves stepping through chicken wire = unpleasant. Think about that one...

[tokinjoe]

I'd be interested to see if that works, Ulysses. I'm wondering what would happen if the deer got it's feet tangled in the chickenwire. Unlikely but possible. Also, the chicken wire could mat the foilage where it is placed drawing attention to that area. Just a thought...

I also do food plots for deer and plant clover, alfalfa, turnip greens, wheat and a host of other things. One thing some deer hunters do to protect the plots early on is to use a piece of rope soaked in different chemicals. They rope off the food plot and saturate the rope with a variety of things. Deer will not cross the rope to get into the food plot thus allowing it to grow to the desired height. Once the plot is high enough or the plants are mature, you remove the rope and the deer can feed on the plot. The guys I've chatted with in the past online swear it works. The rope needs to be approx 2 1/2 feet off of the ground.

I do know one thing that will deter a deer is a combination of diesel fuel mixed with burned motor oil. I'm thinking about trying it this year to keep the deer off of my plants after I've removed the chicken wire. You definitely don't want the rope/string touching your plants as the fuel/oil mix will kill the foliage. Deer will at times tolerate man made smells, but when it is in their face like that it seems to deter them. From the studies I've read human urine is not a very good deterrent. I do not urinate from my deer stand but guys I know who are successful do and still tag deer on a regular basis. I would recommend dying or otherwise coloring the string/rope green and use a thin cotton rope to soak the chemical used if you were going to try this.

I know this is a little SB. Seems like your thread has taken a lot of twists and turns. Lots of good info my brother. Hope you don't mind the change of direction.