Antelope Creek Wildlife & Ponds
"Specializing in Managing and Developing Fish and Wildlife Populations
and their Habitats and Providing Land Management Services so you can
get the most Enjoyment and Profitability out of your Property"

ESTABLISHED 2012
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Upstream Filtration Ponds/Wetlands

8/26/2015

 
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The photo on the left is of the wetland used for filtration before the water enter the pond, owned by a city subdivision, in the photo on the right.
Whether you are in the process of building or already own a reacreational pond, looking at having a filtration pond added upstream might be well worth your time. Every situation is difference but I will talk about two situations where I think they are very beneficial. First would be if the water shed leading to your pond is all agricultural land and secondly if the water shed is made up of city streams and blocks of lush green lawns.

In both of these situtations water can quickly come into your pond during heavy rains. With it comes the pollutants it will pick up on its way. This biggest ones being excess nutrients. Nitrates and phosphorus would be my biggest worries. Yes these are needed for a healthy pond but in small amounts. The same as your lawn or ag fields. Too much of a good thing becomes a bad deal.
 
Excess nutirents in your pond will lead to unsightly and potentially harmful algael blooms and excess subemerged and emergent vegetation growth. This will make it diffucult for you to use your pond as you wish. Fish will become very difficult during summer months and even swimming will not be enjoyable. This excess growth and algael blooms can also lead to problems in the fishery.

It will get harder for predatory fish to find food causing them to be underweight. However the biggest concern would be with fish kills. A summer kill could happen during periods of hot still days when oxygen levels are already low but due to excessive plant growth when nightfall comes and plants can't photosynthesize they will begin to take oxygen back out of the water for respiration purposes. This could lead to fish kills overnight.

All the excess buildup of organic matter could lead to winter fish kills as well. Over time all of this can make your pond become aesthetically unappealing both in sight and smell. For nobody wants to see there pond completely grown over but runoff can also bring trash, plastic bottles, aluminum can and food wrappers to name  a few, with it. Siltation is another concern in these situtations. Runoff will bring top soil from ag fields, lawns and debris from city streets to your ponds bottom.

Having a small pond or wetland area installed upstream can help prevent or slow many of these issues. It only needs to be a few feet deep and in many instances less than an acre in size. Have an outlet pipe for overflow to escape. Allow it to grow into native wetland vegetation like rushes, reeds and cattails. When runoff comes into these structures it will catch much of the trash and sediment coming with it.

The vegetation will help to take the excess nutrients out of the water before it gets to your pond. This pond can be overgrown with vegetation as long as it is doing its job. I have seen Nitrate levels be nearly 10 times higher in these filtration ponds as they are in someones recreational pond. Water will either flow though the outflow pipe to enter your pond or it will enter through the groundwater.

These small filtration ponds will not only help out the health of your pond but also add to its enjoyment. The added native vegetation and flower plants and bring added aesthetic value. They will also attract breeding waterfowl and songbirds for you to observe. Not to mention the sounds that are added for you to enjoy as you sit on your dock, suspended over your clean pond with a line in the water and family all around enjoying it to the fullest!

Brett Kleinschmit

Best Early Season Food Plots

8/12/2015

 
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Most states across the Midwest are only a few short weeks from deer season opening. While I hunt in September there are a few food sources I love to hunt over, soybeans, alfalfa and Forage Oats or Frosty Feed a mixture of Winter Wheat, Forage Rye, Forage Oats and Winter Peas. Your bean and alfalfa fields should already be established for the season and the deer have been enjoying them all summer. They will continue on the beans into September until the bean start to turn and dry up. Alfalfa can be a hot spot all season long but September is usually a good time with the last cutting being taken within a few weeks of hunting season providing fresh growth. Now when should you be planting plots like Buck Forage Oats or Frosty Feed?

If you are a bowhunter three to four weeks before your season opener would be about the optimal time to plant. This will give just enough time for the plot to germinate and start to produce that fresh succulent forage the deer will be crazing this time of the year. Most native browse and crops are nearing the end of their seasons. There are a few reasons you want to wait to plant inside a month before the season.

If you plant it too early, the oats especially, will begin to become more mature and stemy before you get a chance to hunt over it. You should not have that problem with our Frosty Feed mix but it doesn't hurt to plant in about that same window frame. Remember the Frosty Feed with the winter wheat can still be very attractive to your deer herds later in the winter. To plant either make sure you spray the existing vegetation with a glyphosate to kill and remove any competition. Follow that up by tilling the soil and drilling or broadcasting the seed and the cultipack the soil for optimum seed to soil contact. You could also add to the plot and mix a brassica mix in with it such as our Green Beast, to add another dimension to it come late season.  Pray for rain and wait for opening day!

If you need your seed yet you can find them on the website and email me for the order. Prepare now to reap the benefits later on.

Brett Kleinschmit

Late Season Food Plots

8/8/2015

 
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There are two plots that I would really recommend for late season plots, depending on your deer herd size and the browsing pressure in your area. If you are looking for a plots that is greater than 3-5 acres I would recommend a corn crop. We use a short statured corn, Cana Maize, quite often been any good corn seed works great. However if you are looking at areas less than 3-5 acres, dependent on deer numbers, I would suggest a brassica mix for those late season cold and snowy hunts.

Brassica's will include turnips, radishes, and rape seeds to name a few. It will provide a lot of tonage in the form of leaves but also the deer will feast on the bulbs that are produced. Deer will be most attracted to this once the first hard frost has hit. This is when the sugars really become present in the leaves. I would suggest planting them sometime from July 15th to August 15th in the Midwest.

Our brassica mix, Green Beast, is fairly easy to establish as are they all. Once you determined your plot site you need to start by spraying the existing vegetation with a glyphosate to eliminate the competition, unless you are braodcasting into an existing bean plot. After about a week the existing vegetation should be dead and you can then clear it for planting.

There are a few ways to do this. One can either burn the exisitng leaf litter off or you can shred with a mower or weed eater followed by tilling. If you use fire you can just run a drag over the plot before broadcasting to lightly loosen the top soil. If you tilled it pack the soild, broadcast the seed and then pack again. For best results fertilize according to a soil test.

If we can't or elect not to do a soil test we use DeerGro's PlotStart when planting followed by their PlotBoost once it is up and growing. This allows the plant to be most effecient at nutrient uptake bringing in more nutrients allowing them to meet their maximum potential. Brassicas will grow fairly fast so once they are going you should not have to worry about weed control. Given the time of year most weeds are nearing the end of production and brassicas will have no problem outcompeting them.

Now is the time to get those plots in the ground so get out there and start preparing for those late season hunts!

Brett Kleinschmit



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    Brett Kleinschmit

     Owner of Antelope Creek Wildlife and Ponds.

    Land Specialist for Whitetail Properties Real Estate

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