Several years ago, my grandfather and grandmother planted blueberry bushes and a few assorted pear and apple trees in a spot they used to keep as a garden. They only planted half of that opening, though, and the rest has been allowed to lie fallow.
It hasn’t been unusual to see an occasional turkey or two while picking bowling ball-sized blueberries, and a few deer tracks sometimes crossed the unplanted area.
Since it seemed like such a natural place for deer to come for an apple- or pear-flavored treat, I decided that we would reclaim the fallow area and plant a third plot.
Because it was just about dead center of the Main Lane and the Cemetery Stand, my original thought was that we would leave it as a feeding plot where deer could browse without any hunting pressure.
That didn’t last very long, though, because as soon as we saw that deer were attracted to the Abruzzi rye and red clover mix we planted, my nephews realized that they could easily hunt it because it was right out their back door.
Although we had several different blends of Evolved Habitats seed to plant in the established plots, I chose to plant the Abruzzi rye and red clover because of its tolerance of acidic soils.
Our established plots have been limed and fertilized in accordance with soil-test results, but the decision to put the Fruit Stand in at the last minute meant that all we were going to be able to do was disk, plant, cover and fertilize.
Both the rye and clover grew amazingly well, and the difference between the height of the plants in an exclusion cage with that of those outside it proved that deer had quickly accepted the new plot.
We found a pine tree on the far end of the orchard that would make a decent stand with a little limb-cutting and vine-pulling work, and installed a ladder stand.
It was tucked back in among some pear trees and low-growing muscadine vines, and it had an entry and exit route that we could travel without blowing out the area.
On the same evening my son missed his first shot at a deer, we heard another shot ring out only seconds later. I knew my nephew Zach was hunting the Fruit Stand, so I texted him while my son and I looked for any sign that he had hit his deer.
“dead doe” he texted back. “dropped her in her tracks”
This year, I will go back to my original plan to use this plot as a feeding plot that acts as sort of a sanctuary and hope they venture out to the edges of the property where the Main Lane and Cemetery Plots are located.
That is, unless my son wants to take another crack at killing his first deer. Then I guess I’ll have to leave the Fruit Stand in place.
But nobody else will be allowed to hunt it, and this year I really mean it.
