Thread: Sweeten up “Spot X”

Originally Posted by time out

The “how can I shoot more deer” thread got me thinking -
If you have a nice spot somewhere and you would like it to produce more deer - invest in some sweet seed
Doesn’t matter if it is private or public land - likely you will be the only one to know where you planted it
I used to hunt up the back of Tokomaru in the 60s and old Henry who lived up there was always happy to tell us boys where he had burnt a slip or clearing and planted some “bush burn” - a poor man’s grass/clover mixture to get land producing after it had been roughly worked over
Those slips and clearings produced deer more consistently than others - deer are suckers for good quality tucker
I have planted rye and clover (red and white) on plenty of slips and clearings in my favourite spots over the years - it works
Good time of the year right now to grow seed - but don’t light fires

Its funny you should say that, because I carted up a bag of Lotus Major and biffed on what was probably one of Henry’s burns right up on the back ridge past the little ponga hut. Never saw any results and it never seemed to make a difference though. Circa 1968.

Should have been OK Tahr - maybe they chewed it out

Lotus major (Lotus uliginosus) a perennial legume, grows well in wet, acidic, infertile soils where grazing pressure is light. Lotus has also been widely sown in agroforestry situations (where forestry and agriculture are combined) because it tolerates shade and needle litter better than clovers.

We used to target No1 Creek - my mate got quite a few deer on the first big slip about ten minutes up the creek - Henry planted it with bush burn - I used to race up the creek about an hour to the forks - there was a lovely burn up there about 1km long - first time I went there the ground and logs were still black - Henry told me that he went bush for about a month after that one got away - you can still see it on Google maps - it looks like it is still grass and has never bushed over

Originally Posted by time out

Should have been OK Tahr - maybe they chewed it out

Lotus major (Lotus uliginosus) a perennial legume, grows well in wet, acidic, infertile soils where grazing pressure is light. Lotus has also been widely sown in agroforestry situations (where forestry and agriculture are combined) because it tolerates shade and needle litter better than clovers.

We used to target No1 Creek - my mate got quite a few deer on the first big slip about ten minutes up the creek - Henry planted it with bush burn - I used to race up the creek about an hour to the forks - there was a lovely burn up there about 1km long - first time I went there the ground and logs were still black - Henry told me that he went bush for about a month after that one got away - you can still see it on Google maps - it looks like it is still grass and has never bushed over

What was the creek with the hut in the fork? Was that #2 creek? I cant remember.
Yeah, I chose Lotus because it seemed to be in there on some slips and in the creek anyway.

Dave McNuir and I also carted fert and seed into the Mangoira in the Ruahines. I dreamt of great herds of deer...but someone else must have got them, ‘cos I didn't.