Logging Company Project : First Phase

Soil tests are being taken at one of Wagner's logging sites where the RRG &SA volunteers will be planting the wildlife-friendly seed mix on a wood ash-prepared soil. The road ash will be donated by Boralex of Stratton. The goal of this partnership is to strengthen the deer herd and other wildlife. Shown here is Dave Borman and Dick Moore, volunteers on the Deer Forage Project sponsored by the club. Wood Ash, a free natural fertilizer, will be used to neutralize the soil so that the seeds will have more vitality in a very acidic soil. One of the goals is to see if wood ash will be effective. One half of the plots will consist of seeds only, and the other half will contain seeds and wood ash. Wildlife use will be monitored by the volunteers.

A new partner in this project has come on board. M & H Construction has offered 2 dump trucks to devliver the wood ash from Boralex in Stratton to Wagner's and Seven Islands' logging sites.

Grouse Trail Mix Available for Food Plots

After June 15, you can buy a bag of Grouse Trail Mix. It is a commercally designed mix for Grouse, although deer like it too. One 6-pound bag will cover 1/2 acre. This mixture was designed by the Ruffed Grouse Society, and it has been successfully tested along roadsides, ditches and food plots. It has 4 clovers and birdsfoot trefoil which is extremely hardly and will last for years. You can also plant it different times during the growing season.

Marcia Baker will sell this at cost which is $37 per bag. Directions for seeding are similar to the Rangeley Mix. Although this mix is designed to grow better in worse soil. marciambaker@hotmail.com

Rangeley Seed Mix Available at River's Edge Sports

We all must do our part to bring back our deer herd. Rangeley Guides and Sportsmen's Assoc. is sponsoring a specially designed deer/wildlife seed mix that can be planted on your septic tank, telephone pole area or even a skidder path in the back of your woods. You might even have a secret spot!

This seed mix was designed by a deer biologist for Rangeley Guides and Sportsmen's logging project. It isalso great for grouse, turkeys , bears and song birds. A acre of food plot can provide "one ton" of forage for our wildlife. Its high protein forage helps a deer to develop more fat, so it can better withstand severe winters. The flowering plants attract partridge chicks feeding on bugs.

The seed mix is now available at River's Edge Sports in Oquossoc for $22 a 12 lb. bag. (see particulars on RRG & SA Website). Now a 12 pound bag will cover a quarter-acre which is roughly 11,000 sq. feet. For example That could cover a plot 21 ft. x 50 ft. , or 100 ft x 11 ft. (You figure the square feet of your plot by multiplying the width by the length).

I'd recommend you start small. In these photos, Rick Baker is working on a 10 x 30 food plot which is 300 square feet. For this size, you might want to share a bag with a neighbor. One club member is going to seed her mix on the area behind her house where she dumps her wood ash. Wood ash, a natural fertilizer and soil nuetralizer, is one-to- one equivalent to lime. However, most of us don't have wood ash.

For the 10 x 30 plot with a ph of 5, in the picture above, we figured it needed 3/4 bag of pelleted lime. This seed mix will not grow unless you have at least ph of 6. Why you ask? Acidic soil (7 is neutral) soil does not allow the nutrients to be used by the plant.

Around here where we have so much pine , ( unless you live on an old farm), , you can be assured that you have acid soil. For a plot of 10 x 40, which is around 400 sq. feet, a 40 bag of lime will do it. The other choice is to get a bag of starter fertilizer. A bag of lime costs $6 up here in Rangeley. All the nurseries have it like, Mtn. Greenery and Cermanara's . After you lime you soil, wait for a rain or two to have it saturate in the soil.

You can pick up a free sample box for your soil test at River's Edge. It coat $15 to get your standard analysis from the university extension. A cheaper way to do it is to google "web soil survey" where you can get your free soil analysis of your specific spot. A third way, is to contact Marcia Baker or Dave Borman who have free kits to test yourself. (The latter is available after June 15)

This seed mix is composed of Oats, Buckwheat, White Dutch Clover, Medium Red Clover, Timothy and perennial ryegrass.

Good references are Food Plots for Deer which can be purchased online at QDMA website (Quality Deer Management Association). Another good book is Grow'em Right by Craig. These books will be available at River's Edge.

Seeds will not grow if you throw them on dead leaves, or if there is lots of weeds. Round-up, a safe herbicide can be applied to your plot, and it will kill all the weeds in a week. It does not leach out with rain or water run-off. But use your common sense, do not use it within 100 feet of any pond or lake-- nor any fertilizer for that matter! If there is a danger of any run-off into your pond- or lake-side, then plant a food plot (or for that matter, a flower garden) someplace else. There are suspicions that animal and deer droppings can contribute to the phosphates in ponds and lakes. So be careful if you are within the water catchment zone of your pond.

We have a seed spreader available for you to use. It also spreads pelleted lime. Contact Dave Borman at 864-2812. He will also give you free advice on any of your guestions.

Apple Tree Release Project off to a Great Start

On a beautiful spring day, April 24, a group of eight released 10 apple trees, and partially released 5 more.

Attending were Sam Spaulding, Dick Moore, Jack and Jean Nutile, Andy Chabot (representing the Trac Club), Tom Nagle, and Rick & Marcia Baker. We far exceeded our expectations on the how much ground we covered (no pun intended).

In these photos, you can barely make out Sam Spaulding and Jack Nutile as they cut and clear the congested area around three apple trees. (In fact I can't even tell who else is in these photos). Note the same three apple trees after they are released. Each tree was given a little 5-10-10 fertilizer. Next year, the crowns will receive a little pruning. As these trees are considered senior citizens (with one step into the nursing home), a little has to be done each year to insure recovery.

A special thanks to Don and Sandi Dumont, RRG & SA members, who have allowed the team to rejuvenate their overgrown orchard.

Another Release event will be planned this summer to finish the rest of the orchard. Newcomers are always welcome. Contact Sam Spaulding or Marcia Baker to get on the Volunteer list.

Logging Company Project : First Phase

Flat Iron Road:

On April 23, Rick and Marcia Baker took soil samples from Seven Islands' designated sites. Here you see Rick Baker and Seven Islands, forester, Pete Smith. Unlike Wagner's sites, Club members will be seeding a road instead of logging sites. Two acres will contain wood ash along with seed and two more acres will contain seed only. This way, we will see how effective wood ash will be in adding plant vitality. These places look pretty rugged right now, but they will be leveled out by a bulldozer prior to wood ash delivery. In late June, after the ash is delivered. our own Dave Borman will use his Kabota to distribute the ash . A volunteer group will rake it, followed by a rock rake. Then we wait for rains to help absorb the ash into the soil.

Wanted: Browsing Enclosure for Logging Company Food Plots

I imagine you're asking what a "browsing enclosure" is. No, its not to keep the deer in--its to keep the deer and other critters out. The project is looking for some ambitious outdoorsman/woman to make 8 of these things.


"Why?" you ask. Afterall, we want critters to come and eat at the logging sites. Well, these little enclosureswill tell us if any animals are eating at these plots. We will look at the contrast of plant growth inside the closure, where they can't touch it. This will help us to moniter whether we are attracting critters to our food plot.


Enclosed is a picture and instructions on how to make them. The club will gladly reimburse you for materials.

CONSTRUCTING A BROWSE EXCLOSURE
• Select Hoot-high welded wire fencing with 2x4-inch panels.
• Wearing gloves and using wire shears, cut the fence into lO-foot long sections. Each 10-foot long
section will form one browse exdosure.
When cutting through the horizontal
wires, make the cut close to
the next vertical wire, leaving tag
ends of horizontal wires projecting.
• Rollthe section until the ends connect
to form a cylinder. Bend the tag-end wires
of one end around the vertical end wire of
the opposite end, forming loops that attach
the ends of the rolled cage together.
• Drive sturdy stakes of rebar or wood
into the ground on opposite sides of the
cage and secure the cage to the stakes with
wire ties.Or,"weave"the stakes through at
least three panels near the bottom of the
cage by bending the panel wires slightly,
then drive the stake into the ground. The
cage should be secure enough to withstand
wind as well as animals pushing
against it.
to form a cylinder. Bend the tag-end wires
of one end around the vertical end wire of
the opposite end, forming loops that attach
the ends of the rolled cage together.
• Drive sturdy stakes of rebar or wood
into the ground on opposite sides of the
cage and secure the cage to the stakes with
wire ties.Or,"weave"the stakes through at
least three panels near the bottom of the
cage by bending the panel wires slightly,
then drive the stake into the ground. The
cage should be secure enough to withstand
wind as well as animals pushing
against it.

We will need 8 of these by the end of July.

Contract Marcia Baker at 841-0496.

Reference: Kammermeyer, Miller, and Thomas, Quality Food Plots, A Publication of the Quality Deer Management Association. p. 139 This is a great book for anyone who wants to start doing their own personal plots. You can order it on the QDMA website.

Introduction to the Deer and Wildlife Forage Project

The Mission of the team is to enhance the deer herd and other wildlife through habitat restoration and forestry techniques. Deer biologists are predicting that Western Maine's deer herd will be gone in ten years. Projects will be done through hands-on projects with the logging companies and with private owners’ properties. The membership will also have regular educational information via presentations at meetings and through e-mail presentations.

There are four infant projects of the Committee, some or all of which you can become informed or become a volunteer .

I. Partnership with the Logging Companies: The project goal is to supplement deer forage to prevent winter starvation. Launching this summer, Wagner and Seven Islands will be utilizing their empty logging sites for wildlife-friend food plots. The Team volunteers will help in soil-testing, spreading wood-ash, broad-casting seed mix, and montering the results. This is a three-year project to determine if wood-ash can facilitate the viability of wildlife food plots. There will only be 2-4 days of group labor this summer. The first event will be in mid-late June spreading wood ash to prepare the soil at both company sites.

II. Appletree Release Project: Launching this spring, team volunteers will be restore the many wild apple trees that are being choked out by maturing forest. Wild apple trees are common in Rangeley and a wild-life food mecca. The first event will be a two-hour hands-on clinic Saturday, 10:30 on April 24. Meet on the N.W. corner of Mike Linnell's field, 3 rd left driveway on Quimby Pond Road. Bring long-handled shears, chain saw or bucksaw, if you have them. This is a three-year Project. Marcia Baker and Sam Spaulding are the speakers . rsvp 864-3351. Bring a bag lunch. Rain date is next day Sunday at 1:00.

III. Food plots on private lands: Dave Borman is the Chairman. 864-3351. The membership will be educated on establishing wild-life friendly food plots on their land. Seed mix is now available at River's Edge, in Oquossoc, for $22 a bag. It will cover a 1/4 acre. It is recommended that one start on a small level. You start with the spreading the seed mix on your septic tank! The Club has resources for soil tests. If you would like to buy this seed-mix, stop by the River's Edge. Dave Borman'd email is jborman@localnet.com. He will give you a free consultation to get you started.

IV. General Education about Habitat Enhancement: Small sound-bytes of hands-on habitat restoration techniques will be offered via news letter, e-mail and small presentations at meetings. This project will begin once a leader is found. The club has a lot of educational material for dissemination.

Co-chairing the Deer and Wildlife Forage project are Sam Spaulding spaulding@gwi.net and Marcia Baker marciambaker@hotmail.com or 864-3351

Please do your part in saving our deer.