Coffee Beans

JaMak84 · Postby **JaMak84** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 4:31 pm

I have a 20 acre CRP tract that I've been given permission to hunt this year. It's got about 5 acres of shallow water management on it that's controlled by natural flooding. Last year it was dry enough to get in and disk and planted it with jap millet. This year the surrounding fields are in rice, and due to the beavers and about 7 inches of rain I don't think it will dry up enough to get a disk on it. The management areas have been taken over by coffee beans and annual smartweed and spots of barnyard. Just wondering how ducks will feel about all the coffee beans.

eastwoods · Postby **eastwoods** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 5:54 pm

Mallards love it, but for whatever reason it is hit or miss. When they hit it they'll hit coffeeweed hard, but I have never seen them use it all season. Don't know why. Just keep your eye on it, and hunt it when they get in it.

jwarwick · Postby **jwarwick** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 10:05 pm

If there is a way to break the beaver blockage early one morning and let the water go very quickly, you can hand seed Jap over the mucky bottom and it will come up fine. Don't let the beavers hold any water until the jap gets up 6 inches or so. Then you can let them build up their dam again to hold the water which will provide you with the coolest duck hole around this winter... a
habitat gift from God and his furry animal friends.
This works in a perfect world... some variation of technique may apply.

JaMak84 · Postby **JaMak84** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 12:21 pm

I don't have access to a back hoe, so it would all be shovel action. That didn't bother me in March, but july and august is a different story. I know the farmer will come in there and clean it out when he gets ready to drain his rice, but I think it'll be pushing the planting date.

jwarwick · Postby **jwarwick** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 1:08 pm

Is the ground that is now under water flat, or does it have ditch banks and inclined slopes?
Here's my point: if the flooded ground is fairly flat, you might only have to lower the water level 1 foot to expose enough mud to plant on. That won't be much work for you to do at the dam.
I had a place once in the delta where a 8 or 10 inch beaver dam would put water on 150 acres or so. That place was very easy to drain- but it was also very easy for the beavers to flood.
I found that if I was persistent for several mornings in a row at cleaning the cut in the dam, that my place drained and the beavers went to greener pastures.
I have had other properties where the beavers never let up though... call the trapper... the war on beavers has many battles. I respect their abilities- but F- em.

dukmisr2005 · Postby **dukmisr2005** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 4:44 pm

its easy to build a control structure into a beaver dam so you can control the water and they cant figure out where its leaving from.. just use some ADS plastic pipe and couple fittings and a drill.. you hold the water at whatever level and if neeeded drain it..

the doctor · Postby **the doctor** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 8:22 pm

you can sow millet or wild rice over water no more than 4-6 inches deep

might not get the whole thing planted but should get some of it and coffe beans work fine, but I agree they are hit and miss

they produce a lot of foliage for very little seed

the doc

JaMak84 · Postby **JaMak84** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 12:33 pm

I had thought about sowing it with millet anyway. I guess I should say that I was more worried about the thick foliage than the water. I'm just worried that I won't get good soil contact, and didn't know if the millet could compete with the existing vegetation.

eastwoods · Postby **eastwoods** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 5:47 pm

You can plant ag rice in 6 inches of water this time of year and it will make. Of course 2 inches it will do better. Seed a heavy rate the deeper your water depth is. Water seeding is how they do it in CA and south LA.

WilM88 · Postby **WilM88** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 7:47 pm

I have the same type situation at my place, I was wondering the same thing, it got dry enough 2 weeks ago so the we could bush hog the already existing grass and vegetation, but now the water is back in there about 3 to 4 inches deep and in some areas just mud, and not sure if it will be dry enough to till?
This will be our first year to plant it, and I was thinking on jap millet or brown top millet? and was wondering if it will still make in time for duck season if planted within the next week or 2 or if it will make by just sowing it?

dukmisr2005 · Postby **dukmisr2005** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 8:13 pm

jap millet can be planted up to august 1st for ducks.. this week be last week for brown top.. jap is a 60 day and brown top a 85-70 day millet.

Wingman · Postby **Wingman** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 10:26 pm

got dry enough 2 weeks ago so the we could bush hog the already existing grass and vegetation

What kind of grass and vegetation did you bush hog?

If you bush hogged barnyardgrass, sprangletop, sedges and such to try to prepare the place for millet, you're shooting yourself in the foot. God was feeding ducks long before we started buying seed at the co-op.

WilM88 · Postby **WilM88** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 6:58 pm

We left alot of it standing, just cleared a spot about half an acre or so with the bush hog, most of the area we are tryin to plant is just bare dirt/mud actually didnt cut much grass. Some of what is left standing may be sprangletop, i'm not sure but we didnt cut to much just cut a little so that we could get in there and disc it easier.
Thanks for the Help.

Coffee Beans

Coffee Beans

Who is online