Summer Chores

Summer means beaches and vacations to a lot people but for turkey hunters it means chufa planting. Since our turkey population here in SC seems to be on a decline, its more important than ever to manage the habitat on our hunting ground. Chufa is a great tool for turkey habitat improvement just about anywhere corn will grow.

In case you didn't know, chufa is a plant that looks like decorative border grass. It produces underground tubers that turkeys, pigs and ducks (when flooded) love. I'm hoping the pigs leave mine to the turkeys.

The NWTF imports their Turkey Gold Chufa brand from Spain but there are growers here in the states that produce it for sale as well. Click here to see some FAQs about chufa.

Planting in June is a hot, muggy undertaking but good friend Patrick and I braved the heat and deer flies yesterday afternoon to get a few chufa plots planted. The process is not simple and usually requires multiple trips to the property to kill weeds, prepare the seed bed, fertilize and plant.

Sweat equity at it's finest. Hopefully these plots will pay big dividends next spring by holding at least a couple of gobblers on our lease. And if you know where these plots are please don't tell Shannon or Kelly......