Palmettos

Turkey hunting tips & tricks that have worked & can help others.
Post Reply
User avatar
ole5beards
Posts: 687
Joined: September 23rd, 2012, 1:33 am
Location: Alabama

Palmettos

Post by ole5beards »

I'll ask you guys especially all y'all floridians. Have y'all ever sprayed them and been successful? A place I hunt is all palmettos, the hunting is good but I think it could be better if we had more open areas in the swamp. I've had success deer hunting this place by finding small pockets or openings in the palmettos and got to thinking it'd probably be beneficial for the turkeys as well. We have a tractor and bush hawg but those big hardwoods make it a tight squeeze at times. So that brings me to spraying, or cutting then spraying or vice versa. Just wanting to see if y'all have done this and if it worked. And also what you used to spray them.

Thanks for the help!
Pass the biscuits!!
KPcalls
Posts: 788
Joined: January 21st, 2014, 10:22 am
Location: Livingston La,

Re: Palmettos

Post by KPcalls »

We have alot down this way too....I know a bulldozer can cut them flush with the ground and they come back up....their tough for sure, maybe bushhog and spray with paraquat.
User avatar
GLS
Gobbler Nation
Gobbler Nation
Posts: 3564
Joined: May 16th, 2012, 11:29 am
Location: Lowcountry, GA

Re: Palmettos

Post by GLS »

One of the surest and best ways to get rid of palmettos is to sell the land.Gil
User avatar
guesswho
Gobbler Nation
Gobbler Nation
Posts: 5425
Joined: July 11th, 2011, 7:50 pm
Location: Bumpass VA, moving to Fuget KY

Re: Palmettos

Post by guesswho »

Good luck!
Double Naught Spy!
RCD's Owner----------------Badonka Deke Prostaff
MoHo's Prostaff-------------Lighter Than HTL Shooter
The Storm Whistle Prostaff
Official Member Of The Unofficial Firedup Turkey Calls Prostaff
User avatar
ole5beards
Posts: 687
Joined: September 23rd, 2012, 1:33 am
Location: Alabama

Re: Palmettos

Post by ole5beards »

I could almost see this coming :banghead: I had a feeling it was gonna involve way more than I thougt. We traded out deer and duck hunting a few years back for a guy and he brought in his dozier and opened up some good spots and created several new roads and like you said they're coming back but at least now we can maintain them by cutting. No one else turkey hunts but me and that's really why id like to do it. Some places the they're over your head!! There's turkeys there but they're not ever in the swamp like you'd think they would be. I'll keep scratching around and try to find something.
Pass the biscuits!!
hookspur
Posts: 505
Joined: August 15th, 2011, 6:12 pm

Re: Palmettos

Post by hookspur »

There were LOTS more turkeys in the WMA I hunt in Florida, back when they ran enough cattle to keep the palmettos thinned out. No question.
User avatar
Waddle Whacker
Gobbler Nation
Gobbler Nation
Posts: 2220
Joined: August 13th, 2012, 9:47 pm
Location: Louisiana

Re: Palmettos

Post by Waddle Whacker »

Sounds like you need to be getting in the cattle business.
Feel, don't think. Trust your instincts.
blunderbuss
Posts: 150
Joined: April 7th, 2013, 12:20 pm

Re: Palmettos

Post by blunderbuss »

Cut then spray the stump with glyphosate (Round Up).
youngun15
Posts: 56
Joined: July 28th, 2013, 5:51 pm

Re: Palmettos

Post by youngun15 »

Many of the swamps I hunt in the SC low country look identical to Fla. I generally end up standing to hunt these places. a machete is about the only way to control them...
User avatar
Grumpy
Gobbler Nation
Gobbler Nation
Posts: 4858
Joined: January 22nd, 2012, 12:03 pm
Location: N.C. Montana

Re: Palmettos

Post by Grumpy »

Sure going to be a sad day when I have to eat my green olives hollow.
I was not his father but he was my son,,MAK IV, 10-15-1993 - 4-22-2007
"Rest in Peace my Little Buddy"
User avatar
Southern Sportsman
Gobbler Nation
Gobbler Nation
Posts: 1314
Joined: February 24th, 2013, 12:32 am
Location: West TN

Re: Palmettos

Post by Southern Sportsman »

blunderbuss wrote:Cut then spray the stump with glyphosate (Round Up).
I dont know anything about palmettos, but I do know thay gly is absorbed through plants' leaves, so cutting then spraying would seem counterproductive. Maybe cut then wait for new more supple growth and spray.
I go stubbornly into error by myself, and reach my own fallacious conclusions using my own faulty data. ~Tom Kelly
User avatar
Johndoe
Gobbler Nation
Gobbler Nation
Posts: 3420
Joined: June 22nd, 2012, 9:50 am
Location: Tallahassee Fl

Re: Palmettos

Post by Johndoe »

SS. The description he gives is accurate. You spray the "stump" and it kills the roots.
Image

There are no numbers on any of my clocks below 8. Then all of a sudden, 2 days before turkey season they appear. Then right after the season they disappear.
What's up with that
User avatar
Southern Sportsman
Gobbler Nation
Gobbler Nation
Posts: 1314
Joined: February 24th, 2013, 12:32 am
Location: West TN

Re: Palmettos

Post by Southern Sportsman »

Interesting. When we have a difficult area we always bushhog then come back a week or two later and spray once everything starts to put on new growth. I guess the green stump/stalk of the palmetto absorbs it.

Alternatively, if you have any farmer buddies and can acquire gramoxone, it will kill pretty much anything
I go stubbornly into error by myself, and reach my own fallacious conclusions using my own faulty data. ~Tom Kelly
User avatar
GLS
Gobbler Nation
Gobbler Nation
Posts: 3564
Joined: May 16th, 2012, 11:29 am
Location: Lowcountry, GA

Re: Palmettos

Post by GLS »

I've had some great hunts in palmettos. They are plentiful here in the low country. I've had birds snake their way through them coming in to me.
User avatar
Johndoe
Gobbler Nation
Gobbler Nation
Posts: 3420
Joined: June 22nd, 2012, 9:50 am
Location: Tallahassee Fl

Re: Palmettos

Post by Johndoe »

Gramoxone a version of Paraquat. A RUP(RestictedUsePesticide). U don't want any of that.
It is not a systemic either. You will want that to kill palmetto.
Image

There are no numbers on any of my clocks below 8. Then all of a sudden, 2 days before turkey season they appear. Then right after the season they disappear.
What's up with that
KPcalls
Posts: 788
Joined: January 21st, 2014, 10:22 am
Location: Livingston La,

Re: Palmettos

Post by KPcalls »

Gramoxone..should kill it without cutting, but it is restricted. Glyphosate would kill only by spraying the stump.
Post Reply

Return to “Hunt Strategies”