Dan Geddings: The chufa patch

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Last year's crop was the best that I had ever produced. The plants were thick, and the nuts were abundant on the fibrous roots. The chufa patch measured about 400 feet long and was about 70 feet wide. It covered a little more than a half-acre on the powerline right of way. The ground was sandy and well drained, and there was practically no weed competition.

Now, all I needed was for the turkeys to find it. It was late winter, and there was not yet any sign of turkey activity on the plot. I was worried that they might never find it. Then one day in late January, I could see some fresh turned earth in the far end of the plot, toward the swamp. I got out of the truck and walked over to inspect. A large wild hog had been rooting in the plot. I was disappointed and concerned about hogs destroying my crop.

A few days later, I returned to install a trail camera and was sad to see more hog damage but delighted to see that the turkeys were also scratching in the plot. Shannon and I set a trap for the hog but had no luck. The big boar hog showed up in nighttime pictures on my camera but soon left the area. Now I was getting turkey pictures on the camera. Lots of them.

There was a big flock of turkeys working over that chufa patch. Twenty or 30 birds. The trail camera pictures showed a half dozen gobblers in the flock. The ground was dug up and scratched from one end of the plot to the other. It was unbelievable. My son, Clayton, and I drove in there one day in late February to check on the plot. He asked me who had plowed the chufa. My answer was, "no one, the turkeys have done that."

Chufa is a sedge and a warm-season perennial plant. Its foliage looks much like our native nut grass. It is easy to grow and needs about 100 days to produce a crop. The nuts are an excellent winter food source for wild turkeys. Turkeys are natural scratchers and will return to a plot again and again all winter long until the spring green up. I've learned from experience that a flock of turkeys will deplete a plot that is less than a half-acre.

In mid-March, I installed a portable ground blind against the timber, on one side of the chufa patch. I generally only use a blind for afternoon hunts. It gives me an option for warm days when I don't feel like doing a lot of walking. I was sick on opening day and didn't hunt that morning. I felt a little better that afternoon and went to the ground blind on the chufa patch. I put out a decoy and sat in the blind, calling occasionally. I didn't see anything but a group of hunters who walked in from an adjoining property. We spoke briefly, then went our separate ways.

A few days later, I returned to the plot. It was a very hot afternoon, and I really wasn't planning on a hunt. I was just going to look, but when I turned a corner on the road leading to the powerline, I could see that the road was full of turkeys. I backed up and turned around. I parked the truck, grabbed my gun and a decoy and cut through the woods to the far end of the chufa patch.

When I got to the powerline, I got down and crawled out to where I could see the far end of the plot. It was full of turkeys. I stuck up the decoy and crawled back in the brush. Within minutes, I could see two big longbeards coming my way, running. I was lying flat on the ground, propped up on my elbows. I shot one of the gobblers at about 15 steps. The chufa patch had paid off!

Shortly after that hunt, the turkey flocks dispersed and the chufa patch was almost abandoned. I continued to get a few pictures, but my hunts centered on other portions of the property. Later, I got another gobbler out in the pinelands away from the chufa patch.

After the turkey season, I got my friend, Shannon, to plow the chufa patch with his four-wheeler and disk. He did a great job. About a month later, Ed brought his big tractor out, and we plowed the plot again. I supplemented the plot with some additional seed, but just the plowing was enough to regenerate the plot. It flourished through the summer, and the turkeys got an early start this year. They started scratching and digging in October. I put my camera back up in late December, and I've got some more great pictures. I can hardly wait til March.

Email Dan Geddings at cdgeddings@gmail.com.