Yep it's that time of year. The ground is drying out or it's already really dry. Seeing how it's your yard, turn on the sprinkler after you hunt and water down the grass real well. But as for hunting in other peoples yards you might want to wait till this fall or make sure you have a good rain coming that day or evening. I've also told the home owners to turn on the sprinklers after I leave to make sure I don't leave there yard looking like a cheetah. Also I've found (the hard way too) the plugs under or around a shady area seem to survive better than plugs dug in constant direct sun . If you are going to dig a plug in an area that sees alot of sun I tend to only dig the deeper targets. If you go rooting throught the roots of the grass in this hot/dry period of summer the grass is almost sure to die. So go after the deeper targets and dig a THICK plug so your not distirbing the root system. I push the entire blade in the ground and flip over a 6 or 7 inch thick plug, retrieve the target and back fill the hole ASAP, so the soil doesn't have a chance to dry out at all. And if the ground is really dry sometimes thats not even enough for it to survive. It's just that time of year. We just have to be carefull what and were we're digging so we have a place to come back to. It's better to wait and come back when the ground and grass can handle a little stress. The stuffs been in the ground along time, it ain't going anywhere. At least you'll still be welcome back to dig it again and again as long as we don't get kicked out of a site before that.
Hope this helps
Good luck & HH :grin:
