Outdoors
Sponsored by

Crop dusting timberland during deer season

4,257 Views | 33 Replies | Last: 4 yr ago by TxFig
bcosf
How long do you want to ignore this user?
This morning while deer hunting in Jasper county a crop duster started spraying our lease. I assume he was spraying some type of herbicide to kill hardwoods and underbrush. Does anyone have another thought on what they were spraying and if this is legal? Seems like a terrible practice to do this while the woods are full of people.
Russ79
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
If your lease is timber company land you can expect them to do anything anytime that is in the best interest of their business, and leasing for deer hunting is not their main business. Several years ago on opening Saturday morning of bow season I was in a tree and heard what I thought was a helicopter flying low overhead. I got down and sure enough they were spraying herbicide. They finished up within a few minutes and were gone.
BrazosDog02
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
It was roundup.

Enjoy your new logging company!
FC12
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Inhale that cancer! If roundup, that seems pretty damn crazy they would do that without advising first, especially with it being known people are in those woods.
CanyonAg77
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
While it's not smart to do with people in the field, and probably is against regulations, how would they know you were there?

Who ever owns the land, or their consultant, called the ag applicator, and said "I need this land treated for that pest." Applictor then puts it on his schedule, and gets the job done when he has time, and the right conditions. Sometimes he waits until he has several fields that need the same chemical, and treat them all at one time.

Bottom line, there was some disconnect between you, the landowner, and the applicator. Maybe whoever ordered the spraying doesn't deer hunt. Or the guy who ordered it assumed it would be done before or after you were there. Likely, the applicator was never told people would be in the field.

I'd call the landowner and discuss it with him first. Start out non-confrontational. This was a mistake. No one in this situation wanted to spray with people in the field.

SPI-FlatsCatter 84
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
They were spraying herbicide in 35-45 degrees?
_________________________________________________________
Nothing is getting fixed in D.C. until we get term limits for both the House and the Senate
CanyonAg77
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
FC12 said:

Inhale that cancer! If roundup, that seems pretty damn crazy they would do that without advising first, especially with it being known people are in those woods.
Roundup is probably the safest thing that you could possibly be under.
FC12
How long do you want to ignore this user?
I was being sarcastic on the cancer...I'm
Sure you've seen all the ambulance chaser commercials.
And I would assume you're being sarcastic about the "safest thing you can be under".
CanyonAg77
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
FC12 said:

I was being sarcastic on the cancer...I'm
Sure you've seen all the ambulance chaser commercials.
Yes, and I've seen people on TexAgs believe it all, and have 'cured their arthritis' by 'not eating GMO and using holistic medicine'.

So until we get a sarcasm font, you never can tell.

Back to the OP, no telling what it was. Could you smell anything? I'm wondering if it was insecticide. As someone implied above, it's a little weird to spray herbicide this late in the year and at cold temperature.

And what color was it?



https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/3074269/1
S.A. Aggie
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
SPI-FlatsCatter 84 said:

They were spraying herbicide in 35-45 degrees?

That's what I was wondering!
bcosf
How long do you want to ignore this user?
I couldn't smell anything but it had a green tint coming out of the plane.

In regards to the land owner, it is a giant timber company called CatchMark that owns about 1 million acres in Texas. They lease their land for deer hunting to thousands of people, so I am sure they are aware people are in the woods during deer season. I have no problem if they want to spray, just seems unsafe to do so with so many people on their land.
CenterHillAg
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
You sure he was spraying? Fertilizing would be more likely right now. Don't blame the pilot, he's just applying where he was told, brother's gotta eat. I'm guessing that's Campbell land in that area, take it up with the forester.
CanyonAg77
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
CenterHillAg said:

You sure he was spraying? Fertilizing would be more likely right now. Don't blame the pilot, he's just applying where he was told, brother's gotta eat. I'm guessing that's Campbell land in that area, take it up with the forester.
Good point.

Trees aren't growing much, nor are weeds, insects are dormant. Doesn't seem like a good time to control pests. but wouldn't be a bad time to be putting some nutrients down for next year.

Green tint may be a dye, just to help the pilot see where he sprayed.

Again, back to the OP, were it herbicide, the best exposure is zero exposure. But when you apply chemical at the rate of 1-2 quarts per acre (plus about 5-10 gallons per acre water), your exposure is pretty small.

Say you inhaled 100% of the chemical that was sprayed within a 10 foot radius of you.
That's 78.5 sq. ft. or 0.0018 acres
Assume chemical sprayed at 2 quarts per acre
Exposure = 0.115 ounces = 3.4mililiter

AgResearch
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Green tint would lead me to think Agrotain treated urea fertilizer.


Looks like this:

SPI-FlatsCatter 84
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Seems like a granular fertilizer, especially applied by air, would be extremely hard to get through the "mulch" and to the root zone. Whether wetted or not
_________________________________________________________
Nothing is getting fixed in D.C. until we get term limits for both the House and the Senate
AgResearch
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
SPI-FlatsCatter 84 said:

Seems like a granular fertilizer, especially applied by air, would be extremely hard to get through the "mulch" and to the root zone. Whether wetted or not
Urea is naturally hydrophilic. Can easily dissolve on the soil surface with ambient humidity. About 0.5" of rain is all it takes for effective incorporation into the soil with minimal volatilization losses.
brotherbear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Probably beans from last night.
BrazosDog02
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
AgResearch said:

Green tint would lead me to think Agrotain treated urea fertilizer.


Looks like this:


Bro...if I'm hunting outside and green pellets start raining down on me from a fuggin helicopter, posting on texags is going to be pretty low on my list of stuff to do. I read dystopian novels...I know how this **** goes down.
rootube
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
bcosf said:

This morning while deer hunting in Jasper county a crop duster started spraying our lease. I assume he was spraying some type of herbicide to kill hardwoods and underbrush. Does anyone have another thought on what they were spraying and if this is legal? Seems like a terrible practice to do this while the woods are full of people.


Did you chase that sucker like the DDT truck fogging the neighborhood in the good old days?
bcosf
How long do you want to ignore this user?
BrazosDog02 said:

AgResearch said:

Green tint would lead me to think Agrotain treated urea fertilizer.


Looks like this:


Bro...if I'm hunting outside and green pellets start raining down on me from a fuggin helicopter, posting on texags is going to be pretty low on my list of stuff to do. I read dystopian novels...I know how this **** goes down.
Haha green pellets falling and contrails streaking across the sky!! The secret people were in full force this morning!!
bcosf
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AgResearch said:

SPI-FlatsCatter 84 said:

Seems like a granular fertilizer, especially applied by air, would be extremely hard to get through the "mulch" and to the root zone. Whether wetted or not
Urea is naturally hydrophilic. Can easily dissolve on the soil surface with ambient humidity. About 0.5" of rain is all it takes for effective incorporation into the soil with minimal volatilization losses.
If they were fertilizing that is great. I never figured a timber company would spend the money for that though.
Micropterus
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Let me clear this up quick and easy. OP, was it a plane or helo?
03_Aggie
How long do you want to ignore this user?
CanyonAg77 said:

While it's not smart to do with people in the field, and probably is against regulations, how would they know you were there?




I would think if you lease land to third party users, you might have an obligation to send notice when something like this is on tap.
CanyonAg77
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
03_Aggie said:

CanyonAg77 said:

AWhile it's not smart to do with people in the field, and probably is against regulations, how would they know you were there
I would think if you lease land to third party users, you might have an obligation to send notice when something like this is on tap.
The people doing the hunting leases aren't the same people who take care of the trees. One group forgot to talk to the other. Or else, someone decicded that fertilizer wasn't dangerous.
bcosf
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Micropterus said:

Let me clear this up quick and easy. OP, was it a plane or helo?
It was a plane - typical crop dusting air plane, but instead of being yellow it was blue & white. I tried to get the tail numbers a few times but, never could get it.

It also didn't seem like he was working in a pattern. His passes seemed to be random.
AgEng06
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Maybe he was spraying for hunters...
Fishin Texas Aggie 05
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I had visions of the campfire scene of blazing saddles when I clicked on this thread
CanyonAg77
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Quote:

His passes seemed to be random.
Random to you, probably not random to the timber company agronomist, who scouted and selected spots that needed pest control or fertilizer.
BlueSmoke
How long do you want to ignore this user?
I crop-dust my co-workers offices before, during, and after hunting season....
Nobody cares. Work Harder
bcosf
How long do you want to ignore this user?
BlueSmoke said:

I crop-dust my co-workers offices before, during, and after hunting season....
Does it have a green tint to it as well???
Micropterus
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Likely an AT- 802. He was fertilizing, which is quite common in the winter months on timber. As someone posted earlier, probably putting out urea or DAP, or a blend of those. It's a common forestry practice. They're growing a crop tree, except its on a 30 year rotation instead of annuall. They're investing in their asset, just like any farmer would, to maximize growth.

BTW, chemical spray does not go out by plane on timber, ever.
Moy
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Sounds like par for the course for paper company land. I was in a hunting club on east Texas paper company land for several years. Odd occurrences during deer season were the norm. Communication between the company and hunt club honcho was non-existent when it came to operations. Understandably so, their business operations carried on as normal regardless of deer season. Also, employees and their families had full access to the property. It wasn't uncommon to see campers show up right in the middle of game time.
TexasAggie_02
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
probably not herbicide. you want to apply that when a plant is actively growing, so that it absorbs as much as possible
Satellite of Love
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Soylent Green in pellet form!!!
bad_teammate said on 2/10/21:
Just imagine how 1/6 would've played out if DC hadn't had such strict gun laws.

Two people starred his post as of the time of this signature. Those 3 people are allowed to vote in the US.
TxFig
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
FC12 said:

I was being sarcastic on the cancer...I'm
Sure you've seen all the ambulance chaser commercials.
And I would assume you're being sarcastic about the "safest thing you can be under".

I can't speak for the guy who said it, but yeah - Roundup would be TONS better than being under an insecticide.

Things designed to kill plants are (generally) not as harmful to humans as things designed to kill animals.
--
Chris Barnes
Retired A&M IT geek - now beekeeper
http://www.cornerstonehoneybees.com/
Refresh
Page 1 of 1
 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.