Sumter outdoors columnist Dan Geddings: Velvet antlers, rabbits, quail and sunflowers

There were deer crossing the road just ahead. I got on the brakes and slowed down almost to a stop. Four, no, five big deer bounded across the pavement in front of my truck and through the pines. They were all bucks with velvet antlers that were just branching out above their ears.

It was 10 in the morning in bright sunlight in an area with houses and well-kept yards. I was surprised to see them there. I was headed to the hunt club on what I consider the scenic route through the countryside. It was a treat to see this bachelor group of whitetail bucks.

Later, when I was headed home, I took a detour through another area. It was just after midday. I turned onto a side road and looked out into the first field that I passed. There were two bucks standing in the knee-high corn. Their velvet antlers were clearly visible. They didn't run, and I didn't stop. The deer have shed their gray winter coats, and these bucks glowed red against the green corn.

At home, I have mourning doves and the smaller ground doves coming to my bird feeders and driveway. They come for the seed that falls from the feeders and the grit that is in the gravel drive. They perch on the electric lines that are strung along our road and swoop down as singles, pairs and groups. They are surprisingly aggressive toward each other in our yard, but they do not bother the other birds.

The number of rabbits here is unbelievable. They scoot across our driveway and chase each other in and out of the weeds. If we sit still on the front porch, they ignore our existence. Our little dog Buster shows no interest in them unless they get too close. He will chase them back to the weeds. One morning recently I looked out the bedroom window and counted six cottontails out in the side yard. At night when I turn on the porch light, there is usually one out under the bird feeders. They don't seem to be bothered too much by the light.

The quail are here in good numbers. They run across the driveway and fly out into the fields. We hear their calls from dawn to dark. They do not come to the feeders and only rarely walk through our yard. But they are here. That is enough. There's good habitat here. Old fields overgrown in weeds. We've planted some pines, but we'll keep some of the land open for the quail.

And deer, there are plenty of deer. Their tracks are punched into our dirt road every morning. Recently I was surprised to see that they have browsed on my small cypress trees. The trees are about head high and are covered in a bright green foliage. I noticed that all the lower tips of the limbs were cleanly bitten off. The higher limbs showed no sign of browsing. We have a small pond, and the tracks are pressed into the mud there. It is one of the few water sources in the area.

Back in the winter, I mowed an area out closer to the highway. It had just started to green up, and I decided to plant something there. First, I stepped it off to determine the acreage. Three-hundred-seventy feet long and 35 feet wide equals about three-tenths of an acre. Ginger wanted sunflowers, so I got a bag of seeds. I plowed the long strip a couple of times. It turned out pretty good. I used a hand-turn spreader and covered the area with sunflower seeds, brown top millet and some wildflower seeds. Then I went back over the area lightly to cover the seed. I think there was enough moisture in the soil to get some good results. We've had a couple of light rains, too.

A friend gave me some persimmon trees recently. I think I'll plant them on our Clarendon County property. Most of the land there is wooded. The persimmons will offer some soft mast in addition to the hard mast of acorns, pecans and walnuts that are already there.

Work on the land is never finished. It is always ongoing.

Reach Dan Geddings at cdgeddings@gmail.com.