Annual Food Plots

[Friend]

Basinboy….Actually, feeding a passion…these foodplots are all om my 171 acres…140 acres of woods with two sanctuaries… only large woods in mile radius… north side bordered by crops…east side – bordered by one mile of crops…south side bordered by crops….west side – no hunting…

[gregg dudley]

So if I am reading that correctly, friend, you have one food plot per 10 acres.  It sounds like your deer are well provided for.  I've got lots of questions.  How big do your plots typically run?   Do you hunt all of them, or do you hunt access to them? What is your strategy regarding that many food plots when your property is bordered extensively by cropland? Not being critical-hoping to learn something new. 

[Friend]

Gregg…

My food plots run in size typically from ¼ to one acre…a half acre may consist of two different food plots and  a single acre area with three different foodplots….one food plot is left to no hunting or no access hunting and there is one long clover food plot that leads to a hidden late season soybean food plot that only the clover plot is hunted with a blind 100 yards from the hidden soybean food plot.

With exception of a couple of food plots, my sets are access sets….the mature bucks do not typically show them routinely in the food plots until after the rut and upper late season….my favored time to hunt…successful late season food plots have often provided me more productive hunts in the late season than during the rut…. Some late seasons have provided me twice the number of mature deer sightings than from Sept. thru mid-November.

The deer certainly use the vast crops surrounding me. Today’s most efficient harvesting equipment however, bleeds them dry many times over the past. (Food plots are in far more demand from the deer standpoint than in years past).Also, the mature deer and many of the deer prefer to not show themselves during shooting hours. Also, cover is limited for nearly a mile radius.
 
Healthy sanctuaries are of primary importance. One 20 acre overgrown sanctuary is a major breeding ground where you may view several different bucks simultaneously running several different does from the ridge with appropriate optics…have decoyed into bow range 27 bucks in the past three seasons…24 bucks emerged directly from the sanctuary.

Note: When the guns fire off the Saturday opening day, new bucks start showing up about Tuesday…one to two are likely to be shooters…One season, 60% of the bucks during the rut and thru gun season, had not been observed as I may run 35 cameras with 12 being cellular to incur adequate reconnaissance

***Last season there were 4 resident shooters(140 P&Y or above) on the farm prior to the rut….There were 8 on the farm during the rut. Even 4 shooters on a typical 170 acre tract here would likely be seen of as quite hi.

***Have taken passes on 47 separate solid shot opportunities, from the ground, on bucks in a single season…three were shooters…did not loose an arrow that season, which is the norm yet enjoyed a most fulfilling season.

Hope I have shed some light. Has taken much experimentation over considerable time to come up with a productive plan. There have been many failures over the years. I still have much to learn. Also, my intention is not to expand on the actual results and only report the actual facts.

[Basinboy]

You have it going your way Friend! Congrats your hard work is paying dividends 

[gregg dudley]

That sounds like quite a prime piece of real estate, due in no small measure to the management practices that you are employing, I am sure. The number of bucks (and big bucks) that you are attracting and holding on a piece of property that size is impressive by any standard. 

[Friend]

Thank you, gentlemen.  I have been abundantly blessed.

[dklug]

For annuals I really like something with a lot of tonnage per acre because my plots aren't large. The largest being about 3/4 of an acre. I like brassicas because of their large leaves which provides lots of feed. Even with that the deer usually have them grazed off completely before the hunting season begins in mid-September here in Wisconsin. Last year after the brassicas had taken a beating I over seeded with winter rye in early September. The deer really hit the rye hard as well until snow depths got to be too much. I try to plant brassicas that produce some type of bulb (turnips, etc.) but as I stated the deer eat the tops off so early that I have trouble developing bulbs for them to eat later in the fall. If nothing else I have fat deer well prepared for winter.

[dklug]

As a back up to my annuals I always have perennial clover plots going. I usually divide my plots in two, half in a perennial and half in an annual. Clover plots generally last up to 5 years but if I need to replant a clover plot I usually do it in the spring and then I plant my annuals in August. I like to have an active plot early in the summer for the does and fawns. These does and fawns will hang around all summer and fall using the food plots. Of course these same does and fawns come November will be the attractant for the bucks.

[Basinboy]

My Iron & Clay peas are looking great! Very little rain in them parts so I’m tickled with the growth.

[dnovo]

I’m getting ready to rework a couple plots. When is the best time to plant winter rye? I never planted it before but want to try it

[Mike Bolin]

I usually plant winter rye around Labor Day but let weather conditions dictate whether I plant a bit early or a bit later. I normally broadcast clover when I plant the rye, using the rye as a nurse crop for the clover.

[gregg dudley]

This plot seems to be working out.

[Friend]

Looking most promising...

[dnovo]

Any thoughts on liquid fertilizer vs regular granulated fertilizer?

[Tedd]

Chicory, clover and chestnut trees.

[Tedd]

Food plots have limited effectiveness here. We are surrounded by Ag. I'm am sure the deer are heavier and healthier going into the fall but we really don't get them standing out there eating greens in bow season. The neighbors alfalfa is bigger and greener than ours and he has a lot more of it. Why would a deer eat ours unless he has a more hidden spot to do it.  We are growing cover weeds and trees, that will help more deer coming into plots when hunting.
My theory is that we need something that attracts better than the usual food plots. For me that is chestnut trees. I have hunted over some chestnut trees and its like a magnet to deer.
 We really need some rain. Our plots haven't grown much for a couple weeks. The chicory is the easiest thing we grow and drought tolerant.
The chestnut, hybrid oaks and sawtooth oaks are handling the dry weather pretty good so far. I just planted a dozen American/Dunstan hybrid chestnut that I grew from seed. Those will need watered a couple times until we get a heavy rain.

This is a hybrid oak. It has been in the ground 2 yrs.

The first chestnuts! only got them on one tree.

I have about 65 chestnuts of this size that should be producing in 2-3 years.

[Tedd]

I planted some hybrid oaks. I'd like to plant more. They really grow fast and are supposed to get acorns in 4-5 yrs. This one already got browsed.

[Tedd]

 [ Invalid Attachment ]  this food plot is doing well considering the lack of rain. Last year it was knee high right now.