Food Plots First plot status

[@fulldraw]

Just wanted to share my process for establishing my first food plot. Bought this property last spring. I don't have access to big equipment so don't laugh. After selecting the plot location I went in with my old lawn mower and cleared it out. It was mostly briars and small shrubs. Used the chainsaw on a few trees. Ended up being right at .3 ac.

After about a week I went in with glyphosate and broadcast buckwheat and lime. Pretty good stand with minimal weeds during the summer.

I knew the outlook for a wet fall wasn't good. I decided to plan on planting my fall plot when the forecast predicted several days of rain at the beginning of August. I think we ended up with four days straight of rain. This pic is from Aug 1st after spraying the buckwheat/weeds, broadcasting my seed mix and mowing down the dead buckwheat.

Having several other rainy days in August helped tremendously. Here's a pic less than a month from broadcasting.

I've been pleasantly surprised at the success of this plot. I wasn't sure how it would end up but so far going well. A lot of the success comes from reading you guys' trials and tribulations. I thank y'all for that.

These next two pics you can see the growth since spring has come long.

 

[bowhunterfanatic]

Fantastic! Looks like some nice bucks using it too.

 

[@fulldraw]

Fantastic! Looks like some nice bucks using it too.

I was surprised how much the bucks consumed the buckwheat. I have a second plot established that I started in August. I plan to do a buckwheat/sorghum mix this summer in it. The second plot will be my annual plot. The one in this thread is a perennial, clover/chicory mix mainly.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Great progress - looks great! What seed mix did you use last fall? Looks like a good establishment of clover was in it and is coming on strong this spring

 

[TNTreeman]

Great job

 

[backyardtndeer]

Nice. That worked out great.

 

[@fulldraw]

Great progress - looks great! What seed mix did you use last fall? Looks like a good establishment of clover was in it and is coming on strong this spring

I couldn't decide actually so I mixed two different mixes together. One had Ladino, Durana, alfalfa and the other had medium red and chicory.

 

[BSK]

That's an amazing success @fulldraw!

Perhaps because I have so much natural forage available in summer, but my deer will hardly touch buckwheat in summer (planted late May or early June), but the deer will go absolutely crazy over it when planted for fall (usually planted mid-August).