Food Plots: What do you have/where you going?

[BowGuy84]

I've been spending a few days trying to get my food plot plan into place. This will be our fourth year with the property. Up until now we have basically only had annuals planted for the fall hunting season. This is still my primary focus, but I am now trying to round out the plan and with some additional seasonal plots. So I'll share my plan and you share yours.

First, I have found a guy to add lime. So no more bags. Hopefully I'll be getting about 8 tons spread on my land in the next few weeks.

This year I'm goign to plant a mix of red clover, rye grain, DER and Gopher Radishes (I'd like to have some late season brassicas for KY's late muzzleloader) in my main plots. I'm also giong to plant our main trail in a mix of WW and white clover with frost seeding in February to fill in a clover road.

Finally, for the future I want to plant as many beans as possible next year. I'm waiting to see how others are doing in keeping deer out and then I want to broadcast grains over top the beans at the end of next summer. Ideally the broadcast seed will draw for the rut, and the beans will draw for the late season.

What do you have and what are you planning?

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Have lots of clover and some soybeans right now. Plan on Winter Wheat, Oats, Rye grain, Purple Top Turnips, Crimson Clover, over seed some clover plots with more red clover, overseed some chicory, bout it Id say. Probably some winter peas too.

 

[Football Hunter]

Durrana clover has been awesome for me,its 12 inches tall,and Ive cut it twice already this year,gonna add some crimson this tear

 

[Trapper John]

Wheat and oats is the standard. DER and/or turnips get thrown in randomly. It's cheap and the deer love it. I hate to mess with success.

 

[Truedouble]

50% annuals (wheat, rye grain, oats, clover, turnips) 50% perennials (clover) with average of 6-10 acres of summer plots (beans, corn, etc.). Would love to plant more acreage in summer plots but can't afford it. When our property was farmed, years ago, we had around 40 acres every summer in beans and or corn and it was amazing the deer it pulled in off the mountains.

 

[tn droptine]

I have apporx 4 acres of Eagle Beans, gonna have another 3 acres planted in Imperial clover/chicory this fall. Next year I want to take the plot the beans were planted in and split it between Imperial Powerplant and corn

 

[BSK]

After numerous failures, we gave up trying to grow summer crops in our thin-soiled ridge-top food plots. We let them go to weeds in summer. Our food plots are just used as attractants in fall, planted in wheat, crimson clover and Austrian Winter Peas (and sometimes Rape).

However, as we develop more acreage, and have a source for adequately breaking the ground, we may try summer crops again--primarily Eagle Beans.

 

[jmb4wd]

Im not real sure what Im going to do this fall here at home. It kind of depends on what my Eagle beans do this summer, or how they turn out rather. I might try to go in and overseed some rape, or my try those Groundhog radishes that everyone talks about, or I might just disc my beans lightly and overseed with a fall mix of WW, Oats, and Winter Peas.

I do have three areas on our farm, that are kind of shady and have a very thick stand of fescue, I am going to kill them back and then put down some durana clover and see if I can get a couple of pure stands of it. Just as kind of an experiment.

 

[Football Hunter]

After numerous failures, we gave up trying to grow summer crops in our thin-soiled ridge-top food plots. We let them go to weeds in summer. Our food plots are just used as attractants in fall, planted in wheat, crimson clover and Austrian Winter Peas (and sometimes Rape).

However, as we develop more acreage, and have a source for adequately breaking the ground, we may try summer crops again--primarily Eagle Beans.

Hope you can accurately predict summer rains,that rocky dirt drys out fast,but beans would be awesome

 

[BowGuy84]

Draught is my biggest fear on summer plots at my ridge too. I'm gonna give it a go next year and may even spring for the electric fence to boot.

 

[richmanbarbeque]

My goal is to be able to grow soybeans. No doubt an electrical fence is the only way I will accomplish this. At the end of August I will examine my situation with the beans I have planted. Hopefully it is to broadcast over beans with winter wheat. If it is a failure I will mow and plant my usual fall plots. Clover, ww, and Austrian winter peas. Either way I will get closer to my goals. In the meantime the deer have a ton of food and none will go hungry.

 

[BSK]

After numerous failures, we gave up trying to grow summer crops in our thin-soiled ridge-top food plots. We let them go to weeds in summer. Our food plots are just used as attractants in fall, planted in wheat, crimson clover and Austrian Winter Peas (and sometimes Rape).

However, as we develop more acreage, and have a source for adequately breaking the ground, we may try summer crops again--primarily Eagle Beans.

Hope you can accurately predict summer rains,that rocky dirt drys out fast,but beans would be awesome

Yup, dry summers are our biggest enemy. Those thin ridge-top soils don't hold much moisture.

 

[BSK]

In the meantime the deer have a ton of food and none will go hungry.

And that's critical Richman. Now in your situation (buying land that had recently been logged), that wasn't your choice. But I try to get clients to always keep enough of their property in early stage regrowth that food plots aren't necessary to feed deer, they simply provide "extra high-quality nutrition" instead of food staples. If deer are relying on food plots for survival, a single bad growing season could be disastrous.

 

[jmb4wd]

My goal is to be able to grow soybeans. No doubt an electrical fence is the only way I will accomplish this. At the end of August I will examine my situation with the beans I have planted. Hopefully it is to broadcast over beans with winter wheat. If it is a failure I will mow and plant my usual fall plots. Clover, ww, and Austrian winter peas. Either way I will get closer to my goals. In the meantime the deer have a ton of food and none will go hungry.

Got any pics of your beans Richman? Was wondering how they are doing!

 

[PersimmonMan]

I have 2 micro foodplots, each about 0.75 acres in size. I planted a mixture of wheat and oats with ladino clover in one last fall. The clover is looking pretty good right now with some invasive johnson grass and thistle mixed in. I think I'm going to hit it with POAST herbicide soon to try to get rid of the grasses. The other plot has chicory and kenland red and is doing well and the deer are in it every morning and afternoon. I mow both plots about every 30 days. This fall, I plan to lightly disk or either aerate and then broadcast a mixture of wheat and oats. I also have a variety of pear, apple, sawtooth and gobbler sawtooth, fuyu and chocolate persimmon, american persimmon and crabapple planted about 20' from the edge. I hope to plant a few chinese/hybrid chestnuts this fall to complete the plots.

 

[eyeseeker]

I now have 165 acres to work with and just managed to get most of my plots limed this spring. I'm working on getting the 20 or so acres of plots into a rotation of summer/winter plots and for the first time this year have had some success with a mix of cowpeas and lab lab in my summer plots. This spring I learned that leaving my WW and oat plots to go to seed is very benificial to my plots and the wildlife....more organic matter to help the soil and watched the deer, rabbits, squirrels and turkeys feed on the seed produced. Next I'm planning on planting some fruit trees and building a pond for a more reliable water source. I also noticed that the plots I planted a year ago in clover and chicory are still drawing tons of attention despite not being sprayed and having weeds come up throughout them. An every other year fall planting rotation like that i can actually justify and afford ! Of the 165 acres, 65 were select cut to 14" last winter, 70 acres select cut to 20" 4 years ago, 7 acres clear cut 11 years ago and 20-25 acres of open/field....I think I'm probably in good shape for native browse and cover.

 

[Boone 58]

We use winter plots of Wheat and ladino clover mix and the wheat dies out in spring but if we keep the plots cut the clover is good year round! they hit it hard.

 

[BSK]

We use winter plots of Wheat and ladino clover mix and the wheat dies out in spring but if we keep the plots cut the clover is good year round! they hit it hard.

Do you reseed these perennial clover plots with fall annuals, and if so what technique are you using?