Need some help with seed

[Hunter clay]

I've never tried to plant or seed any food plots before. All the land I have to hunt is woods. So my question is , what kind of seed can I put out in the woods that will grow in limited light and when to plant. I'm wanting to take an area and rake the leave late back to plant something to get better dear in my limited 42 acres and keep them coming back. I hunt 42 acres on the top of a mountain with a hunting club under me and private land around me. Huge amount of woods but my little piece is 42 acres. Any help on what I can plant or do to produce some shooter bucks would be appreciated. I have two sons that are 7 and 8 and I want them to have the opportunity to shoot something next year.

 

[MickThompson]

In a word- nothing. You'll get about 5% sunlight trickling through the canopy. It will do about 5% if what it could in the open on the same soils. The deer will wipe it out as soon as they find it.

Work with what you have- kill/cut down trees, maybe do some burns, sell some timber, but if you are planting in the shade you are wasting seed.

You can't "grow" bucks on 42 acres- their home ranges are 600+ acres, probably closer to 1000 in habitat like that. Your property needs to have something they can't get on the neighbors so the deer visit you more often.


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[TheLBLman]

You can't "grow" bucks on 42 acres- their home ranges are 600+ acres, probably closer to 1000 in habitat like that. Your property needs to have something they can't get on the neighbors so the deer visit you more often.

Very true.
Plus, a buck's rut range typically expands much larger than just 1,000 acres.

 

[Mike Belt]

Agreed with above but I will throw this out there. I have done what I call small hidey hole plantings in the woods before. I found a few small openings in the canopy and early Fall as the leaves began to drop some I'd haul my tiller in there and cut up the ground and sow some wheat, rape, and maybe Australian winter peas. They'd sprout but between never getting enough sunlight and the deer eating on them they never got too much growth on them. The deer hit them and I killed a couple of pretty nice bucks off them so it is possible to do it just don't expect much.

 

[pass-thru]

As far as raking leaves....if enough light were hitting the floor, something would already be growing there. Take the chainsaw and drop trash trees. This will provide some cover and open up the canopy.

 

[TheLBLman]

As far as raking leaves....if enough light were hitting the floor, something would already be growing there.

Maybe.
Anytime there are lots of deciduous trees close by, leaves can be a problem, and can be a cause of not enough light hitting the ground.

Totally agree about the chainsaw.