plots ??????

[huntforme7909]

I have a question for all the food plot experts.....

I have mentioned that I am from wv and my parents still live there...being that my dad is the one that got me started in this thing called hunting 37 years ago, I am going to do most of my hunting with him this year and until he cant get around anymore....ill still hunt here in Tennessee too, but a lot of my time will be spent there bow in hand.....my dad and myself have killed some good bucks there off the farm and surrounding property....he had a 150 inch 12 pt. on camera this year all season long...all night pics and never showed his face in daylight hrs....and as far as we know he is still alive...along with two great 2.5 year old six pts and several 1.5 year old spikes and fours....

so the question is that he owns 40-41 acres, partly wooded and partly fields with one good pond....all land surrounding his little farm is old coal mining property that anyone can hunt but I know every person that does....two neighbors that I know well....we have approx. 15 good acres to put in good food plots in different locations on the farm....

1....what are some good things to plant for early season , mid season and late season????? I want to plant a good variety of things to keep them coming in and plenty of nutrition.....I was thinking of clover and winter wheat and some turnips and brassica and corn...???? does that sound ok or what are yalls thoughts???

2....some of the plots will be on hillsides (that I can still get the tractor on) but worried a little about the seed getting washed away or not taking due to the terrain and weather and such....

thank you all for comments and suggestions in advance.....I still love learning from you all every day.....

 

[Big Pop]

We have been planting a mix early summer of buckwheat, sorghum and millet. You also might want to frost seed some clover around early March in areas of good soil moisture. Late summer we plant mix of wheat, turnips, daikon radish and rape. Kill with gly around early Augjust before planting. Like you I'm still learning but this works for us. We killed 4 this fall on 2 plots.

 

[huntforme7909]

We have been planting a mix early summer of buckwheat, sorghum and millet. You also might want to frost seed some clover around early March in areas of good soil moisture. Late summer we plant mix of wheat, turnips, daikon radish and rape. Kill with gly around early Augjust before planting. Like you I'm still learning but this works for us. We killed 4 this fall on 2 plots.

thanks so much !!!!!

 

[huntforme7909]

I guess I should have labeled this post something about buck limits to get more attention and maybe a little more suggestions. Lol

 

[ttf909]

Planted several plots this past year and soy beans are getting th e most traffic. Be sure to include some good cover around the plots. Th is year I'm using switch grass and rows of corn to make the deer feel more secure to up the day time visits .my beans were planted late around June 20 . I over seeded them about Oct 20 with winter wheat .
get rr beans and use glyphosate early as the directions allow. And as often.
Also planted clover brassica mix and it stays mowed down by deer also. If u have failure the overseeding with winter wheat works well say late October . Soil test lime and fertilizer . Don't skimp on these

 

[ttf909]

The buck limit talks will be a bad m and m rap song soon .it's sure gEtting old every dang thread .

 

[deerhunter10]

We have row crops but we have clover and more clover its a year round food plot on top of that we do turnips radishes winter wheat and chicory. That's just some of what we do behind some we mix some we don't. Like we have a mixture of clover chicory and wheat on plot then turnips and radishes in another then we have some that are just by themselves. Don't be scared to try different things and mix things. Imo if you do turnips get them out no later then mid August so they get up so you can hunt over them

 

[huntforme7909]

The buck limit talks will be a bad m and m rap song soon .it's sure gEtting old every dang thread .

I agree with you on that.....

 

[huntforme7909]

thank you utfan and deerhunter.....ill take your suggestions and definitely try to use them.....

 

[Hunter 257W]

One plot idea I like is to plant something like Whitetail Institute Power plant with corn mixed in. It grows faster than deer can eat in most places plus gives cover all Summer so they feel safe in it. The only negative is that it will die with the 1st frost. That's where the corn comes in. It will remain standing and available until the deer eat it all. In addition to this, I have been cutting a hole in the middle of this plot in August to plant a Fall/Winter mix such as No Plow or whatever. The standing PowerPlant and corn gives your Fall plot some edge cover to make deer fee more secure using it.

 

[huntforme7909]

One plot idea I like is to plant something like Whitetail Institute Power plant with corn mixed in. It grows faster than deer can eat in most places plus gives cover all Summer so they feel safe in it. The only negative is that it will die with the 1st frost. That's where the corn comes in. It will remain standing and available until the deer eat it all. In addition to this, I have been cutting a hole in the middle of this plot in August to plant a Fall/Winter mix such as No Plow or whatever. The standing PowerPlant and corn gives your Fall plot some edge cover to make deer fee more secure using it.

sounds good and thank you.....I have one spot to plant a plot that is on the edge of our property and is very close to some very very thick cover...stuff you cant walk threw...the deer stay in it a lot and my dad killed a 140 inch 9 point off the edge of it a couple years ago....so im thinking a plot there will make it a lot better...

 

[highcountryhunter]

ive had best results when planted corn and the mixes with winter peas cut shooting lanes in the corn plant some nice green stuff in the lanes

 

[Tomahawk]

I'll give you my exact recipe for any and all properties I hunt every year. I have more than 10 properties spread out over 4 states. I plant all of them in a very similar fashion, whether here in TN or in the midwest, my formula stays the same. First I'll address the side hill plots. I'd go with small seeds such as sugar beets, turnips and other brassica type plants (a mix of all is best). Plant them about two weeks before season opener or any time after when conditions are right as I will describe. The trick to keeping them from being washed away is to first plant as deep as it will allow for germination. This will not be but about 1/4 in depth then pack, pack and pack some more. Make that seed bed firm as you can. You also need warm days and cool nights, not rain (unless it's a light rain). The dew from the temp change will be enough to germinate a shallow planted small seed. The next advice I would give would be to plant a 50/50 mix of corn and beans on the larger plots. 2-5 acres is more than enough, I would lean closer to the 2 acre size depending on set up. Maybe having another 2 acre on other side of property. I would fill in all the other plot locations with clover temporarily (planted same time as corn/beans) then add other mix for fall plantings (clover will come back but adding a little more wouldn't hurt). This will be a great plots for the deer to enjoy over the summer with the beans and clover. When fall comes around I would plant the side hills as stated earlier and then I would plant some mix of winter wheat and sweet oats in other flatter plots. In my experience if you plant wheat and oats too early they get too tall and no longer palatable to the deer. If you can keep it mowed down then you may want to plant the wheat and oats earlier if you prefer. I've always had better attraction by planting it closer to opening season and letting the deer keep it mowed down. These are always the plantings I go with for all properties providing enough plot space is available. I usually make sure I get them all in, variety is key, it keeps them around because there is always something they want in the mix.
The best advice I can really give you is how I go about hunting or really not hunting over food plots. I can't stress this enough, not trying to tell you how to hunt but I've done the homework for you if you want to take advantage of that fact. There are only two time frames during the season to hunt over a food plot if your goal is a bigger buck in the area. If you're looking to down size the doe population then you might want to hunt over the plots quite a bit more but you will quickly push a lot of deer away during day light hours. Anyways, I would advise hunting over the beans on open weekend for the evening hunt only saturday sunday only unless you miss those days for some reason then the next first two evening hunts within the first 2 weeks of the opener. I would avoid the opening morning hunts unless you have a way to get in behind the plots and in the woods say 200-400 yards away. The only other time I would hunt over a food plot is very late season when it's very cold in relation to the previous current weather. Corn and beans will be a staple for them long after the season is over if there is enough planted. If the ground isn't frozen or covered in snow I would sit over those sugar beets. Deer love sugar beets! If you can keep from hunting directly over your plots for the majority of the season you will find them to be much more effective of holding deer in the area. That's the key to having a chance at a great deer is to have your local does feeling very comfortable in the area. Several bucks will arrive from late october to mid december depending on your actual location. Example: in south Knox county (east TN) you can bank on bucks showing up about late november and full blown rut action going on first couple weeks in december. In south madison county (west TN) you can start seeing more movement first week and half of november and full rut action right at thanksgiving. This will not change, it happens like this every year no matter what the weather is doing or what the moon is doing. The weather will help dictate how much movement you may see but it's not determining actual breeding dates. Hunt the edges of your property and slowly move in as the times frame come around. If you go in too deep to quick you just educate them you're there, take your time and let your cameras tell you when to make your move if you use cameras. Good luck, sorry if I got a little off topic, just hoping to help you. I guess I should give you a little background about myself before taking my advice. Staring deer hunting 1982. Primarily a bow hunter for past 10-12 years. Couldn't tell you how many deer I've killed in my time but I do know I killed 14 mature bucks and maybe 55-60 does over the past 8 years. I had one farm that had way too many deer so I had to kill like 12-15 does a year for 4 years. I prefer lower deer numbers for better chances at mature bucks. Some people can't understand that but it is very much true. Good luck hope your plots come up great whatever you decide to plant. One last thing, get a soil test if you can. If not I'd look in to liming the ground if it's not been farmed before.