LET EM GROW

I only got the opportunity once at my camp,where deer from what i experienced didnt really use the corn as much for bedding as i would have guessed. I still saw some deer come out but not many. The field was around 40 acres though.. But i have a friend who has several times. From what he tells me, as the rows of corn get thinner and thinner, the deer hold up until the end then shoot out of the corn for wooded cover/enter exit area... We hunt on the edge of a village and he said he watched what he would have guessed to be 75-100 deer come flying out of this corn field while the last 3 rows got cut.. Wish I could have witnessed that.

Nothing wrong with that, Get your feet on the ground. There is a TON to learn about food Plots. Unless there is a seasoned veteran showing you how to do it, You will learn each and every year my friend! Its an addicting, fun and expensive hobby you are beginning.

I try to yes, But I first look for a reputable PLS company that carries blends I like. Otherwise I'll order individual seed species and make my own blends. The main reason I like to make my own blends, is because my neighbors all food plot as well, and basically plant mono-culture plots or the standard blended bag on a shelf. I try to offer something they dont have, or a better seed than they are using. On top of the weed seeds, there is a ton of seeds out there with "Coatings" not saying its bad, but IMO there is better, when it comes to certain seeds.

Anything to scratch the top couple inches is all you need, just to get seed soil contact. Followed by packing with a roller. A spring harrow works better than a disk for breaking soil. I use both behind my atv and the spring harrow i like better for busting up soil.

I've used it in blends before. Always got eaten. I don't do much with mono-culture plantings anymore. I'm really a big fan of blends, and this is a good seed to have in any Brassica or Fall blend!

Whitetail Institute Makes Tall Tine Tubers. This is the seed label for Winter Greens. And For Tall Tine Tubers, I believe it is just Purple Top Turnip, and The"Tall Tine Turnip" WI genetic version of PTT. I had decent luck with them but no longer plant this companies seed.

I used to strictly plant only tall tine tubers in one plot(late season) and Winter greens in another. In my experience the winter greens would get hit hard after a couple frosts. Where as the tall tine wouldn't get hit til it got good and cold out and snow ... they wouldn't leave the turnips at that point. Or mix them both together, i dont think the tal tine tubers put out enough leaf forage compared to winter greens

Id shy away from summer foods with that available acerage. Other than a good red&white clover/chicory blend. Theyll wipe them out, plus deer get alot from a younger growing forests, native browse/grasses. If you indeed get some trees dropped and get a GOOD amount of sunlight in there, I'd put a fall plot into one(Radish, Cereal grains, Winter Peas) Maybe even soybeans here if you can fence them off, then overseed this mix in September. And a fall/winter plot into the other(Winfred brassica, Kale and a couple Tubers like PTT and radish or Rutabaga) Also plant specific mast producing trees on the edges of these plots. Early apples/ Acorns on your clover plot edges. Later holding soft mast in your winter plots.. Its what I do with my Property and have had great luck/success so far.. Interested to follow your progress! I will be doing kind of the same on my piece. Making room for an orchard on a ridge top, with a clover/chicory plot in and around

I really miss doing drives, successful or not, they were dang near always FUN! until you fall into the swamp, then its only funny for everyone else. lol. I no longer do them, i may help a few good friends push their property if that's what they want. But unless all involved are like minded individuals someone may get upset with certain harvests by the days end..

!st pic -Biggest with a Gun(ML) 129" Gross - Weighed in @ 209# dressed 2nd pic - Biggest by Bow 134" Gross

Exactly, Food plots are only a bonus, an added place for available forages. Controlling scent, Sanctuaries and chainsaws are much more important than a food plot, no doubt! Food plots become a hobby more than anything else, they are fun and deer use them, what more could we ask for? lol Perfect right? A deer gets everything it needs during antler and fawn growing months, directly from the woods, and any native browse, or native grasses. That is whats's crucial. On my neighbors, being my favorite hunting property, I cant use a saw, therefore i plant food instead because its allowed.. And i have to compete with neighbors who all share the same habitat Managing passion that I do! Mainly Winter foods is what I plant to help them through the tougher months of the year. You have a good soil to start with, Mine was as low as Ph 5.1 in places, and never higher than 5.5Ph.. Im cheap and don't like to spend money on limes and fertilizers, but only once in a great while. So i rotate crops and try to produce as much organic matter as possible.

Had good luck with the Ameristep Brickhouse blinds. Until a wild wind pulled every stake and sent it rhough a downed pine lol I do need a couple more for next year. I will be putting up some tower frames, for ground blinds or to finish and make a permanent enclosed blind.

ive heard about that clicking sound, ever since I've always wanted to hear it in the wild. But my lack of being able to hunt the last few years, i don't see much of a rut if any each year now.. Thats awesome! Can you mimic it for me? lol

I watched a GIANT 7 pt a few years back that was in lock-down with a big doe. They didnt move 20 yards in an hour and a half, on their feet the whole time. He stood behind her just staring and she fed, at 50 yards. Finally they made some moves but it took a couple hours and i finally got to send an arrow!

You cant go wrong by doing it that way, like many farmers do. All i'm saying is you don't have to. a well prepared seed bed is the perfect way to plant. Farmers are in it for the best possible outcome when their money and careers are on the line, plus id imagine they dont want to "Jump in" to a new farming program they arent used to or familiar with. We are only talking food plots, deer farming, still important but not as critical as commercial farming. Also, not breaking up soil keeps weed seeds from releasing, and the no till plantings are more healthy for your soil. You dont get soil compaction like plows and such will do to the soil. My buddy does all of his plots with a backpack sprayer, over the shoulder spreader, his cub cadet riding lawn mower and his heavy steel roller. His plots do very well, using the same no till methods i do. Except he doesn't use cover crops. He waits for next springs weeds, grasses and golden rod to grow, then terminate and become a mulch for the next seed. With this method, you just need to rely on rain.

Its always on my mind! lol, between myself and the kids being sick on and off throughout deer season, i didn't get much time to spend in the woods. Therefore my mind wanders as well coming up with 2018 Game plan. Plan changes so quick with each new thought lol. Cover crops are great, but can get expensive when there are many plots to be done. i use the small grains to terminate and work as mulch for my no till plantings. I will be trying to incorporate more Apples and nursing the mature ones for longer life. Added pears and such. I want to put a small 1/2 acre orchard in on a ridge top with a good perennial mix.

He holds up on the neighbors property, and this is my best ambush spot for him. This camera is nestled into a pile of brush and its a no glow. I don't think he knows its there Gotten his pics here several times now. Otherwise he typically stays away from the camera and outskirts it..

Sunday, Day 2 of Rifle season I could not hunt, My family scheduled Thanksgiving Dinner with my Grandparents whom were up from Hilton Head, S.C.. That meant traveling upstate.. At first I was a little upset, so was my wife. She took the weekend off from work to hunt well in advance. Any how, we got over it and it turned out to be a great day as always.. This past weekend I pulled a couple cards, only to find that my #2 buck was breeding a doe, 10 yards from the stand I would have been in that Sunday morning had I been able to hunt! I hung this stand strictly for him. Bummer! Well hopefully he survived the first week and a half of Gun season. And ill give him another try in a week or two when things settle down.. and the focus comes back to the food sources.

That exactly what i did. The last time i ran my tiller, my slip clutch must have locked up and it actually shut my 28hp CAT right down. When i got it fired back up it twisted the flange on the main shaft that drives the hydrostatic system. On my 4" tiller the slip clutch nuts can only be about 1/3 of a turn on a wrench after finger snug. or it wont slip. Very touchy setup. Hard to find the happy medium. Loved using the tiller, but id rather drag something like the harrow drags or 8" disks and not beat on the whole setup so bad. Since doing this no till, i miss my tractor time and the smell of fresh soil soo bad!

If you dont want to break the bank the first year. I stopped using my tractor with disk & Tiller.. as long as there is growing green vegetation, i kill it off with glyphosate(Roundup) from a sprayer, wait a week or 2, then sread seed and roll with lawn roller a time or two. Directly right before a good heavy rain. Results are very good for very little equipment used. Otherwise id say anything you can "drag" like a disk, or harrow spring drag, your better off, might just have to put some weight on it.. You dont need bottom plows or anything big like that. unless you enjoy your tractor time. Anything to scratch the top few inches is all you need for food plots. I like my no till plantings best so far, but I make sure i have something actively growing all year long, for termination purposes. The dead matter lays on top of seed after rolling, which holds moisture in a lot longer, and promotes germination and growth. Takes some experience to nail this operation though.

Congrats on the slammer!

Give deer food, cover and water and they have no real reason to leave. Natural browse, as well as food plots and hard soft mast trees. Give them a sanctuary or 2 and water. If your land doesn't have good green growth on the forest floor maybe it needs to be thinned/logged again. Do certain sections at a time. I have a small parcel that was the same way, used to see tons of deer. Last few years the deer sightings were slim. Thinned some trees, gave the deer some good eatings and they are being visible again.

If every hunter would use their brains, every square inch of them, when attempting a shot on a whitetail or any animal for that matter. I would have less of problem with Xbow. Im not against Xbow, just "some" of the people that use them that think its easier to kill with, or that it wont deflect a bolt through brush like an arrow would being shot out of a bow. Held and shot like a gun, but flies the same as a bow. Just pass the damn law already. who gives a crap.. I have seen several bucks on neighboring properties wounded from Xbow hunters trying to send bolts where bolts and arrows as well do not belong. Hell most slugs and projectiles dont belong either. Thats not blaming Xbows, but putting the blame and accountability on the PERSON SHOOTING the weapon! A Xbow is just as effective and accurate as a Compound bow is... Sorry, saw this picture and had to post it LOL!!

I wish I could see these pictures. It sounds a lot like what I'm going to attempt this Winter/Spring. Wanting to create a border/screen with some red dogwoods and cedars around a clover plot i made this fall. I love the lineup and packages the DEC offered. Also line a couple other plots with red dogwood on the edges not so much for screen but to add nutrition..

Rob, its funny how deer use corn in certain areas of the state. At my property in 8F they will hold up in the corn all day and come out after dark. At my camp in 8P we had corn a few times, (not much for AG) and the deer for the most part did not change their bedding habits, and would seek out the normal daily bedding areas rather than the corn. But would feed to the corn in the evenings. For the fact of only getting out 4x with a bow, due to my young family, everyone getting sick and the work flow between myself and the Mrs.. Getting an opportunity at my giant #1 buck, and missing, passing up several small bucks and border line bucks and seeing deer each sit. I will say it was good. one doe within range could have made it better but, it was still a good season. Im going to keep the pressure off all of our property as much as possible after this week/weekend (sit once or twice) then get back at it when the focus is on the food source again..