do you need . . .

[Paula]

I am just wondering about all of you that do food plots.

When reading some of what you all do and spend it amazes me. I got excited and thought maybe I would do a very small path plot but after asking question and reading I thought it was too much bother. Seems like some of you that are doing food plots are doing near other peoples planted fields, like corn, wheat and soy.

Is doing all this worth it? If you didn’t do the plots but still have the same amount of land does that mean you wouldn’t get a deer? Are you filling your tags with the plots when you weren’t before? By me asking does not mean I am judging because I am sure if I had the land and money I just might do the same

[G-Man]

i plant for added nutrition the 1st winter i bought my place was very hard and i found 4 deer dead from starvation in the spring.. my deer weights increased 15-25 lbs per age class doe and buck sine i started planting. the added benifit is they do attract deer if other factors are present or improved, cover and a secure area that is free from trespass and disturbance beging the top two. I average 16 deer per year off my property (usually 10 doe) and have taken as many as 21 several times since foodplots vs 3-5 before plots and will top the 300 deer total since i bought it in 93. its a lot of work but it pays off as my friends and family love to hunt and love the meat.

[Paula]

never thought about weight, that is a pretty good increase

[landtracdeerhunter]

Can't really say if What I'm doing is increasing body weight, as we have a good amount of ag. in the area. I can tell u we have a doe, fawn, number increase, from second cutting hay- late deer season. This really help with buck movement during deer season, nothing like a real decoy in field. The food plots are planted with goodies farmers don't plant in this area. I t really does make a difference, when farmer food sources dry up. I should also include that I get just as much rush with planting, as hunting, success in my plantings is just frosting on the cake. Guess maybe, u have to be ag. oriented to understand last, lol.

Edited August 19, 2012 by landtracdeerhunter

[growalot]

I pretty much summed my answer up in my post yesterday and the pics below are another reason...I don't need to see bucks...usually don't until hunting season begins...but healthy fat fawns are a bonus......

Posted Yesterday, 12:38 PM

a new window of opportunity arises...I try and look at all my plantings that way...someone asked a while back is it worth the cost...My line of thinking always....maybe because I started out with an agenda not truly geared toward deer...but more land improvement...I have to have smooth land...my ankles just cant take rough uneven ground and I HATE rocks...the fall I took yesterday is a testament to that..lol...

Even when a planting "fails" it improved the ground ...the leveling liming...de-rocking...If I were to never plant another thing there...the wild vegetation would come back and thrive...or I've kept old logging trails open for future logging...avoiding skidder damage and possibly a better price on timber...less work for them....

[Cabin Fever]

Interesting topic. I've planted foodplots for the past 5 years or so. I've planted corn, soybeans, winter wheat, winter rye, brassicas, groundhog radishes, clover, chicory, alfalfa, and austrian winter peas. My property is bordered on one side by corn, one side by soybeans, and two sides by apple orchards. From my personal experience, on my property, foodplots were a complete BUST/waste of money!!! My hopes were to give the deer a place to stage up and start feeding, before heading to the ag fields and apple orchards. Nice thought, but it didn't happen. We don't have much of a deer population in my area, so they never go hungry. The deer have a buffet to choose from with all the surrounding ag fields! I can count on one hand the number of deer that I've seen feeding in my plots (5 plots totaling ~2 acres) over the past 5 hunting seasons! Pathetic, especially considering the amount of money that I've spent on seed, lime, fertilizer, gas, tractor repairs, equipment, etc... I decided this year, that rather than just abandoning my foodplots completely, I'll turn them all over to clover and chicory. If nothing else, they'll be nice to look at....

[Fantail]

Kill da wabbits .. Kill Da Wabbits!

Sorry, flashback. My lease is surrounded by, nothing. Well a swamp and more woods, no farms to speak of. My neigbor does not plot, trying to encourge it. Sure it takes alot of hours doing plots even if the total is under an acre. But it's what we can do. When the cam shows a doe & her fawns in the clover, or a group of juvenile bucks months before the season, then later (I think) mostly the same deer growing it's cool to know I had a hand in that. I guess my point is if I take adeer or two off the place it stands to reason as a steward of the property I should help the local herd out and give something back.

[Paula]

good points that i didn't think about

[DROK0352]

Depends on the characteristics of your property. Our property consists of mostly pines and mixed harwoods...great for bedding but not feeding. We were able to master the plot game over a five year learning curve and have major success. It's not uncommon to see 6-9 antlerless deer plus turkey in the plots at a time. It's a great way to salivate over the season and take inventory on trail cams til the arrows start flying!