food plot or not

[Hunterny28]

good evening, i have always wanted to get into the food plot area of hunting but not much land yet to do so. Where I normally hunt it is not a problem. But I have a place much closer to me that is about 7 acres. deer do come through here and I see them enjoying the corn and soy in the neighbors fields. So nutrition is not a big issue. is there something that I can plant that can attract them to my property more? or is it not worth it and just should hunt it when they are moving from bedding to neighbors food source? I am wondering if there is anything that is cheap and low maintainence that would be good for the season. they do love the crab apple line on the property line.

[josephmrtn]

yeah guys waddaya think ive never done food plots so i dont no but i am thinkin of doin a small one next year

[dave6x6]

Hunter. I would say that if you want to give those resident deer another reason to frequent your property, then a small food plot may give you good results. As far as what to plant, well that depends on a few factors like soil conditions and how much sunlight can get to the plants ect. I would be cautious about going into it with the idea of cheap and easy though and look at it more as an investment in your enjoyment level of hunting. Plan it out, get some advice, and try to put a good effort into producing a good plot. It will be more rewarding that way. Also i would be pampering those crab apple trees during the offseason so that they remain healthy and productive.

[mxsmitz201]

chicory with some clover mixed. cant beat that for your situation, which sounds a lot like mine. my property is situated in between crop fields, and consists of maybe 5 huntable acres if im lucky. before my property was more or less a causeway to and from the crop fields deer didnt stick around they were always on the move nothing attractive there, now its a destination.

im a huge advocate for chicory, deer love it its like crack for them lol. my friend who i get it from says its one of his biggest sellers. its cheap too if you buy it from a local grainery/seed store.

[dave6x6]

Chicory/clover is no doubt a killer combo. I also am a big fan of it myself but not so much from the local grainery. Not saying it doesn't work, my point is that how much money really does it cost in seed to do a small plot on 7 total acres of land?? I just don't see the need to save $10 in the most important part of the whole project. Just my 2 penny thoughts. Hunter, if you could describe the layout of the area your thinking about planting, it would help a bit in coming up with the best seed choices. Chicory and clover may not work if he doesn't have the equipment to get the ground prepped.

Edited November 2, 2012 by dave6x6

[Hunterny28]

Dave, thank you for the reply and guidance. I drew out a little map of the area to try to really dial this in. the yellow is the property lines give or take. The orange is where I have seen deer recently and about where some heavy traveled trail are. I put an X where I feel like It would be a good area to put a plot. It is fairly open, and gives me plenty of spots to put a stand not near the property lines. I can go on to the surrounding areas to recover, but can not hunt on it. this area was mowed at the end of last summer but ignored this year. so right now I would need to mow some paths. I do not have much machinery just a tractor and a tractor with a bucket. The crab apple trees are on the south side of the creek. Which i forgot to mark. I see have seen tons of deer signs there. Thanks for your help. It would be nice to get this parcel good enough for hunts close to home.

[dave6x6]

Hunter, looks like a nice little spot in between those two field. Some people would look at that and say, what do you need a food plot for, the deer got all the food they need. But the fact is those beans are either picked allready or they will be as soon as the ground dries up enough to get them, and the corn will probably be gone before gun season or there abouts. Then the deer will be looking for easy food sources and if you don't have any, they will not stick around. You have a nice little opening that would work nicely. I'm guessing that to be between a 1/4 acre and 1/2 acre by the overhead pic. Thats a managable size for someone who doesn't want to be a farmer when he's not hunting. My first inclination is you should see if the farmer wouldn't plow that up for you in the spring if you through him a few bucks. Probably would only take him about 15 minutes to do. Then you maybe could do the soil prep yourself after that. First thing i would do is get a soil sample this fall before the ground freezes and get the results back so you can see what your dealing with as far as lime and fertilizer. That might determine which plantings will do the best.

[Hunterny28]

Dave, thank you for the reply. This does make sense and doable. I know the farmer will plow this, as he did it for the land owner a few years ago becuase he did not want to brush hog it all. I will get a soil sample- is there any special way to acquire this. Also who do I take it/send it to? I can look it up online if I need to.

Are there plants that come back every year?

thanks

[hunterman7956]

LOOK UP WHITETAIL INSTITUTE ONLINE. FULL INSTRUCTIONS THERE OR CALL THEM THEY ARE VERY HELPFULL...

[Fantail]

Well start up / break in on plots is the expense but as far as low maintenance goes a perennial such as a clover mix w/chicory is a good bet and marginaly shade tolorant. If you do up the clearing / work next year late spring early summer & plant, next year - spring before your neigbors jazz is attracting deer / turkey your clover plot will.

Btw - keep the tent catipilars off the crab trees & maybe spike their drip lines as well. good luck.

[irish_redneck]

I have 58 acres, 30 of which is open , the other 28 woods and valleys, ridges etc.

I have a 4 wheeler, roller, small 24hp yanmar tractor, brushhog and a rototiller I share with nybuckboy. What other equipment should I be thinking of?

In the valley I have some apple / crab apple / scrub brush, that chinese something or other bushy plant.

I see you say to stake the drip lines, when should this be done? should anything be done to prune up the trees? Would they benefit from me removing the other tree-like plants around them?

If I were to plant more fruit trees, would pears be better than apples? or do you think a mix of both?

I'm thinking of seeding some of the wheeler trails with clover...

I'll try and post an aerial photo so you can better see what I'm talking about.... going to bed now though, been up since 4am

[irish_redneck]

Should I be starting a new thread for this? Just realised I kinda hijacked hunters thread, even though it is all plot related

[Hunterny28]

In game if you want to keep it here. Hoping to learn as much as I can. So when I have my own large tract someday I will be ahead of the game. Looks like you have a great set up and could do some great things with that land. Good luck!

[G-Man]

Anything is better than nothing, if surrounded by farmers field , look to grow something that matures later or woud be available year round for late season hunting brassica,clover/chicory for example. Fruit/nut trees are good but get varieties that mature (drop at different times). Do not remove that tangeled mess you cant walk into to put a foodplot in (its prolly a bedding area).

[G-Man]

@ irish redneck , i'd look at a sm. field cultivator, and a sprayer/weed wiper,bushel spreader(hand seeders work but get into bigger plots you'll want one) for that tractor.Have never seen a good plot done from start to finish with just an atv(not enought hp or weight)its not the great recently plowed soil you see the ads on tv show the atv turning so nicely. Releasing your fruit trees is a good idea as well as pruning in winter(arborday association has a pretty east to understand diagram on its site if you've never done it before. you can also fertalize the wild trees that seem to be good producers and are in advantagoous spots to hunt.,with tree fert stakes or loose 12-12-12 or 10-10-10.

[irish_redneck]

the yellow is my property outline, the green bubble is where there once was a ton of thick stuff but we cut some trails through it for some stand sites and a winter wheat plot, seems like we've seen less deer since then so maybe this falls in line with what you were talking about "tangled mess" / bedding area.

Edited November 8, 2012 by irish_redneck

[Doc]

What the heck kind of property line is that? Is there some kind of stream-bed or something that it follows? I know boundaries are not always straight lines, but I wouldn't have the slightest idea how to mark that boundary for posted signs and such ..... lol.

[irish_redneck]

On the right theres a abandoned County Road. On the left side ravine's creek bed etc

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[GreeneHunter]

A little off topic but now that Halloween has past and Christmas stuff is going up the wife and I decided to take the pumpkins off the front porch and smash them on the back of the property which borders woods . Well we took a look today just to see what might have been eaten , all the seeds are gone and lots of deer droppings around the area ! Sorry for being off topic just thought it was an interesting observation !

[landtracdeerhunter]

[G-Man]

where you mowed your trails you destroyed some great security cover, thats too bad but abandon it and it will grow back up, way to many people see great sign in the thick stuff and destroy it cutting shooting lanes/paths to gain access. concentrate you efforts on the edge of it that is downwind from the perdominate wind direction. let the deer come out of that into your food plot and harvest them there.for example if the wind comes from the upper left of your pic, that nice area to the lower rt of the circle you drew looks promising especially with hedge rows in place on the outside edge(good stand locations). divide that area into thirds, a year round crop like clover/alfalfa in 1/3, perhaps a late season crop like brassica, or some sorgum/corn/winter peas and the last 3rd into wiinter wheat/oats for spring / early fall. leave the deer in the thick stuff alone and let the food/does draw the big boys out!! takes som patience but well worth it. that circle you drew should become the sanctuary where no deer is shot at or recoverd untill after dark. the sanctuary is of more importance than the food plot in my opinion. and the thicker the better!!