Official 2022 Fall Plots Thread

[Lomax]

Plots are looking good for this season though haven’t seen any good bux yet.   Mowed today hopefully done doing that 

[Robhuntandfish]

Plots are looking good for this season though haven’t seen any good bux yet.   Mowed today hopefully done doing that 

Looking great! In that second pic the big deer farthest out in the middle a nice buck? Tried zooming in and it looked like some antlers there.

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[wolc123]

I am surprised that field corn is still on the top of their preference list, with all the recent rain and plenty of lush clover around.  I flushed two bucks out of my little 2 acre corn plot this morning, when I was back looking for a doe.  

This 2.4 year old 8-point wanted that corn so bad that he came back, an hour after I flushed him walking in from directly down wind, to within 5 yards of my pop-up blind.  

I’d say they have eaten about 25% of the corn already.  At the rate it’s going, there will be nothing left by early November, when I go on my next hunt back there.  At least the adjacent turnips, clover, and wheat are looking good.  Looks like I will need to count on that stuff for the Holiday ML season this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 17, 2022 by wolc123

[LET EM GROW]

Well, I got a pretty heart wrenching Photo Friday.. The farmer sprayed 4 out of 5 of my Bulb plots that he allowed me to overseed into 3 non harvested Green Bean fields. I told him where I would seed just so he knew. The stage would have been set for some serious Rut action, with these plots growing pretty well within 100 yards of great Doe bedding areas. I thought he sprayed the one here in the trail cam pic but luckily he didn't, Said he saw the few tilled paths i did(before my tractor broke) and the bright green plants growing in them and elected not to spray there, not knowing(or forgetting lol). Oh well, I guess i have one plot for Fall winter attraction and shed hunting as these green beans will be dying fast now. Which means they will probably annihilate these brassica plants quickly now. We will see. I ran into the Farmer Yesterday and he felt terrible, Oh well things happen.. At least i didn't lose too much sleep over it, just some funds for 6 acres of bulb seeds.. lol    

[Robhuntandfish]

That sucks Let em Grow. I had the fear of the local farmer doing a third cut so put up some stakes and ribbon. I plan on taking them down on the 30th and hopefully he stays away from the field corner.

That's a lot of sweat equity to lose.

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[LET EM GROW]

Sprayed Liquid 11-4-9 on my Kill Plot for the wife last night, The deer are killing it now that the green beans have died and the corn is turning. The clover hay fields are greening up nicely, but they must like brassica plants too. Hope to get some more growth before they destroy it. The Rye/ Wheat is coming up and about 3" tall. I will broadcast a perennial blend here in the beginning of October.  

[wolc123]

My 1/4 acre plot of old “free” Whitetail Institute “tall tine tubers” was looking pretty good last Saturday.  Lower than recommended seed rate, extra fertilizer worked into the ground before planting, and lots of rain, have made it go bonkers: 

 

It still hasn’t drawn any deer out of the adjacent standing corn though.  Maybe it will attract some, after they eat up all of that, and we get a hard frost.  

[SWEDE]

Two of my brassica plots( that I've had in brassica for two seasons) are turning light purple already and half the size of newly tilled plots. No lime needed but did triple 10 on all. Any thoughts

[corydd7]

Need more fertilizer SWEDE.

[Five Seasons]

forgot to get pics of the fall plot, but it's doing well... at least I think it is because it's green and growing. Not any experience there. 

Did the final cut on the clover and chicory plot. What I've found is that the shaded areas are doing amazing and those areas without as much cover are more spotty and greater weed pressure. 

[SWEDE]

17 hours ago, corydd7 said:

Need more fertilizer SWEDE.

I'll pound it again

[johnplav]

16 hours ago, Belo said:

forgot to get pics of the fall plot, but it's doing well... at least I think it is because it's green and growing. Not any experience there. 

Did the final cut on the clover and chicory plot. What I've found is that the shaded areas are doing amazing and those areas without as much cover are more spotty and greater weed pressure. 

Looks good!  Like a place where deer go to die.

[phade]

16 hours ago, Belo said:

forgot to get pics of the fall plot, but it's doing well... at least I think it is because it's green and growing. Not any experience there. 

Did the final cut on the clover and chicory plot. What I've found is that the shaded areas are doing amazing and those areas without as much cover are more spotty and greater weed pressure. 

Look at the shady areas more closely. I've recently become more in-tune with how deer use shade for evening feeding and entry/exit. If you have low spots to enter fields, they'll often use that for security, but I've also seen where deer will use the earlier shaded areas to come out and feed more in daylight, esp with winter coats coming in. You may have less "weeds" because of better growth, but you may also have less weeds because the deer are feeding there on it and regenerative properties are kicking in for the food plot legumes you've planted.

I'm paying alot more attention to shaded areas in late summer and early fall now. Starting to see some connections there.

[Five Seasons]

6 hours ago, phade said:

Look at the shady areas more closely. I've recently become more in-tune with how deer use shade for evening feeding and entry/exit. If you have low spots to enter fields, they'll often use that for security, but I've also seen where deer will use the earlier shaded areas to come out and feed more in daylight, esp with winter coats coming in. You may have less "weeds" because of better growth, but you may also have less weeds because the deer are feeding there on it and regenerative properties are kicking in for the food plot legumes you've planted.

I'm paying alot more attention to shaded areas in late summer and early fall now. Starting to see some connections there.

that's very insightful and makes a lot of sense. thanks phade!

[LET EM GROW]

On 9/21/2022 at 2:27 PM, SWEDE said:

Two of my brassica plots( that I've had in brassica for two seasons) are turning light purple already and half the size of newly tilled plots. No lime needed but did triple 10 on all. Any thoughts

Give it a dose or triple 15 or triple 19 if you can, Or if you have the ability use a liquid fertilizer instead.

Also, don't plant brassicas there again until you get some legumes and grains in there beforehand. You'll ruin that plot for brassica plantings if you do so too many times consecutively. Ask me how i know lol. 

[LET EM GROW]

On 9/21/2022 at 4:27 PM, Belo said:

forgot to get pics of the fall plot, but it's doing well... at least I think it is because it's green and growing. Not any experience there. 

Did the final cut on the clover and chicory plot. What I've found is that the shaded areas are doing amazing and those areas without as much cover are more spotty and greater weed pressure. 

That looks amazing! And I can foresee blood splatter soon! 
Always always always go with seed blends, you'll reap the rewards in more ways than one! 

What Phade said, but also take in to effect that out in the middle where there is less or no shade, the summers drought will set back to dormancy anything good growing, and gives the area vulnerability to new and greater weed growth, and unless the weeds get controlled, they win most times in areas like these. Shade means cooler more moist soils, giving your target seed species a better chance to thrive. . 

Edited September 23, 2022 by LET EM GROW

[LET EM GROW]

I'm really so amazed by what good soils can produce. Living and fighting with poor clay soils my whole life.. The soil at my new house is amazing! These are 5 weeks old today, zero fertilizer used and they're anywhere from 12-20" tall and just getting ready to produce bulbs. The clovers, annual and perennial as well as alfalfa is literally thriving in between .. time to put a camera and mock scrape at the back. along with a ground blind for the wife.. 

Not sure why two pics are upside down.. cant seem to fix it.  

[stubborn1VT]

2 hours ago, LET EM GROW said:

Shade means cooler more moist soils, giving your target seed species a better chance to thrive. . 

THIS.  Years like this we get more hay out of shady sections of fields.  On a more normal year, we get more hay away from the shade because it gets more sun.  

[Five Seasons]

1 hour ago, LET EM GROW said:

this plot might be tricky to hunt without some kind of sweet harness and pulley system setup haha

[LET EM GROW]

19 minutes ago, Belo said:

this plot might be tricky to hunt without some kind of sweet harness and pulley system setup haha

Yea your not kidding, There's 3 acres of cover that butts up to it, might just cut a path through that instead lol Would certainly be the smarter way now that i think of it. lol 

[Robhuntandfish]

Our plots aren't glamorous but they seem to be doing the job and bringing in the deer. We did mixes so a little of everything out there.

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[Robhuntandfish]

This is clover that was frost seeded . It came in amazing in a lot of areas on the trails.

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[UpStateRedNeck]

Buzzed the chicory again today.  It's done so good this year, whole plot is one big salad.  Can you find the blind in the picture?!  Deep deep shadows there in the evening.  A little face black and a good wind on opening day please!

[LET EM GROW]

On 9/24/2022 at 8:32 PM, Robhuntandfish said:

Our plots aren't glamorous but they seem to be doing the job and bringing in the deer. We did mixes so a little of everything out there.

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You literally have the most preferred foods growing here. I see an abundance of great diversity growing in these plots. Keep the pressure off them some and they should pull wildlife into winter.  

[Robhuntandfish]

25 minutes ago, LET EM GROW said:

You literally have the most preferred foods growing here. I see an abundance of great diversity growing in these plots. Keep the pressure off them some and they should pull wildlife into winter.  

Thanks - last year we did this spot and it looked like a putting green by season, they ate it to the ground. lol   This year we put in two other plots nearby here and as of this weekend still had a decent amount of growth to it.