Would a very small woods plot be a waste of time?

[ApexerER]

After an awesome year at least for myself I am more excited than ever for next deer season and I am thinking about things I can do to enhance my hunting spot. My stand is set in a small patch of hardwoods....maybe two acres. Behind me is a small area of tall pines (about 35- 40 yds behind me). To my right, about 30 yds there is a ravine with a small creek in the bottom of it....The ravine is a mix of brush and taller trees. In front of my stand I am overlooking hardwoods for about 75 yds...Maple, Oaks and a few birch trees here and there. In front past the oaks is another pine woods more dense than what is behind me. To my right...just outside the hard woods 50yds or so is smaller trees and brush with a few mature trees here and there. My question is....if I took my leaf blower this August and blew the leaves away down to dirt in front of my stand. How big of an area would I have to plant to make a difference in my hunting....If I did a 50ft by 50ft area would that do anything? What could I plant that would grow with limited sun until the leaves start falling? Would an area that small be a waste of time? Any input would be great....Thank you

[Billdogge]

My thought is any extra food can help

[ApexerER]

My thought is any extra food can help

Thanks for your reply...that is kind of what I was thinking....Do you know what I could put down that will grow without much sunlight? Can I just use that throw and grow stuff?

[Four Season Whitetail's]

Thanks for your reply...that is kind of what I was thinking....Do you know what I could put down that will grow without much sunlight? Can I just use that throw and grow stuff?

Throw and Grow may work there but why bother?   If you have mass bearing trees then thats prob why you have a great stand site now!

 

Do some winter trimming to make the area better, Plant some Corn if you have a bigger area on the property that you can work up.

Sounds like a great place now so i would help whats there already rather than plant something new. That little bit you plant wont do as much help in the long term of the area.

[ApexerER]

Throw and Grow may work there but why bother?   If you have mass bearing trees then thats prob why you have a great stand site now!

 

Do some winter trimming to make the area better, Plant some Corn if you have a bigger area on the property that you can work up.

Sounds like a great place now so i would help whats there already rather than plant something new. That little bit you plant wont do as much help in the long term of the area.

It is leased property so I can't just plow up a field and plant corn...never mind the fact that I don't have the resources to do that. Every deer I kill in the area has green paste in their stomach....Like they have been eating green grass or some other green plant. But I don't know where they are getting it from. I was just thinking if I could give them a small grazing area it might be beneficial to me and my stand......Most of the deer I see are moving through and not feeding. I had  a doe browsing but I have no idea what she was eating. There are acorns but there must be more food around because the deer don't eat them as far as I can tell. Unless they dig them out in the winter when I am not there....

[growalot]

2 acres surrounded by what you describe.. you say it is a transition area ...which can give you some of the best hunting around...as long as you know how they use it...save some money and buy some cameras...a small woodland plot, in such an area...trees will just bury your efforts in leaf cover come fall...you may get some browse but limited ...if it is undisturbed , let it stay that way with one exception...... make a quiet trail in and out to your stands...the leaf blower will do that . If travel isn't what you want from cam survey...then try moving them with brush pile fences...if you can't cut, just gather the brush needed off the ground...divert their natural trails to come in closer and at the best wind. Winter is a good time to see trails, though those can change with seasons, thus the cam sets...But if planting is what you want...annual clovers with orchard and rye grasses....do the  annual sweet Italian ryes...

Edited January 4, 2016 by growalot

[dbHunterNY]

you already have a good spot.  only reason to do that might be to give deer something else with the acorns to browse on as they're passing through which could make them come a little closer to your stand for bowhunting versus further out into the oaks and parallel to your stand.  the area would depend on your effective range with your archery gear and how much the deer are eating it down.  shade tolerant cool season grasses and clovers for your area are probably what you'd put their.  ask a local ag/seed store what you should use.  you'll need to rake to get down to bare dirt.  don't spray the area.  if it's open to above that much you don't want to kill any natural browse.  things that seem like just weeds to you can be candy for deer.

[ApexerER]

Is there any reason why giving this a try would hurt the hunting?.......I have always wanted to try it but my seasons seem to go from, hunting to snowmobiling to racing/boating to hunting again and I never make the time. I have a trail cam in the area. If I went by what was on it I would never sit there. For some reason I can't catch a deer on it at all

[ants]

It won't hurt anything. It just may be hard to get stuff to grow in an area like that, because of the low amount of sunlight you will get once the trees fill out. 

Find a seed that requires low light and give it a shot. You will still have the tree mass if the plot doesn't grow.

 

Good luck

[growalot]

Ok...So are you going in and checking trails during the winter/or wet spring... are you seeing any other sign such as rubs,scrapes, browsed elderberry(if you have it) lower tips of branches .Try making a scent attraction in the off season...legal one...even put in a scrape early spring just to see what is curious and in the area...I'll assume you want it to be a bow stand...from what you discribe it should be a good gun site now...

[thphtm]

Is this your property or does it belong to someone else ?. Sounds like a good spot.

[ApexerER]

Ok...So are you going in and checking trails during the winter/or wet spring... are you seeing any other sign such as rubs,scrapes, browsed elderberry(if you have it) lower tips of branches .Try making a scent attraction in the off season...legal one...even put in a scrape early spring just to see what is curious and in the area...I'll assume you want it to be a bow stand...from what you discribe it should be a good gun site now...

Hey Grow, I put my camera in just before bow when I go in and check my stand and replace straps etc. I pull it out the last day of the season that I hunt. Other than a spring walk with the family (shed hunting)(never found one) really don't get to the property other than maybe a day or two for spring turkey. So no I don't run camera's all year. I should and would like too spend more time there but every season I am enjoying something else and spend my time on that....

[ApexerER]

Is this your property or does it belong to someone else ?. Sounds like a good spot.

It is property that myself and some other hunting buddies lease....I don't own it....I would love to but I couldn't afford the taxes never mind the price of the property

[grampy]

I think any improvements you make, will only benefit you. For a little time and money, what have you got to lose. Go for it!

[Dingler]

I have tried what you are thinking. Cleared a path and a spot in front of my stand with leaf blower to the dirt, threw down some cheap clover seed. Guess what happened? Nothing... My advice is next time you go there look up, all those branches make leaves, all those leaves block sun in the summer, all those leaves fall in the fall and cover all the poor clover or other seeds. So if you can't clear a spot not really worth it to me. I tried and failed. Just food for thought.

[nycredneck]

I know if I tried that in my small area that even if it did start to grow the deer would hit so hard that it would never get a chance to grow very well.

[growalot]

Apex .....I never find sheds on my place...yet I have some pretty nice bucks,as I have posted pics. If it is just to get them closer for bow...then do the clearing a trail or two, narrow and winding that go past your stand...Gosh they follow my cleared trails and if they aren't walking them...the buck are cross checking them...if planting is a must do thought...consider spotting the best sun closest to you and early spring go dig up some wild bramble and start planting them where the sun is Free/risk free.... if they take then fertilize in the later summer........bramble leaf with remain green the longest in the woods after even heavy frosts( elderberry is another FANTASTIC plant to transplant..both the non and edible ones...and require less sun)......and bring in the deer to browse...they will also provide excellent bedding if you can get a patch to take...... remember sun rotation/angle changes through out the year...what is happening in spring isn't what you see by fall...

[ApexerER]

I am going to give it a shot. I figure it can't hurt. I sent an email to whitetail institute describing what I was looking for. They have a seed blend called private bow stand they said they developed just for this situation. I figure worst case scenario is I spend a day in the woods and it doesn't work. Best case scenario is it works great and I wonder why I didn't do it a long time ago. My plan is to try it maybe first week of Sept so it is hopefully established Oct. 1st

[growalot]

Remember that is during leaf fall and fall winds...it will be smothered without management before establishment...you want good growth before leaf drop.

[BizCT]

Nothing to lose with throw and grow. I tried it and it works.

[BizCT]

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[growalot]

Yes..it is mostly rye grasses as I suggested...but more expensive...those are great pics Biz...what General area and time of planting? I ask so he will get a good idea of his planting dates needed,based on climate comparisons.

[BizCT]

Yes..it is mostly rye grasses as I suggested...but more expensive...those are great pics Biz...what General area and time of planting? I ask so he will get a good idea of his planting dates needed,based on climate comparisons.

 

This was 2014 in Putnam County. If I remember correctly, I threw the seed down in August. I simply kick over some leaves with my foot and threw seed down. Not much sunlight. I think the deer were attracted to it because it is something different. No crops or farm fields near this spot where I hunt. Acorns and tree bark are the only things I ever seen deer eat.

 

if my Dad gets his own property, I will definitely use this stuff to do a larger area (maybe under some telephone poles where its already low cut and getting decent sunlight.

 

If I remember correctly, this was "Evolved Harvest".

 

 

[ApexerER]

Remember that is during leaf fall and fall winds...it will be smothered without management before establishment...you want good growth before leaf drop.

Hey Grow, How long do I need before establishment? Where I hunt in 4K most of the leaves are on the trees 10/1....They fall pretty quickly after that though. If I was to plant 9/1 would a month not be enough?

[ApexerER]

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Biz, that looks great and is just what I was thinking only a little bigger area. I will try the Private Bowstand and maybe I will get some of that throw and grow and try that as well and see what they like better. I am excited to try and see how it works out. If it doesn't, no harm no foul....