Good time to plan for 2016 food plots

[SplitG2]

This is a good time to plan for your spring/summer/fall plots.  If you need any help reach out to us.  WWW.DeerAg.com

 

 

[RoadKill44]

How do you determine the size (acreage)  or requirements of a food plot?

 

Here is what we see annually: Right now we see 4 to 8 deer in our 5 acre grass lot yard. By late winter there may be 16 to 20 yarded up. April and May there may be nothing but a doe or two which bring on there fawns. Fall rut activity picks up with 10 or so doe and we had 3 nice bucks watching over them this last year.

 

There are brush lots, pinewood and hardwood stands around us.

 

I assume I'd want to gear up for the 16 to 20 deer yarding up through winter. But you tell me.

 

 

[Hock3y24]

I have a small strip, 150 feet by about 20 feet in the woods I could plant something but don't have any heavy equip, any suggestions?

[SplitG2]

you don't need heavey equipment to put in food plots.  How much sunlight will that area get?  Our Droptine Trophy buffet would be good if you get 4 hours of sun.  Tolerates low ph.

[SplitG2]

Roadkill,

 

are you looking for a nutritional plot?  Many factors can come into play.  How's your natural browse? How's your soft mas and hard mas trees?  You looking to put in legumes, grains, brassica etc....each will produce varying tonnage per acre. Do you want food available summer through fall, fall through winter?  Hands down the staple of all plots would be clover.  Feeds deer spring through fall.

[RoadKill44]

Ideally it would be nice to have doe attractant September - October and let the doe draw the buck in. But more importantly, I'd like something to hold them over in order to get them through those cold winters. Right now my plot is small (50' by 120') along a hedge row to farm field. It's about 200 yards east of my house and I can monitor the deer activity easily. Just north and east of the plot (about 100 yards) is a 2 acre pine lot where deer (10 or so) seem yard in the winter. There is also hundreds of acres of brush lot around to the north and farm fields to the east and south.

 

Year one (2011), I put in radish. I had huge plants and the deer didn't touch it until February. They would dig through a foot of snow to get to it.

 

Year two, I did the same thing but mixed in a few beans. The deer got in there early and by July everything was mowed down to all but ragweed, grasses and a few thistles. A few radishes remained but plants were small.

 

I also tried clover but they didn't seem to touch it. Last year I did nothing but my neighbor put in a late planting of wheat. That seemed to work well for drawing in doe during bow season. Of course last year was also a deep snow season and a doe carcass ended up not far from my plot.

 

This year I was thinking of throwing down some beans late to have healthy sprouts by the end of September. 

 

 

[LET EM GROW]

What is the ratio of seeds in the double beam brassicas blend? I see it has radishes, I only ask because the last time i planted straight GHR (1.5 acres) they grew great, huge and the deer did not touch the tops nor the tuber, not one ... they only ate my turnips & brassicas...

 

i would hate to plant them again if they wont eat them..? maybe they will in a mix ??

[ApexerER]

I have never tried a food plot but I would like to this year. My stand is in a couple acre patch of hardwoods and seems like a transition area. I would like to try a small plot to see if I can get the deer to stop while they are moving through. Sunlight I think will be my biggest issue....

[SplitG2]

deer are funny when it comes to Brassica. Some hit it the first year some not at all.  I would plant our Dropetine Trophy Buffet blend.  It has winter wheat(or winter rye), oats, winter peas and med red clover.  Deer will be in this plot sept-winter.

Ideally it would be nice to have doe attractant September - October and let the doe draw the buck in. But more importantly, I'd like something to hold them over in order to get them through those cold winters. Right now my plot is small (50' by 120') along a hedge row to farm field. It's about 200 yards east of my house and I can monitor the deer activity easily. Just north and east of the plot (about 100 yards) is a 2 acre pine lot where deer (10 or so) seem yard in the winter. There is also hundreds of acres of brush lot around to the north and farm fields to the east and south.

 

Year one (2011), I put in radish. I had huge plants and the deer didn't touch it until February. They would dig through a foot of snow to get to it.

 

Year two, I did the same thing but mixed in a few beans. The deer got in there early and by July everything was mowed down to all but ragweed, grasses and a few thistles. A few radishes remained but plants were small.

 

I also tried clover but they didn't seem to touch it. Last year I did nothing but my neighbor put in a late planting of wheat. That seemed to work well for drawing in doe during bow season. Of course last year was also a deep snow season and a doe carcass ended up not far from my plot.

 

This year I was thinking of throwing down some beans late to have healthy sprouts by the end of September. 

 

[SplitG2]

It has 1lb of GHR..we can do a custom blend if you don't want the Radish.

 

 

What is the ratio of seeds in the double beam brassicas blend? I see it has radishes, I only ask because the last time i planted straight GHR (1.5 acres) they grew great, huge and the deer did not touch the tops nor the tuber, not one ... they only ate my turnips & brassicas...

 

i would hate to plant them again if they wont eat them..? maybe they will in a mix ??

 

[SplitG2]

sunlight will be an issue.  How much sunlight will you get?

I have never tried a food plot but I would like to this year. My stand is in a couple acre patch of hardwoods and seems like a transition area. I would like to try a small plot to see if I can get the deer to stop while they are moving through. Sunlight I think will be my biggest issue....

 

[BizCT]

What's the best seed for a telephone pole clearing? I figure this type of area gets the most sunlight and is already tree free.

[SplitG2]

biz,

we and our customers have planted almost everything on these telephone clearings...we have planted clover, brassica, chicory, grains with great results.  what's your ph?

What's the best seed for a telephone pole clearing? I figure this type of area gets the most sunlight and is already tree free.

 

[BizCT]

biz,

we and our customers have planted almost everything on these telephone clearings...we have planted clover, brassica, chicory, grains with great results. what's your ph?

Not sure of the ph. If my dad completes the land purchase, I will definitely be in touch.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bballhunter11]

I can speak from experience if you are worried about the radishes in splitg2's mix don't, I have planted several different types of turnip mixes over the years from frigid forage, whitetail institute and others and Deerag were easily the biggest turnips with the greatest tonnage of greens on top of them. I have 10- 20 deer a night behind the house every night right now after the bulbs and they absolutely killed the tops during deer season. We planted two 2 acre plots on different properties this year and both were outstanding. 

[wolc123]

Corn has always been my most effective food plot.   The cover and carbs it provides, right when deer need them most, make for a lethal combination during late fall hunting season.  If you want to keep deer on your ground during daylight hours then, it is tough to do better.  I check out the stomach contents of every deer I kill, and all those from around home have been loaded with corn.  

 

Many folks don't do corn because of cost, but there are ways of minimizing that.    With much of my extended family in the dairy industry I always manage to acquire plenty of free seed.   Those folks usually appreciate offers to clean out their big planters at the end of the season and that corn keeps well for many years, without significant loss of germination.   It is pretty much all Roundup-Ready these days, which further reduces cost.  Last year I even did a little experiment to see if corn which had passed most way thru a deer's digestive tract would still germinate (a little pile of corn was all that remained of my buck's gut pile after a few days and I pocketed a handful for test).  I was also interested to see if it would retain the RR trait.   Unfortunately, it was 0/10 on germination after the "passage".  If you do go with old seed, a germination test is always a good idea prior to planting.  On normal (non-consumed) corn, that was stored in a dry place without big temperature swings (a high shelf in the basement works good for me), I have not seen any significant reduction in germination on seed up to 4 years old.   

 

A big key to save money is to row-plant the corn rather than broadcast.    That will allow for the most efficient use of fuel, fertilizer, seed, and herbicide.  I always seek to minimize all of those input costs.   Fertilizer usually follows fuel in cost, so that should not be so important in these days falling oil prices.  Growing corn for food plots is looking better than ever this spring.  I keep 3/4 of my plot ground in white clover, not so much to feed deer directly, but to minimize supplemental nitrogen requirement for corn plots.    The fact that the deer like to come out at night and eat my nitrogen-producing clover is just a nice side benefit, plus it makes effective hunting plots during early archery season.

 

Using a row-planter with a fertilizer applicator, and planting on old clover plots, produces some decent corn yield with just a light application of 15-15-15 starter fertilizer, and no additional nitrogen.   Applying Roundup only on the rows using a sprayer attached to my cultivating tractor minimizes herbicide costs.   This takes out all the weeds in the rows, where they would otherwise grow the most because that is where all the fertilizer is.  The cultivator shovels remove most of the weeds between the rows.   

 

There are two plusses of removing "most" but not "all" of the weeds:  First, greater attraction to deer of a slightly lower yielding, slightly weedy plot over a "clean" high-yield plot.  Second, lots of money saved, not just on herbicide, but also on clover seed the year after the corn.   It always comes back good on its own without reseeding, if you don't kill all of it with heavy, full Roundup application on the corn plots.  The corn takes so much nitrogen out of the soil that the clover has a big competitive advantage over most of the weeds and very little seed is needed if done this way.  To maximize the nitrogen production from white clover plots, they should be mowed a few times per season.  When your clover starts loosing the battle to grass, you will know that the nitrogen level is getting high and it is time to take advantage of that "free" stuff, plow it under, and get in a corn plot.

 

I have always done conventional tillage, involving a moldboard plow for primary, then a disk.  It would take a long time, at today's fuel prices, to save enough to pay for a no-till planter, but I was almost ready to take the plunge when fuel got so high a while ago.   A turbo-charged 4 wheel drive tractor minimizes fuel costs (pushing a "dead axle thru soft ground wastes a lot of fuel).   A pull-type disk is far more efficient on fuel than a 3-point because of the improved soil contact.   

 

                 

Edited January 29, 2016 by wolc123

[LET EM GROW]

i was just curious, because between myself and a fellow neighbor, we both tried GHR a couple years and had zero results.. thats why i was curious to the ratio of turnip to radish.. in case the same happens again atleast there is plenty of turnip for late season as well.. 

 

Splitg2 i think ill try the GHR again one more time, just mixed with turnip this time, cant hurt, It took a couple years to get the deer on brassicas now that i think of it.... worst case it should help the soil some.. Thanks. ill be ordering soon.. have about 3 acres total to plant between clovers and brassicas.. 

[SplitG2]

DoubleBeam Brassica mostly has turnips in the blend. The radish and rape make up appr 30%. Thanks for your support.  Fresh new 2016 seed will be arriving in three weeks.

i was just curious, because between myself and a fellow neighbor, we both tried GHR a couple years and had zero results.. thats why i was curious to the ratio of turnip to radish.. in case the same happens again atleast there is plenty of turnip for late season as well.. 

 

Splitg2 i think ill try the GHR again one more time, just mixed with turnip this time, cant hurt, It took a couple years to get the deer on brassicas now that i think of it.... worst case it should help the soil some.. Thanks. ill be ordering soon.. have about 3 acres total to plant between clovers and brassicas.. 

 

[LET EM GROW]

Awesome, can you post when the new seed arrives, or pm me? ill place an order or two... thanks!

[growalot]

Still up in the air on what to do this year...not much needed because I loaded the WW up with clover...I will be putting in a bunch of feed corn seed...and I have left over sorghum and WW plus a 1/2 acre bag of Wht Tail chicory plus.  I will allow some of the WW  to head out and cut in August then seed in turnips. I will plant the sorghum along side the corn I want a bit more for the game birds this year and I put in two new clover /alfalfa plantings last year.

  I do have a bunch of trees to cut ...but winds have kept me from working the woods...this week will be no different I see...

[LET EM GROW]

i made up my mind, all brassica and clover seeds will be Deer Ag this year.. They used to be WI and have been satisfied but, i really would like to try a new brand.. so DeerAg it is for 2016 

[SplitG2]

we appreciate it!  I'm sure you will be very impressed with DeerAG blends.  We appreciate your support.

 

i made up my mind, all brassica and clover seeds will be Deer Ag this year.. They used to be WI and have been satisfied but, i really would like to try a new brand.. so DeerAg it is for 2016 

 

[Dom]

With so many blends of clover How do you know which one will grow the best in different areas?With out taking a core sample of the soil to check ph level and other chemicals in the soil are there ways of testing/such as trying to grow smaller squares say 6'x6' of different seeds to see if it grows

[SplitG2]

Dom, good question.  each clover variety have different traits.  Some tolerate wet areas, some tolerate drought and heat better. Some are shade tolerant, some clover spreads via runners some don't.   Most of the commercial clover blends are mostly annual clovers and small percent of a perennial white clover with a high price tag.  Our select trophy clover blend is a premium white clover blend.  It is a Northern blend for the most part.  The clovers in select aren't for the deep south.  Our southern draw is.  With that said. we prefer your ph to be above 6 but it will grow down to 5.5.  If you are planting 5x5 or 6x6 areas i would plant an annual clover versus a perennial clover.  However you can do both with great results. Try blending med red clover, berseem clover and Jumbo ladino clover. 

 

p.s. remember ph is important because when you have a neutral ph the plants are able to uptake the nutrients(fertilizer make up of soil) and become more palletaable to deer.  Knowing your ph is important.

With so many blends of clover How do you know which one will grow the best in different areas?With out taking a core sample of the soil to check ph level and other chemicals in the soil are there ways of testing/such as trying to grow smaller squares say 6'x6' of different seeds to see if it grows

 

[growalot]

Dom this is a set up I use often... I plant in blocks especially with new stuff...it assures me if one fails I should get something...

 

http://huntingny.com/forums/topic/13977-breaking-ground/#entry182905

Edited February 3, 2016 by growalot