Large food plot suggestions.

[zeus1gdsm]

On the property I hunt. We decided to do two major projects as soon as the season is over...

1) is to clear out all the undergrowth of a section of the property the deer move through while going from bedding out to a food source not on our property. It currently looks like this:

plan is to clear out everything under 6foot. As well as any trees under 4inches in diameter. The hope is this will help the abundance of crab trees produce more fruit. As well as throw out some random small strips of plot to bring them through.And then allow longer sight range for us. And get the deer off of our trails on be able to move more naturally through this section. We also have a small kill plot of clover in this wooded area.

Hope is to get a ground blind in with viewing up to 100 yards. As opposed to only 20-30 right now.

2) is to clear at least an acre strip of the scrub field that is over 80% of the property. And plant a plot as well as put up 2 raised ground blinds to account for the typical winds.

The property is 60 acres and we only hunt about 11 of them as the rest is fallow field with no trees and scrub that is head high.

We have a small kill plot that is clover however it couldn't handle the pressure and was no longer drawing deer halfway through October. And it is inside the woods we plan on clearing out.

I'm trying to decide if I should plant beans or brassica in the acre field plot to provide forage throughout the entire season.

So beans or brassica? My thinking is brassica for late season forage. And a larger plot will take some pressure off the clover.

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[zeus1gdsm]

Another example of the thickness. you can see the clover plot in the back.

And another showing the far side of the property which becomes very wet and is only used as a travel corridor... I'm the far background you can see the fallow field I speak of where there are huge bedding areas and is the majority of the property.

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[LET EM GROW]

Soybeans are your best bet, they will eat them from the day the emerge from the soil, all through the winter providing their is bean pods on them. But typically you need at least a few acres to last thru the winter, from browse pressure that starts in June. Seeings how soybeans are planted in May-June, if you can afford it, I would plant the acreage you have available for this plot all in soybeans first, and find out if they hold up or not, ( or build a hot fence around it) (last year i hung Irish spring soap around mine to keep the deer out until September then took the "barrier" down. Worked well,  even though everyone laughed lol). if they grow but get hammered and become thin, over seed w/ brassicas /clovers/turnips. in late July early August. 

Sometimes it may take deer 1 or 2 seasons to get used to brassicas if its there first time being introduced to them. 

Edited December 2, 2016 by LET EM GROW

[zeus1gdsm]

Another note. Is that due to the field being visible from 2 major roads we are going to have to plant a plot screen to provide some privacy for the deer as well as prevent road shootings. Trying to decide between a plot screen product such as from frigid forage or just use corn.

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[LET EM GROW]

Corn is a pain, IMO .. everything in the woods likes corn. unless you cage it off so it can grow. Mine always gets destroyed unless you plant enough of it.  i planted a 10' wide probably 200 yards long, field corn screen this summer TWICE and i got 95% failure lol. The drought probably didnt help but you can see where anythign that emerged was ripped out of the ground. There are screen seed products from many companies you can plant.. or shrubs/trees. Im going the shrub tree route this spring 

[zeus1gdsm]

Thanks for the heads up on the corn. I'll go with the plot screen

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[zeus1gdsm]

Soybeans seems possible we have a small herd in our area. But the neighbors managed to take 2 6's and our 5pt and doe... We have at least 10doe on the property itself... In the southern half of this picture you can see the ag fields south of our property the deer bed in our property and move south to these ag fields. To feed. Due to the ag fields my hope is that the beans may last. In fact another property I hunt had 2 acres of beans still standing 1st week of November and it's just a mile or 2 from my property. So beans may just have a chance.



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[zeus1gdsm]

What do we think about the clearing of the woods?

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[chas0218]

1 hour ago, LET EM GROW said:

Soybeans are your best bet, they will eat them from the day the emerge from the soil, all through the winter providing their is bean pods on them. But typically you need at least a few acres to last thru the winter, from browse pressure that starts in June. Seeings how soybeans are planted in May-June, if you can afford it, I would plant the acreage you have available for this plot all in soybeans first, and find out if they hold up or not, ( or build a hot fence around it) (last year i hung Irish spring soap around mine to keep the deer out until September then took the "barrier" down. Worked well,  even though everyone laughed lol). if they grow but get hammered and become thin, over seed w/ brassicas /clovers/turnips. in late July early August. 

Sometimes it may take deer 1 or 2 seasons to get used to brassicas if its there first time being introduced to them. 

Once the soybean start to loose the green color they avoid them like the plague until they are very dry usually the end of gun season. The soybeans when loosing their leaves/turning are bitter and do not taste good. I wouldn't go that route if you want to draw in deer during hunting go with sweet corn/cow corn. They will flock to it. and if you want mow it down come deer season it spreads it all over for turkey and other animals closer to the ground. Brassica is a great late season plant the turnips are nice and sweet and deer love them. 

Personally I wouldn't clear the woods I don't think it will make a whole lot of difference if there is thick canopy overhead. The main forage for deer in the winter are twigs and tree buds. The majority of their feeding is up off the ground as most of the ground is covered in snow. In the fall deer will start to browse from the ground up so anything on the ground is fair game before the snow hits.

[Steuben Jerry]

I'm trying to thicken parts of my woods up by selective cutting to thin out the canopy.

The only experience I have with thinning is I cleared up an area  around my house about 100 yds into the woods, just for a more pleasing "out the window" view. Prior to that, the deer were moving regularly through the thick stuff, just a few yards from my lawn. Now they travel where the thick stuff is, and I don't see them much from the house anymore. I'm going to let that brush up again.

ps, when I saw your first picture, I thought that it looked very "deery".

Edited December 2, 2016 by Steuben Jerry

[chas0218]

6 minutes ago, Steuben Jerry said:

I'm trying to thicken parts of my woods up by selective cutting to thin out the canopy.

The only experience I have with thinning is I cleared up an area  around my house about 100 yds into the woods, just for a more pleasing "out the window" view. Prior to that, the deer were moving regularly through the thick stuff, just a few yards from my lawn. Now they travel where the thick stuff is, and I don't see them much from the house anymore. I'm going to let that brush up again.

I have cut small paths using a push mower and tall wheels through briars and deer love to travel it but only because it's surrounded by thick undergrowth. 

[zeus1gdsm]

So maybe in stead.of a full clearing we will remove the non food plants such as the thick woody bushes and thorns. And instead clear some solid lanes and prune the Apple trees.

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[chas0218]

28 minutes ago, zeus1gdsm said:

Soybeans seems possible we have a small herd in our area. But the neighbors managed to take 2 6's and our 5pt and doe... We have at least 10doe on the property itself... In the southern half of this picture you can see the ag fields south of our property the deer bed in our property and move south to these ag fields. To feed. Due to the ag fields my hope is that the beans may last. In fact another property I hunt had 2 acres of beans still standing 1st week of November and it's just a mile or 2 from my property. So beans may just have a chance.



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I didn't see this post, our family property is about 1/2 AG fields ~80 acres and our best bet for food plots are those fields. We have put several plots in for deer to just walk through them and to the AG fields. Best thing you can do is setup on their travel corridor or make your property their bedding area.

[LET EM GROW]

Once the soybean start to loose the green color they avoid them like the plague until they are very dry usually the end of gun season. The soybeans when loosing their leaves/turning are bitter and do not taste good. I wouldn't go that route if you want to draw in deer during hunting go with sweet corn/cow corn. They will flock to it. and if you want mow it down come deer season it spreads it all over for turkey and other animals closer to the ground. Brassica is a great late season plant the turnips are nice and sweet and deer love them. 

Personally I wouldn't clear the woods I don't think it will make a whole lot of difference if there is thick canopy overhead. The main forage for deer in the winter are twigs and tree buds. The majority of their feeding is up off the ground as most of the ground is covered in snow. In the fall deer will start to browse from the ground up so anything on the ground is fair game before the snow hits.

I left out the yellowing stage. My apologies, in my experiences when the soybean goes yellow then begins turns to grain is the only time they could care less for soybeans. But imo this only lasts a week or 2. But not all beans will turn at the exact same time if you plant a mix blend. Then they are right back in them. Justyet experiences with soybeans.

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[LET EM GROW]

Corn is always great but imo it's a pain to clean for the next plot. Between stealing nutrients and all the stalks left behind.. plus if you leave it stand it's an instant sanctuary lol. And you cant shoot into it, unledd brush hogged down. Plus everything in the woods like corn, especially bear and coons. But is an awesome draw yet

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[thphtm]

3 hours ago, zeus1gdsm said:

What do we think about the clearing of the woods?

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If you clear everything out say good by to the deer this time of the year.

By me the first thing they were hitting were the little 1' to 3' young trees.

Now they are behind the house every day eating Clover .Yesterday they were all around the house for 4 hours eating every bit they could find.

[Zag]

It's tough to answer your 1st question without seeing the entire layout but I'd say thicker is generally better. 

For the plots I'd do soybeans and late summer seed over it with oats. Check out growing deer t.v., tons of good info.

[Napping in the woods]

I was always taught to find the thickest patch of cover and set either in the middle or just outside of it. Thinning is counter-intuitive. I plan to thin out a 10 acres stand of 20 yo trees just so it thickens up. Trim shooting lanes in the travel corridor, don't thin them. Do some research before you break out the chainsaws. A mistake now could set you back 10 years of growth!

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[wolc123]

1 acre might be too small for spring-planted corn or soybeans.  I would clear the acre in the spring and summer and get it ready to plant in late summer.  Get the soil tested and add lime if needed.  Get the ground worked up and plant a mix of winter wheat, soybeans, and white clover.   The emerging soybeans, in the early fall will be like candy, drawing deer to the plot as soon as they sprout.   The attraction of soybeans is the greatest while they are just sprouted.  It is dumb to plant soybeans during spring fawning season because the fawns will attract coyotes (I learned that lesson the hard way last year). 

The winter wheat in that mix will hold the deer there thru gun season. The wheat should be mowed the following spring, before it goes to seed.  The clover will last several years, with just a clipping or two per season.  The clover will also add nitrogen to the soil, and after a few years, grass will start to invade, fed by that nitrogen.   When the grass begins to take over, it is time to work the ground up and convert the plot to a high nitrogen user like brassicas or corn.  

A small plot of corn can be optimized for deer if you take out the 2 major competitors.  Weeds and raccoons are you biggest issues.  RR corn makes taking out the weeds cheap and easy.  Racoons are about the easiest furbearer to trap.  If you wipe out the weeds and coons, 1 acre of corn can support a lot of deer.  Deer are very efficient users of corn.  They eat every kernel off the cob right on the stalk.  Coons knock the stalks down, just eating a bit of the tender stuff from the ends of the cob, before knocking over the next stalk.  Turkeys will clean up what remains on the ground.  

No foodplot comes close to the effectiveness of corn, during hunting season, because it provides exactly what they need at that time - COVER to hide in and CARBS to build fat to make it thru winter.  At this point of this season, we have taken 7 coons and 4 deer off 4 acres of corn on our farm.  There is not much left now, but I am hoping to fill my last remaining DMP, in this zone,  before the last kernel is eaten. 

There are several effective ways to hunt a corn plot.   On windy days during archery season, walking into the wind. perpendicular to the rows can be effective.  I bolted my crossbow buck this year, just as he stepped out of the corn, less than 20 yards from my stand.  The other three this year (2 big does and a BB) were killed as they traveled from the corn to their bedding areas.  

Good luck with your foodplot.  If nothing else, it will give you something productive to do in the off-season.  I gauge the success of my plots by calculating the cost of boneless venison after subtracting all input costs (fuel, fertilizer, etc.).  This has been a very good year as it is coming in at well under $1.00/lb.

 

Edited December 3, 2016 by wolc123
typo

[nyslowhand]

1 hour ago, Napping in the woods said:

Trim shooting lanes in the travel corridor, don't thin them. Do some research before you break out the chainsaws. A mistake now could set you back 10 years of growth!

Amen!!!

Like lots of others have mentioned, the undergrowth is what currently draws deer into that area, a secure travel route. Rethink that plan of clearing it!

Your biggest issue (IMHO) might be the bigger, mature trees and the canopy or shade they produce during any crop's growing season! So.. you start clearing the undergrowth for plots and cutting some bigger trees for sunlight, you've kind of stripped away what drew the deer to that specific area in the 1st place, the security. Yes-No?

I'm by NO means a food plot expert, but in my hunting experience over the years, corn & apples are the best draw for deer during (SZ) bow season. Other crops are better suited for getting the deer herd healthier and promoting antler growth, all summertime food sources. You could get by with very little clearing if you planted several hardy, domestic type apple trees. Do your research on what varieties are resistant to what, cross/self pollination and which can get by with the least care. ie; Pruning, spraying, thinning, blah, blah. Then sit back a few years to see the literal fruit of your efforts. Ironically, you really need to protect the young trees from the deer (rubs, over-browsing) that you are trying to draw into the same area! Huh!?! Have no clue if deer have a prefered variety! LOL. Might be wrong, but in my experience crab apple trees are super undependable producers. Out with the old, in with the new!

[LET EM GROW]

I wouldnt thin anything unless you have a canopy shading out the apples. Just trim them and fertikize, i would much rather have too thick of woods than too thin of woods (which I have and am trying to improve) deer just are not there during daylight. Once the sun goes down they are on my property all night, but not during day

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