New property/ First food plot ever

[607 HUNTER]

Just sharing my story if any one is home looking to feed there white tail addiction through the computer until the season is upon us, like I find myself doing a lot ! 

This property has been un managed since the 1960's, so when I say it was so thick you can't walk through the under growth of dog wood/honey suckle/Alder and many other bushes ( most ranging 5-15 feet tall)  I truly mean you can't walk through it. I have no equipment so I knew my only chance to get a clearing with the chain saw, would be when the bushes were still dormant.

The property is a 40 acre parcel and borders state land on 3 sides. I have hunter the state land next to this 40 acre parcel for approx 20 years, it is not common to go days with out seeing a deer - good days 2-4 deer. It is all forest, no oak trees to be found. I have killed many deer over the years eating pine needles or just branches, people I have brought up there have compared it to the Adirondacks ( very little food around) 

So after 4 days with the chain saw, I was able to clear a 1/4 acre area. Not the biggest plot by any means, but this is all I am able to accomplish this year. It will be interesting if it is big enough to have food on it during the hunting season or not. With the low deer population in the area I am confident it will be ok, but with the low amount of food in the area it will be interesting to see if the deer just stay there and eat it until there is nothing left. If thats the case I will make it larger next year.

Phase 1 is complete, removal of the bushes and small trees in the area.

Phase 2 soil test to come 

Phase 3 will be to till the ground with my old faithful rear tine Honda tiller. 

Phase 4 I will be plating Frigid Forage- Big N Nasty Brassicas 

I will get a tractor one day, for now my priority is saving funds to build a cabin in 2020 so I can use the property even more, instead of driving an hour back and forth. 

For now it feels great to get my hands dirty on my own property instead of just reading about it and watching guys on TV do it. 

I will post more pics of progression this year, I am beyond excited just to have this clearing.  Best of luck with your food plots 

Photo 1 from my tree stand
Photo 2 ground level

Edited April 25, 2019 by 607 HUNTER

[G-Man]

Easy way to kill honeysuckle is to spray gly early as they are the first to show leaves and only they will be effected. It wont remove them but allows light to reach ground and forms to grow. It's a quick method to enhance property that is over run with it.

Best of luck with your endevor.

[LET EM GROW]

Congrats to you sir, Your hard work will truly pay off. Give them food, water and cover and theyll love you for it. Looks good, but for a 1/4 plot.. your brassicas may get wiped out fast.. 

Keep the stories and pics coming!

[G-Man]

You may also.want to burn that pile you made its great fertilizer ! 

[moog5050]

well done.  You might want to include some clover when you seed with the brassicas for ground cover next season.  Doesn't add much expense but might cut down on weed regrowth next year.  Plus the clover adds nitrogen which never hurts with the following years planting.

Edited April 25, 2019 by moog5050

[dbHunterNY]

4 hours ago, G-Man said:

You may also.want to burn that pile you made its great fertilizer ! 

i wish we could burn more but people kind of frown upon it up this way for some reason. also there's a burn ban pretty late into the food plot season unless you're doing brassicas or something later for the fall.  turn up the soil around it though for a few passes and there's not much worry on a calm day.

[dbHunterNY]

if you can hook onto the smaller honeysuckle with an ATV or the rest of it with a truck or small tractor then it'll pull up. if you don't get the roots it'll try like heck to come back.  chain few times wrapped around the base and hooked tight with a bit of length to whatever you're pulling with works well enough.

[First-light]

Property looks great. Get that place built so you can spend more time there! Congrats! 

[607 HUNTER]

On 4/25/2019 at 9:06 AM, G-Man said:

You may also.want to burn that pile you made its great fertilizer ! 

That is the plan, that is pretty cool. Free fertilizer sounds good to me !!! Thanks for the kind works 

 

[607 HUNTER]

On 4/25/2019 at 9:55 AM, moog5050 said:

well done.  You might want to include some clover when you seed with the brassicas for ground cover next season.  Doesn't add much expense but might cut down on weed regrowth next year.  Plus the clover adds nitrogen which never hurts with the following years planting.

Good idea, I have been checking into clover also. Thanks for the info !

 

[607 HUNTER]

22 hours ago, First-light said:

Property looks great. Get that place built so you can spend more time there! Congrats! 

Thank you first light, you got that right !!!!!! 

 

[607 HUNTER]

22 hours ago, dbHunterNY said:

if you can hook onto the smaller honeysuckle with an ATV or the rest of it with a truck or small tractor then it'll pull up. if you don't get the roots it'll try like heck to come back.  chain few times wrapped around the base and hooked tight with a bit of length to whatever you're pulling with works well enough.

No machines yet, but thanks for the info. I am going to continue spraying and pulling out/ digging out by hand for now and hope to keep them out of this area. Looking forward to this learning curve, and hard work !

[dbHunterNY]

5 minutes ago, 607 HUNTER said:

No machines yet, but thanks for the info. I am going to continue spraying and pulling out/ digging out by hand for now and hope to keep them out of this area. Looking forward to this learning curve, and hard work !

it'll pay off. just know things take time to realize results.

[607 HUNTER]

Food plot planted, I ended up planting  Dean Zone Mix ( Radishes, Turnips,Collards,Sugar Beets and Crimson Clover)

It is not pretty, but I am real proud of myself with limited time and equipment. I planted this about 2 weeks ago, I havnt gotten any bucks on camera yet.  But I have gotten 2 Bears passing by, so that’s pretty cool. This process was easier then I though it would be, I am already planning to double the size next year to an acre and a small watering hole.

 

Photo 3 is a before and after pic 

Photo 2 is the plot 2 weeks after planting

Edited August 6, 2019 by 607 HUNTER

[Hock3y24]

Your gonna see deer in that for sure. 607 and bears inwould guess Windsor Ny?

[ATbuckhunter]

Might take a little while for deer to figure out its there, but you should have some deer activitey shortley. Pretty cool to have a bear to walk through 

[Swamp_bucks]

1 hour ago, Hock3y24 said:

Your gonna see deer in that for sure. 607 and bears inwould guess Windsor Ny?

I was thinking same thing.

[LET EM GROW]

Lookin good Sir! 

[607 HUNTER]

On 8/5/2019 at 11:52 PM, Hock3y24 said:

Your gonna see deer in that for sure. 607 and bears inwould guess Windsor Ny?

Nope, 2-3 hours West of Windsor. Looking forward to going out n checking the camera again soon to see the photos !

 

[crappyice]

Congrats- I am jealous and still hope for the day to do whatever I want (right wrong too little not enough)on a piece of ground that is mine. Successful season already


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