How do you keep the deer out of food plots???

[HUNT6246]

My food plot is in a woods clearing between a bedding area and a large corn field. The idea is to give the deer a place to stop on their way between the two places, early morning and just before sunset. I planted clover earlier this summer and the heat and dry weather killed it all out. I re-planted about 3 weeks ago with white clover and alfalfa and a few turnips a short distance away. Everything is up about 1-1/2 inches. It's only a small food plot measuring about 120 x 60 ft.. I'd like to give the new plants a chance to grow but there's deer tracks all through it; they're in there eating already. I'd like to have something left for at least archery season. Any suggestions on how to keep them and the turkeys out for about another month?

[Lawdwaz]

Hang a treestand........................(works for me, grin)

[wdswtr]

There are a few ways that have been posted on here. What works the best for me and is working right now is I take the plastic banding material that is used to band up pallets and put it around the perimeter of the foodplot. Then I spray deer away on a rag as I go and wipe it on the plastic banding material. It lasts for about a month where I can either do it again or take it down. It takes about a week after its down for the deer to start using the foodplot. My brother has done the same thing but used bailing twine instead with good results. Others on here have said they hang rope around the perimeter and hang chunks of irish spring off it. You can also google foodplot saver and it a bit pricy but I have used that as well and it works great. Thing is its identical to what I first described and that is much less expensive for me as I have boxes of plastic banding material at the warehouse for shipping skids. I might add that the turkey dont give a rats but and will use the plots if its to their liking.

[outdoorstom]

Gallagher fencing works good from everything I've read. Solar powered electric......

[Fantail]

I must admit to being slightly baffled at the idea of keeping deer out of food plots, but I guess I can understand where he's comming from.

[steve863]

Kind of funny for sure. You put out food for the deer and then you don't want them eating it. That's exactly the problem I've always had with food plots. Are they really put out to benefit the deer, or the hunter who uses it to attract them in order to make it easier to kill them? Anyone who says it's for the deer honestly isn't telling the whole truth in my opinion.

[pawle76]

I think the most obvious problem you have is that your food plot is not big enough for the amount of deer on your property. I would make it bigger or add some smaller plots elsewhere on your property. I think the rule when planting food plots is about 10%. So if you have 100 acres you should have about 10 acres of that for food plots. It's better if you can, to make several smaller plots to get to 10% rather than make one big one. You should chicken wire a small section of your plot (about 2 or 3 foot circle) so the deer can't eat that little section so it can grow untouched. That can be used as a gauge to see how hard the deer are hitting the rest of the food plot

[agross]

As far as im concerned i feel for HUNT6246. I just put in an approx 1/4 acre plot in the middle of the woods. Now i knew we had fairly high deer denisity near my property in Chenango but after clearly the tres and putting out uckwheat this May i was really suprrised when my trail cam showed pics of 8 or 9 deer pounding the plot.

I disced and planted green patch plus in the end of July and again the deer were hitting it hard. Even though my ultimate goal is a better deer herd i would still like to have some growth come bow season after all the hard work, sweat and bug bites getting the plot ready.

[outdoorstom]

Kind of funny for sure. You put out food for the deer and then you don't want them eating it. That's exactly the problem I've always had with food plots. Are they really put out to benefit the deer, or the hunter who uses it to attract them in order to make it easier to kill them? Anyone who says it's for the deer honestly isn't telling the whole truth in my opinion.

I believe food plots are usually planted for both reasons.

[burmjohn]

Kind of funny for sure. You put out food for the deer and then you don't want them eating it. That's exactly the problem I've always had with food plots. Are they really put out to benefit the deer, or the hunter who uses it to attract them in order to make it easier to kill them? Anyone who says it's for the deer honestly isn't telling the whole truth in my opinion.

Everyone has different intentions. And those are into food plots know that hunting over them is not the slam dunk you think it is. Besides the fact that food plots benefit everything wild regardless of the intention of the plot.

[wdswtr]

First off I personally dont hunt over or near my foodplots for personal reasons. And the reason to keep deer out of the foodplot is to stop them from devistating it before it can mature and sustain its self. If the deer get in on it while it is young and first growing they will pull the plant out of the ground roots and all from the small and short roots it has on it at that state in its life. Why would anyone go through all the time and money to plant a foodplot only to have it devoured before it can get established to maintain and yearly substance for the wildlife? Thats the question I would like to know.

[Fantail]

... I think the rule when planting food plots is about 10%. So if you have 100 acres you should have about 10 acres of that for food plots. ...

Much easier said then done, I'd love to have even 2 plot acres on a 50 acre property. But it would take logging & major equipment to clear land before I could till it.

[pawle76]

Much easier said then done, I'd love to have even 2 plot acres on a 50 acre property. But it would take logging & major equipment to clear land before I could till it.

It can be difficult if your land doesn't already have fields, but any little clearing can work. It's ok to have several little "honey holes" instead of a couple of sprawling food plots. They do make seeds that can be planted with out tilling and clearing. Bottom line is you do the best you can with what you have.

[G-Man]

Your plot is small, and sounds like the deer population is high... shoot every doe you can this year! then add more plots. i started with a acre of corn and it would be wiped out by end of nov. so i am up to 7 acres of corn, plus i have logged my woods every 10 years for lumber or firewood. the resulting logging roads are planted into clover and trees that lean over it were removed for lumber/fire wood. (this done as a result of logging at no cost to me) then lightly ran over with a spiked planker(2x12x8') with 20d nails driven thruough. hand spreaded used and clover planted giving me about 4 acres of clover plot. eventually you can afford equipment from the profits from the logging.

[hb270deermanager]

Theres really no one way to totally keep deer out once the plot starts to grow the young

plants especially clovers,soybeans,brascias,etc.I have been planting plots for awhile now

over 15 yrs.I have found that a combination of types of forages and several site locations

helps.Also the deer population will determine if the site or sites get over grazed to early.

I hunt a 155 acre area and plant about 11 or 12 acres but I plant 6 or 7 sites using diff-

erant forages.I have found that dollar for dollar my whitetail institute plots with golden jump start and a really fast and high % of germination rate make my plots hard to over graze.

But a small plot of the size mentioned and being the only one in the area almost doesn't

stand a chance.

[dave6x6]

hb, welcome to the site.. I agree with your experience and imput completely. Unless your plot is more than big enough for your deer pop. you are going to get some overgrazing issues and i also find the Whitetail Ins. products do the best job of getting things going in a hurry. Of course you do know we both have just opened up that tired old debate over premium plot seed vs. ag seed. Just warning you that the posts will be coming. When trying to combat this for our clients, we have had some good success with the WI Double Cross which as i'm sure you know is a mix of clover and brassicas. The brassicas sprout and grow very quickly and they offer a bit of a protection for the clover until it has a chance to get started. The first year you get to hunt the deadly combination of the two together and then the perrenial clover will provide the food for the next 4 or 5 yrs. If you really just want a small, honey hole, hunting plot that you know is going to get hammered, the only thing i try to do for clients is to use fast growing annuals and try to hold off as long in the late summer as possible to plant. They will grow fast and they will be very attractive from the get go so use different products for your primary bow stands and other forage thats more attractive after first frost, for your gun stands. I know this is not practical for every hunter but if you can do this it will help.

[G-Man]

+1 for WI products!!

[Joeambro25]

I tried putting a few bars of soap around my hunting plot.... hasn't helped in the slightest.

[dave6x6]

Yea, not really a big fan of doing stuff like soap. Not really a fan of doing anything that discourages the deer from wanting to spend every minute of the year on my properties. It's like kicking your girlfriend to the curb. When you get lonely and go to look for her, she tells you the guy up the street has everything she needs so why should i come back to you jack?? It's the same with deer. Never give them a reason to look elsewhere. Spoil them with more that enough food, more than enough privecy, more than enough shelter, and just enough girlfriends and you will hold them yr. round.

[nyantler]

Kind of funny for sure. You put out food for the deer and then you don't want them eating it. That's exactly the problem I've always had with food plots. Are they really put out to benefit the deer, or the hunter who uses it to attract them in order to make it easier to kill them? Anyone who says it's for the deer honestly isn't telling the whole truth in my opinion.

Wow.. this is kinda wierd but I totally agree with you Steve!

[HUNT6246]

Here's an update. I own about 7-1/2 acres. My food plot is about 60 X 150 ft. Since the area was planted with alfalfa and high clover it has never got more than 1 1/2 inches high, due to grazing by deer and turkeys. We do have two does, each with a fawn around our property. One big buck was hanging around last season and is probably still there. Over the last few years, I've never seen more than 2 deer per year near my food plot during gun season and didn't get a shot at any of them. Although one of my son's did shoot a doe near it during archery season last year. No, the food plot is no slam dunk to getting a deer. I'd like to give the plants a chance to grow more though. I hope to get more of the maples cut near it and leave the beech and oaks with the idea of getting more sunlight through to ground level. Then perhaps we can get some better growing results. I did add apple trees to the area this year and plan to hang Irish Spring soap on them to possibly help them from getting pruned by the deer.

[dave6x6]

Steve and nyantler, You make the statement that putting deer plots in to attract the deer and to" make them easier to kill" like it is some sort of bad thing.. I personally have never talked to anyone who has put in a food plot or is thinking about doing one that has stated his primary reason is to "help the deer" If people really felt that way then Whitetail Institute would be making a fortune selling seed to the anti's and PETA crowd instead of making a livin off hunters who like to attract and hold and kill deer. Clearly the food plots do indeed help the overall health of the deer so why shouldn't a plot guy be able to mention the benefit to the deer without being looked at as being insincere in his motives. The reason that food plots are so popular with so many different types of hunters is because their benifits are great for both hunter and herd alike and that seems to be a good deal for me. As a matter of fact, i would say that the only thing you CAN guarantee yourself if you put a plot in is that the deer will benefit..

[growalot]

for new plots I use Milorganite....it's a heat treated human waste fertalizer that when first spread keep deer at bay until the plants have time to get some growth on them....rain and time dissipate the smell and the deer will come in later....only problem is ...turkeys could care less and the rabbits don't seem all that bothered go figure