Posted: 6/5/2009 10:18:01 AM EDT
| What would you all consider to be too small for a plot? I have a small opening back in the woods probably 30 yards by 25 yards. Im new to the food plots stuff so I wasnt sure if this is big enough. I have several deer in the area but its not over populated by any means. |
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What would you all consider to be too small for a plot? I have a small opening back in the woods probably 30 yards by 25 yards. Im new to the food plots stuff so I wasnt sure if this is big enough. I have several deer in the area but its not over populated by any means. that would be a perfect bow hunting/kill plot. you will be overbrowsed..plant accordingly. the amount of forage even a few deer can eat in a plot is amazing. i have had excellent results in plots like this on my land and on others property by the following. clear as best you can. fertilize and lime. i would use a triple seed mixture of WW, Rye and a Forage Oat, seeded heavy. these 3 seeds will come up at different times and can provide excellent growth and stay green later into the winter. some have had good use with Brassicas, but in most of my plots we go for SIMPLICITY. what you want to use it for depends. so you want to hunt over it.. or just feed the deer on it. look into a LabLab seed such as PowerPlant. the growth rate on it is AMAZING. but it will not last into the late hunting season and you have to cut it down to replant later on. |
| Thanks for the info. I do want the plot to feed them and wish bow hunt over it. As far as clearing it goes, Ive got grass about a foot tall. Ive heard to spray it early with herbicide and clear it once its all dead. Would you reccomend that? Any brand of seeds you prefer over others? |
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what i do in these types of plots is simple.
you do do a couple of things. you can roundup the area and mow. then sow or you can just mow the area. in alot of my plots i use a heavy duty weedeater to take all the grass off the ground and to etch the ground a little. then i sow and fertilize and let the rains do the rest. the best thing about a triple seed mix of grains, is that ground prep is minimal and keeps erosion to a minimum. alot of people disregard erosion issues. its important to think about. we use 2 types of weedeaters religiously. 1- heavy duty hand held with heavy duty line and 2- a high wheeled string trimmer on wheels. rent them if you need too. |
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What would you all consider to be too small for a plot? I have a small opening back in the woods probably 30 yards by 25 yards. Im new to the food plots stuff so I wasnt sure if this is big enough. I have several deer in the area but its not over populated by any means. that would be a perfect bow hunting/kill plot. you will be overbrowsed..plant accordingly. the amount of forage even a few deer can eat in a plot is amazing. i have had excellent results in plots like this on my land and on others property by the following. clear as best you can. fertilize and lime. i would use a triple seed mixture of WW, Rye and a Forage Oat, seeded heavy. these 3 seeds will come up at different times and can provide excellent growth and stay green later into the winter. some have had good use with Brassicas, but in most of my plots we go for SIMPLICITY. what you want to use it for depends. so you want to hunt over it.. or just feed the deer on it. look into a LabLab seed such as PowerPlant. the growth rate on it is AMAZING. but it will not last into the late hunting season and you have to cut it down to replant later on. I would get a soil sample tested at the ag office before putting any lime down. It will depend on your soil ph as to how much, if any, that you need. Tell them what you want to grow, and they'll tell you what kind of fertilizers to add to have a bumper crop. Since you're doing a small area, you really want it to take off. The soil test will be cheap, if they even charge for it. Good luck. 
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in servicing about 30 different parcels of plots sofar all thru eastern OK and AR, in all the soil tests, every one has shown an acidic PH. ranging 5.0-5.7. when in doubt, LIME. i would be very surprised if his plot area didnt need astonomical amounts of lime. what we have found is that alot of food plot companies fail to use a dose of reality to the situation of their consumers. most people are not able to plant a 2-4 acre plot in good fields. most like this are in areas of timber that havent been used for agriculture. this compounds all the problems. i grew up on a large farm and realized early on ( around 1988) that trying to use conventional tools in the MTN's was a loosing battle. i tell people, plant what your plot will grow and grow well. the deer will come to it as long as its green and soft. sure some of the companies have some phenomenal seed blends, but in 99% of the cases simple is better. |
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In my experience over the last few years the small plots work better.
I have 3 plots about 5-6 acres in size and 5 less than 1 acre. The bigger bucks don't like to be in an open are like the big plots except at night. My best results have been not with something that comes up year round but something starting to come up right around when your going to hunt, or right before. This will get their attention because it's something that their not used to. Sugar beets, turnips, things sweet to a deer have woprked best. Also identify a trail and put a mineral spot beside it, and then position youself where you can shoot both, this will give a good spot to catch a deer on his way in or out, they'll usually slow down atlest or stop for the minerals Always a good time for a shot. The bigggest factor is where you live, THis works for me in WV, do some local research, talk to farmers and find out what they can't keep the deer out of, you local climate is the deciding factor Hope this helps |
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I'd plant clover (year round) and oats (in fall), after 20 some years playing with all types of food plot crops, I've found you just can't beat these two.
If you have more area to plant, try other stuff, I bet you find clover and oats the best attractant, easy to plant and maintain, and easy on the wallet. Fertilize heavy, 200-300lbs/acre, buy co-op seed, you will waste money on the hunting food plot name brands. Plant, and they will come...................... |
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I'd plant clover (year round) and oats (in fall), after 20 some years playing with all types of food plot crops, I've found you just can't beat these two. If you have more area to plant, try other stuff, I bet you find clover and oats the best attractant, easy to plant and maintain, and easy on the wallet. Fertilize heavy, 200-300lbs/acre, buy co-op seed, you will waste money on the hunting food plot name brands. Plant, and they will come...................... alot of truth in this. we found the only difference in growth and quality of the premium FP blends is some germinate faster. thats it. clover is excellent, the only problem is that is only really takes off in 30-35% of normal places that people need to plant FP in. if i had a place that i could grow clover on. i would plant it. the soil, environment and drought issues of eastern OK just wont permit it in most places. I put in some Durana in one area that did extremely well. |
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What type of soil does clover like? I am likely to be planting in sand, without the ability to water. If I time it right, I should be able to get enough rainfall to take care of germination. if i were in FLAAaaaaaa i would seriously try to plant Lab Lab...with sometype of bean. it is amazing. it has a big deep root and would grow year round maybe. |