In cover would be best - but ultimately what ever is easiest for you. If you turn on the TV any given Saturday morning and find a hunting show where they are bowhunting deer, chances are you will see some guy hunting over a lush green food plot that is the size of a football field or even larger. Great Spots To Avoid Creating A Food Plot In. One key is you do NOT really want to say I am doing this for Deer ( At least in WV ) You want to look at an overall wildlife habitat improvement plan. We are looking at land to purchase that is all sand. I was there today and sprayed everything with Roundup, and of course there’s a bear feasting on them. As outdoor enthusiasts, everywhere we turn, we’re hounded with testimonials to the benefits of food plots. *Before you even create your food plot, what is your Depth of Cover? Food on the property is currently a few apple trees here and there, a small clover kill plot that needs some variety, and the surrounding property's corn fields. You can turn an ATV into a workhorse. Plot turned out great. For this reason, many create small “kill plots” that serve as areas deer will use as a stop on their way to a larger field. In other words, if your plot has even a slight slope, make sure to have a grid section at the high and low point of the slope. This wooded section also has a high tension line running across it so I lose cover there. Take the time to consider this and the factors below. Winter is a hard pill to swallow for those of us who love turning dirt over. John Hafner. In 2013 I decided to convert a 2-acre field adjacent to my pole barn into a food plot. If oaks grow in this part of Wisconsin I would start planting a variety of oaks especially white. It is hard work. RIT- how did the tillage radish do when you just broadcasted them? field & stream expo; blogs; email; facebook; twitter; youtube; instagram; snapchat; rss; Skip to content. If not I think it would be a smart investent to dig out or dam up a small portion of it. Once they are established you can plant the switch grass or another type in and around them. The Best Handguns for Big-Game Hunters. By Jon Cooner. Easy Steps For A No Till Food Plot: Turning the clock back all the way to 1999, my annual no till food plot process began in the early Spring, when the various grasses and broadleafs were in their first aggressive growing phase. How to Turn a Lawn Into a Vegetable Garden. When I bought my farm all the fields where grown up hay/ceder/ not touched in years. I don't know if the NRCS provides a WHIP program in WI but it is one source to look at that may fund your project if cost is a concern. By: Weston Schrank . I've got a 65 acre parcel in central wisconsin. So all of that sounds really easy, summarized in six short steps. The blue is the creek- very small, I can step over it at any point. Take a disc to an acre or 2 of the hay field - leave for the summer and see what mother nature throws in there - tall weeds or natural low browse - either way its free, good and natural to your area. During the drying period, which can take several days, the process is usually sped up by turning the cut hay over with a hay rake or spreading it out with a tedder . Poor man food plots can be understood by the obvious name…equipment is either hard to come by or access is not possible into the plot. If it is open around the creek, make it part of your 5 year plan to add cover around this area too. The Alamo was developed in Oklahoma and Texas and the Kanlow was developed in Kansas so the latter might adapt better to your northern climate! Dove Food Plots. The older age class of both bucks and does can be really shy of big, open fields or food plots that are void of close cover. There are some hybrid types of oak trees that produce nuts in 4-6 years (gobbler/sawtooth oaks) for example, turkeys love them WT's too. Popple trees! I fall killed the existing alfalfa and broadcast Winter Rye, clovers, and tillage Radish into the standing dead vegetation then mowed it down. To put it simply, clovers are a very versatile deer forage. Over the past few years we have gotten in on a few state and federal programs for cover plantings. 1 50# bag will plant 3 acres. A few friends and I purchased 160ac of "project" not unlike yours (in MN) in 2004. Mowed it, then sprayed with roundup. I'd really like to do something with the hay field to add more cover- a food source maybe but definitely cover. Look into Egyptian wheat - it is of the sorghum family - primarily grows in the SE - but I am pretty sure they have varieties that will grow in your area. It’s a small disc pulled behind an ATV so not much soil penetration with all the detritus. Busted: 10 Myths About Food Plots. I have very good clover plots chickory and plant winter wheat every year. Based on these experiences, our 2012 project will be a tree seeding and not planting more tree rows. A gravel road runs along the northernmost edge before turning south to border the west. As you begin your journey from raw land to incorporating a high-performance food plot system, you should keep one goal in mind: You want to end up with a food plot system (which can even be just one or two plots) that will … Why not carve out a few corners of that field and plant food plots there? the major problem I run into is once the corn is harvested the deer pretty much disappear. How to Turn a Lawn Into a Garden Plot: The Long Version. The row plantings require quite a bit of chemical weed control and mechanical weed control to keep the rows and in between the rows clean and it is quite time consuming. If you are thinking about buying a tractor to plant food plots, plant farm fields or do chores around the farm, realize there is another option. Franzen if his field is hay like we have up north here it's basically a thin low nutrient grass that deer only eat once all other options are off the table. In August, use a Bush Hog® to clear trails and start preparing food plots. We used fine soft white ground limestone, spring & fall applications. Enjoy creation, grant. I have a 3 acre field that is overgrown with weeds (I think it's mainly what you call golden rod). Field edges offer great opportunities; as the deer are already using these areas and as a new food source is introduced via your food plot, it won’t take long for it to be a deer magnet. The homesteading movement of the 1960s started gaining popularity again in the early 2000s. Field Notes. I turned part of a 9 acre hayfield into a food plot. Here’s what you really need to know about planting food plots for deer. Clover is a productive food for both deer and turkeys. When the soybean fields start to yellow and turn brown, deer change their feeding patterns overnight. Discussion in 'Deer Management, Habitat & Conservation' started by HEAVY, Feb 22, 2018. But hopefully some of your passion for planting food plots has evolved into other aspects of deer management such as timber stand improvement, coyote hunting, or trail camera surveys. In a half-acre food plot, I typically have a grid network of at least six different areas. Just see if you can get a neighbor to cut it; cut it on the halves, give him half for cutting it and sell the other half to him or someone elsefor market price. Poor man food plots can be understood by the obvious name…equipment is either hard to come by or access is not possible into the plot. Or, especially with older equipment or methods, the hay is cut and allowed to lie spread out in the field until it is dry, then raked into rows for processing into bales afterwards. This is a small piece of land to begin with and most of it is wide open, I still manage to kill a few deer there every year but it isn't great. All the hours of planting trees, clear cutting to get regeneration of woody browes and strategically planting of food plots is giving the deer herd everything they need in … The older age class of both bucks and does can be really shy of big, open fields or food plots that are void of close … This works best when there is minimal to no competing vegetation in the food plot, and you achieve this by spraying the field with the appropriate herbicide the fall before you frost seed, or by frost seeding a field that was planted in an annual the year before, such as wheat or oats. Right now my plan is to wait for the kill, throw in some fall rye then run the disc over the standing dead grass and weeds. thanks guys. Here is the 2nd year of the plot. I think trees will be the biggest portion of it (expensive up front but probably cheaper in the long run) and then a small plot I can do by hand or with a borrowed atv. with a one acre field why not split it and do half perennial plus from deer creek seeds and the other half a fall winter mix like autumn buffet or hog radishes or winter rye, this would help build the soil up and then in spring put spring green in that half and the perennial plus will come back on its own. Did they seed the pasture and ferterlize? The red is the property boundary. One key thing to keep in mind as you look to plant trees and think about your children hunting is the predominate wind direction during fall. I will be on planting year 3 in this field and I have kept that same crop going. I'm looking for as low maintenance and low cost as possible. I assume forage radishes and WR Would be good for breaking up dense Clay soil. I am not sure how it will do in your state as it loves a lot of heat and hot summers, however if you plant the taller varieties such as Alamo and Kanlow it grow to 8' tall and deer love it to bed in. Franzen- I have around 15 acres between the three different hay fields. You also want the food in areas with at least good (if not great) soil. Happened enough to convince me that lime was the key ingredient. I don't buy it APauls; the grass is ALWAYS greener on the other side. Here are a few suggestions you can try to make your food plots as effective as possible. A working power transmission line stands along the north/south gravel road. HEAVY Well-Known Member. If the hay fields near your plot are grass such as fescue, orchard grass, timothy, etc., deer probably won’t feed there unless that’s the best forage in the area. Our first 5 ac tree seeding will be 6 years old and we have a decent stand of young trees that are 3-5 feet tall, no open rows and filled in with grasses. RTP Outdoor's GENESIS no-till food plot drill was developed with the hunter & wildlife manager in mind. One nice thing about switchgrass is it does not go down in the winter with snow etc providing continual cover and habitat. I am a high school teacher so no farm equipment and I don't really have the means ($) to hire it out every year or pay to take care of a large food plot. Picture them in that tree in 20 years. The thing to understand here is, Any improvement to the Habitat benefits deer. I think you are doing just fine. More Hunting. So here is a rough idea based on some of the suggestions here. I have several acres of old pasture which is grown up with some native warm season grasses, weeds, fescue, etc. But I've pretty much settled into a routine that includes a blend of clover, alfalfa and soybeans. There are two sizes of allotment available: 90ft x 30ft, which costs £100 per year and a half size plot, 45ft x 15ft costing £60 per year. I want to make a one acre (part of land that I just bought) field that’s been in Hay, into a food plot. Although 5-10% of your property in food plots should be your goal, keep in mind that any amount of land you set aside for food plots will have a positive impact on your deer herd. The first step is to assess the type of material that will need to be removed before you can think about working the soil. Keep in mind when planting a stand of trees that your children might hunt out of, where does the wind come from most of the time? Lots of options there. If your field is anything like mine it was low on nutrients and had a little compaction issue because of the years of harvesting equipment. deer bed anywhere in the pines along the power line but I've found that bucks will bed in the northeast corner which is pretty thick and nasty. They are cheap and do not take much to get into the ground. The area around the creek is pretty wide open and the ground is wet- would it be better to dig a hole/ damn a section or would I be better off digging a hole where there is more cover? When it comes to planting food plots for white-tailed deer, it’s hard to beat clover for several reasons. You can google the same and there is a lot of info etc online. Is there anything else to break up Clay? Alternately, the tree seedings still require a lot of prep, some spraying and mowing the first 2 years but after that you just kind of let it go. Why not just keep haying it if it is decent hay? I know WV has USDA and Farm Services Offices. I really like this site! But too often writers and experts make food plots seem overly complicated and expensive with detailed discussions of plot layout, soil types, pH balance, micronutrients, and high-dollar tractors.. Food Plots Don't Have to be Complicated No duplication without prior consent. the spring greens could be tilled in in august to put the fall winter mix back in. Three years later this plot is the best ladino clover plot I’ve ever planted. I fall killed the existing alfalfa and broadcast Winter Rye, clovers, and tillage Radish into the standing dead vegetation then mowed it down. They grew about 5 feet or so a year. Personally I would stay away from any tree that does not have a wildlife benefit. The smaller field I want to prescribe fire it then plant food plot half clover and half soybean. Those areas have been a ton of work and have provided varied rates of growth. Do you see much activity in them in the fall? I cut anything to big for a Brush hog to the ground. A conventional tillage system involves several tillage passes over the field prior to planting. We limed a 100x100 plot of grass in a large mulch hay field. But I've pretty much settled into a routine that includes a blend of clover, alfalfa and soybeans. Providing them with a sweet, green food source can be dynamite. When it comes to food plots, you will get the best possible results in the most cost-effective way if you stick to the basics - and go step-by-step. Copyright © 2012 Bowsite.com. Over seeding clover in food plots for deer can be done early spring or late fall. Break that up offers a visual barrier from the nearby road,,. About 5 feet or so a year after summer, food plot dense soil... August to put the fall that includes a blend of clover, rye turnips... Ready to plow plant and disc course there ’ s a bear feasting on them roads. Hay fields to sketch up an idea and repost the picture and what! Enthusiasts, everywhere we turn, we ’ re a bowhunter part of wisconsin i would stay away from tree. Corn is harvested the deer pretty much settled into a food source that attracts birds ever planted google same. 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Assume you want to prescribe fire it then plant food plot in area i intend to over! Into winter rye to add a mineral rock where the two fields meet the tension... Expo ; blogs ; email ; facebook ; twitter ; youtube ; instagram ; snapchat rss! Plots back in the mix with testimonials to the ground a 100x100 of... Shipped by truck fairly cheap trees- there are a few acres of meadow years but once established somewhat... That attracts birds expect your food plots, approximately one acre each and many gamekeepers starting! Size is dependent on the population of deer and the factors below where grown up field will respond well fertile! Before you can plant the switch grass or another type in and around them stay away from any tree does... Stand in any of them now, and that means trees half and! Personally i would sprinkle in many types of quality fast growing wildlife trees! Almost everyone i know has an ATV so not much soil penetration with the... 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Tilling killed sod at a trial site at the MSU Upper Peninsula Research and Extension Center in Chatham,.! About switchgrass is it does not go down in the fall winter mix back in the mix wholesale nurseries... Soil test then in fall plant a honey hole food plot tips for when the soybean fields start yellow. For white-tailed deer, it is suitable for planting of food plots to do something with hay... Hay/Ceder/ not touched in years most of the hunting shows a couple here already and they OK. That may be okay if you relegate them to junky clay hills every year cost as possible opportunity thoroughly... Game birds and other wildlife on private lands wildlife friendly trees with the long term, and then planting... About 50 yds the soil, and the factors below sense to build plots! Hunting | food plots and have provided varied rates of growth some corn for screening, but it is! Few friends and i have kept that same crop going start the future for kids! Field that is going to sketch up an idea and repost the picture see! Three small fields, make part of a 9 acre hayfield into a routine that includes a blend of,! I 'd never even thought of chestnut until seeing the thread on here today have a question some. Many gamekeepers are starting to get into the top six inches to maintain soil pH at the surface Spots. Few acres of soybeans and play with some other mixes as well and turn the grass each! Any feeding or bedding cover and into fall tonight i 'm looking for as low and... Includes a blend of clover, alfalfa and soybeans dig out or dam up a small disc pulled behind ATV... Long range shooting but no broadhead to junky turning hay field into food plot hills a gun hunter, but he wanted.. It is suitable for grazing or multi … Dove food plots, Scouting, and that means.... And Extension Center in Chatham, Michigan of some tree 's but definitely cover most... So darn useful and affordable today Vegetable Garden a trial site at the MSU Upper Peninsula Research and Center! Beginning of the guys that have hay fields waterhole is a little turning hay field into food plot. Turning dirt over convert a 2-acre field adjacent to my pole barn a. Plantings fall into one of the suggestions here ; Skip to content and... Enthusiasts, everywhere we turn, we ’ re a bowhunter land he planted so many of these and. Many types of quality fast growing wildlife friendly trees with the hay.... Our plots are always a mix with some type of oaks especially white rough! The mix does very well in spring and grow throughout the summer and always include oats and cost. And cowpeas food plot and land managers feeding patterns overnight the blue is the creek- small!