Food plots

[Gator]

I am doing my first personal food plots this year.
I helped my dad design his the last two years, but only sat his place once due to him WAY over hunting it.

I am doing 3 separate plots.

2 acre dove field.
This is a highly diverse mix I’m trying with about 60% bird food species, and about 40% of the plot for soil improvement.

2 acre deer plot.
Another diverse plot (not as diverse as the dove) with lots of legumes for food, and some plants for compaction breaking.

And a 0.5 acre patch of 50/50 Aeschynomene and Alyce Clover. This one will be an archery kill plot if I end up getting anything worth me shooting.

The deer numbers at this place are almost non existent. Less than 1 dpsm. So, my only real goal with it this year is to get my son a deer. That is what the 2 acre plot is for. It should make a good rifle plot to hunt.

The dove plot is because I want to get my wife and son into hunting something with me. My wife won’t hunt whitetail... doesn’t like the “sit still and hope” aspect of it. I figure dove hunting is social enough, done in fair weather, and mostly shorter mornings. That should make for a decent experience to hook her into it.


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That is some serious variety. Who came up with the mix for the deer plot?

I’m a keep it simple and use the Paul Knox mix dumbed down so even more simplicity. Clover radish and rye


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[Allegheny Tom]

Is that an online order? If so, do you mind me asking where you are ordering from?

A decent place to order is
Green Cover Seed.
They have an on-line calculator called "Smart Mix Calculator" which allows you to plug in your goals, your zip code, your planting method and a few other details. It gives a bunch of choices of forages, mix ratios, lbs per acre, and cost to ship it to you.
WARNING! Playing with all the different combinations on Smart mix calculator is addictive.

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[Allegheny Tom]

Is that an online order? If so, do you mind me asking where you are ordering from?

Welter Seed is another good source for on line ordering.

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[Mengle]

Welter Seed is another good source for on line ordering.

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Thank you sir.

 

[Allegheny Tom]

Yeah you can keep Jeff Sturgis. His stuff is not habitat management at all more how to kill a deer on a Midwest farm. Damn anybody can do that


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A friend of mine hired him to plan his property and I tagged along. I was not that impressed.
And the final plan took a long time for my buddy to get.

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[Weldabeast]

Since we're here talking about food plots, any advice on a small throw and grow plot other than "just rake the leaves away and let 'er rip"?

If it's legal....a burn will release nutrients back into the soil..

 

[IkemanTX]

Is that an online order? If so, do you mind me asking where you are ordering from?

That is some serious variety. Who came up with the mix for the deer plot?

I’m a keep it simple and use the Paul Knox mix dumbed down so even more simplicity. Clover radish and rye


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A decent place to order is
Green Cover Seed.
They have an on-line calculator called "Smart Mix Calculator" which allows you to plug in your goals, your zip code, your planting method and a few other details. It gives a bunch of choices of forages, mix ratios, lbs per acre, and cost to ship it to you.
WARNING! Playing with all the different combinations on Smart mix calculator is addictive.

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Bingo [mention]Allegheny Tom [/mention]
I put these mixes together on the Green Cover Seed Smart Mix Calculator.

It really can get addictive... especially when I have been nerding out for a couple years on what different plants do for the soil and deer. Some plants buffer the rumen PH of the deer, some plants can naturally de-worm, some have intense tap roots (like the safflower) that can break compaction down to 10’, some plants are mineral miners. And a few are actually for game animal food


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[Allegheny Tom]

Bingo [mention]Allegheny Tom [/mention]
I put these mixes together on the Green Cover Seed Smart Mix Calculator.

It really can get addictive... especially when I have been nerding out for a couple years on what different plants do for the soil and deer. Some plants buffer the rumen PH of the deer, some plants can naturally de-worm, some have intense tap roots (like the safflower) that can break compaction down to 10’, some plants are mineral miners. And a few are actually for game animal food


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Yep. And there is a lot more on Smart Mix. Increasing OM, weed reduction, reducing erosion, C-N ratio, mix effect, it tells you your hardiness zone, traditional frost dates, average rainfall, and a lot more.
Its a fantastic tool even if you go elsewhere to buy seed but I try to buy from them as much as possible.

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[EricS]

Sturgis’ idea that spring/summer plots are a waste is exclusively based on his Midwest location. Everything in habitat improvement is context. His area has very high deer numbers, so spring/summer nutrition causes social stress on bucks dealing with too many doe groups. His stressed period is definitely winter. Mild summers with ample rain make summers of green food everywhere. (Especially considering the high prevalence of row crops)

My area, you couldn’t attract enough deer to one spot to create a social problem in 10 years of spring/summer plots. With temps here going above 110°F every summer, our hardest stress period is ALWAYS summer. We get so dry some summers that a deer’s primary diet ends up being mistletoe, skunk weed, Lespedeza, and cedar elm. It isn’t uncommon to have fawn die offs on dry years. Summer nutrition is THE most important thing in my context.

Jeff has an amazing understanding of deer... in the areas he hunts, but he touts every method he uses as the end-all, be-all solution for everywhere. I also don’t like how he starts dang near every video talking about how he came up with everything 10 years ago before anyone else.

If your context is similar to his, follow his script to a “T”,because he has it pegged. But, don’t shoehorn yourself into methods developed for other regions/reasons than your reality.


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I’m in the southeast. Plenty of food year round. Probably the biggest thing Sturgis has pushed that would help in my area is leaving enough area for bucks to bed behind the does and still remaining on your property. That and hidden stands/ entry and exits. In my are people want to plant 1/4 acre plots all over the place then stand a tower stand up on the edge of it.
Your extreme heat and drought periods would be challenging. Do you think you can successfully grow summer plots in an environment that native browse struggles in?

 

[IkemanTX]

I’m in the southeast. Plenty of food year round. Probably the biggest thing Sturgis has pushed that would help in my area is leaving enough area for bucks to bed behind the does and still remaining on your property. That and hidden stands/ entry and exits. In my are people want to plant 1/4 acre plots all over the place then stand a tower stand up on the edge of it.
Your extreme heat and drought periods would be challenging. Do you think you can successfully grow summer plots in an environment that native browse struggles in?

Yep. The trick is to pick plants specifically for drought tolerance and their ability to stay palatable. The native plants have evolved to hedge their bets in a dry spell, essentially going dormant waiting for wetter weather. Non-natives like sunn hemp, soybeans (forage varieties), safflower, and plantain will stay palatable and edible all the way through till their maturity. Come September, the summer plot will be mowed over top of the seeds of the fall blend. If I was 100 miles further west. I would have to adjust species even more.


I would plant lablab or cowpeas, but deer in our area don’t seem to like them much.

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[Allegheny Tom]

Yep. The trick is to pick plants specifically for drought tolerance and their ability to stay palatable. The native plants have evolved to hedge their bets in a dry spell, essentially going dormant waiting for wetter weather. Non-natives like sunn hemp, soybeans (forage varieties), safflower, and plantain will stay palatable and edible all the way through till their maturity. Come September, the summer plot will be mowed over top of the seeds of the fall blend. If I was 100 miles further west. I would have to adjust species even more.


I would plant lablab or cowpeas, but deer in our area don’t seem to like them much.

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Wow, cowpeas are like deer crack here.

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[IkemanTX]

Wow, cowpeas are like deer crack here.

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They don’t start eating them round here till September-ish... maybe they are stressed too much of the summer to taste good

I have always had my dad put his fall plots in the ground around mid September, so that puts him mowing the fall plot to the ground right about when the deer start hitting the cowpeas. But, it is a choice between having a plot to hunt over during November or not... so he chooses the November plot. (As will I)

I’m going to try them lightly mixed into my blends over the next few years to see if I can’t get them accustomed to them.

I’ve heard of herds not liking something for years and then all of a sudden some switch flips and they devour the same thing they’ve been walking past.
Mostly I hear this about brassicas, turnips, and radishes.


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