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Best and worse food plots this year

risto2351

risto2351

Well-Known Member
Not done hunting yet but am starting to make out the plan for food plots next year.
Hopefully in the next couple of months everyone will comment on what plots the deer were hitting the hardest from early season to the late seasons.
I had some failures along with some successes and hope to do things a little different this year with everyones help.
I did learn from DBL. that even though you can plant Brassicas in the spring late summer is even better. I planted both and the deer are killing the late season one while the others are hard to control all summer because of the weeds.
Please share all your successes along with failures plus what has been working for the deer.
Thanks and Merry Christmas.
 
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Not done hunting yet but am starting to make out the plan for food plots next year.


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I can't wait for spring!
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Lot's of new things to try...and try several things because some may fail due to weather, deer pressure etc.

I'm gonna try not to feed my RR corn/beans to the deer this year... before it's knee high
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No brassicas in dry or shady spots

Try more over seeding of rye and brassicas into standing crops

and give the field peas a try!
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Merry Christmas!!
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I planted the BIOMAXX with some success this year. The corn did great the beans did not do so well. I just dont think a guy can plant enough because it has been gone for some time now. I also drilled in some buck forage oats and the covered with the buck forage chicory. The oats came in great right away and so did the chicory. The way I understood it the oats would be a great November plot and they were basically killed off by frost at this point. Hopefully the chicory will take off next spring. I also tried a very small plot of Biologics clover plus. I was very impressed with that and I will definately plant it on a larger scale next year.
 
Best: RR ready corn & beans both did great - still have about 80% of 1 corn plot near the house (always the last to get hit) and 30% of the beans left for late season.
- First double crop of august seeding of rye in beans (although doesn't seem to be getting used much while there is still grain)
- BFO plot at Appanoose county farm - was a big hit but never got to hunt over it (my BIL saw a ton of deer bow hunting it) due to schedule "challenges"
- Planted small orchard (45 trees) and all but 3 survived (of course still have a few years before it is a true foodplot!)

Worst: planted about 1.5 acres of imperial clover (first time of "name brand" planting for me). It came in good but had a problem with foxtail. Mowed it 3 times but should have sprayed too (user error - not a product flaw)

Next year: Plan to plant brassicas, turnips (perhaps seeding in corn or beans). Any suggestions for an early planting followed by a fall plot of brassicas etc...?
 
My best was also my worst. Technically not a food plot, rahter more of a wildlife attractant mix. Long story short, it is just a mess of foxtail and ragweed, BUT, it was neat to look accross it and see all the butterflys in the summer and now the birds are hitting the foxtail seeds. It looks like crap and that bothers me but what are ya gonna do? I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with it next season.

The 'Bonker
 
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Any suggestions for an early planting followed by a fall plot of brassicas etc...?

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I'm going to try Pea Oatlage

Pea Tritlage

and

Berseem Clover because it is a very fast growing annual clover.

Buckwheat

as well as oats and Austrian Winter Peas

Oats, spring triticale, field and AW peas can all be planted as early as possible. Buckwheat must be planted in very late spring or early summer.

and stop rubbing it in that your RR corn and beans did GREAT
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it is just a mess of foxtail and ragweed

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Maybe not the best deer attractant but for quail, pheasants and many non-game wildlife...it doesn't get any better!
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Best: Corn, at least in terms of growth and yeild. I planted 1 acre an it looks as good as any field corn you can find. Usage has been so-so, I have probably 60%-75% of it remaining. I noticed while hunting that many deer just walked right past it enroute to picked corn, so I knocked down a little of it with the ATV and they seemed to like that. Next year I'll do some figure 8's in it with the bush-hog before the season. I think the mild weather has contributed to the lack of use.

Clover mix: I thought this half acre was going to be a loss after spring planting, until we started getting some good late summer rains. It really filled in well then, might need to spray for foxtail next year but it really wasnt bad. A few deer hit this plot nearly every night during bow season.

Biologic Clover Plus: This is a tiny little plot secluded in the timber, maybe 5,000 sq feet. It gets pounded every year.

Next year I will probably only plant 1/2 to 2/3 acre of corn, and experiment with beans/rye, etc, in the rest of it. Still waiting on my 7 apple trees to produce. Total yeild for '06 was exactly 1 apple! And I ate that one.
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Foodplots are great. Combine them with shed hunting and trail cams and you can keep this whitail sickness going year-round!
 
Paul,

Sorry 'bout the RR plot success comment - from your earlier posts I couldn't tell if your plots were overrun by deer or if you had 10 minutes of marble size hail (the results looked similar!)
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See what I mean...
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Paul's food plot devastated by deer:
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Corn devastated by hail:

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Seriously, I was thinking along the lines of either berseem clover to afix nitrogen in advance of a fall plot or buckwheat to condition the soil (no benefit of nitrogen though) and then follow up with a fall hunting plot. Would the peas make a better fall than spring planting for a hunting plot?

Thanks for the input...I appreciate it as I'm still very much in the planning phase!
 
My Brassicas plot came in awesome. Funny thing is that the deer are not hitting it. They are in my winter wheat but not the Brassicas and turnips. I don't know of anyone else in my area planting Brassicas and was just wondering if the deer don't know what it is and just have to get used to it.
 
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I was thinking along the lines of either berseem clover to afix nitrogen in advance of a fall plot or buckwheat to condition the soil (no benefit of nitrogen though) and then follow up with a fall hunting plot. Would the peas make a better fall than spring planting for a hunting plot?


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I think ahead of brassicas I would go with a legume for the nitrogen benefits, but buckwheat is a pretty cheap soil builder.

Spring planted peas would not work for a fall attractant. I'm thinking about planting them strictly to draw deer away from my corn.

Plant them in late July or early August for fall feed. I have not compared AWP and field peas yet. The will eat AWP's as soon as they come up, just like soybeans.

Planting them with oats in the spring, will give the deer something else to eat and the peas something to climb up.

Oats or fall grains could be used in late summer plantings (wheat, rye or fall triticale)

Milo and trailing soybeans are another option. Soybean Milo Mix

More grain/pea/bean mixes
 
I plant the field peas and oats mixture in my farm operation. I chop it and put it into the silo for cattle field. Last Aug when i planted my winter wheat food plot for deer, I ran out of ww so I used some of the oat pea combination I had leftover from last spring. We watched the deer RUN to this feed past corn beans and ww all through sept. They never let the peas or oats get any growth and of course they froze out early. The deer would come out of the cover and race to be first on this stuff. It's cheap too! Why do you think deer prefer to forage in picked corn instead of standing corn?
 
My best plots were r/r beans planted in 40 inch rows in late april. Then in late august after the last app. of roundup I planted wheat, oats, turnips, and rape between the rows of beans. I did not mix the seeds together but alternated rows. This gave me a great year round plot with the least amount of care. The deer and pheasants were in there every day and still are.
 
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My best plots were r/r beans planted in 40 inch rows in late april. Then in late august after the last app. of roundup I planted wheat, oats, turnips, and rape between the rows of beans. I did not mix the seeds together but alternated rows. This gave me a great year round plot with the least amount of care. The deer and pheasants were in there every day and still are.

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Did you drill in between the rows or just broadcast? Sounds like a great double crop!
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I used some of the oat pea combination I had leftover from last spring. We watched the deer RUN to this feed past corn beans and ww all through sept. They never let the peas or oats get any growth and of course they froze out early. The deer would come out of the cover and race to be first on this stuff

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Great combo...spring or fall!
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I'm going to see how early I can plant fall triticale and peas. I'm not sure if it is susceptible to the same diseases as wheat or not?

I know my peas never got over a few inches high in my rye and I'm not sure if planting earlier would have helped at all or not...I think the deer are going to mow them no matter when they come up
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Timberpig,
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Biologic Clover Plus: This is a tiny little plot secluded in the timber, maybe 5,000 sq feet. It gets pounded every year.


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How much sunlight does it get? I am looking to do the same thing in the timber but am unsure of what type of Clover to use with the sunlight. Also how long in the season do the deer hit it??
Thanks and glad your plots worked out well for you.
Risto
 
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