150 Class
Well-Known Member
The Plan
The plan is for some Mini Plots for the summer and fall and also hopefully for a couple more years to come, located at field edges or in the middle of the woods. I figured that with an acre being 43,560 sq. ft., a bag of seed that was good for 1/8 of an acre would be good for either one spot around 74’ x 74’ or maybe 3 spots about 43’ x 43’ (+/-) and if I get seed good for ¼ or ½ of an acre or more, I could double or quadruple the size or amount of spots seeded. The plan is also to get the plots closer to the core areas. This is to make it easier for the deer to use them 24/7 instead just having a spot hit at night. The bag(s) of seed covers the same area whether it is all in one spot or split up into smaller spots.
The Tools
No tractor or quad runner or pull behind implements, just a bunch of yard tools and some hard and not so hard work. Hand sprayer, post emergence herbicide, rake, weed eater or mower, broadcast seed spreader, two varieties of perennial mix seed (clover and other deer candy). This is mostly no till or minimum till test plots.
The Plantings
Most spots were small spots on fence rows, water ways or small open spots in middle of the woods where the tree canopy would allow in enough sunlight for some hopeful success.
1) The chosen spots were prepped by knocking down and spraying the grass and weeds. Varying stages (pictures show huge tree down allowing sun through and prepping for seeding, weeds killed, freshly seeded, signs of limited success, not all the same spot).
2) The seed was planted a couple of weeks after killing the grass and weeds. For the late spring and early summer plantings, some was lightly raked in, some was just broadcast and some had the dead grass and weeds cut over the top of the freshly spread seed to give it a light covering. All plantings had germination success. The lightly raked had a slightly higher germination success but also stirred up the weed seeds more and had more weeds come up.
3) Maintenance to date has been to mow down the weeds one time. I have not put fertilizer on any spots but am considering it.
4) More spots are being prepped now to get the rest of the seed in for some late summer plantings.
The Success
To be determined later on. If the deer are hitting the spots, my goal has been met. I really do not intend to hunt the plots and am mostly interested in improving the food source and making the locations a bit more attractive to the deer.
Experience
Beginner, self taught, do it yourself. You all can start right now and let me know what I did right or wrong. It is too early for me to say what I would do differently next time but I am pleased to see the plots growing. Note: All pictures shown were taken today, showing various stages of differnet spots that I am working on.
The plan is for some Mini Plots for the summer and fall and also hopefully for a couple more years to come, located at field edges or in the middle of the woods. I figured that with an acre being 43,560 sq. ft., a bag of seed that was good for 1/8 of an acre would be good for either one spot around 74’ x 74’ or maybe 3 spots about 43’ x 43’ (+/-) and if I get seed good for ¼ or ½ of an acre or more, I could double or quadruple the size or amount of spots seeded. The plan is also to get the plots closer to the core areas. This is to make it easier for the deer to use them 24/7 instead just having a spot hit at night. The bag(s) of seed covers the same area whether it is all in one spot or split up into smaller spots.
The Tools
No tractor or quad runner or pull behind implements, just a bunch of yard tools and some hard and not so hard work. Hand sprayer, post emergence herbicide, rake, weed eater or mower, broadcast seed spreader, two varieties of perennial mix seed (clover and other deer candy). This is mostly no till or minimum till test plots.
The Plantings
Most spots were small spots on fence rows, water ways or small open spots in middle of the woods where the tree canopy would allow in enough sunlight for some hopeful success.
1) The chosen spots were prepped by knocking down and spraying the grass and weeds. Varying stages (pictures show huge tree down allowing sun through and prepping for seeding, weeds killed, freshly seeded, signs of limited success, not all the same spot).
2) The seed was planted a couple of weeks after killing the grass and weeds. For the late spring and early summer plantings, some was lightly raked in, some was just broadcast and some had the dead grass and weeds cut over the top of the freshly spread seed to give it a light covering. All plantings had germination success. The lightly raked had a slightly higher germination success but also stirred up the weed seeds more and had more weeds come up.
3) Maintenance to date has been to mow down the weeds one time. I have not put fertilizer on any spots but am considering it.
4) More spots are being prepped now to get the rest of the seed in for some late summer plantings.
The Success
To be determined later on. If the deer are hitting the spots, my goal has been met. I really do not intend to hunt the plots and am mostly interested in improving the food source and making the locations a bit more attractive to the deer.
Experience
Beginner, self taught, do it yourself. You all can start right now and let me know what I did right or wrong. It is too early for me to say what I would do differently next time but I am pleased to see the plots growing. Note: All pictures shown were taken today, showing various stages of differnet spots that I am working on.
