Members food plots

[bowhunter73]

 Who here is doing some sort of plot this year. I thought it would be kinda interesting if everybody could take pic's & maybe a few notes w/dates  about their plot and post them here as summer rolls around. wether your plot is small,big,new,or old even if you don't know what in the heck you are doing  ::hittingself::. So what, we could learn from or laugh at one another and then maybe Kyle from PLM could give us some more informed info after are pic's & notes are posted.

 So who is planning to plant this year? Or allready has something going?


http://www.habitatnow.com/go/MNO

[ScottPugh]

We are trying some up at our land in grand Rapids for the first time this year.  We still have to get up there and do some soil testing, but we should have some pictures in the middle of the summer.

Planting in May
3 Acres Wildlife Blend
3 Acres of Clover

Late August Time Frame
4 Acres of a Cold Weather Blend

[LandDr]

Grand Rapids will be a great place to use "brassicas"...rape, turnips, sugar beats, etc.  Since the "freeze" matches up well with the firearms season, the freezing process will convert the starches to sugars and become a great fall attractant.  Also, since deer will not graze on brassicas through the growing season for the most part, you will have some nice forage in the fall.  I would recommend to plant around June 1st plus or minus to allow the killing frost to stop plant growth just before it starts to flower (becomes stemmy and unpalitable).  If you plant too early, you will need to clip it later to set the plant back and have fresh growth.

The 3 acre of clover look good.  If you get much smaller, deer can graze it pretty hard and stunt the results.  Add about 2 to 3 lbs. of Chicory to each acre to add another very desirable perennial to the mix...deer love it!

Consider some "thick" native grass areas to develop bedding areas adjacent to your food sources...setting up a "bed and breakfest".  Remember...1 doe group = 1 dominant buck.  Increase your carrying capacity for as many doe groups as you can possibly create.

Other fall attractants to consider are late planted oats, wheat and soybeans.  RR soybeans are easy since all you have to do for weed control is spray it with Roundup.

Good luck with the plots!

Kyle, PLM

[ScottPugh]

Kyle,

That's some great information you have there.  What would something like you mentioned cost for us to try out.  I got a great deal on the other stuff (through the MDHA which was discounted through hides for Habitat) but my budget is about gone for this year and I still have fishing season this summer.

The three spots we PLAN on putting it are near bedding areas and some good main trails.  We don't get a lot of BIG bucks (one every 7 years or so) and my cousins and I are trying to convince a few of the older guys to leave the forks go, we don't need 7 deer a year.  The area we hunt is big.  We have 180+ acreas that we own but then it backs to a state forest and VERY few hunt back there.  I have a 3/4 mile walk from the cabin to my stand, and I tend to go out furthern then that staulking if I see tracks or just want to walk. 

Here is some detail about the three spots we plan on planting the food plots, any more information would be great. 

#1 Scott's - Clear Cut 4 years ago
Looking west

Looking East

This spot was clear cut ~ 4 years ago and now I have a 250 yard "road" heading West into the swamp.  I also have 150 yards to the   East and about 200 yards straight out in front that leads to swamp.  The deer cross and walk everywhere on the outside of my ridge.  That "road" you see in the picture on multiple runs.  Most of the time IF I see them, they are way out (200+).  They do cross close in (100 yards) at night as I have tons of motion camera pictures from last late summer / early fall.  They also bed down on the ridge as I have spooked them up on occasion during the morning walks out. It's all tamarack forest in that swamp and if you follow that road it comes up to an island that also has some nice sign, in which we are working on putting another stand back there.

#2 Don's
This spot has some nice crossings (all times of day) from swamp to dense / pine forest.  It's on our logging trails and my dad has a nice 140 yard shot. 

#3 Mike's
This spot is near Don's.  It is also a transition stag from swamp to dense forest / pine.  He has worked out three shooting lanes that get some good action all the time.  We plan on putting the food plot at the end of the main trail which is about 35 feet wide at the end.

I will try to dig up some more pictures / satellite views.  Thanks for any information you can give.

[LandDr]

These are some nice openings and looks like they could even be opened more.

If you are having problems with weeds and volunteering trees...try a year of RR corn and/or RR soybeans to clean it up.  Then go back into your rotation.

Cost?  It is hard to tell without developing actual seeding plans that would then tell us lenghts, widths and acres, etc..  A guess would be $1,000 to $2,000.  You may want to sign up for the WHIP program (USDA) in your county for some cost share.  There is also the SIP and FIP programs through the DNR but these can be slow to apply.

Food is your biggest limiting factor and you will see more results with more food.  That will attract and hold the whitetails and allow your age class to get up there.  It will also support better body weights and more energy put towards antler growth.

Kyle, PLM

[ScottPugh]

Just to clarify that in those pictures there are no food plots at all.  It is all the brush that is coming up.  We plan on tilling that this year and hopefully planting something.  Might have to give corn a few spots out by mine also. 

[bowhunter73]

Food plot's  Nobody said it would be easy!


 :: We, my father and myself finally did get it out  :rock:

 Are land is either woods or swampy so any food plot fields I have have been clear cut and cleaned up by hand. Its the hardest work I may have ever done. But it is also the most Rewarding. I  started this project by myself about 4 1/2 years ago but now that my father ,wife,and kids realize that I will not quite until It's finished they too now help and we all have a blast working the land together. Even my 5 year old was up helping paint the new stand today.

[iceman]

started today by spraying round up in the areas i am going to plant hoping next weekend everything will be dead ..
then i'll start with a mixture of rye grass, oats and alfalfa in 1 plot then the other will have turnups,rye,corn,sweet clover,alsake and alfalfa .. hope they like what i am going to do for them..

when most of it is up i'll add lime and fertilizer..

[Rywheat]

How often should you fertilize a food plot
My brother got 3 seperate plots started in the past couple weeks and we are seeing some progress already. What is the best to use I have been told to use 10-10-10

[ScottPugh]

8 Hours of walk behind tilling and I am shot, luckily Saturday night I went out with a buddy and got into some walleyes (report to come).  We probably over seaded the 4 sposts (not as big as we wanted) that we did, but we tried 4 really different spots so we will know what worked and what didn't for next year. 

Spot # 1 - Back Woods / Adjacent to Swamp / Beds Near / Decent Sun
Before

After


Spot #2 - Trail from Swamp / Dad's Stand on Logging Trail / Lots of Sun
Before

After - Looking Back at stand


Spot #3 - Swamp / Beds All Around / Little Sun / Wet
Pictures to Come

Spot #4 - Ridge / Swamp / Lots of Traffic / Lots of Sun
Before - 2+ Years Ago

After

[ScottPugh]

Here are some pictures of 2 weeks after we planted.  The best spot (#3) was the spot we questioned because it doesn't get much light.  Hopefully get a few more weeks of rain (especially #4) and we can start planning on where the fall stuff is going to go in.  Bigger and better next year!!!

#1 - You can see the stand in the background

#2

#3

#4

[Grute Man]

Looks nice Scott.  Keep us updated -- especially when it comes time for them to start eating out of em.  Hope your hard work pays off.
Grute