How to Breakup the Soil For a Deer Food Plot Without Using Any Power Equipment

[Mayfly]

Here is an article on found on a different site. I hear people all the time that they do not have the equipment or money to buy the equipment. Well if you really want a food plot there are options out there. I'm sure if you put enough time and work into it you'll have something decent... here is a decent read. Thanks!


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How to Breakup the Soil For a Deer Food Plot Without Using Any Power Equipment

Deer food plots are gaining in popularity every year. Many farmers who hunt have the luxury of using their equipment and know-how to plant food plots. But what about us city slickers who don not even know what a cultipacker is? We want in on the action too.

Even though I'm a city slicker, I can tell you that creating a deer food plot is not as hard as you might think.
In this article I am going to share with you how you can easily create your own little deer magnet for next hunting season with out using any power equipment.

Here is a short list of the tools you will need.
-Hand held tank sprayer or backpack sprayer. Opt for the backpack type, you can thank me later.
-Spade shovel and small hand shovel
-Steel come-along rake
-Metal leaf rake
-Good hand saw for cutting trees and branches. Sierra tooth blades work best.

So where do you start and when? Assuming you have a good little location picked out, about 1/8 acre, that is not in a wide open area with no nearby cover for deer, and is not too sandy, the first thing you should do in the spring is take a soil sample with your hand held spade shovel. Take enough soil from about 4 different spots in your plot to fill a quart size ziploc bag. Bring it somewhere to have it tested for growing brassicas and clover. If you skip that step, you will be sorry when it is too late. You can thank me later for that too.

When the grass and weeds in your future deer food plot get to about 8 inches tall, you want to spray your whole plot with Roundup concentrated herbicide. Mix about 8oz per 1 gallon of water in your backpack sprayer. About 4 weeks later spray your plot again with the same mixture. By now all the vegetation should be dead and lying on the surface. Just leave it all lay there.

Around the first week of August spray it for a third time. You will now have a weed-free seed bed. Now use your come-along rake and leaf rake to remove all the dead debris. Up until now things have been pretty easy. This next step is the toughest. Try to recruit a couple friends or relatives to help you loosen the surface of the bare dirt with come-along rakes, hand-held cultivators, garden weasel, or spade shovels. Hint: when you are done loosening the surface to about 1-2 inches in depth, check to see if there are any real soft spots where you could dig up some that dirt and throw it around the rest of the deer food plot for added depth of the loose soil.

Now after your required applications of lime and fertilizer, you are ready to plant your seed. Of course, if you have the ability to use a rototiller in your plot instead, go for it.

About The Author

Randy has been bowhunting mature whitetails and turkeys for over 30 years in the high-hunting pressured state of Michigan. He is passionate about preserving the sport of hunting by keeping it fun for all hunters by improving their success rate.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Randy_Vanderveen