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Food Plots?? How, When, Where??

bowtechexperience

bowtechexperience

Junior Member
222
0
Licking County OH
Iowa_Buckeye said:
If you have that much clover I wouldn't worry about a spring planting, unless you do end up getting some row crops in.
If you already have a fairly open area in the timber now which is not real close to what you feel is a bedding area, I would get it planted with some type of brassica within the next few weeks, or oats just a week or two before season. Deer love oats that have just sprouted. We have also broadcast beans HEAVILY in our kill plots about 3 or 4 weeks before season. Fresh bean spouts are a go-to for deer.
I wouldn't wait and let this season pass you by. You won't spook the deer.
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Yea my woods are really open hardwoods except for one side is all pines and its kinda thick, I actually never walked in there before. Then 2 sides border roads and the back side connects to a big woods that's clear cut. I have 3 ravines and two hardwood ridge tops. It's not flat here like alot of land near me. Anyways I should be good to just plant beans and oats for now? Or should I add in Turnips and radishes and stuff like in the earlier comments. How big would you go?
 
at1010

at1010

*Supporting Member*
4,969
139
bowtechexperience said:
How do you guys get your soil tested? Do you have to mail it in to somewhere?
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You can pick up whitetail institutes soil tests and mail it in. You can also go to a local coop or seed mill. They will be less and can mail it to a LAb for you.

Also spring plantings are a bitch- as others said you got clover I'd just focus on fall plantings. That is all thrown out the window of your able to put beans in ground.

If your stuck on wanting a spring mix- I'd stick with clovers and chicory. I'd add grains in the fall.
 
bowtechexperience

bowtechexperience

Junior Member
222
0
Licking County OH
at1010 said:
You can pick up whitetail institutes soil tests and mail it in. You can also go to a local coop or seed mill. They will be less and can mail it to a LAb for you.

Also spring plantings are a bitch- as others said you got clover I'd just focus on fall plantings. That is all thrown out the window of your able to put beans in ground.

If your stuck on wanting a spring mix- I'd stick with clovers and chicory. I'd add grains in the fall.
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Im not stuck on wanting a spring mix, i was just a little afraid of scaring the deer away right now going into the woods and making a clearing, but i have decided im putting one in this month. Can i just check the PH of my dirt myself and get a good guess of what i need or should i send it in still?
 
at1010

at1010

*Supporting Member*
4,969
139
bowtechexperience said:
Im not stuck on wanting a spring mix, i was just a little afraid of scaring the deer away right now going into the woods and making a clearing, but i have decided im putting one in this month. Can i just check the PH of my dirt myself and get a good guess of what i need or should i send it in still?
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Honestly only way I know to check ph accurately is by sending soil into lab. Your ph is only an indication of acidity or akalintiy in your soil. A test will provide you with a recommendation of n-p-k to amend the soil.

Now with that being said. I don't think you need to do this forever but with it being your new farm. First plot, etc. I think a soil test is important.
 
M

MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
Supporting Member
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SW Ohio
Either do a professional soil test or you maybe just throwing good hard earned money on the ground with no results. Soil test only take about a week after sent in. Whitetail Inst. had done all my test.
 
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M

MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
Supporting Member
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SW Ohio
bowtechexperience said:
ok im going to buy one of the test i just wanted to make sure it was worth it, thanks guys!
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Doing a $12-15 soil test can save you $100's of dollars in fertilizers. One thing I like about WTI soil test is they sell deer food plot seeds and know what this type of plants need. Been told a lot different than farm plant seeds.
 
bowtechexperience

bowtechexperience

Junior Member
222
0
Licking County OH
my house1.jpg
 
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bowhunter1023

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,916
274
Appalachia
You've made an investment in your acreage, so I assume you have a long game here and that game is to make this place a whitetail haven over time. With that assumption, and knowing you have roughly 25% of your ground tied up with arguably the best food source going in terms of year long attraction, my suggestion is PLAN, then EXECUTE. Don't half ass this and just try to get seed in the ground. Rushing to get things in now if you don't have your ducks in a row, is certainly detrimental to the long game, and could mess with your fall. Get another season of hunting under your belt. Take good notes. Sit down this winter and layout a 5-10-20 year plan for that ground. Then get started in February to execute that dream.

My opinion for what its worth of course...
 
Bigslam51

Bigslam51

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
25,778
127
Stark County
bowhunter1023 said:
You've made an investment in your acreage, so I assume you have a long game here and that game is to make this place a whitetail haven over time. With that assumption, and knowing you have roughly 25% of your ground tied up with arguably the best food source going in terms of year long attraction, my suggestion is PLAN, then EXECUTE. Don't half ass this and just try to get seed in the ground. Rushing to get things in now if you don't have your ducks in a row, is certainly detrimental to the long game, and could mess with your fall. Get another season of hunting under your belt. Take good notes. Sit down this winter and layout a 5-10-20 year plan for that ground. Then get started in February to execute that dream.

My opinion for what its worth of course...
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Exactly. Well said, Jesse.
 
bowtechexperience

bowtechexperience

Junior Member
222
0
Licking County OH
OK i see the majority of you guys are saying to leave it alone and i was leaning that way a little in the beginning. I have not hunted here yet so i think hunting it a year would help me out on choosing where to put it. there are not many places that are flat so thats going to not leave me with to many options though. One thing i can say is there are a ton of deer here so something must be right. i think i will listen to Majority of you guys and just leave it alone at lease until after 1 year of hunting it. I really want to take my tractor into the woods and blow out a nice plot but i will hold myself back from it for this year haha. I took a ride through the neighbors thicket south of me and it is some of the thickest woods ive ever seen, its all clear cut and everything is about 10 to 20 ft tall. There has to be some giant bucks in there, i cant wait to see what comes out into my big oak woods this fall in the rut!
 
bowhunter1023

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,916
274
Appalachia
bowtechexperience said:
OK i see the majority of you guys are saying to leave it alone and i was leaning that way a little in the beginning. I have not hunted here yet so i think hunting it a year would help me out on choosing where to put it. there are not many places that are flat so thats going to not leave me with to many options though. One thing i can say is there are a ton of deer here so something must be right. i think i will listen to Majority of you guys and just leave it alone at lease until after 1 year of hunting it. I really want to take my tractor into the woods and blow out a nice plot but i will hold myself back from it for this year haha. I took a ride through the neighbors thicket south of me and it is some of the thickest woods ive ever seen, its all clear cut and everything is about 10 to 20 ft tall. There has to be some giant bucks in there, i cant wait to see what comes out into my big oak woods this fall in the rut!
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Let me relay an anecdote that will frame my perspective on this...

My dad bought 96 acres in 2005. I was 23 making great money, no wife or kids. I was ATE up with the Drurys and thought I'd be the Mark Drury of Washington County. Sad, I know. I lunged in to projects that I am still regretting and missed the boat on projects I should have done LONG before I dicked around with some of the stuff I wasted time, money and energy on. Dad sold 16 acres shortly after he bought the farm and now 12 years later, I am just hitting my stride from a habitat management standpoint on the 80 acres that's left. The hunting will change as habitat and neighbors change. Be adaptable and be willing to think outside the box. Don't just plan based on your 105. Consider the entire 640-acre square mile around your 105 because that entire area, and more, will influence what you should be doing on your 105. I can only manage 80 acres, but I can do so with the other 560 acres in mind.

I would not do a damn thing out there other than observe, hunt, and scout until March 1, 2018. Then, and only then, would I get to work. This is 35 year old me talking to 23 year old me...
 
M

MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
Supporting Member
6,551
66
SW Ohio
IMHO
Once you put new food plot in that will change the deer travel patterns. So keep in mind on future food plot locations make sure you have a good way of getting in and out without spooking deer either coming to the plots or leaving.
My case as a example. I had a pinch point woods and hunted it for 20 yrs with good results. I put in a food plot next to the woods and the deer traffic through the woods went down to near zero. The does feed in the food plots and the bucks come looking for the does in the food plot.
 
bowtechexperience

bowtechexperience

Junior Member
222
0
Licking County OH
bowhunter1023 said:
Let me relay an anecdote that will frame my perspective on this...

My dad bought 96 acres in 2005. I was 23 making great money, no wife or kids. I was ATE up with the Drurys and thought I'd be the Mark Drury of Washington County. Sad, I know. I lunged in to projects that I am still regretting and missed the boat on projects I should have done LONG before I dicked around with some of the stuff I wasted time, money and energy on. Dad sold 16 acres shortly after he bought the farm and now 12 years later, I am just hitting my stride from a habitat management standpoint on the 80 acres that's left. The hunting will change as habitat and neighbors change. Be adaptable and be willing to think outside the box. Don't just plan based on your 105. Consider the entire 640-acre square mile around your 105 because that entire area, and more, will influence what you should be doing on your 105. I can only manage 80 acres, but I can do so with the other 560 acres in mind.

I would not do a damn thing out there other than observe, hunt, and scout until March 1, 2018. Then, and only then, would I get to work. This is 35 year old me talking to 23 year old me...
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Haha yea i know what you are saying. i have 1000 ideas running through my head on what i wanna do but i just need to wait and learn. There are these huge soybean fields l just a little south of my land and corn to the east so every time i drive past them i think how much i wish i had that in my fields. i think next year one of my fields may be soybean or something different.
 
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