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Poor mans food plot

dante322

*Supporting Member*
5,506
157
Crawford county
I'm sure I am not the only guy on this forum to face a bit of a snag in developing a food plot. I dont own any land, and the landowners who graciously allow me to hunt arent going to let me till up part of their feild to plant forage for the deer. Compound this with VERY limited budget that will not find room for a lease. The idea of food plots seem like a pipe dream...

... until a couple weeks ago.

The violent storms that swept across the state a few weeks ago did a lot of damage. The woods I hunt are no exception. After the storm i walked throught o find several large trees were down. I, however saw this as an opportunity.
In place of these tres I now found several "sunny" patches. The larger trees took out others with it and made several small areas that now recieved a fai amount of sunlight.

A light bulb appeared over my head.

With a little work, I could turn these sunny areas into "mini" food plots, inside the woods. With that in mind, over the last couple weeks I have paid a little more attention to the plot advice on this forum. I have also been looking over the choices for seed available for summer and early fall planting.

With the news last week that my work schedule was going to be 7 days a week for who knows how long I knew I had to move.

There were lots of prospective spots for a mini plot, I had to narrow it down somehow. I picked the spot for the first plot based on a couple different criteria.
Size of the deer population.
A large population would consume a small plot in no time. The size of the population has to be small enough that the plot will be active for a while.
Deer usage.
It has to be in a spot that the deer freqyent anyway. I didnt feel it would be feasable to try and draw deer away from another area to a small plot.
Huntability.
Can I get in and out of this spot during season without making to much of a comotion.

The place I decided on has a handful of bucks that use it with regularity. a few does come through here but mostly the same three or four bucks. there are oak trees in the area so they will be in here feeding anyway and it is ajacent to both corn and bean fields. I have hunted this area before so I knew how to get in and out easily.



I had to do this now. My schedule wont allow me to delay any longer, and there is rain in the forcast for the coming week.

I dont want to name the seed, or fertiliser selected just yet. If it works out, I will do a nice product review later. I dont want to appear to be endorsing a product I am just now trying out. Suffice to say, it is a newer product from a well known brand.It is intended for pretty much the exact purpose I am using it for, partially shaded, hard to reach areas. It contains a variety of seeds including, clovers, rye grasses, oats, chickory, peas....
It was blended with the idea that as long as it gets some sun and some water, something will grow. maybe not everything in the bag, but something will come up. We will see.

So this morning i packed up what i would need and headed in.



I took a manual "weed whacker", a rake, a hoe, and a shovel. I looked at a 3 gallon sprayer for water but at $25 I opted for the smaller $4 version and a couple plastic jugs to carry the water in. (this is a "poormans" plot after all) There is a small stream nearby I could have got the water from, but I knew it was going to be hot today so I opted to bring water from home so i could drink it and stay hydrated. The seed brodcaster I borrowed from redcloud.

I began at About 9:30 A.M. end was finished around noon. this put me in the spot for 3 and a half hours which gave me a good idea of how much sun my plot was going to get and how the sun moved and put light on different areas. Any part of this small clearing that got sun during that time was cleared and planted. i also paid attention to how the sun was going to move for the rest of the day and what areas were going to be getting illuminated later, and planted those as well.

The first step was to remove any larger limbs and cut down some small saplings that were casting shadows. I didnt just throw these in the woods. They were placed strategically to create funnels in and out of the spot. I intend to hunt the trails to and from my spot but just incase I decided to hunt over it, I picked a couple trees and cut some lanes while I was at it.
After the larger debris was removed, it was the whackers turn, clearing any vegetation that had already started was a snap.
Next it was time to rake the area clear. I piled all the debris in small piles along the edges of the plot to hopefuly use as compost next year.
After raking the area clear the shovel was at bat. This was by far the worst part of the job. There has got to be an easier way t turn the soil over. I cant get a tiller in there, but there is bound to be a tool that will make the job easier. I intend to find out what that tool is.
After spading the area and removing a few clumps of grass it was all raked again.
I decided to "overseed" the area. I could almost feel all the little squirrel, and bird eyes watching all that nice tasty seed hitting the ground. After seeding A nice dose of 10-10-10 fertiliser, anther raking, and then the water.



done.

Points for next time;
I still dont see the need to buy the large sprayer when the intended purpose is to carry the water and disperse it. The small sprayer was cheap, but a regular old school watering can is even cheaper and would do just as well. carrying the water in milk jugs didnt cost me a dime and didnt weigh any more than the larger sprayer would have.

The shovel has got to go. a garden weasel or something like that is a better way to go.

Total cost of my project to this point;
seed; $20 and I still hve enough to do another plot this same size.
fertiliser; $4 and again, still enough to do another one.
watering can; $3
milk jugs for the water; nothing
seed spreader, borrowed; (thanks redcloud, I'll return it after i do the next one)
tools; I consider this a freebie as well, as most of us already have these basic items.
Effort, sweat, blisters; free of charge

looks like about $27 to me. I can handle that.

I will be checking the progress of my project next week. as season gets closer I will put a camera on it. Hopefuly this thread will conclude with the harvesting of a nice buck.
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
223
Ohio
Wow dante you were busy today! It's looking good, and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at what pops up. I'm looking forward to seeing the progress pics in the next few weeks!
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,721
248
Ohio
Very nice! I hope your hard work pays off for you. I plan on doing similar on our business property. I did spray some weeds once and will try to hit them one more time this week. Hopefully I will be planting similar in about 3 weeks or so. Still need to yank out some of the smaller saplings like you did.
 

DJK Frank 16

Senior Member
Supporting Member
9,358
133
Hardin County
Looking good Dante! Will be keeping tabs on this one as well, this would be about my only option on the tracts that I hunt as well, so looking forward to seeing the results.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Nice work dude. I've put in several plots with a rake over the years and it is back breaking work, but it comes with a real sense of pride. Looks like you did some good work there!!!
 

dante322

*Supporting Member*
5,506
157
Crawford county
I'm chomping at the bit to see if anything has sprouted after the rain on monday and tuesday. i also have enough seed and fertilizer to do another one. Unfortunately I found out today I have to work the next three weeks straight with no days off. I wwill try to get out there on day after work next week though.
 

dante322

*Supporting Member*
5,506
157
Crawford county
Well, I finally got a chance to get out there and check it last night. I've got to be honest, I'm a little disappointed.

There are some green patches but not what i was hoping for. Looks like clover, a couple types of grass, and possibly some radishes. But the sprouts are very sporadic and not very big. I figured with the rain we have been getting lately It would do better than it has. But then again I've never planted this type of thing before so I might be expecting to much. I took some pics, but its getting late right now so i'll have to post them tomorrow.
 

Boone

*Supporting Member*
833
96
N.E. O-H-I-O
That's not good. How shaded is your plot? Maybe it's not getting enough light and/or water if its under too much of a canopy.