what do i plant?

[matchset]

i have a particular piece of property that is a vast oak flat! i think its like 300 acres...

neighbors to the north planted 15 acres of corn.

neighbors to the south planted 20 acres of Soybeans.

neighbors to the west planted 5 acres of Winter wheat.

to the west there is a very minimally traveled tar road that has a 50+ acre alfalfa field adjacent to it...

dad and i have two 1/4-1/2acre shot-plots to plant yet within this property.... what would you plant???

[bottom-bouncer]

wait till the first week of august and plant beans and leave them in! when the crops around you are gone they will come.

[Jameson]

Clover, maybe some brassica, but I'd say clover is your best bet. Those small plots could turn into stubble if planted in beans...but maybe not. Your deer are going to be looking for some greens to mix with the acorns. Clover is easiest, and should do the trick.

[hockeybc69]

To me the big question is...... Are your neighbors farmers and harvesting all of those crops? Or is any of that food plots that are staying in place?

[Bear55]

I am leaning clover and chickory. Do the deer often hit your plots on the way to the larger fields to feed at night?

[lichen fox]

I have a somewhat similar situation around the area's we plant our plots in...but, all of the competing crops are planted by farmers....corn, beans, alfalfa for the most part...I've had really good success with a mix of turnips and brassica's...I plant in late June to mid-july...in our area most of the deer are on the alfalfa and other crops at that time...by the time they are getting a nice top the deer are still on the beans and corn and when the farmers get those crops off, (usually after the first frost), my plots are prime...sugar up into the foliage, and bulbs anywhere from 2 to 6 inches in diameter...the deer really prune down the tops from about mid sept-mid november and then they start on the bulbs for the rest of the fall and through the winter! In Muzzy season last year we'd have up to 30 deer on one of our 4 acre plots...

[sticknstring]

Hard to beat lush green clover come late-summer, early fall. They'll gobble it up. I've tried a bunch of other stuff and the clover has provided the best results.

[B. Amish]

i'd look to enhance feeding areas in the oaks by clearing underbrush. you could make some pretty sweet bow hunting set-ups by getting the deer to feed on acorns where you want them to.

and you could double dip by planting clover in the same areas.

[InTheNorthwoods]

I'd do none of the above. With the food around you, and the oaks on your land, food is not the issue. 2 small food plots are not going to out compete the main food sources surrounding you and are not going to draw deer regularly with the vast amount of quality forage available in destination fields that close to you. Instead, I would focus on improving bedding/sanctuary cover and plant your fields/food plots into switchgrass, or other tall grasses and create sanctuary bedding cover and do selective cutting to create cover.

*(Another alternative would be to establish water holes if water is scarce in your area - not common/likely in much of MN).

By improving bedding habitat you will have a better chance of attracting and holding deer that use the surrounding food sources. In the end, you need to remember that improving habitat (and ultimately killing more deer) is a formula - you need food, water, and cover. Usually people have the cover and lack food, but it sounds like your situation is the opposite. You can improve your bedding cover and take advantage of the surrounding food sources by hunting the trails from bedding areas on your land to feed in the neighbor's fields. All without having to spend the money on seed, fertilizer, gas, etc. on a year to year basis.

[Bear55]

I have to agree with InTheNorthwoods, very solid advice. With so much food around you might want to think about really improving your bedding habitat. That could put a lot more deer on your land and into bow range. You can also strategically place bedding so you can take advantage of buck cruising during the rut checking for does, or even better if you can pinpoint where the bucks are bedding and setup on them.

[matchset]

To me the big question is...... Are your neighbors farmers and harvesting all of those crops? Or is any of that food plots that are staying in place?

that the thing.... its a new property for us... but last year the beans didn't get harvested! the deer were munchin on the all year!

i like the pond idea, but maybe not now! next spring would be a better time to do some excavating than 90 days before bowseason

[WaveWacker]

Best hunt type plot for the money in my opinion is winter wheat planted in mid to late Aug. My small plots always get mowed down (well actually never really get a chance to get above 2" or so) every year. Sure brassicas or some sort of winter rye type commercial mix will probably be good but you are then talking some extra money. In my opinion the deer hit these annual type plots more in the fall then the perennial clover plots. Not that they won't go to them but given the choice type of deal. Also, are you thinking that you'd want to take on the work of putting in annual type plot or have it for 3-4 years? I do have both. A clover nutrition/hunt plot and the aforementioned strictly hunt plots.

[matchset]

i was talking to my dad about this tonight. i think we've decided on a winter wheat/clover mix....hoping that the wheat sprouts and protects the young clover and gives it relief from browsing pressure!

[PerchJerker]

I plant cereal grains every year --- wheat, oats, rye grain --- they're great, but they are very susceptible to frost. I'm farther north than you and some years our cereal grains are pretty much done before gun season rolls around ..... they're great during bow season though.

[hockeybc69]

Winter wheat vs winter rye???

I would take winter rye every day of the week over winter wheat.

I have tested it side by side and winter rye at our place was a clear choice for the deer over winter wheat.

[Rippinlip]

I am new to this also, I am going to try to put some very small plots in the woods I hunt.

Many of them will be varieties of beets, pumpkins and multiple different grasses.

Since my wife and I just Bow hunt, we are trying to narrow down the feed/travel paths.

With them I am refreshing our mineral stations closer to water too.

[InTheNorthwoods]

i was talking to my dad about this tonight. i think we've decided on a winter wheat/clover mix....hoping that the wheat sprouts and protects the young clover and gives it relief from browsing pressure!

Do you plan to leave this as a perennial clover plot? Or do you plan to till it all under next spring?

If you plan to leave it as a perennial clover plot, I would plant clover with winter rye. Winter wheat will work as a nurse crop and attract deer as a food source, but rye will do the same thing while providing an allelopathic effect inhibiting weed growth in the plot next spring. When the rye has started to head out, you can mow and kill it, leaving you with a nice clover plot.

[InTheNorthwoods]

I am new to this also, I am going to try to put some very small plots in the woods I hunt.

Many of them will be varieties of beets, pumpkins and multiple different grasses.

Since my wife and I just Bow hunt, we are trying to narrow down the feed/travel paths.

With them I am refreshing our mineral stations closer to water too.

If you haven't already done so, you are probably too late to plant pumpkins and sugarbeets to see good results. Both pumpkins and sugarbeets have a longer maturity period and should have been in the ground a month ago. If I were you, I would plan to plant a mixture of brassica's (examples would be turnips, radishes, rape, kale, etc.) in mid July as they require approximately a 60 day growing period before the first frost.

These brassicas will all provide ample green forage in the fall and the turnips and radishes will produce sizable bulbs that the deer will likely eat when the food in the woods becomes scarce.

Also, what type of grasses do you plan to plant? Small grains (wheat, rye, corn/sorghum are all grasses), native warm season grasses for cover? Or grasses such as perennial rye grass?

[Rippinlip]

If you haven't already done so, you are probably too late to plant pumpkins and sugarbeets to see good results. Both pumpkins and sugarbeets have a longer maturity period and should have been in the ground a month ago. If I were you, I would plan to plant a mixture of brassica's (examples would be turnips, radishes, rape, kale, etc.) in mid July as they require approximately a 60 day growing period before the first frost.

These brassicas will all provide ample green forage in the fall and the turnips and radishes will produce sizable bulbs that the deer will likely eat when the food in the woods becomes scarce.

Also, what type of grasses do you plan to plant? Small grains (wheat, rye, corn/sorghum are all grasses), native warm season grasses for cover? Or grasses such as perennial rye grass?

Great now I don't know. Looks like I will be going to my local seed company and getting some information about the growing season of such grasses and what I am looking for

Thanks for the tips on the seeds and brassica's!

Was going to take some advice from above and add some bedding area's and turn some areas more in the open to winter wheat/rye.

I am really new to this and am appreciative with the tips.

Thanks

[jay83196]

Anybody ever use alfalfa or chicory any luck? I'm looking for a couple good perennial

[TooTallTom]

We planted some chicory up near Canada last summer, the deer loved it last fall. Looked like it had come back just fine this spring (pretty sand soil) but haven't been able to check it real often for traffic since. (High water issues...)

[PerchJerker]

I've had chicory and clover together and really liked the chicory, but the herbicide I use on my clover takes out chicory so now I don't plant chicory anymore.

For Rippinlip --- the guy who is talking about putting grasses in his food plots ... STOP. DON'T DO IT. Grasses are low in attraction and nutrition and are not very digestible, except for when they are very young. And the longer they're in your food plot the more likely you are to have problems with turf/sod forming. There are many better options to put in ..... clover, chicory, cereal grains, etc. I'm not a fan of pumpkins either, you will likely have a very short feeding window (if any) with pumpkins. Clover, chicory, or brassicas (like beets) will last much longer and produce much more forage. Cereal grains can be planted as late as September and still feed and attract deer for you this year.

[Archerysniper]

Anybody ever use alfalfa or chicory any luck? I'm looking for a couple good perennial

I plant clover and chicory and mix alfalfa in with it, I have never sprayed it I just mow it in the spring and late summer and that takes care of the weeds. If I had a plot of 2 acres or more I would definitively plant soybeans.

[Basseyes]

Have you broken soil and done soil tests? Hinging trees might be an option along with selective harvesting to thicken up the area creating browse and like InTheNorthWoods posted you've already got so much food around you bedding cover might be the biggest X factor. What's the deer density/square mile? Two 1/4-1/2 acre plots in a low density deer area with marginal food sources could be a real draw. But with good food sources in the beans, corn, alfalfa as well as 300 acres of acorn dropping oaks I doubt your deer are going hungry even if there is a good number of deer per square mile. But there might not be a ton of good browse. Remember deer are not grazers like cattle or elk they are browsers. If the plot areas you have have good PH and sunlight on the edge of some good security cover all the better. They can still draw deer even with all that other food. I'd go with a brassica just for the tonnage myself with only 2 1/4-1/2 acre plots and clover. Brassica is a good nurse crop for getting clover established. You are dealing with only a half acre to an acre of plot that is separated. A couple of does and fawns and a yearling or 2 will mow down a plot of grass and clover in short order and you'll be left very disappointed later into the hunting season IMO. Clover takes a while to get established well even in good soil. Food plots are great but only a small part to over all habitat management for a piece of hunting land. Edge cover and different age classes of timber and vegetation is so much better than acres and acres of old growth forest. A chainsaw is one of habitat managements greatest assets. Good luck with it.

[jay83196]

What was that above? They are totaly legal to hunt over correct?