Have you ever...

[Basseyes]

...planted a food plot and what have you learned?

2010 was our 3rd attempt. The first year was very successful. Not because of our doing. We planted and got rain when we needed it. 2nd year we tried some different seed and variety and it wasn't as good. 3rd year we failed miserably and learned a lot. A cold wet spring followed by a hot, dry, late summer does little good for anything you put in the ground. A soil sample, then liming and fertilizing are a must.

We've had our best luck with inoculated seed, no brainer. Clover is fairly easy to plant and maintain. It's good as a bow hunting plot but dies off way to early for a good rifle plot. Mowing clover is a must. Our first attempt at oats, we planted way to early. The deer in our area, really seem to like brassicas. The tonnage is impressive. And it's a great late season draw.

The process of learning when and how to do all the discing, weed control, liming, fertilizing and planting take a lot of planning, preparation and experience. And there is no guarantee you'll get the weather you'll need. That's were the challenge comes into play for us. This year if it wasn't for the clover being a perennial, we would of had no food plot at all, other than mowed grass. Our annuals failed to grow more than a couple inches. And to say they were sparse, would be a massive understatement.

Mineral licks are interesting. We have 3 on 40 acres. All kinds of critters use them. The deer have dug a huge pit around 2 of them. It's strange to me they eat the dirt, laced with salt, odd. This year they used the licks later than the past few years.

This year we are going to plant a mixture of oats, brassicas and try our first attempt at field corn.

Good luck to all with your food plots.

[Musky Buck]

It's way too much work,money,time,effort, I tried and the plot failed quickly so good luck and thanks for helping feed our animals and birds, much appreciated, especially the last few nights brrrrr.

[archerystud]

First year had someone plant some corn but it was planted too late. We dropped in some clover which did okay.

Second year river flooded out my plots in the fall. Note, don't do any rain dances in the fall.

Third year, no rain after we planted. Hopefully those seeds will come up in the spring but I doubt it. Pretty much the way the ground looked from Labor Day through the deer season. Note, do some rain dances in the fall, just not to many!!!

[lakevet]

We call them fast food restaurants for timber wolves

or

how to extract $$$$ from hunters wallets

lakevet

[Powerstroke]

Its a great pasttime and you have to know plots for what they are. Its not baiting, ask anyone who does them. Its not magic.

I love doing the hard work and seeing something grow out of the ground. Hobby farming is what it really is and it benefits wildlife. I think its good for the sport because it encourages hunters to learn about the kinds of plants that animals need and use. It teaches hunters about land practices and land use.

Yeah it costs money, but so does hunting.

[archerystud]

Right on Powerstroke.

After sitting behind a desk for months, I love sitting on a tractor for a day and putting some seed in the ground.

[certified jumbo]

Food plots are a ton of fun to create. That being said they are a lot of work, but its fun and rewarding work.

We've had foodplots work real well and foodplots that have been busts.

We've had the best luck by spraying first, turning over second, discing and then planting winter rye the first year and following it with ladino clover which lasts about 4 years where it just needs cutting.

Most of our big bucks we shot have not come off the foodplots. However, I did shoot a dandy this fall on a rye food plot.

Can't wait to start working on next years plots. A lot of time, work and money.....but also a lot of fun.

[psepuncher]

I'd like to contribute some insightful info and experiences I've had on food plots. But first, take everything posted with a grain of salt.

When it comes to attracting animals through their natural biological habits, such as filling an empty stomach, there's one thing on any hunters mind that we all share, and it's how can we be successful.

I just got in from an early evening yote hunt so I'm not going to write a whole diatribe ...yet. I'm kinda cranky as it's pz poor weather to hunt with the wind blowing right now. Kind of like having a limited time to deer hunt and the wind starts out by keeping them bedded down. frustrating to meet schedules but life goes on, and I'll get back there again.

There's one major issue that should be addressed first, or at least co exist with planting a garden, and that is predator control.

Especially of course, if you're going to establish corn.

Some of the best places I've planted, were under pines in actual bedding areas using clover and wheeler trails using rye. Oats practically plant themselves and my fave is triticale. it is a great yielding crop that has better nutritional value than almost anything available in a mix.

With the deer population as it is in alot of places, there really isn't a need for an attractant as they are down in numbers. MN has always had great places for deer to forage not everywhere but alot.

I'm a transplant where baiting was allowed, and can say honestly the difference is null. \\Being successful in attracting deer, that's easy either way.

They're gonna eat something somewhere sometime. Since deer have better vision at civil twilight, they ain't usually standing around in broad daylight eating corn. Which brings up another biological aspect.

Aside from us deciding what products wer'e dumping money on, deer process different food at different rates. Corn, grains and hard masts take longer to process. Acorns, grasses even filberts and brassicas are soft which take a shorter amount of time for deer to process. {If you havn't figured that out, it means deer will be back in a shorter time frame to....eat.}

My go to plot for supplimental feeding is triticale this year. Souley because of the drought we're in. This summer may be as big of a bust as this winter on precipitation. If not, the clover will continue to do it's job, not as efficently on nutrition but as an attractant.

[hockeybc69]

I think I have as much fun planting food plots as I do actually hunting.

Very rewarding feeling seeing the end product.

It may be viewed as expensive by some, but you have to put a value on it for yourself.

I look at people that golf and just shake my head at what they spend every year on golfing. Those same guys look at me and wonder why I spend the money I do on planting food plots for wildlife.

In the end, we are doing what we enjoy, so I dont see how anyone can use the "expensive" excuse on plots. We all have various vices in life, and many are not cheap.

[BLACKJACK]

When I started doing food plots it was with the intention of providing a winter food source for the pheasants. I soon learned that I had to provide big enough plots to keep the deer fed if I wanted the corn to last into March for the pheasants.

At first I had the local farmers plant my plots but they really didn't like doing them, then they also had to deal with the standing stalks in the spring, so I started doing my own plots.

The key for me was getting a good working 4 row corn planter and RR corn and soybeans, with them, a little field tillage, a fertilizer spreader from the coop, and even a novice like me can plant some pretty nice looking plots. I've been expanding from corn/soybeans to include clover, rye, and a few brassicas, to keep the deer around all summer.

In the process I've learned to enjoy the tractor time, seeing the deer, coyotes, ducks up close, when it gets hot in the summer my routine is to hop in the air conditioned tractor and go mow clover and thistles, listening to the Twins. I also love seeing the wildlife, seeing 20 pheasants fly out of my corn, or seeing 40-50 deer in the winter. My weekend morning routine is to sit at my spotting scope with a cup of coffee and watch the deer.

If you really want to find out about food plots, goto the QDMA site, the Food Plot forum, those guys really know what they're doing.

[not_nuf_time]

My father in law plants rudabagas(sp) for eating purposes, he says he can't keep the deer away from them. How come I don't hear any of you that plant them? It would seem they are less exposed to the elements when it comes to heat and cold and would most always produce. seed may be expensive, I don't know and maybe the planting procedure is different, I was just wondering.

[hockeybc69]

I have seen mixes with rudebaga. Its a little more expensive than most rape and turnips. But not bad by any means.

I tried Daikon radishes last year. The deer loved those too.

I used to plant several things, but have resorted to sticking to 3 main things now.

corn

beans

clover

I love corn and beans because of the fact they are roundup ready. Cant beat that.

[mnviking28]

We buy a wildlife blend from a grain elevator and it contains rutabaga, turnips and rape seed. We also do the roundup ready beans and corn. The deer really like the blend in the fall after the frost. The starches take on a sugary flavor. The biggest thing with the blend is that the seed is soooo tiny. They are like a radish seed or something similar (in other words about 2x the size of a grain of salt). We usually run it through a broadcaster for grass seed and then use a drag to cover it up. The corn and beans are more of a protien for the tough months. Granted, deer are not the only things using the plots. We have seen turkeys, moose, bear, and numerous other smaller critters on the trail cameras as well.

[Basseyes]

I think I have as much fun planting food plots as I do actually hunting.

That's where I am with it. I would rather work on the habitat. The hunting is a by product of the habitat work. I use to think the opposite.

Something I've been really curious about is non inoculated seed and it's success rates over inoculated seed. The inoculated seed seems to geminate 10 times faster. And the plots with inoculated seed really seem to flourish faster and are fuller? In the future I am looking at using almost solely inoculated seed where and when I can.

[hockeybc69]

You can buy innoculant to add to seed.

[Basseyes]

You can buy innoculant to add to seed.

I've seen that stuff and been curious how it works. Have you ever used it?

[hockeybc69]

I have not, but you simply mix it with the seed I guess.

I try not to carry over any seed much more than a year just to be certain all the seed is fairly viable yet.