food plot prep

[BLACKJACK]

codeman, I know that when I signed up for CRP there were provisions that said I could put in food plots, but there were some size limitations, like up to 5% of the field or if the field was less than 5 acres, you could put the whole field in a food plot. I even got a higher ranking because by agreeing to establish a food plot, I was enhancing the wildlife benifits. Tree plantings will also give you a higher ranking.

What doesn't make sense about the Pope county regulation is that by requiring annual plots, they're requiring tillage every year, which increases the chances of erosion. If a person puts in clover, you're only tilling it up every 4-5 years.

To those of you that think that food plots make it unfair hunting - you still have to hunt them. The deer are still going to be checking the wind and watching for danger, just as if they were going into a oak tree/acorns or a corn field. Baiting concentrates the deer at one specific spot where food plots bring the deer into an area. If your food plot is too small, the deer will clean it out in a hurry and it will have little drawing power. So then you do bigger food plots, which makes it like hunting a corn/soybean/alfalfa field.

I think where food plots help is to 1) keep the deer coming into your hunting area rather than two miles down the road 2) provides them with added nutrition (antlers!) during the growing season

3) provides them with winter survival food. Even if its not a tough winter, it gets them thru in better shape, faster growth in the spring, healthier fawns, etc.

[Paradice]

If you don't have equipment to rip up the soil, roundup and a mower will be your best friend. You won't be able to plant large seeds like beans, cowpeas, corn or sorghum, but you can still make a magnet with august planted oats or july planted Tetraploid Ryegrass. Try a bag of "Easyplot" from Evolved Habitats. They are about the only one's who carry the right ryegrass.

Round up your area, wait a week or two, and then clear it. If It's grass, seed in your oats and/or ryegrass before you mow. The little bit of chopped material will do enough to hold moisture to get the seeds germinated without tilling and still allow them to grow through.

[jltimm]

Thanks for the advice, I've got to get to it here soon, I might be able to get a tractor with a 5' tiller on it so that should do the trick.

[UdeLakeTom]

So how small is too small....I have a bag of easyplot that saysit will do 1/2 acre. Is 1/2 acre big enough?

[jltimm]

I started the tilling process and was wondering if the experts out there recommend fertilizer of any sort before I plant? The soil all looks to be good black topsoil in a powerline clearing.

[Code-Man]

If your looking for fertilizing it is great to have the land tilled up fertilize and work it in once before planting so not to lose your fertilizer. If you let urea sit on top and not catch a rain shower you will lose it to evaporation. Worth your time to work in the fertilizer. Corn look for mainly something with a lot of N but if your looking for soybeans look for some potash and k-mag. if you can rent a pull behind spreader 0-0-71-11s-5.5mg is a great recepie. 100 pounds of potash and 50 pounds of K-Mag.

Food plot size is all about the area and situation. Can't say it has to be X amount of acres. my step dad's food plot was 1/2 acrea. another was smaller. just something to stop them for a better quality shot. My main food plot was 1.5 acreas. so it all depends on the situation.

[BFT]

So your saying , that by planting a pumpkin patch out in the woods , it should be legal to hunt over it , but carry a half dozen from your garden , and its a crime ? I'm not against food plots , I'm just curious what makes a difference? People that hunt state land these days , don't have a chance if the private landowner has a bait field next to it , is that fair? Also , the part that one guy said about antler growth , is'nt that like giving them steroids ? For that other guys info , I hunt with a recurve , with no sights or releases on it !! And yes , I have a few bucks on the wall , but now might be iffe if I would mount another , cause I would'nt know if it got big because of its age , genes ,and being smart , or if it was stuck with chemicals to enlarge it ( Look what they did in baseball if you took anything to promote your growth) So you can slam me thinking i'm against foodplots , but I'm not , i'm just flustered people think that it's not baiting , which even a local warden agreed , but says it won't change cause of politics , but we won't go there today !! LOL !! Remember , I'm not trying to start a argument , just wondering why people think it's different ???

BFT

[BLACKJACK]

dude LAKE TOM, a 1/2 acre plot would be great. At certain times the deer will love it, depending upon what you plant. The point I was trying to make earlier about small plots was that they will probaly get cleaned out in a a hurry and that people that compare it to baiting are spreading lies, because where feed is dumped for a long period of time (baiting) will attract deer for a long period where small food plots will be gone in a short time.

[BFT]

The food plots that are planted , most of them last through the hunting season , and into the winter , and if they don't last through the winter , it hurts the deer more than it helps them ! Let me show you > You plant a plot , a nice one may I add , up in the big woods , and you have twenty deer feeding on it into the winter , but it runs out cause its only enough food for ten . 3 feet of snow on the ground , and no food to be found , cause they put there marbles in one bag , now what ? They have to travel miles to find another food source . If they would'nt have that food to keep them there, they would have traveled earlier in the winter, and found a food source that has kept the herd fed for years! Back to the point , take a bag of seed you buy for a food plot , and because in some states its not against the law to bait , it says how it attracts animals in , so you can harvest them ? What don't you understand ? Remember , I'm not against food plots , just the issue that it's not baiting?? Its there in print !!!

Here is a Add from one >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Biologic Hot Spot

Remote stands often provide the best opportunity for spotting mature bucks . Without the ability to utilize machine cultivators or heavy amounts of soil additives, establishing a planting off the beaten trail can be challenging at best. The solution is Hot Spot — a scientifically selected blend of winter peas and buckwheat designed to be fast-germinating, extremely attractive to deer and incredibly easy to plant, thanks to our revolutionary new shaker bag design. No soil-tilling is required; simply clear the ground and apply the seed right from the specialized shaker bag over a 20-yard by 20-yard area. Ideal for planting near treestands and in woodland clearings — and for luring pressured bucks that shun high traffic locations.

Now you tell me that its not baiting ?

[BFT]

Blackjack , no one is spreading lies , it's just the way the law reads >> Baiting is when you put a grain , produce or somthing like it , out there to attract a animal to a certain area , so it can be harvested , what part is unclear ? Is it , by planting the bait , ( bait that the so called baiters would have used ) makes it legal ? And for what you wrote >>

(spreading lies, because where feed is dumped for a long period of time (baiting) will attract deer for a long period where small food plots will be gone in a short time.)

Makes you sound foolish , when the rest in here are talking about how it will feed wildlife all year ! And I think if it was legal , baiters would bait maybe a couple of weeks , if that! So don't go and say a plot that was planted for food to last a little while , wasn't put there for a attractant , to harvest a deer! Also , the record book ( pope and young , and boone and crockitt ) don't really mean anything anymore with all the antler growth products out there , its just not right for some to be in there , if they had help growing by chemicals put out there for that purpose !! Remember , I'm not against food plots , just the issue that its not baiting !!

BFT

[jltimm]

I was told to do a PH test. Should I consider this or go ahead and get some lime for the area? I'm planning on planting mostly clover, and some turnips.I did not know this had to start getting complicated, but I don't want to plant all this seed and then have it not turn out.

[Cooter]

Maybe just go with annual for now, plant the turnips now and maybe some oats or rye in fall. Lime takes a while to raise the pH anyways. A good bet might be to put down the lime now and plant those annuals, then next spring you can go with the clover or whatever. I grew decent crops of turnips and rye on 5.6 pH soil.

[LABS4ME]

Yep a good food plot is a fair amount of planning and work! Baiting isn't.

A good food plot increases the lands carrying capacity of deer and makes them healthier and stronger... year round. Better does, better fawns and better bucks.

We do not hunt over our food plots. The big plots are right on our main trail(s) so we can enjoy seeing the deer... we also seed all of our trails into clover... the deer utilize all of them for feed. We do have some small plots in the woods by where we hunt, but generally we hunt away from them, usually where several trails interesect going to them... I don't find that many bucks hit the food plots during daylight hours so it's best to hunt them back in the woods. I find the way we do food plots no different than the way guys hunt deer in ag. areas or in areas with a high acorn drop... but we put a lot of sweat equity into what we do... not to increase our kill or make it easier, but to have a healthy herd. ANd yes we shoot a lot of healthy does... we aren't just horn hunters (though they are nice! ) I look at baiting as the easy way out. Dump out a pile of corn or beets and wait for your deer.

Is using doe in heat scent baiting then? How about hunting over a scrape line? All these are attractants that are the demise of many a big buck.

I think we need to keep 'baiting' in it's proper context...

Good Luck!

Ken

[UdeLakeTom]

Thanks....I have been going to do this for years...just didn't know how to go about it. This site has been very helpful. Our stand is not directly over the food plot, however where my family but the inclosed stand, there isn't any food around, so we are trying to make it into a trail between the food and the woods. I just cut the 1/2 acre this weekend for the first time in 20 years. Added some fertizer and lime, now I will see what that brings, then in the fall, I'll rake it and put down the Easyplot. It seems that all the fields around us ( within 4 - 8 miles} where I see deer when traveling around are all green. Our's is overgrown and very dry, there are usually lots of beds, but no deer during the early am or evening.

[PerchJerker]

BFT, i think you are making a lot of misinformed and even foolish statements about food plots and baiting. Not sure if you're trolling or if that's the way you really feel.

I'd say this about a couple of your points .....

You asked about the difference between planting pumpkins and hauling them out from your garden. In this regard there is the big difference between food plots and baiting - the planted food is there for the deer and other wildlife 24/7 until it's gone, regardless of hunting season or not, regardless of whether you are there or not. In contrast the pumpkins you dumped are presumably where you are hunting while you are hunting. I think that's a substantial difference, especially when you talk about food plots that are measured in acres vs. a couple of pumpkins.

You also refered multiple times to "steriods" and "antler growth products" that make the record books irrelevant. This is misguided on your part. High quality nutritious food and mineral supplements do no more than provide a balanced diet and vitamins and minerals, and that provides substantial benefits to the wildlife, just the same as you get when you eat a healthy diet and take a daily vitamin. There are no deer growth hormones or steriods out there that I'm aware of. Actually, a lot of the so-called mineral supplements are little more than salt (an attractant, not an antler growth product) and are sold more on marketing hype than on merit. More than anything else you need age to grow large antlers - shoot young bucks and you'll never have big bucks, regardless of what you're doing or not doing with mineral supplements.

One other point I would make is that food plots are often part of a total land managment scheme that we like to do. Without question some people plant food plots solely for the purpose of trying to harvest more deer or bigger deer, but food plots alone are not going to accomplish that with any frequency (and neither is baiting). Like many others, I plant food plots for both year round nutrition and for attraction during the hunting seasons, I maintain the native vegetation to benefit wildlife, and I do supplemental plantings of trees to aid wildlife. I think that does a lot more for the wildlife --- and for me in terms of personal satisfaction ---- than baiting.

There is one more distinction I want to make. I plant several food plots every year, and I hunt over or near some of them but don't hunt over all of them --- even though they are attracting and feeding wildlife. How many baiters put out bait and then don't hunt over it - I'd guess not very many? How many baiters have bait out there in the early spring and fawn rearing season - I'd guess not many? How many continue to bait / feed the deer after they're done hunting for the year - I'd guess not many? I think there is a ton of difference and distinction there between food plots and baiting -- maybe you don't see it the same way but I have no doubt in my mind that I am not baiting by planting food plots.

[Mark Christianson]

I'd also like to go visit the discussion of anyone who has those nice stands on stilts out along those big "feedlots". Also known as croplands.

What the heck is the difference if I plant a few acres specifically for wildlife, versus all those who hunt over many many acres of crops that the deer utilize for nutritional benefit??? Some years those fields have standing unharvested crops.

There are untold numbers of hunters in the field every year that use farmers fields for scouting and setting up stands to intercept deer using those fields.

I gaurantee you there is MUCH more tonnage of feed in an 80 acre field thats been harvested, versus my plots that I let stand all year.

Here is the way I see all this.

We have 120 acres. Of that, we have chosen NOT to rent out all the potential acreage that could be farmed. We have instead decided that taking that acreage and managing it specifically for wildlife is better.

We have acreage in CRP, we have planted trees, we have permanently retired all the wetlands so that they can NEVER again be drained or disturbed, we continue to work with our DNR forestry to remove as much invasive species of brush/trees as we can, etc, etc. AND we have food plots.

Bottom line.........

We could have chosen to rent out a good chunk of our land to a local farmer and set up stands to utilize those crops to better our hunting opportunity, but we didnt. We have chosen the route that we want to better the entire property for the enjoyment of not just hunting and harvesting animals. I have found myself spending an incredible amount of time on that property spring, summer, fall and winter as we continue to strive to make it a better place.

And that better place isnt just making the wildlife happy. Its really been a bonding experience for me, my Dad and my son, and many more family members.

So say plots are baiting. In my eyes, our plots are a very small piece of the puzzle.

Thats my story and I'm stickin to it. Thats why I dont think my plots are baiting. My plots are a small part of a big picture.

If anyone wants to come on out and see what we have done, come one, come all. I am very proud of what we have done.

[BFT]

Now it sounds like you all think i'm against food plots , I'm not ! I'm just wondering where you draw the line between baiting , and food plots ? Heres a senario , A pumpkin patch off the edge of your lawn , not all pumpkins are taken for halloween and a few are left out there ! A person can't throw them a few yards into the trees so he can disc up the garden before winter , cause that would be conciderd baiting , but its ok to put a stand up on the edge , and hunt over the garden, It just don't make sence! Some of you have awsome plots , alot of energy put into them , but why do alot of hunters , hunt only over their plots ? Remember , not saying you all do , but alot that I see or here about do ! If they hunt that way , it should be called baiting ! I sure liked what I heard , that you take alot of does , cause the ratio out there is way out of wack , and by thinning them down , you will make for a perfect herd. Also , when the ratios down to where they should be , your rattling and calling will work alot better , and get them in to shooting range without the aid of bait or a plot ! Also get the herd down to the right ratio , your local farming practices will be enough to get them through the winter , only taking the weak , and by that , keeping a healthy herd ! Just think of the money you'll save on gas and seed ? And also giving you more time to fish and hunt morels in the spring , and also , keeping the wife happy , and thats a big one !! All this by getting the herd to workable numbers !

[BFT]

Heres a add that says they hunt over plots that make deer bigger in the area ! Is'nt steroids just a bunch of chemicals put together ?

Frigid Forage Testimonials

"I thought I should drop you a line to tell you how impressed I am with the MONSTER MAGNET I planted July 3rd of this year. I can’t believe how the deer are going after this plot compared to the other 13 plots I have planted. It looks as if 50 head of cattle have been turned loose in here. They are digging up the turnips and sugar beets and eating them like apples. They like it so much I can’t chase the deer off of it in the evening. They just come right back in. We’re going to use this as a harvest plot to knock down the doe population as early as possible.

Thanks"

Scott Talbot - Big Lake, MN "The deer world rather eat the MONSTER MAGNET than the corn field that is 200 yds away. I’ll definitely be making another seed order this spring."

Brooke Torstenson

Hayward, WI

"Here is that buck that scored 175 last year - he is 190+ this year with 60+ inches of mass."

Rob Olstad

Valley City, ND

"This deer wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for the FRIGID FORAGE Total Nutritional Program."

Clay Stittsworth

Bemidji, MN

Dave Thompson & Grandson

Bemidji, MN

Perry Pesch

Nebish, MN "My name is John Demuth. I mixed some chicory with WILD GAME BUFFET on ½ the plot, and put MONSTER MAGNET and BIG-N-BEASTY BRASSICA on the other ½. The ground had never been broken before and I was skeptical of any success. I just have to tell you that my food plot turned out better than any foot plot I have had in the past. The deer were into the MONSTER MAGNET quickly. The brassica were awesome they grew to the size of softballs with large thick stems. The deer ate the bulbs right out of the ground. One deer was eating so fast she would choke and have to spit it out and try again. The chicory is really neat and the deer started to nibble on it a little at a time. As of this writing the food plot is gone, where the brassica was it looks as if it has been tilled. The MONSTER MAGNET is completely gone and the clover and chicory are eaten level to the ground.

This deer season was our best ever!! On opening day while with my 11 year old son I shot my biggest deer ever, a 200+lb. 10 pointer with a 18 ¼” spread. Then 2 days later I saw an even bigger deer. My 8 year old was quite verbal, as he had never seen such a huge deer. It heard him clear as a bell and then became a memory but we had an awesome time together and it gave us a reason to keep trying!!

My neighbor has corn and oats still standing and the deer chose to hang around my food plot. It sure drew them in. While hunting over it you could smell the food and this must have been too much for them to resist. Next year my son will be old enough to hunt and this plot will be his. I am definitely a FRIGID FORAGE supporter and this is the only product I am going to plant.

Remember take a kid hunting and make it a positive experience and you will have a hunting partner for life. Thank you!!"

John Demuth

Northome, MN

[Nova]

yeah, and we all believe that the advertisements are 100% true. Come on??? Do you go to Super America gas station because their gas gets better mileage? It's true that food plots help the deer with nutrition all year round, which sure, makes them bigger and healthier...that is the point, a healthier herd, same reason the guys that plant food plots also manage the herd by taking does and leaving small bucks go. It's all about a healthier herd, but it's a far cry from Barry Bonds taking steriods....A FAR CRY FROM IT!

The difference between baiting and food plots is simple. Food plots are left year around to help the deer through ALL seasons. Baiting is done only during hunting time to assist the hunter. It's that simple PERIOD.

[Scott K]

Where I hunt it is legal to bait deer. I hunt at my own cabin, my land, not public, I paid for it, so it gives me some advantages non land owners have, that hunt public land. The years before this year I use to throw out a couple bags of corn in the winter, apples in the late summer, pumpkins in the fall, every time I went there. Which is about every other weekend.

This year I planted a couple food plots, to make up the times Im not there to supply them with food. I will still feed them everytime I go there. I do it, the neighbor does it. I am not just feeding them every time I go up there, and planting a food plot to take more deer, I have never had a problem taking enough deer. They get hungry, especially in the mid winter, and early spring. All year round my family enjoys watching deer walk past my cabin.

Now this can cost alot of money, through out the year. I have made several trips up there to feed deer. Atleast that was my excuse to go there! I know it would be alot cheeper, and easier to just grab a bucket full of corn when walk ing out to my stand come deer hunting morning, and I would take home the same amount of deer, but I do this because I think I am helping the wildlife.

[BLACKJACK]

dude, sounds like you're going about it the right way, doing the pre-tillage for weed control and then using some fertilizer. Fertilizer is expensive but it pays off. Now if you could only control the moisture by getting timely rains. Warning - planting food plots is addictive!!!

[BLACKJACK]

BFT, your posts do my work for me as far as proving who sounds foolish. If you don't like food plots, don't read these threads. I would venture to say that the guys planting food plots for deer and pheasants care a lot more about wildlife than your average hunter, they're putting their pocket book to work to prove it. I spend literally thousands of dollars a year to put in food plots by the time I add up fertilizer and diesel fuel and seed cost. The six acres of corn that I just put in won't pay off for me during the hunting season (I shot one deer last year, a small doe), it will pay off for me in February and March when I'm seeing 15-20 deer in my plot or a few days after a big storm when I see all the deer and pheasant tracks in the plot.

[Cooter]

Anyone know how long before beans and peas should start coming up? I planted a little over a week ago, had good rain right after and no sign of plants as of last night.

[Mark Christianson]

I would say tomorrow is the day.

Seriously, any day.

I planted everything on May 7th, and on May 13th all the plots had growth beginning.

[Cooter]

How long before I worry, assuming we get rain...which looks like we will.