2016 Food plot plan

Here is my food plot plan for 2016. Been toying with this for the last couple weeks and I think I have gotten a pretty solid rough draft, actually I am happy with this plan. Unless someone finds holes in it? I am all ears if you see something I should do different. Always good to have fresh eye as I have been staring at this for 2 weeks now. The 2 plots on the southwest with both green and yellow in them will be planted with both corn and beans. I will plant the corn first then go back in between the rows and plant the beans. I did a small test area like this last year and both corn and beans did very well. It really kept the browse pressure off of the beans and allowed them to grow to almost waist high plants, while the beans right next to them but out of the corn were mowed to the ground. Your thoughts are appreciated.

Awesome setup. Nice plan and a great property.

What’s in the Brassicas plot before you plant the brassicas in the mid summer? Is there a spring cover crop like rye there now? If not, I’d be tempted to add a cereal grain mix there under the “it can’t hurt” banner.

As with any row crops that are being used as food plots, the trick is to have enough moisture to carry you through until the ground is shaded. Hasn’t been an issue in the past 3 summers, so hopefully our luck continues.

Also–and honestly, I’m just bringing this up for the benefit of others reading this thread–but just to point out that last year Sticker had a major issue with Ragweed and it wiped out his beans in some (can’t recall how many) plots. Ragweed is nasty and it rapidly grows to the point where it chokes out the crop and then it cannot be killed with gly.

So just pointing out to those reading this and considering corn and beans, you have to have the equipment, time, and chemicals for effective weed control with these crops.

Grouse

Hey Sticker-Looks good. Can you show where your current stands, access trails,
bedding areas, etc are?
It would definitely help to critique your plan.

I’ll see if I can post mine in the next couple days to get everyone’s thoughts.

Right on Grouse, I did loose that entire big plot of beans to ragweed last year, HATE the stuff. Last fall I planted that whole field in winter rye. My plan this spring is to plant the beans and corn right into the standing rye, cultipack it to lay the rye over, then spray the rye with gly. The laid down rye should hold moisture thru the summer and keep the weeds from germinating. The beans and corn will grow right up thru the rye. The brassica in that plot also has rye planted in it as a cover crop, so that will keep the weeds down until mid July when I till and plant the brassica.

Ranger, here is a rough diagram of stand locations, waterholes, access trails and bedding. We have about 8-9 permanent box blinds, the rest of the stand are ladder or hang ons and are moved each year according to deer traffic and food sources. The stands I have marked are either box blinds or common locations that we put stands.

With the big field it can be tough to access stands without being seen headed across it. That is something I have struggled with for years. Just isn’t a good way to get to the other side without dragging scent across the whole property and blowing deer out of all the plots, so we normally go across. The main trail across the field is actually a low spot, almost a ditch so that is our main travel across, but it’s not perfect.

Sticker-Have you thought about accessing your stands via the perimeter of your property? Some of the access trails seem very intrusive and your wind will blow in multiple directions as you get to them.
I’ve been reading that human scent will travel 150 yards.If that is the case, you are definitely mucking up a lot of your property.
Do a lot of deer enter the large middle field in the evening? Accessing a stand during an early afternoon may be ok, but I’m assuming you bump a lot of deer walking through it in the evening on the way back to the cabin.
Just my two cents.

I actually moved access to one of my stands this winter(cut a new path). The new path requires a 100ft pallet bridge as well but will be a lot less intrusive to the area and on my west property border.

I have and actually have tried this in the past. The problem is there isn’t just one or two bedding areas as you can see. Depending on wind direction and speed you are going to spread scent in at least one bedding area with any access point. I really wish I had a valley or creek bed running thru the property that I could use to access stands. The property is high in the big field and slopes away in all 4 directions. Some small valleys, but all of them run thru a bedding area. My best solution so far has been to hunt the stand that I can legitimately get into without blowing out the deer by sight, sound or smell on the given day with the given wind direction.

Knowing where there deer come from and are headed to for a particular stand is very helpful, but not even close to fool proof. Running between 12-16 cams on this property helps, as does a strict regiment of scent control.

Yes, a lot of deer use the big middle field in the mornings and evening and yes I do bump deer when coming out at night. I have been waiting to come out across that field until it is completely dark, or have someone drive a ATV out to cover my exit, but I still struggle with bumping deer on my exit. One problem with using the borders on exit is a lot of deer also use the ag fields on the borders in the evening, so even if I didn’t bump deer off our property I would be bumping deer regardless.

Sticker, are you planting your corn based on soil temp or a specific date? I will be planting corn for the first time this spring.
DT

I almost always do it by date, the weekend before opening of fishing. I am on higher ground with sandy soil so the soil warms pretty quick in the spring. Last year I took soil temp reading just to be sure, but I normally don’t.

Corn I don’t worry about getting in the ground too soon. It is pretty resistant to cool temps. Beans on the other hand you need warm soil temps to plant. They recommend at least 50 degrees for both, but I like to have it warmer for beans.

I start my prep work as early as I can to get the soil opened up so it warms faster. Again I am on high sandy ground, so I can get in the field a lot sooner than most. My goal is always to get everything in before fishing opener because then my priorities change obviously.