Deertracker's 2016 Food Plots

Second year on this one.
DT

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Another view of the two year old plot.
DT

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Looks great!

We’ll need to maybe put you down for an order of Cletheodim for next spring, but mowing was totally the right move. That’s going to be a dynamite plot come fall.

I’ve been having very good luck with my Monster Clover Plus (the plus is chicory) blend. The whole point of this blend is that it works across a very wide variety of soils and growing conditions.

I sold some seed to a guy who got a little antsy and ignored the planting instructions and planted in JULY (!) last year. July. Normally a big no-no for clover as heat and lack of moisture are generally very hard on clover. But he sent pics and it looks just fantastic.

DT, can you see the chicory out there in the clover? I can’t tell from the picture.

Grouse

deertracker wrote:

Second year on this one.
DT

OMG. That’s a gloat-able clover plot right there. The deer won’t be leaving that plot alone starting about 20 minutes after the ag crops in your area get picked.

Grouse

DT, those look fantastic!!! Man are they nice and thick. Going to be a deer magnet!!

I don’t remember when you added to chicory. If it was this year only one of the plots would have it and that is only if I didn’t use left over seed from last year. I will look next time I’m up.
DT

I’m guessing you will have more activity in your clover plots than you saw last year. They are looking great.

Heading up next weekend for the last time before the season. Going to hang stands and mow the clover plots one last time if needed. I’m also going to drag the cultivator around the plot that was going to be brassicas before I ran out of time. I’m going to plant Grouse’s fall mix. Also going to hang cameras which I ran out of time to do. I’ll add pictures once I get up there.
DT

I have a test plot of the All Fall Blend that I planted this past spring to confirm the time to maturity. I have a very funny sequence of pictures from this plot of a fawn and a turkey taking turns running each other out of the plot.

Normally, the oats in this blend would not mature when planted as recommended (late summer), but the oats have headed out so the turkey are just beside themselves trying to eat all the oats while the deer appear to want the rape. So the fawn would charge the turkey, then the next picture is a turkey headed the other way chasing off the fawn. Then the fawn heads back the other way and there’s no turkey in the picture…

Grouse

Update on the clover plots. Mowed just the tops to get some young growth. They should be prime for the bow season.
DT

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Looks like you just got your mowing done in the 11 minutes between downpours. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t had any problems with anything drying out this year! It has worked in my favor most of the time, luckily.

Nice looking plots, those should be really terrific come fall when all the other goodies disappear.

Grouse

What do you think of the new addition to the farm @sticker1 @thefamousgrouse ? It’s 14 feet wide and filled with water.
DT

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Well, in true IDO style, you should have maxed it with the 22 footer. It’ll have better resale value…

J.

Very nice DT!!!

According to farm logs I have had rain on my newly planted fall plot a couple times in the last few days. Good news!
DT

Yes, luckily we’ve had good rain all summer long, but unlike last summer where it came in huge, multi-inch dumps, this year we’ve had a lot more .25 to .5 inch rains, with one exception of a huge 10 inch drenching.

My father planted 1 acre of rye last week before we left for Canada. Will be interesting to see if it’s sprouted and growing by this weekend. We’ve had 1.1 inches of rain at the farm over the last week.

Post pics when you can.

Grouse

I mowed my mature rye a couple weeks ago and disced the heck out of the field to turn it up good. When I went out to re-seed with new rye yesterday, I see I had a decent sprouting already from the natural seeding – maybe 3-4″ tall. I added my new rye seed and will roll it into the wet dirt tonight, as well as scattering some clover seed in a few areas.

Don’t mean to hijack the thread, but Grouse, If I was to go get some rye to plant this weekend, What kind of rye should I ask for? My plots aren’t filling in to well. Figure I could rake in some rye to the thin spots.

Just make sure it is cereal rye and not rye grass.
DT

Thanks DT!

deertracker wrote:

Just make sure it is cereal rye and not rye grass.

Exactly ^^^. The seed should look like wheat, if it looks like grass seed then you have, ummmm, grass seed.

BTW, if you food plotters need a reason to go with better quality seed blends, then just read the back label of some of the fancy national brand food plot seed blends that are on the shelf at the big box chains. On the back, every seed blend must have a label that breaks down the % of each seed variety in the blend.

Some of the commercial seed blends are 50% or more rye grass seed! The bag is screaming brassicas or clover or implying some high value plot seeds and then the reality is the blend would best be used for your front lawn. Read the fine print.

Grouse

@thefamousgrouse, is this chicory? Can’t remember if it has the jagged side when it gets older.
DT

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Yes I can see 5 or 6 chicory plants there. That’s it. Nice looking stuff.

Grouse

There is quite a bit of it in this plot. I must have used your new mix when I seeded the bare areas this spring.
DT

Now that I’m on a proper computer, I can see that some of those leaves have been browsed and have regrown.

Only rarely can I find a chicory plant in my plots. The deer seem to seek it out and eat every plant.

Chicory got very hard to get 2 years ago. It was good to see it available for the 2016 seed blends when I bought seed last winter, but it was expensive.

Grouse

They have been hitting my clover and rye/chicory plots hard. I can’t find any chicory left and it seems like every blade of rye has been bitten down to only an inch left.
DT

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In the midwest, chicory doesn’t last. The deer just love this stuff. It gives off a very inviting smell that practically guarantees the deer will pick it out of the plot until they get every last leaf. I can’t find a single leaf of chicory in my clover plots, either the 2-year-old plot or the plot we just planted.

That clover plot looks good, but you shouldn’t mow it so short. Let it grow up a little so there’s something for the poor deer to eat.

Grouse

If you’re talking my most recent pic, the large circular area is what is left of the rye. My clover is a lot longer.
DT