Food Plots

Fishing season is winding down for me and I was hoping to get a good portion of my whitetail homework done before the summer heat rolls in. TWhat I am really looking for from you food plot masters is types of seeds to plant. I am going to do 6-8 1/4-1 acre plots on our 920 acres in Northern MN. Last year I planted two plots of biologic full draw that worked o.k. at best but was very expensive and are they serious about the 300 pounds of fertilizer? Just hoping for something that will grow in most conditions, is not going to break the bank and doesn’t need to be mowed ten times throughout the summer. I am planning on taking all the soil samples in as soon as the ground thaws. Thanks for any suggestions. One last thing, when can I expect/hope to start breaking ground and planting this spring? Hunting Land is by Mora, MN.

I have 160 acres just north of you and have tried many things over the years, my best luck for hunting plots has been a combination of Brassicas (Turnips and rape) and winter wheat and oats. all planted seperatly. the winter wheat will be a good food source all winter and the following spring. I plant my brassicas between july 15th and august 1st. I plant my winter wheat and oats about august 15th. I am only using 100lbs per acre of 13-13-13 for my brassicas and 100 lbs per acre of 23-0-15 for my winter wheat and oats. I buy all seed from local elevators and is very inexpensive. I do plant corn also but you would need a much larger plot than 1 acre or the deer will wipe it out in about a week! I think I enjoy doing food plots and habitat improvement more than I enjoy hunting!
Good Luck on your plots!

Are they all hunting plots, or do you want to provide year-round or over-winter food sources?

Turnips if you want late season/survival food for the deer.

Oats planted in August as hunting plots will be nice tender shoots for early season. (plus, no mowing during the summer)

Rape is usually very productive and deer tend to love the stuff. Clover can be a nice perrenial option, but you would probably have to mow.

soy beans and corn left standing make excellent late season harvest plots – they draw deer from miles around…. Although, smaller plots tend to get eaten quickly and might not even make it to late season in a small plot, especially if there isn’t much else for food sources around. Good cover at times, too. The shoots/leaves on the bean plants make excellent early season archery attractants when the plants are still green. The deer turn back to the beans later in the season to pick off the rest.

Find a local co-op or store that sells bulk seeds. They can be much cheaper than the name brand stuff.

Mike

Consider buying the QDMA book “Quality Food Plots” – Awesome book, great info. I highly recommend it. http://www.cabelas.com/p-0046696626614a.shtml

Bob, you replied while I was typing… Sorry for duplicating most of your response…

Good luck!

Mike

I posted this same type of question a couple of years ago and got this reply……

My suggestion would be to go with something roundup ready the first year. It makes things so much easier, this is what I would do. You will see deer on this if you do it right.

First, get in there in May and burn it down with Round-up. Get the Generic from your Co-op, it is 1/2 the cost as brand name Round-up.

Two weeks late get in there with anything you can. An ATV and a disc, an ATV and a big log, whatever, you need to get the top of the soil disturbed a little. You do not need to work it deep.

After you have the soil worked up, plant some Round-up Ready beans. Just throw the things out by hand and use something to drag over the top after they are broadcast. They are cheap and will grow. The beans don’t need to be fertilized because they make their own nitrogen (basically).

Keep an eye on the plot and let the weeds start to take over the beans. When they do, burn it down with Round-up. If they get to bad, you may need to burn it down twice since it is a new plot. Don’t spray the beans after August 1st because the Rape will get planted to late.

Towards the end of July, one week after your last Round-up Spraying, go in and broadcast Dwarf Essex Rapeseed over the top of the plot. 5lbs per acre is plenty. I use a little more when brodcasting and not dragging it in. Just use your hand and throw it around the plot. The seed is tiny and vigorous, it will take after the first rain. The biggest mistake people make with food Rape is they plant it to thick.

Sit back and watch the deer come. You are set. You have a great summer food and one of the best hunting plots you can make.

If you want to put some extra money into the plot, you can add some 30-30-30 fertilizer when you plant the rape. Although if you do this, you may bring in to many deer

Lots of good info here so far

I’m a hunt plot guy.I plant late July.My favorite is biologic maximum.I have also had good luck with buck forage oats.The biggest need of a food plot is water right after planting to get it started.I don’t get carried away with fertilizer (100 lbs per acre) but it is important.I wait untill about 2 weeks after the shoots start to sprout then when its raining I go in and spread the fertilizer you can almost watch the stuff explode in the next few weeks.The picture is biologic maximum planted on July 22 and the pic was taken Sept 6. Like was said earlier the problem with a good food source like this is they mow it down in the 1st couple weeks of season so tag out quickly. The 2nd and 3rd pics are of the same foodplot taken 2 weeks apart when it “got right”they destroyed it. I should also say I do mow and then till before planting.But have never used roundup.

Thank you all for the responses, all of mine will be hunting plots and I hopefully have a deal with a farmer to plant about 25-30 acres of corn in the center of our land. I learned a lot from those responses and will hopefully have some healthier looking plots this year. Thanks again.

Food Plots?? Who builds Food Plots???

Some great advice above. That one Fireman posted was Scott Steil’s Recipe. He sure knew how to grow ’em. What I have found is their is no sure fire way for all conditions. Each soil is a lil different and one needs to experiment a little sometimes to find out what works for you and your soil! I’m constantly trying to tweak my plots every year to make them easier and more productive. Seeds prosper in different conditions according to PH, yearly rainfall, etc. Lastly, there is no easy way. Food Plots are a ton of fun but they are not easy!

One thing I’m running into is food plot rotation. Like Farmers do to their crops, it is a good idea to rotate your food plots for the same reasons farmers rotate their crops. I have read that it is good to rotate every 3 years.

Great question and topic.

Below is some pics of a food plot that I’m done tweaking with as this thing was a jungle last year! Rape, Turnips with a lil Chicory and Clover! This combo in my opinion is hard to beat for a Hunting plot.

The pic of the turnip is from October, otherwise the rest of the pics is @ 45 days after planting!