Let's talk fall food plots!

[Belo]

58 minutes ago, Robhuntandfish said:

 Your plots looked really great.  Please do.  Let us know what you end up using too, always looking into this stuff. Lots of deep dives on the internet for sure. 

My brain keeps bouncing between deep dives and super analyzing or  just winging it lol. They really didn't take to any of the beets or beet like stuff at all last year, but then I hear it takes time for them to grow a taste for a new type of food. Coupled with a mild winter, they never really had to eat it. I didn't do any radish or peas last year so i'm thinking of throwing those out for sure. Brassicas did seem to work well too. Haven't done oats yet either.

[phade]

I mix my own now after years of buck on bag stuff. I’m also mixing for several people now too, locally.

I have a radish, turnip, kale, rape mix. That’ll be the bulk of our plots. The rest will have oats mixed in with some winter wheat/cereals. We had luck with oats two seasons ago but missed planting some last year and I think it was bad timing since the soft mast crop was horrible. 

We have two small clover sections. We need to get cleth on them. First year I think the competition is a bit more than I am willing to let them be “au natural.” 

We are also being more mindful of how we break our plots up. The northern sections are going to be more early season with the south being more late season. Shade is also a factor we’re more aware of.

[phade]

2 minutes ago, Belo said:

My brain keeps bouncing between deep dives and super analyzing or  just winging it lol. They really didn't take to any of the beets or beet like stuff at all last year, but then I hear it takes time for them to grow a taste for a new type of food. Coupled with a mild winter, they never really had to eat it. I didn't do any radish or peas last year so i'm thinking of throwing those out for sure. Brassicas did seem to work well too. Haven't done oats yet either.

Peas have just been horrible for us. High DPSM I think make it tough as the peas just don’t handle the browse pressure. They rank right up there with an unprotected soy bean plot for me in terms of survival.

[Robhuntandfish]

2 minutes ago, phade said:

Peas have just been horrible for us. High DPSM I think make it tough as the peas just don’t handle the browse pressure. They rank right up there with an unprotected soy bean plot for me in terms of survival.

we had peas in one spot last year and the deer just devoured them before they did much. Luckily i had other things in the plot there with a few brassicas, clover etc.  But we put peas in a stretch down the middle as we put things in different areas of the same plot to see what worked best. 

we learned after two years that turnips and radish were a no-go due to an excess of water but forage brassicas were good.    I even threw out some swiss chard in one spot to see how it did. Clover has been king for us.   

[Robhuntandfish]

Last years Antler King Honey Hole and Whitetail inst Secret spot.  Doing the same there this year. 

[Robhuntandfish]

[Belo]

1 hour ago, phade said:

I mix my own now after years of buck on bag stuff. I’m also mixing for several people now too, locally.

I have a radish, turnip, kale, rape mix. That’ll be the bulk of our plots. The rest will have oats mixed in with some winter wheat/cereals. We had luck with oats two seasons ago but missed planting some last year and I think it was bad timing since the soft mast crop was horrible. 

We have two small clover sections. We need to get cleth on them. First year I think the competition is a bit more than I am willing to let them be “au natural.” 

We are also being more mindful of how we break our plots up. The northern sections are going to be more early season with the south being more late season. Shade is also a factor we’re more aware of.

My clover is doing well, I sprayed once last year, not sure it did much but still have some arrest max leftover so i'll probably spray again. I found mowing to be the most beneficial.

the allure with great 8 is exactly what you mentioned, different crops at different times, but yeah i'm thinking too about archery vs gun as my one plot is good for both... but even if i mess it up, they would have to pass the stand to go to the plot.

appreciate the advice on some of what you're planting. The price for the buck on bag stuff is stupid i know, but given the time and gas, fert and spray i put it, it's small potatoes. 

[Swede]

On 7/2/2023 at 11:55 AM, corydd7 said:

Deer eat my brassicas in September. It's only a half acre so not a big plot but after the first two years they realized how much they enjoy them. 

I'm trying WTI pure attraction this year. 

Can't saw enough about hancock seed Co. Been planting brassica mix pure turnip plots and there clover mix

[Wolc123]

I am going to experiment a little this year.  I’ve never used oats for deer, but I hear that they like them a little more than wheat and a lot more than rye, so I’m going to give them a shot.  They were cheap ($ 9 for 50 lb), and I have some ground ready and almost ready for them.  

The back, west side plot will be 1.75 acres of oats, with .25 acre of purple top turnip / rape mix across the the back.  I had a spring planting of RR corn there, but the very old seed germinated less than  10%, so I dragged that under, a few weeks ago.  
 

I fertilized that corn, at about 60 lbs/acre of triple 15, with my corn row planter.  It will be interesting to see if the oats do better on those rows.  
 

I planted another 1.75 acres of that RR corn seed the same day, up front behind the creek, as well as 1/4 acre of late sweetcorn.  It germinated a little better there (about 25%). I’m going to cultivate that and spray the rows with Roundup, soon after we return from vacation.  Then, I’ll wait for rain in the forecast, and broadcast oats just before .  
 

That front spot will also get 1/4 acre of brassicas, planted between the sweetcorn and the field corn.  
 

I’m also putting in (2) acres of wheat/white clover/AWP mix out back and 1/4 acre of that over at my parents.  I’m putting in 1/4 acre of  Whitetail Institute  “tall tine tubers over there also. 

 

 

Edited July 6, 2023 by Wolc123

[Swede]

On 7/2/2023 at 11:55 AM, corydd7 said:

Deer eat my brassicas in September. It's only a half acre so not a big plot but after the first two years they realized how much they enjoy them. 

I'm trying WTI pure attraction this year. 

Can't saw enough about hancock seed Co. Been planting brassica mix pure turnip plots and there clover mix. You don't get the fancy deer picture on bag but at half cost you'll get over it

[G-man]

Waiting for it to dry out a little. Then need to burn off some grassi killed. Get some turnips planted and over seed a existing  clover plot.. 

[JohnPlav]

Checked food plots today. Corn is doing great.  Turnips are not that great.  I planted daikon radishes for the first time, and they will definitely need to be thinned out soon.  All the fields around us are soybeans so hopefully the deer will have some interest in this different menu.  Also got a little guy shooting my 30+ year old bow. 

[Wolc123]

On 7/6/2023 at 6:47 PM, Swede said:

Can't saw enough about hancock seed Co. Been planting brassica mix pure turnip plots and there clover mix. You don't get the fancy deer picture on bag but at half cost you'll get over it

I was pretty impressed with some “buck on the bag” Whitetail institute “tall tine tubers” last season.  I put in half a bag of those at home,  that a member of the old site gave me.  They seemed to get heavier usage than the feed store purple tops and rape mix that I usually use. 
 

They really got hit thru the winter.  In the spring, every last bit of turnip was gone, along with every bit of foliage (which started getting hit real hard after the first fall frost).  The ground looked like it had been freshly rototilled. 
 

The real test for those will come this year, when I’m going to use the other half of that bag over at my parents place (about 20 miles from me).  The deer on that far corner of our wmu (9F), never seemed to touch the turnips that I planted there before.  
 

I’m going back with the feed store purple tops and rape mix at home this year.  If they don’t go for it, then I might actually  actually spring for more of the “buck on the bag” stuff.  

 

 

Edited July 9, 2023 by Wolc123

[Cabin Fever]

I have a small clearing by one stand that I thought I'd throw some seed down and see what happens. Thought I'd try Antler King "Lights Out". No ground prep, other than going on with the weed whip to cut down existing vegetation, scratch the ground up the best I could, seed, walk all over it to help seed to soil contact, and hope for heavy rain to help! (Having absolute down pours on and off all afternoon! ) It's a little early to seed according to the bag, but I figured considering it's not exactly optimum conditions, it wouldn't hurt to get a 2-3 weeks head start! I used a 1/4 acre worth of seed in this little area too, hoping to have some decent growth. Have to see how it goes....

 

[Robhuntandfish]

6 minutes ago, Cabin Fever said:

I have a small clearing by one stand that I thought I'd throw some seed down and see what happens. Thought I'd try Antler King "Lights Out". No ground prep, other than going on with the weed whip to cut down existing vegetation, scratch the ground up the best I could, seed, walk all over it to help seed to soil contact, and hope for heavy rain to help! (Having absolute down pours on and off all afternoon! ) It's a little early to seed according to the bag, but I figured considering it's not exactly optimum conditions, it wouldn't hurt to get a 2-3 weeks head start! I used a 1/4 acre worth of seed in this little area too, hoping to have some decent growth. Have to see how it goes....

 

Looks great Bob.  With all the rain this year it should take off even in July.  Would be a cool little spot.  The view from the stand here just needs a buck in it!  @Jeremy K