food plots for small game
02-16-2015, 11:19 AM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 77
food plots for small game
I have 20 acres in Chenango County NY that I bought 10 years ago. The land was part of an abandoned farm; and is part open field, part river bottom, and part steep hill side. I spent some time opening the brushy river bottom and encouraging swaths of grass to come up in the fields (instead of all CRP) and it has proven very successful for the deer. However, my property is almost completely devoid of small game. When I first bought the property I had several grouse and an occasional rabbit. The last few years I have seen almost no small game at all. There is plenty of cover but I don't think there is much in the way of nutrition for small game.
What can I start planting to encourage small game onto the property?
What can I start planting to encourage small game onto the property?
04-04-2015, 06:17 AM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Germany/Calif.
Posts: 2,664
You have to study and think a little about location. My biggest problem is any population growth in small game invariably draws in the predators. Or in other words, over a period of years I grow more Fox and Hawks than edible small game if I'm not careful. I spend way more time thinning out the Predator population than I do hunting small game.
The best move I ever made was planting Blackberries. South or west side of a slope or most any spot where the roots don't stay wet all the time and they get a half days sun. They seem to prefer places with some drainage or wet dry cycles.
I found a plot of wild Blackberries with some vicious thorns and cut two foot canes. I made a fifteen foot long mound of compost, stuck the canes in there and watered well in the spring. Only took a few weeks until I had a decent root ball on the end of most of the canes, I planted a hundred on a southeast slope on the verge of young timber and brush. You can also dig up the end of the long canes of a Blackberry bush that have hit the earth and grown roots. A well established Blackberry thicket is a haven for small game, Pheasant, Rabbits and Dove. May take a few years to grow a good thicket, but it is well worth it. I planted Lavage, kind of a super Celery, next to my Blackberries. The Rabbits love the stuff and once it is established it comes back every year. I also buy a half ton of Oats every year (cheap) and have a giant sized mound of compost and sprouting Oats next to my Rabbit sanctuary. Foxes, Yotes or Hawks have a really hard time moving through a Blackberry thicket, Rabbits and Smaller Birds move through with ease, Pheasant also seem comfortable in there.
In dryer soil I've planted Sunflowers. Flocks of Dove come in the fall for the Sunflower seeds.
I've also opened areas up to the light so the weeds grow in profusion. Small game Birds love the weed seed.
Off topic, but every year I buy 20-30 Pheasant chicks and raise them to maturity in a Fox proof pen. I'm lucky, one hobby breeder I know hatches chicks from Wild stock. They are born wild and do much better than domesticated varieties. The wild stock is really spooky, I've had them beat themselves to death on the pen wire when I show up to feed them. Some years the Weasels prove to me again my pen isn't Weasel proof.
Your location sounds like good Pheasant country.
The best move I ever made was planting Blackberries. South or west side of a slope or most any spot where the roots don't stay wet all the time and they get a half days sun. They seem to prefer places with some drainage or wet dry cycles.
I found a plot of wild Blackberries with some vicious thorns and cut two foot canes. I made a fifteen foot long mound of compost, stuck the canes in there and watered well in the spring. Only took a few weeks until I had a decent root ball on the end of most of the canes, I planted a hundred on a southeast slope on the verge of young timber and brush. You can also dig up the end of the long canes of a Blackberry bush that have hit the earth and grown roots. A well established Blackberry thicket is a haven for small game, Pheasant, Rabbits and Dove. May take a few years to grow a good thicket, but it is well worth it. I planted Lavage, kind of a super Celery, next to my Blackberries. The Rabbits love the stuff and once it is established it comes back every year. I also buy a half ton of Oats every year (cheap) and have a giant sized mound of compost and sprouting Oats next to my Rabbit sanctuary. Foxes, Yotes or Hawks have a really hard time moving through a Blackberry thicket, Rabbits and Smaller Birds move through with ease, Pheasant also seem comfortable in there.
In dryer soil I've planted Sunflowers. Flocks of Dove come in the fall for the Sunflower seeds.
I've also opened areas up to the light so the weeds grow in profusion. Small game Birds love the weed seed.
Off topic, but every year I buy 20-30 Pheasant chicks and raise them to maturity in a Fox proof pen. I'm lucky, one hobby breeder I know hatches chicks from Wild stock. They are born wild and do much better than domesticated varieties. The wild stock is really spooky, I've had them beat themselves to death on the pen wire when I show up to feed them. Some years the Weasels prove to me again my pen isn't Weasel proof.
Your location sounds like good Pheasant country.
