Daniel72

Ok I plan on doing little plots in the woods along with a big one on the edge of it I want to start planting in spring

MudderChuck

Not much is going to grow in the woods, you need some light. Berries can be the exception, some need little light to do OK. Raspberries and Gooseberries do OK in low light. The trees tend to suck up all the moisture.

I usually start planting from the edge of the woods out towards the open, when possible. I always figure the roots spread as far as the crown does and start there.

Some plants do better in the dry season than others. One reason I favor Rape, it tolerates dry spells well. Grows up tall and provides cover and it is frost hardy. Young Winter Rape can be good winter feed.

You also have to think about how you are going to protect your planting, especially bushes and trees until they get established. The Deer will eat them as fast as you plant them.

As far as the fallen timber and other forest trash goes, you have to decide about the fire hazard. All that stuff laying around is good cover for many animals. It will also burn easily.

Read as much as you can. I picked up a lot of stuff by trial and error. My Sorghum plot this year was a failure.

My best successes have been Blackberries for Rabbits and Pheasant. Sunflowers for Dove. Dogwood in the wetter places for Deer, half sun. Blackberries and Dogwood will spread quick if you bury some branch or cane ends in the soil. Mixed plots with Corn and Beans was also a big hit. The Beans climb the Corn stocks and then flower, it is actually really pretty,.

I planted Wild Plumes, Vetch and Jerusalem artichoke this last spring. I planted the (Crown) Vetch on naked steep slopes. The Jerusalem Artichoke on the south and west side of a field. Wild Plume does OK in half sun. All of these come back every spring. I've been favoring perennials over annuals for a long time.

Every spring I start hundreds of new plants from the parents in my home garden and plant them on the lease. Or plant seeds I've saved from the previous Autumn.

Jerusalem Artichoke was a big hit with the Deer. The down side is it dies off in the early fall, but comes back from the roots the following spring. You almost have to fence it to let it grow up high enough to survive long, Deer love the stuff.

I've had mixed results with Clover. Rye is OK, but you almost have to mow it.

Have fun with it. Think in years and multi years, even decades. You have a lot to learn if you are a beginner.

Daniel72

If I leave some of the down trees and brush piles would it help bring rabbits in for hunting too? I would love to make it a great place to hunt all legal game but I don't know how possible that would be

MudderChuck

Different kinds of Rabbits or Hare (Jackrabbit) have different habits. Jacks and Cottontail will dig a shallow bunker, sometimes in the open, mostly in the brush. European Rabbits dig burrows and do well in thorny thickets, so the Fox and Yotes have a hard time digging them out. Don't discount Jackrabbits, they are thin and built for speed, but are actually tasty.

If you have grass, Clover, deep brush,hedges or thorny thickets you will likely have Rabbits. Some Alfalfa plots will also help. They seem to thrive where deep thick cover meets abundant food.

Pheasant seem to prefer tall weeds or hedges, but have learned on my lease to nest in Blackberry (thorny) thickets.

Your woods sound like good Turkey habitat, but you'll have to ask somebody more knowledgeable than I.

Small game draws predators. Thinning out the predators can be man hour intensive. In an average year my (personal) small game harvest and my predator count is about equal. "If you build it they will come" and so will the predators.

Deer often prefer someplace elevated to sleep, often hedges or deep brush with a view.

MudderChuck

I've found some good stuff here.

https://www.qdma.com/articles/know-y...-american-plum

Daniel72

Thanks for all the info you guys have gave me so far. I went out and soil tested all the land today I broke it down so I took a sample from ever 2.5 acres over the whole property

Oldtimr

Daniel, see my pm to you in the upper righthand corner of your screen.

super_hunt54

Hey Daniel, I see you are in Indy. More than likely I would think hard about putting in White Clover and Rape for your food plots. I've been pretty successful with alternating winter wheat in a few of my plots as well. You aren't that far from me so your property probably has mostly the same topo characteristics as mine for the most part. I would also check with your local feed store/CO-OP and see what they have to say about what grows well and where in your area. They are a wealth of information that goes dang near untapped by the hunting community for some odd reason.

Daniel72

Where at in Indiana are you? I'm not quite in Indy I'm about 30-45 minutes north west from Indy and I work at Ceres solution if you know what that is but I've never have seen or heard of anyone coming in for food plot help

Brandon_SPC

Could you provide us with an aerial photo so we can see the way the land layout is? It would help everyone out a little bit more.

Off the top of my head a few things I would do if you plan on having this property years down the road 10+ years:

• Try and get an inventory of your predators.

• Get a soil sample done on the places where you will be adding plots.

• After you do that consult a state biologist

• Establish a "sanctuary" that you won't even hunt. If you can and can afford I would plant some pines in some of that open area you have. Establish your sanctuary with some kind of tall grass planted into the mix of pines. Plant it next to the woods or plant multiple patches throughout all the open land and on the border of the property to give them some kind of seclusion especially if you are drawing them from other properties. Gives them a place to feel safe while they travel.

• Limit your hunting pressure and honestly I would not hunt it for at least one season unless you have a bunch of does over bucks and shoot a few does and of course trapping or hunting predators. I have just started on the whole predator scene so there are guys on here that could chime in on that. Use a bow only (personal preference) just because I have hunted both bow only places and places with guns and the deer activity always seems higher with bow only places.

• If there is not a creek running through it build a "small pond" if you don't have one. I would personally put it near the sanctuary