MidwestJ

Hey all I need help.

I recently bought 27 acres that I plan to build a house onand live on in the future. I also plan to bowhunt on this property and am interested in making a small food plot to attract the deer. When walking the property initially, I saw one decent rub so I know the deer are there. The property is all woods with a lot of mature oaks (acorns) and some thick brushy spotson it too. Completelysurrounded by woods on all sides too.

This property lays in a rectangle and I'll be building on the front end (narrow end) of the rectangle. The way this property lays, I shouldn't disturb the deer too much with a house on the front end.

I want to put in a small food plot to keep the deer coming around and am interested to hear your thoughts/ideas. What would you do?

Perhaps I could put in 2 or 3 smaller plots with different food items for them? Plus with multiple sites, I could work the wind that way too.

the kidd

well im planning to do the same but i dont know what to do either im loking forward to someone answering

pigiron

What you just described is almost my exact set-up. I have 29 acres in SouthJersey, surrounded by deer woods on 3 sides. All of my gound is open, except for 3 or 4 acres. I just built my house 3 years ago, and believe me it doesn't scare them. The deer were settled down about 3 months after I moved in. I watch them in my back yard all season long. During the summer months I'll feed them whole corn about 60 yds out from the house. This made for some great pics. I have some beautiful bucks on film. One buck that probably scores 155-160, would eat everyevening, 60 yds out. Awesome sight.(will try to post pics)....Anyway as far as food plots go, I have 3 acres I plant every year.(again, directly in back, about 150yds out. Try to plant so it's visable from your back window) Plow your plot first, then disk it a couple of times to level the ground. I broadcast 1/2 field sooybeans, and the other alphalpha, with about 300lbs. of fertilzer to the acre(10-10-10 will do). Then go back over with a disk LIGHTLY(about an inch). This has worked wonders for me. I count anywhere from 10 to 30 deer at a time in that field. They kill it. Normally it should winter over, but mine seems to be pretty shot by the spring. Watching multiple bucks in their off season bachelor groups is priceless(especially from your dinner table!).......Almost forgot, try to plant in the fall. If you plant in the spring, the field might get choked out with nut grass or coffee grass. This can be prevented with weedspray, but it's a large added expense.

MidwestJ

Thanks pigiron! Sounds like good advice. Keep em comin guys!

jmbuckhunter

Before you plant get a soil test done at the local farm beuroe. It will help you with getting the right PH and fertilizer in your soil, VERY IMPORTANT. Plants grow best when they have the right nutrition and are able to get it out of the soilYou might also want to post on the wildlife management forum. They may be more helpful than anyone on this forum. They know their stuff.