Changing the subject. when is the best time to plant a food plot in virginia? Me and a couple of buddiesI bow and blackpowder hunt with are gonna plant a few on the farm and just wanted to know when the best time to do so is?

Depends on what you plant. The QDM web site has a lot on food plots. Weeds and PH are big preparation items to work out. We sprayed too early last spring and got a nice weed garden.

See this is more like it.. someone that enjoys hound hunting and someone who does not enjoy it, both very vocal and supportive of their choosen methods actually having a civil conversation.. I may not always give you full credit BigBird because of some of your past posts however I will say I was expecting to read some smart aleck comment from you..my bad....

Anyway BigBird is correct the QDM is a good source, it also depends alot on where in the state you are. alot of the products used for plots are the same or similar to crops grown by farmers and produce providers, you might want to ask some of the local farmers for their advise as well. They make their living off of the earth so they are a great source for timing in specific areas.

BB hit it on the head. The timing isn't as important as the preperation. Spray the weeds, turn the soil as much as you can if it hasn't been planted recently and get the ph right. Lots of info out there on the web on this as well.

The only reason I say the timing isn't as important is you can plant early in the spring/summer if you want to supplement them with nutrients during fawning and antler growth or you can do that with minerals and a little corn and plant your plotslater near fall and the actual season.

A trick I have been using lately since I don't really have the time to commit tofood plots but have plenty of land to work with is this. On farmers landsthat I hunt there is plenty of corn/beans throughout the summer/deer season and even after the corn/beans are harvested there is still winter wheat in most fields.

While I know deer eat the wheat after the farmers cut the corn/beans I will pick a secluded corner or windbreak in a good field and me and a buddy will rough up the ground with heavy steel rakes into a nice plot or two or strips. We then heavilyspread a winter mix (like oats, wheat, rye, snow peas(winter peas), turnips, etc. into soil and go over again with lawn rakes. We have had good succes when we have done corn fields earlyshortly after harvest.

The benefits are an extra lush area the deer will definitely hit, minimal work, relatively small financial requirements, and the soil is already prepped and there is other food nearby(the rest of the field) so the deer won't literally wipe it all out.

Just an idea.

thanks for the info guys.