food plot in the woods
 

I've been kicking around an idea about putting a food plot on my property. my problem is that it is solid woods, I don't own any fields. the only "open" area i have is my 4-wheeler road. I have been thinking about planting the 4-wheeler road in Biologic clover plus and Hotspot. My worry is the amount of sunlight, or lack of sunlight.

does anyone have experience in foodplots in woods or anywhere that is low light?

RE: food plot in the woods
 

Go for it I have 2 small plots but I have more clovers planted in my tractor trails. You have nothing to loose and everything to gain. There are some spots that next to nothing grows because of lack of sun lite but most
(90%) of the trails have something growing. I do see more deer in my trails than I do the 2 small plots that I have. Maybe because they don't have to be far from cover?

RE: food plot in the woods
 

Plant natural forage that normally grows in the local woods and fertilize it , you won't have to sweat the low light and the fertilizer will make them both grow more vigorously and taste better .

RE: food plot in the woods
 

Iown only woods too, but for the past two years I've planted a food plot on a fenceline. There is a pretty good canopy of trees but the fencerow gets the ground enough sunlight. I mow it down with a regular household mower and till it with a tiller.

I've had great results so far. I also planted a bowhunting plot on my Grandpa's property and it looked like a golf course.

Here are some pics. Both of mine were maybe 40 yards from my stand tree at the furthest...of course I was bowhunting...but both brought in deer...



You can see the corn feeder, but all the area directly in front of the camera (shaded) is where I plant my food plot at our house.



This is my Grandpa's plot. It's in a wooded area too but the pic was taken at night-time. You can see how well it came up though...

RE: food plot in the woods
 

A fenceline is always an excellent place to establish even a small plot since fencelines are deer magnets and funnel them right to the plot .

Say Fro , do you really like feeding the coons that much ? ;)

RE: food plot in the woods
 

Sowhat ifI do? :D

I was going to keep my big buck pictures private...but what the heck--this is for you Kevin.




And for everyone else...

The small food plots "in the woods" do work...;)

RE: food plot in the woods
 

Nice pics FroMan, but what's up with the bucks rt. back leg?

RE: food plot in the woods
 

Not sure...I thought maybe he'd been shot before, got hit by a car, or had an infected tarsal gland of some sort? I really have no idea...but it's not a good thing...that much I do know.

RE: food plot in the woods
 

thanks for the info and pics. what did you plant?

RE: food plot in the woods
 

I plant winter wheat and oats in the plot at my house. At my Grandparent's I planted a mixed bag of goodies. Had clover, wheat, oats, rye, and some other stuff in it. It cost a bit more for the mix. The wheat and oats (two 50# bags) is like...20 bucks. I'm po, and I can afford that.

RE: food plot in the woods
 

You're not going to get much growth from clover on a wooded trail. I would suggest rye. Plant it in September, and depending where you are the leaves should come off the trees in a few weeks and give the rye enough light to grow.

RE: food plot in the woods
 

Answerguy is right largely, however, there area handfulof white clover blends that do well on trails, many of which are the "deer" versions. I can't even explain how many of these I've set up with perennial stands that go strong for years. And I'm talking 4 ft trails with canopy cover. 4 hours of sunlight overhead through the canopy is all it takes to pushwhite clover in my experience.

I'd suggesta blend with clover, rye, chicory, and brassicas. Even a wheat would be killer. The Rye and Wheat would make a killer setup for bowhunting, as answerguy mentioned.

The ATV trail is BY FAR one of the top three food plot locations for a year-round setup. Say you've got a 200-400 yard atv trail, with secondaries leading into them...just imagine the tonnage you can get out of a 4' x 600'-1200' area that otherwise, is just driven over. You're lookingup to 1/10 of an acre! Make some use out of that land sitting there!

And that 1/10 acre,while seeming small, looms large in deer's feeding habits during hunting hours...concealed, as opposed to a field...they'll be more inclined to stop and munch with the sun up.

RE: food plot in the woods
 

i have stuff in the woods planted and it came up good.,some of the annuals from last year even came back this year so it should be even better......I too have seen many roads in the woods planted in thick clover and they done great to attract deer....when i was living in NC one of the game lands had all its roads planted in clover to help feed the deer....and this game land had some good bucks on it too

RE: food plot in the woods
 

I plant most of my plots in the woods. Most times I can not get any thing in to work the area. Everything is hand carried into it.

What I have found that will make a good plot in the woods with cover of leaves from trees is to pick a spot that the sun will run across and add as much sun light as possible. The sun travels from the east to the west and keep in mind it moves in the Southwarddirection the closer to fall it gets.

When looking for your spot find a place that is opened in the top from east to west and always plant on the North side of the openings. This way the sun will make it through to the area over the season.

When planting in the woods , I would not take a chance at a place that has no froage all ready growing. Pick a spot that has lots of weeds or ground growth on it. They are growing because they like the soal and location. Just pick out as open as possible. I have great luck with planting in these areas...

RE: food plot in the woods
 

thanks guys good info! I just got done with it. I pulled a 2 row horrow behind my 4-wheeler, got the sticks and leaves out of the way, got down to the dirt and tilled it till it was powdery. laid down 12-12-12 fertillizer then add the seed.

i think in about mid september i will try a few locations near my stands with the new biologic hot spot.