mauser06

next semester for my park and resource management ecology class i already know we have to do a conservation project. we had to do a big project for this semester in the class...and i know we have to do a conservation project next semester. i got to thinking already..and id like to put in a food plot. that would fall under conservation..giving the wildlife something to eat. i havent talked to my farmer friend yet..i just thought of the idea actually...but im sure he can find me a place to put one. if not i seen some that will grow in the woods i can put in on his land. the plot wouldnt be huge..1/4-1/2 acre realisticly id say..i dont know ill have to talk to him and see where i can go with it. but before i get too deep into planning, i need to know if theres any i can plant as soon as the snow melts and have growing shortly after. the project will probably be due roughly may 1st or so..maybe even mid-end of april..id like to have the foodplot somewhat breaking ground before then for pictures and such..but i guess i could just take pics of my work and explain the seeds wont grow till later..anyone want to offer some help?? you can see i dont know much about food plots..but man id love to have one to bowhunt next fall!!..anyone have any advice on the project and foodplot?? stuff to look into to planting for deer and maybe turkeys..is there indeed something i can just rack the leaves and such from the forest floor and plant it incase my farmerfriend cant come up with a piece of field for me?? thanx guys...it would make a nice project for me and i could reap the benefits in the fall!! even if i planted it and it came up in the spring then i replanted it for the fall or whatever..i dont know how that stuff works......anyone know any good websites or anything?? sorry i just dont know much about it

timbercruiser

Bad time of the year, especially in Pa. to try to start a food plot. Until you said that theresearch paperhad to be completed in late April the ideas of two or more plots with some cages over 1 sq yard areas, using different seeds and getting the grazed tonage figures figured out would have been good. I read a study in the QDMA magazine a year or so back that addressed this and it was interesting. Feeding with several troughs and noting the amount of feed preferred/consumed is an idea.

mauser06

i found some biologic seed they said i can plant something like a month BEFORE the LAST frost...so id say late march early april...ive seen it frost into april..but after mid march the ground thaws and the snows usually done and it warms up quick. said when ground temp is 55 i could plant..i dont know that itll grow at all by late april....but hey..the conservation work would be done....the deer would have somethin to eat once it grew lol. i really dont plan on anything BIG...but maybe a few small ones would be the ticket anyways. and like you said i could try diffrent seed and such..i think my idea of the foodplot is great...do some soil testing(definently a PLUS for the project idea) put down lime or fertalizer to get the soil where i need(if i plant in one of the farmers fields i shouldnt need anything) and show how i worked to ready the land and soil, picked the spot based on deer sign and movement and sunlight etc...even if it dont come up by april i dont think she can complain about it...there aint much to eat around here in the spring and summer..not much browse because nothing has been logged(hey theres an idea...if i clear a spot in the woods i can make a brush pile for small game cover!) nuts are gone by spring..no corn etc..man this could turn into an excellent project...and my hunting would be good come fall i love it......gunna see what i cant find online later tonight..theres surely seed i can plant after the snow melts..ill see the farmer sunday night talking hunting..and monday we will be hunting. i know a field he plants but its small and enclosed with woods..he said he was going to plant corn there this year for me to bowhunt next year..but maybe he will give it to me for a food plot..get him to let me disc it up real nice and im set!! he might actually go for that too....or come up with somewhere else i can plant. heck i can even plant clover or something and let him mow it for the cows over the summer..i got lots of options.....this is gunna be a good project!..and i got lock ons and ladder stands ready to go!! i always wanted a foodplot to hunt...

The Plot Doctor

Please e-mail me or call I will help you with your project.....

Tim 920-655-7504 [email protected]

Criggster

Beware! If you are doing this project for a grade then please try to find something that is predictable. If it were me I would stay far, far away from food plots with that limited amount of time. What if the frosts last later than normal, rainfall is poor, or the plot just doesn't make anything. You would be in a world of hurt and likely fail the project!

mauser06

thanx guys..sorry i kinda forgot about this post...thanksgiving break...rifle season opened..college...you know how it is.

i did think about it alot. found seeds that say plant after the last frost. heck some said plant a month or something before the last frost. i got to thinking...i REALLY dont need it up...as long as i work on it and get somethin planted she cant say i didnt do the work....ill tell her to come on down and see it over the summer and see how the deer are benefiting from it.

criggster..i understand what you mean 100%..the plot may never turn out. again..it might lighten my wallet..but from the project and grade standpoint i cant be effected. i did the work..showed how it was done..talked about the benefits and why foodplots are good etc...should be rather simple and straight forward..im going to talk to her after class tomarrow if i remember and see what she has to say.

if i gotta come up with somethin else im going to be at a loss..i really dont know what else i can do for a "conservation project" quit hunting for a year?? ya right!! shes a hunter too actually. she says our deer herd needs managed. wine em, dine em...kill em and grill em! thats my conservation!!

if i can get a secluded spot and hide the plots well i think come hunting season itll be like stealing candy from a baby..thats something noone does around here..and if i do it right i could have somethin good on my hands!! we got spots deer will walk a mile or more for corn..weve watched them. so i can get an A and tag a buck

timbercruiser

How about a paper about the points restrictions and results that Pa started a few years ao? Game officers and maybe QDMA might have some information to help. Lousy time of year to try and do anything in Pa in my opinion with food plots.

mauser06

timbercruiser.....dont get me started on ARs lol. PAs deer herd was so screwed up it wasnt funny. they did good and got the buck to doe ratio somewhat fixed. but i see no proof what so ever of ARs working. too many guys whack illegal bucks and JR hunters, disabled hunters and military folks get to shoot any buck...in the end not much make it..im all for that group of people having the chance to take any buck...but between them and ALOT of guys taking illegal bucks theres not a prayer to see it work IMO. good idea...but in a state like PA with over 1million hunters i dont see it working...sad thing is they are convinced it works...id like to go hunt where it does work..i hunt 2 diffrent WMUs and dont see much...im pretty frustrated with the states hunting in general. too many hunters for me....

monday i was channel scanning on the radio and heard a guy talking about how "grandpa hit a spike and they need JR to come finish it off or tag it if its dead coz hes legal for it" luckily i couldnt figure out where they were..i was on the highest ridge around at the top of a tree so i had GOOD radio range..but that happens more then anyone could guess..its too easy to shoot one and get it back to the house and butchered..

and also its more of a project rather then a paper. a paper is only a part of it. an example project i heard of was last year a bunch of people made woodduck boxes for woodducks to nest in.

im still thinking.....but i like the idea of a foodplot..and theres some that can be planted in the spring..might not be great for fall hunting..but ill get the deer fat and get the project done if nothing else..i dont know...good thing im starting thinking about it now...we wont be assigned the project till late january..and itll be due late april or so...if you think of anything let me know...

Criggster

If you need ideas here is what I did for my Senior Project. I wrote a paper on Best ManagementPractices for Cattle Production. Very interesting stuff there, and it helps me in the work I do now. Check with your local NRCS office for info.