I have about 80 acres that I hunt is Southwest Oklahoma. Iwould like to plant a food plot but not sure if that is a good idea. The land is about 70 acres of wheat. There is nothing on the East side. On the West side is some a small row of mesquite trees then it drops about 10 feet and there is nothing but a few mesquite trees and some small everygreens. This is where I was thinking of planting. There is a big ranch on the West side that nobody hunts. It is way out in the country with nobody around. It would have to be no till because there is no way to get anything bigger than a small spreader to it. The land is mostly clay. Would I be better off using a feeder or is there something I could plant that is real simple? This place is 150 miles from my house so a PH sample would be pretty hard to do. Any ideas or suggestions will be appreciated.

They make a ph meter that sells for about $20 bucks...White ladino clover has about 30% protein and is easy to plant and grows about anywhere...

A good rule of thumb, if you don't take a soil sample, add about 4-500lbs of lime per acre a year...

If it is legal I would put ina big barrel timed feeder. You might scatter some of the supposed to be no till type seeds around the feeder area, but I wouldn't count on them too much unless you get real lucky. Hard to beat just pure corn in a timed feeder (put a solar panel on it). Keep the feeder full year round. If you try the pellet feed, condensed moisture inside the barrel will make the pellets swell, mold and clog up the feeder.

Where in S.W. Oklahoma is your land? I live in S.W. Okla. too and have been food plotting, etc for about 6 years. I might be able to help you with some ideas and some success and failures that I have had. If it's not too far from me, I might be able to go look at it with you and give you some suggestions. Where do you live now?

I live in Tuttle and hunt South of Willow. Were do you live? The land belongs to a relative but I am the only person that hunts this place. I was wanting to do something that will keep the deer around and give them something good to eat.

I live in Altus, but my land is in Mangum. I do a lot of hunting on a place just N.W. of Willow and have hunted for years on land that is South of Willow just across the Salt Fork of the Red River. I've actually hunted some just on the north side of the river. I'll bet I've been pretty close to where you hunt and may even know the owners/operators of the property. I'll almost guarantee that my best friend does since he's worked with the farmers in that area for years. My property is actually on the same river just downstream probably 10-12 miles. You might call me on my cell phone when you're going to be in the area sometime. I work all week at a regular job but pretty much work on the farm all weekend every weekend. If I have some time maybe me and my son can run up there with you and look the place over. My number is 471-8669. You don't by chance have 1 or two sons and the property isn't right on the county road just before it crosses the river? I remember driving by that area 1 day during this past rifle season and seeing a man and a couple of young boys (I think they might have been shooting some bows). I knew I didn't recognize the vehicles. They were on land that used to (maybe still does) belong to T.J. Barton. I used to hunt the place some. Give me a yell sometime when you are down this way. Merry Christmas.

We live in Lawtonand own 80 acres just north of Elmore City in Garvin county. About half the place is woods. For several years we have had both a feeder and a food plot. For an early plot this year we tried soybeans.Worked great until it got too dry. Later we planted wheat and blackeyed peas. They ate that up and we planted spike oats, turnipsand more wheat. Got to really put the seed on the ground. They eat it up fast.

This did a great job of keeping the deer on the place all the way through deer rifle season.There is no acorn cropthis year so we will have to get innovative to keep them there this winter. Next year the plots will be much larger. i've never killed a deer on the place because i never have tried-i hunt in Comanche county.My son has gotten three there.

I grew up in Mangum and my folks still live there. I ment to say West of Willow. It is a little South but mostly West.It is out by Sandy Sanders. The land is my cousin, his name is Brett Hays. My Uncle and Brother have the welding shop in Willow. I bet your friendknows them.I have a son that is 16 but you didn't see us. I haven't bow hunted in several years but may try some next season. We may come down this weekend and try to shot a doe, if not it will be awhile before we get back down. Thanks for the all help.

First, I wasn't paying attention to what you actually said. I was thinking Reed when you were actually saying Willow. We actually hunt North of Reed some and can probably see where you're talking about from the land we hunt. We use Chuck and your brother when we need serious welding done. We can do the little stuff but when we want something done right, we use them. They have made brackets and put a couple of front-end loaders on tractors for me. There are plenty of does in that area. I've seen 20-30 in one morning where I hunt. You shouldn't have any trouble harvesting one. Give me a call sometime when you're in the area. Good luck.

I would much rather provide a food plot than supplemental feeding. The food plots would provide MUCH more nutrition over a much longer period and would also be a lot less expensive over the course of the season.