Plot size
 

How big do you suggest it be? THe land I' m talkin about is probably only 10 acres of timber all surrounded by fields. There is a small are that opens up that has a row of timber on both sides and has nothing but tall weeds in it right now. I' m thinkin about planting biologic there. How big should I make it?

RE: Plot size
 

Plant the entire area. If it is on ten acres, it can' t be that big. One thing, if it doesn' t get enough sun it may not do too well. Do a soil test this fall and get the area prepared for the spring planting. If lime is needed, you can' t get it on too soon.

Russ

RE: Plot size
 

But I' ve read that you only need a 1/4 acre for every 10 acres of timber. The area gets plenty of sun.

RE: Plot size
 

Something got mixed up in my translation. I thought you said that the whole area was 10 acres. Are you now saying that the area where you can make the plot is 10 acres? If that is the case, then 1/4-1/2 acre would be adequate. But I would make strips of various plantings, especially if you haven' t put in any plots before. This will tell you what the deer will prefer and not tie up the plot with something they don' t care about. Also, deer are buffet eaters, they like variety.

Russ

RE: Plot size
 

The area I hunt is around 10 acres. The place I have that I am thinking of putting the plot is around 4 acres. Right now I have Biologic clover plus to plant. What else would you recommend to mix in?

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What is planted in the fields around the bush? You want to plant the cherry on top of the ice cream, not more ice cream.

Dan O.

RE: Plot size
 

This year there was beans to the east and beans to the west. But to the west there is wheat that is about 3in. tall. I' m sure there will be corn planted to the east next year but I' m not sure if the farmer will double crop the wheat in bean again after being cut next year or not.

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Hey Dan O-
I have a very similar situation to this with crops around my timber. Corn and soybeans surround the plot. What would you suggest for the cherry in my food plot?

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Rye, oats, rape, clover. Long term; some apples, oaks, persimmons. It' s surprising to see the use that a lone oak tree or apple tree get. Try some of the mixes that Lunchbucket sells. He knows which crops complement each other. It' ll be interesting to see how farm hunter' s sunflowers act as a deer draw.

Dan O.

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Thanks Dan... First and foremost, do soil samples. You need a pH value of 6.0 - 6.5 for just about anything that is any quality in the forage/foodplot value. Do that now and lime if necessary. Beans, wheat and corn are not available to the deer for antler/lactation period although the wheat is good for the winter months because of the carbs. Do you have any clover or alfalfa fields within a 1/2 mile? How large an area are you intending on planting and what would you say your deer concentration per sq. mile is? What is your buck doe ratio?

RE: Plot size
 

There are no clover or alfalfa fields within miles. I plan on planting a 1 acre plot. The land I hunt on is only about 15 acres, but all together the timber is around 60 acres. It' s hard to tell the concentration but I would say at any given time there would be between 10-20 deer in the 60 acres. Some nights I see 10 or 12 other times I see nothing. Buck to doe ratio is probably around 1:4; 1:5. Again its hard to tell becuase I can' t huntt the whole property so those numbers are strictly estimates.

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Here is a picture. Due to the limitations on size I couldn' t show the entire timber. Basically it' s a strip that run N to S with fence rows and fingers that jet off to the east and west. To the south of the photo embedded in this post there is a small 2.5 acre patch of timber that is 75 yards from my g/f' s house. The deer use it mostlly at night and for bedding. The bright green circles are bedding areas. The red dots are stand sights that I have. The dark green is the proposed food plot area. I think in whole it is around 4 acres but due to money constraints I only plan on using around an acre of it. It is briers and waist high weeds right now. Deer bed in it but I figure if I make the plot in the middle of it and leave some of the tall stuff around it that would give the deer a place to bed yet and it would be nearby the food source. What do you all think?

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titleist_03; It sounds like a good plan. The only thing to watch out for is what I' ve run into. My bedding area is swamp islands and the swamp abutts the clover field. If there is any pressure at all the deer stay nocturnal and it' s impossible to draw them out. It they can bed in the briers with a clover field next too it, some of your other bedding sites might become inactive.

Dan O.

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With only an acre to plant we would suggest some clovr or alfalfa, depending on soil sample and top soil depth. We wuggest that you sart the liming process now so it has time to work in the soil for spring planting. Is the ratio youmentioned natural or do you manage? How did you arrive at this ratio?

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I' m going by what I' ve seen. The ground that I' m on has never been hunted. The land to the north is gun hunted by an old guy that doesn' t know much of anything. I don' t know that he' s ever killed a deer.

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Thats a good ratio.. still try to bring it down to the 1:2 or 1:3 and get better bucks. Let the buck fawns with their doe' s walk... Good luck.

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Is it ok to plant half the plot in some lab lab or cow peas in the spring so the deer have something through the summer. Then I plant the rest of the clovers and brassicas in early fall before bow season. SO then I would have 1/2 acre of each?

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It would be OK if there were more nutrition available in the area. From what you say it looks like your going to be the only game in town. The forages should produce from 2-6 tons of nutrition annually if done right. This will during the green up season until the brown out, which should give the animals the needed nutrition to survive the stress of the rut and ice out.

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There are other places for the deer to get nutrition. There will be corn and bean fields around the property.

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OK, so we don't want to plant beans, unless they are different tyoes of beans and we don't want to plant corn... Do some shopping. What about clover and alfalfa? Did you do the soil sample? Start the limeing process?

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I've got Tecomate's Lab Lab plus to plant in the spring and I'm looking at 3 different types of clover and some chickory to plant in early fall.

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The ladino clovers will not do well if you do not have a heavier soil with a top depth of over 8 inches. There is a difference in clovers. WE no longer sell the Imperial brand but is is about the best... Usually, no one type of forage plant will do the job all through the season because of maturity, sweetness and protein values. You need a blend.Check the top soil and do a soil sample.

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If you plant an acre, I would give you a piece of advice. If you plan to hunt over your crop. plant it in a way that will promote deer to walk past you, (Funnel shape). I'm doing two tear drop shaped plots, totals about an acre, that the points of the 2 tear drops touch each other within 30 yards of a big oak tree that we plan to put a ladder stand on. Good luck

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My plot is going to be long and narrow and start 10 yards from the south edge of a timber. There is a tree right on the edge I can put a stand in and there is a funnel right where I will be sitting. There are thick breyers and a fence 15 yards to the east and a creek 25 yards to the west. So they have to use the trail between me and the creek. I'm hoping to catch them on their way to it!