tealboy

Have any of you tried using the various "throw and grow" products, also known as Secret Spot? I am curious if any of you have tried it with any success and if so, what tips can you offer. How well did the game respond to it?

thx

farm hunter

You'll probably get some varied answers here -

I actually tried Secret Spot. A hunting companion that hunts with us occaisionally sent a couple bags, and asked that we plant - near where he hoped to hunt the week he was up. He was kind of kidding, but also hoped the small plots could be effective for him or us.

We planted one bag in an overgrown orchard, that definitely did not get enough light (maybe 3-4 hours - filtered light at best). Some of the seeds grew - but it really was light - and one deer serious about eating the plot - could have had it all gone in a day.

The other plot was put on a gas line right of way - with 8 hours of direct sunlight. I used a set of disks to prepare this little 50 ft plot - but I did not spray roundup -. We had some clover come, and I remember the chicory - because I did not recognize it. The plot was used by deer - but I'm not sure it was used any more than the natural growth on the mowed pipeline was. In fact by the time hunting season came - it was hard to tell the difference at the plot, than the rest of the pipeline.

I for one think there is no quick fix. Truthfully - I think if you are interested in attracting deer during the hunting season - its tough to beat annual rye. You can plant it 3-4 weeks before season -with little prep- and have an attractive growth that the deer will eat heavily in Oct & Nov.

Bottom line - "secret spot" will grow - but the little bag is just so small - its tough to imagine it having an impact on a deer's choice of forage options.

adams

Tealboy,

I have completed all the neccessary prep work and will be spreading seed (secret spot) on Wednesday or Thursday. With proper hydration it's supposed to grow to be 5-6 inches tall within the first week. I'll keep you posted as to how well it grows. The field I'm planting is a bit overgrown and gets it the range of 5-6 hours of direct sunlight a day. If I can get my hands on a digital camera I'll post pics as well.

blueturkey

I too just planted on a logging road in my woods that was recently logged. 6hrs of sun a day. Just did it last weekend and had some nice rain in the last couple of days. Will be looking at it this weekend, so I hope it grows. I planted 2 of those small bags of Secret Spot on about 50yds of roadway.

tealboy

i would be interested in the results and pics if available.

Deleted User

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ONLY HUNT

Teal, I planted 3 bags of secret spot last year and 2 of them did real good and the other did fair. I saw deer mostly does and fawns feed on them almost every time I hunted near them. We did kill a 7 point and an 8 point off them in January. The one spot that didn't do as good was in borderline swamp land. It had water on it about the whole time.

I'll be planting even more this fall. For $10 a bag, it's hard to beat.

adams

I planted the Secret spot on Wednesday the 25th of Aug. I checked it yesterday 8/30 and it is all coming up good. Plants are about 1" tall, Definately not the 5-6 inches the package said but this is about what I expected. The field I planted gets much more light on one end then it dose on the other(probably 8 hours in the sunny side 4 hours on the shady side) both ends are growing equally well. I'll keep this updated as the growth continues.