To plot or not to plot....

[WRS77]

I live on a little over 20 acres, it has a few spots of woods, probally 5 to 6 acres total of woods, a 1 acre pond, and the rest is open field, it's all hills, nothing to steep more rolling than anything else. No farmers located around me. Just curious should I plant some plots, and if so what would be the best or should I say suggested place to plant them. Plotting is a new thing to me have done alot of homework on the topic, now looking for actual opinions from living souls, instead of this box on the desk. Thanks.....

[CARPN-JAKE]

It would definetly help. If you have access to the equiptment then by all means I see no reason not to put in a few plots. Without seeing the land its hard to recommend where to put them but one thing is for certain, you don't want to put them where they can be easily seen from a public road.
I've only planted fall plots for a couple yrs and the first yr they didn't come up well. This yr I planted Buck Forage Oats and even with the drought we had in this part of the state they came in very well...Till the neighor cows broke out of the pasture in early nov and ate both of my plots down to the dirt...Oh well...

[WRS77]

I will see what I can do to get a pic of the property up so you can have a look, I have a tractor and implements so getting the work done won't be that hard, and the boys are always willing to grab a tool or two and pitch in, hehe.

[TheCream]

I say PLOT! Even a small one will help, and if you can situate it near some of the wooded acres, I'm sure you will have deer staying there and using the food.

[OHBOW76]

I would plant multipel 1/4 to 1/2 acre hunting plots, as well as quick growing pines to provide some thermal cover.

[OHBOW76]

By the way, I wouldn't overhunt it, in fact I would consider not hunting it until gun when hopefully pressure form around the area will drive deer onto your property. In other words make the entire property a sanctuary with a food source.

[ohiosam]

There is much debate about what to plant. If you can plant multiple plots try planting each with a different crop to see what your deer prefer.

[OhioHunter88]

I say yes, espically since you have access to the equipment, try and get an aerial of the property up here so that we can all check it, I belive it is good to do both spring/summer and fall plots...

[johnc21]

Plant it! I would recommend a soil sample first. That will tell you what the lime and fertilizer requirements will be. That is the number reason why plots fail. If you want a plot to hunt over I would go with some form of brassicas. I would try to plant a few different things to give them a variety. Winter wheat,clover,soy beans and corn are some other options.

John

[WRS77]

I have an aerial pic but can't post it on here, if anyone know how can you let me know thanks.....

[OHBOW76]

With the limited acreage I would plant oats and winter wheat, I would consider beans, but I would stay away from corn. Corn is a lot of work takes form your soil doesnt give anythign back, and with the amount of corn you could plant it would be cleaned out by coons, deer before hunting season.

[Llewellin01]

Deer will hit clover hard in the spring throught summer and once late fall early winter they really hit the Brassica's. That what will be going on my property this spring. Oh yeah big bucks love soy beans, i have a big boy that about once a week will take the 3 mile trip to the nearest soybean field. No that i have him figured out im hoping to get a look at him throught my muzzle loader scope.

[Kent Dorfman]

Are the so called “shade tolerant” food plot seeds worth trying? Almost all of my ground is covered with trees but I have several old logging roads that I could plant.

[WRS77]

I have an aerial posted in the photo gallery of the acreage.

[OhioHunter88]

http://www.ohiosportsman.com/photopost/data/504/medium/Property_aerial.jpg

[OhioHunter88]

I take it the yellow is the land that is yours??, it appears there is not very much woods, so id say your goal is to draw the deer and keep them there on your place..
Now as stated above soybeans in midsummer will attract some big deer, this is a very good crop to watch and or to film some giant bucks in velvet, so i'd say that if you planted soybeans i personally would leave them stand throughout the year,so that when the snow is on the ground the beans are still above the snow and easily eatible and can be a good late season attractant...
Oats have been mentioned also, they are a very good early to mid sometimes later bow season foods as well,
Wheat is about the same as oats but are more tolerant to the harsher winters
Clover is an Excellent early bow season attractant
Ive planted brassicas but theyndidnt really get hit hard so i cant really help you there...

[OhioHunter88]

With the limited acreage I would plant oats and winter wheat, I would consider beans, but I would stay away from corn. Corn is a lot of work takes form your soil doesnt give anythign back, and with the amount of corn you could plant it would be cleaned out by coons, deer before hunting season.


this is so very true about corn, if you dont have a good bit planted it will gte demolished by the time season is, although it does provide some really good cover for the deer, And yes corn will take nitrogen from your soil and not put any back unlike your clovers (legumes).

[ohiosam]

but I would stay away from corn. Corn is a lot of work takes form your soil doesnt give anythign back, and with the amount of corn you could plant it would be cleaned out by coons, deer before hunting season.

While I agrree that there are problems for the average sportsman planting corn for a food plot the notion that corn doesn't give anything back couldn't be more wrong. Yes it takes nitorgen and other fertilizers to grow corn but the organic matter that corn adds to the soil is huge. The root system alone can easily add 20 tons (per acre) of organic matter to your soil. And no other crop will give you the tonage of feed (both grain and forage) that corn will.

[Bowjo]

I planted some brassicas last year and the deer hardly touched them.They ended up falling over and rotting.You could see where they would nibble a little bit.The clover I planted got ate to the ground.Why would deer not eat the other?

[Steelhead121]

Where can you buy clover and brassicas?
SH

[WRS77]

Yes the land in yellow is mine, Thanks alot for posting the pic, said I couldn't post attachments. I am going to start implementing a reforestation program for some of the land, try to get some tree back on it conifers and some good hard woods, but those are going to take some time to grow up to be any good for anything. Was curious about the food plots so that I could get an idea of plots in order to help witht the placements of the sprouts and sch. Thanks again for all the help that you all have offered I really appreciate it and hope that some day I can return the favor ....

[OhioHunter88]

Where can you buy clover and brassicas?
SH
check your local feedmill, and pretty much any larger hunting store, including cabelas....

[Big H]

You first need to decide what you want to accomplish with your plantings. If you want to provide nutritional value, you should plant clover or another product high in protein value to help the herd. One product you may want ot look into is Power Plant by the Whitetail Institute. Another would be a forage type soybean. These are spring plantings, that will provide quite a bit of tonnage for the deer in your area.

If you want to just draw the deer in to hunt them in the fall, then I would plant either a brassica blend or a forage type oat, Merit Seed sells a good one, as does Buck Forage Oats. You could do a combination by planting a cover crop of forage oats in the fall, and top seeding it with a clover that will come up good for you in the spring. We have had much better success with clover by planting it in the fall along with a cover crop. It accomplishes two things, #1 it gives you attraction in the fall, and #2, it allows the clover a chance to get established. Remember, clover is a 3-5 year plot if you maintain it correctly, ie: mowing, fertilizing, and spraying for weeds.

If you are going to plant a "harvest plot", you need to pick your treestand FIRST. Looking at your property, I would plant a harvest plot along the right side of that woodline north of the pond, and a perennial plot east of the pond, if North is up. I don't know what kind of neighbors you have, but I would keep the plots away from the property lines. No sense letting them prosper from your hard work. You also may want to consider establishing a mineral site in the pond area. I have had good success with Lucky Buck.

The very first thing you need to do as mentioned by others, is get a soil sample. DO NOT overlook this step, it is probably more important than what type of seed you plant.

If you want to plant some trees, look into the Sawtooth Oaks, ours started producing nuts this year, and we planted them 6 years ago. BTW, I own property pretty close to you, down by Bergholz.

[Bake]

Deer love thick cover and by the photo it's lacking. I would let the fields grow, plant some pines,spaced generously, and mow in late March before green up every three to five years. That way deer and other wildlife can use the native plants through the winter when they need it the most. I have 50 acres and have had good success with this method. The deer have plenty to eat and when the rut/pressure is on, they are on my place.

[Plugugly]

I agree, PLOT. Brassicas, Brassicas and Brassicas. Planted with triple 16 and lime pellets August 15th. Clover, preferably 3 to 4 different kinds, Plant in the spring and top it once and or twice at 10 to 16 inches, just knock the tops off. Now in the September Score the ground and do what the guys said, Winter Wheat and Oats. Placement, I would plant to the right and left of the pond and Clover/Winter Wheat along the backside of the pond. Here is another thing that works for me. a 10X10 or 12X12 mineral Area. Use Lucky Buck with Deer Cocaine as an attractant. Till it in and watch, Do this march 15th. Good Luck

[WRS77]

I have a pines planted sparsly through-out the property now, they are 3 to 4 foot at the moment, I have another 100 on order for the spring planting. I think I am going to go ahead a plot to the north and east of the pond. North being up in the pic. Any have an idea about how far away from the woodline would be a good distance to plant? I have already figured out where my stands are going, a few tree stands in the woods east of the pond, there are two heavily traveled trails there, checked again this morning. Then another heavy trail leading to the wood to the north of the pond towards the woods there, they head down towards the creek and into some light cover areas there.

[outdrjoe]

that pond and the cover close by looks like a good spot by the woods on the north side of the prop they can get into the woods they could be at ur plot and go a lil ways to water looks good would like to see u shoot a nice buck over ur plot

[fork horn]

Hi,
I set up hunting properties for a living. I would most definitely put in some plots.. I plant 90 % of my plots no-till so you don't need a lot of equipment. Now where to put the plots is another question. I would make many small plots some less than a 1/4 even... Maybe one large one 1 acre maybe. Try to make them in the low spots of the rolling hills so deer cant see from one to the other. That way they (Bucks) will have to move arond to get a look at each one. As for cover I would plant small 1/4 acre patches native grasses.. Big blue stem or switch grass are very good choices. Plant some strips of grass in between the plots to help brake them up a little. Note: befor you plant... think about how you want to hunt your land... pick your entry and exit trials first. Then put plots in away so you will not be disturbing the deer as you inter in the am. With out seeing the proerty this is the best I can do.. but how you want to move around on your land should come first then put plots away from these trails...

I hope this helps you a little...

[fork horn]

Hi ,

I set up hunting land for a living.. I would definitely put in some plots.. BUT how you plan on hunting the land comes first.. Pick your entry and exit trils and stand locations.. then pick plot sites.. I would plant many small polts some less than 1/4 acre even.. maybe one lage 1 acre plot for night time feeding. I plant 90% of my plots no-till so you don't need alot of equipment. I would put them in the low spots or bottoms of the rolling hills.. that way deer/ bucks have to move around to see what is going on in each of them.. and that is where the moisture will be in dry years..

As for cover and you need it.. from the picture I see up here.. I would plant native grasses big bluestem & switch grass work very well and work well with many herbicicdes to keep down weeds. You can use the grass to plant strips to help brake up the plots as well. If you want you can plant trees in the larger grass areas but the grass will make cover much faster.. and deer will not damage it like they do trees.

I hope this helps a little..

[OhioStuds2310]

I would have to say the only place to plant a plot by the looks of the aerial photo is between the pond and that one block of woods. This way you can catch them going from bed to feed. Its hard to tell even with the aerial photo but you just have to experiment with it. Make sure your plots aren't in the typical circle or rectangular shape. Make them horshoe or hourglass. This gives you pinch points where you can hang sets that will force deer to you. After you plant the plots you must scout and pattern your deer herd. From there you can hang your sets and plan your easiest way to and from each set depending on the wind. Good luck.

[fork horn]

Wrs77,

I strongly disagree with ever setting up food plots before comming up wih a game plan on how to hunt the land. You can put food plots down most anywhere.. If you look at the avatar in this post you will see only a small number of the bucks I have taken over the years.. The 6 bucks in that picture came from 16 acres in 7 years (in Michigan). There is a 156, 168 and a 175inch buck taken in back to back to back years in the picture.. The smaller a property is.. how you hunt it is so improtent.. feel free to message me if you like we can talk more about it..

I hope this helps a little..

[whitetailfreak]

deffinatly plot it but you have to keep it small like that other guy said too plant some pines give em cover and let them settle in before you hunt .i have a small farm surrounded by hundreds of acres i kill the biggest deer because they come to eat my food and have good cover .make it so they have everything they need and they will stay .IF YOU PLOT IT THEY WILL COME