Food Plot Help

[benehunter]

I am planning on creating my first food plots this coming year. I have selected two small areas (no more than 1/2 acre each) based on location, accesibility, bedding areas, concealment and deer movement. One is located on the NE of my property and the other one on the SE. The main bedding areas are between these two places.

The property is located in Noble county and it is bordered by hay fields on all sides. No crops nearby except a few small corn fields around a mile away. White and red oaks are abundant throughout. The soil survey shows two types of soil: vandalia silty clay loam 15% to 25% slopes and berks channery silt loam 40% to 70% slopes.

My goal is not only to create a hunting plot but to provide wildlife with some important nutrition and hopefully keep them around during bow and gun season.

Please let me know what do you recommend to plant, keeping in mind that both areas are hard to access and I do not possess farm equipment to work around (Im dreaming of getting a ATV hopefully). From the pictures below taken last September you will see I have a lot of work ahead as neither of the two spots are cleared. One is an already open field overgrown with weeds and crabapples. The other is half way cleared but it has a bunch of treetops lying all over the place.

Also would it be ok to use fire to open up the area and get all the weeds out? If yes, what would be the best time of year to do that?

Thanks in advance for the input.

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P8040310.jpg
http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r381/benehunter/P8040391.jpg

[Beentown]

Can't wait for the advice. I have the same setup basically. I did a food plot last year and I have let it go (still doing pretty well...clover). Wanting to do it more this year.

Beentown

[benehunter]

Any advice?

[OhioHunter88]

I wish i could give you lots of advice.

For the first one since you dont really have any equipment i would say go in there with a chain saw and cut and drag all of that junk out of the way, also some guys build a screen with all of that debris so the deer cant come from one direction typically your downwind side.

for the other one i would say go in there with a weedeater with maybe a brush cuttin attachment and have fun.

what county are you in?

[benehunter]

I wish i could give you lots of advice.

For the first one since you dont really have any equipment i would say go in there with a chain saw and cut and drag all of that junk out of the way, also some guys build a screen with all of that debris so the deer cant come from one direction typically your downwind side.

for the other one i would say go in there with a weedeater with maybe a brush cuttin attachment and have fun.

what county are you in?
Noble County

[benehunter]

Anybody with foodplot experience? Any ideas on what to plant?

[Dissident]

Hey check out the QDMA website. Alot of good info. there!

[Patriot1]

like Dissident said check out Qdmaforums.com , There are very knowledgable people there, and some do QDM for a living

[Milo]

Um, so you want help but posses no tools of anykind( other than a rake) ? Pretty hard ta help you..no offense. You have to have something.

[shrivl]

without any foodplot tools I'd say you would be better off creating thick bedding cover and tending the crabapple trees. I'd also identify any oaks and clean up around them and maybe fertilize those. In the old field maybe build you fence or heap up some brush and plant honey suckle. Save up some money and then hire someone to do some bulldozer work later to make some ground suitable for plots. I grew up around Noble county and I be that you could ask around or put an add in the Noble County paper or Daily Jeffersonian and you might fight someone willing to break your ground up reasonable. The past few years I we've paid a farmer to do our just because of work and not having the time to do the tractor work ourselves and plant all in the same weekend. While its an extra $400 bucks we get everything done in one weekend and not two or three when we where trying to do it ourselves.

[jbrown]

like the others said, it will be difficult to plant some food plots without any tools or equipment. i would recommend working with the natural food sources and creating thicker bedding cover. trim around the oaks, crabapples, etc. if you have a chain saw, you can easily construct some prime bedding cover. one good way is to cut trees at the base just enough to get them to fall, but dont cut them through all the way. they will still grow their leaves this way. strategically cut them so several trees fall on top of or near each other to create some really thick stuff. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS IF YOU ARE NOT EXPERIENCED WITH A CHAIN SAW. one wrong move and a tree falls on your head or a saw chain kicks back into your leg. also, i wouldnt recommend doing the work all by yourself. its good to have someone else there in case something bad happens. controlled burning of the cleared areas will help produce a better yield of grasses and forbes, which deer love to eat during the spring and summer. other than providing food, this also helps create prime fawning habitat... which is in my opinion as valuable, if not more valuable, than food plots when it comes to continually holding quality deer on your property. a good time to burn is late march or early april. works best when its dry, of course, and when humidity levels are low. be sure and provide fire breaks along the perimeter so you dont unintentionally burn too much. and oh yea, keep plenty of water on hand :)

good luck... hope this helps.

[Ohiobonecollector]

Just to add...if u end up with even a small quad and no attach. hook a chain to a pallet with a couple sand bags on top and just drag the snot out of it. Then once its all turned and rough put crop of your choosin out and drag a couple times again and drive away......good enough for us low budget hunters LOL i wouldnt trade a quad n skid for a deere and disc for woods plantin and thats the truth.

[benehunter]

Thanks for your help. Today the lady is taking me to pick up my birthday present at the Stihl store. She says I need to go because they will show me how to properly use the farm boss chain saw with an on site demo.:D :D :D

This first tool will help me start clearing the land for the food plots:bouncy: :bouncy:

[benehunter]

I found a very good solution to put up my food plots. I always say it is very important to get a good relationship with your neighbors. This is for many reasons. Not only they can keep an eye on your property but they can assist with equipment I don't have.

Well I have been letting this one neighbor pick up firewood from my land out of the treetops near the road at no cost. I was speking to him the other day and he told me that if I need any job done with his tractors to let him know. I mentioned him about putting up some food plots and we are in business as soon as the soil dries up a bit:D.

As far as the seed to plant I still haven't decided but there's plenty of time to think about that.

[shrivl]

There are enough folks in Noble Co that has equipment to help you out and get it done without breaking the bank. What did your soil sample analysis say about liming? After you get it disked up be sure to get the lime on it. You should be able to get ag lime pretty cheap and easily around Noble County.

[benehunter]

There are enough folks in Noble Co that has equipment to help you out and get it done without breaking the bank. What did your soil sample analysis say about liming? After you get it disked up be sure to get the lime on it. You should be able to get ag lime pretty cheap and easily around Noble County.
http://www.nobleswcd.org/index.htm
Thanks;)

[DLC]

We've got 2 plots in this year. One is Whitetail Institutes Clover. We killed 3 mature does out of it this year. 2 in Oct with bow, 1 in Dec with Muzzleloader. We were shed hunting this past weekend and the deer had the plot all tore up where they have been feeding in it. we also have a winter wheat plot in that i killed my buck out of on Halloween. 2 does and 2 other bucks fed through the wheat plot that night. It was also tore up this past weekend, but not as much as the clover.

The clover takes some work throughout the summer to maintain it. I mowed mine 4 times last summer. Mowing it helps keep the weeds under control. The wheat plot that I put in I simple sprayed the weeds with round up 3 times before simply broadcating the seeds before a rain. I started spaying in Aug, about 1 week between sprayings, and planted the second week in Sept.

Hope this helps.

[benehunter]

For all interested in creating food plots, I found a very informative website, step by step on how to get started from zero. This is especially useful for first timers where equipment and resources are limited.

I can say that this is the best guide I have ever seen to get started.

http://iowawhitetail.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=148055&fpart=1

Thanks to all that provided me with some advice.