Food plots

This will be my first season using food plots to hunt over. Will be purchasing a atv plow very soon to break ground as well as a soil tester. Is there anything I can plant while summer is still in (early July) that will grow to supplement deer over the summer and be hunted in bow season? ANY experiences or tips are appreciated.
 

shdw633

Senior Member
This will be my first season using food plots to hunt over. Will be purchasing a atv plow very soon to break ground as well as a soil tester. Is there anything I can plant while summer is still in (early July) that will grow to supplement deer over the summer and be hunted in bow season? ANY experiences or tips are appreciated.

I would go with a sun hemp and iron clay pea mix. Put some dolomite lime out at the time of planting to help sweeten the soil.
 

Forest Grump

Senior Member
This will be my first season using food plots to hunt over. Will be purchasing a atv plow very soon to break ground as well as a soil tester. Is there anything I can plant while summer is still in (early July) that will grow to supplement deer over the summer and be hunted in bow season? ANY experiences or tips are appreciated.

Instead of wasting your $ on a "soil tester" just obtain a soil sample & send it in to see what shape your soil is in & how to correct it. pH probes & home kits are basically a waste of your money. Have your soil analyzed by someone that does it for a living; there is enough variability there, without introducing more. Really you need a complete soil test, but since you are starting out let's just begin with the basics. It's about $ 11.00. A complete (S2) test is around $22.00.

If I could suggest: we have a rather extensive sub-forum decdicated to food plots & gardens. You'd get a lot more knowledgeable advice there, & Canuck5 has a good thread stickeyed at the top to get you started.

http://forum.gon.com/forumdisplay.php?f=5

How big are your plots? (Very small plots are not suitable for warm season plots except possibly clover +/- chicory).
 

Possum

Banned
I think any .22 acre warm season plot will be destroyed and a complete waste. Is this a loading dock? If it already has some native grasses, I would leave it alone and not break ground until September. Do your soil test now, apply needed lime asap, and plant cereal grain/clover mix in fall. The clover will last into next summer to help feed the deer close to year round.
 

reflexman

Snake Dodger
go ahead n put a feeder n mineral site at far edge of plot that plus a nice small plot will help draw them in
 

Forest Grump

Senior Member
Grump, my "main" plot is .22 acres, not huge I know but about as good as it gets in South Georgia timber company lease.

Just a couple of deer will wipe out any warm season planting that small (unless excluded) in just a few days. Once you get the soil balanced & decompacted, you can establish a plot of clover & chicory there (planted in Fall) that will withstand heavy browse pressure.

You have to work with what you have, so I would forego the warm season stuff & work on dealing with lime & weeds for fall planting. You really won't be able to grow enough on a plot that small to have an effect on your herd anyway, & to use it as an attractant you'd have to be able to have food there most of the year. The feeder is not a bad idea for that purpose.
 

glynr329

Senior Member
A lot of great advise on waiting and prepare your plot for fall. Invest your money and time for a good fall plot you will not regret it.
 

Deernut3

Senior Member
I'd put a feeder there and wait till fall to plant. Lots of work will be wiped out in just a few days, plus most fall plantings are more tolerant to browsing.
 
I have a 275lb spin feeder there now and they are hitting it pretty well. I will start working on like and plowing and focus on fall planting. Thanks for all the tips guys keep them coming.
 

Rich M

Senior Member
Plant oats and crimson clover in the fall. They'll last most all winter and into the following summer.

I like imperial no-plow for a throw & grow kind of thing. Planted 1/4 mile of road with it last year. The deer would not let it grow and would continually browse/graze up and down the road. They were hammering it.

Don't know what plow you are getting but the Groundhog Max is pretty nice.
 
Plant oats and crimson clover in the fall. They'll last most all winter and into the following summer.

I like imperial no-plow for a throw & grow kind of thing. Planted 1/4 mile of road with it last year. The deer would not let it grow and would continually browse/graze up and down the road. They were hammering it.

Don't know what plow you are getting but the Groundhog Max is pretty nice.


The Groundhogg Maxx is what I intend to get.
 

sowgabuckstalker

Senior Member
Great info here. I was/have been in the same dilema about planting 2 summer plots this late in the game. I think I will just spend that time and resources focusing on keeping them corn feeders full of corn and protein :)
 

Crakajak

Daily Driveler News Team
When planting crimson clover what is it best to be mixed with? Also when should it be planted here in south east GA.

A cereal grain as a nurse crop.(winter wheat,and oats are favorites.)
Best time to plant is late Sept or Oct......Depending on proper rain.
I didn't plant in west cental Ga until Nov. last year because of a lack of consistent rainrall.
Ground temps should be in the 60's for best germination.
 

Triple C

Senior Member
With a quarter acre plot you'd be wasting your time to plant a summer plot. Deer would wipe it out overnight. Save your money and do a fall plot. Only thing I would add to some of the comments above is to consider white clover and chicory planted this fall along with a cover crop like abruzzi rye that you can terminate the following Spring. Provided your ph is where it needs to be, durana or ladino white clover with chicory would give you a 3 to 4 year plot that deer will use regularly. I've been pleasantly surprised at how well white clovers have performed on my place. Wtih any decent amount of rain they continue to put on new growth even during the summer.
 
With a quarter acre plot you'd be wasting your time to plant a summer plot. Deer would wipe it out overnight. Save your money and do a fall plot. Only thing I would add to some of the comments above is to consider white clover and chicory planted this fall along with a cover crop like abruzzi rye that you can terminate the following Spring. Provided your ph is where it needs to be, durana or ladino white clover with chicory would give you a 3 to 4 year plot that deer will use regularly. I've been pleasantly surprised at how well white clovers have performed on my place. Wtih any decent amount of rain they continue to put on new growth even during the summer.

With the 1/4 acre plot size how much seed would you use? Assuming using crimson clover,white clover, and rye?
 

Forest Grump

Senior Member
With the 1/4 acre plot size how much seed would you use? Assuming using crimson clover,white clover, and rye?

You must fix your pH 1st; white clover will not perform well in less than 6-6.5 pH. Lime, work your soil, control your weeds (clover & chicory are poorly competitive early on). P & K need to be high as well: once you put it in a perennial you will have little effect with surface applications of either lime or fertilizer. Set it up right to start, then you only need to maintain & avoid compaction or other grievous crimes.

Don't use rye as a nurse crop it grows too tall & is allelopathic. Use wheat or oats, 50-60 lbs/ac as a nurse crop, twice that as a monoculture. Rye is used to create biomass & suppress weeds; your crop would be suppressed as well. It's great if you are going to roll it down & no-till into the residue; but unless you have that equipment, stick with wheat or oats to establish a clover crop.

If you include chicory, you will get a few (2-3) years of better utilization during the warm season. Chicory is a preferred browse, but not an "ice cream plant" that they will seek out to the detriment of their security. Eventually, you will be forced to kill the chicory to combat the weeds that have proliferated.

Using Imperial Whitetail clover (+/- chicory), it is roughly 4-5 lbs/acre.

But on a quarter acre, I'd plant annual cereal grains until I got the weeds under control. Feeder is ok in warm season, unless you have hogs. If hogs are present never put a feeder near your food plots.
 
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