jarhead 44
Member
Hey there I was hoping some of yall. Could tell me how to prep, when to plant, what to plant, burn or cut? This will be my 1st go and just trying get my ducks in a row before it's to late. Thank yall
Sounds like you are doing it just like I do! We been doing our fields like this for years!I am going to do the same thing for the first time as well. There are a lot of people with a lot more knowledge about dove plots than me on this forum and I hope they chime in. I e planted many food plots for deer but never for dove. I am planning on Spraying the plot with glyphosate in early June and harrowing, fertilizing and planting millet in late June all at the same time. Then, about a week or so before dove season I am going to mow some strips through it. If I need to do anything differently I am open for suggestions.
I am going to do the same thing for the first time as well. There are a lot of people with a lot more knowledge about dove plots than me on this forum and I hope they chime in. I e planted many food plots for deer but never for dove. I am planning on Spraying the plot with glyphosate in early June and harrowing, fertilizing and planting millet in late June all at the same time. Then, about a week or so before dove season I am going to mow some strips through it. If I need to do anything differently I am open for suggestions.
The only thing I would add is that if it is new field, especially if it is small, I would start trying to get birds coming to it earlier than the week before the season. You can harrow a strip or two around the edge in the summer and throw millet out to get birds used to coming. Once the millet heads out you can bush hog it, silage chop some, or even hand scatter it onto the clean ground to keep the birds coming. Then you can cut a week or two before the season and should already have some used to using the field without have to try to attract a bunch in a week. Also, depending on the size and how many times you plan on hunting it, it helps to stagger two or three different planting so the millet matures at different times. Then you can cut throughout the season to keep birds coming. If you plant it all in June and cut it all late August, there won’t be much in the way to attract birds later in the season. If you stagger the plantings and the cutting, you can typically do better having multiple hunts because you have food the whole time.I am going to do the same thing for the first time as well. There are a lot of people with a lot more knowledge about dove plots than me on this forum and I hope they chime in. I e planted many food plots for deer but never for dove. I am planning on Spraying the plot with glyphosate in early June and harrowing, fertilizing and planting millet in late June all at the same time. Then, about a week or so before dove season I am going to mow some strips through it. If I need to do anything differently I am open for suggestions.
I am planning on planting 2 or 3 locations, maybe 1/2 acre to 3/4 acre each but all on the same property just different locations. My question is, if I mow some strips in each plot a week or so before the season comes in, how long will the millet that I don’t mow be an attractant or I guess my question is how late in the season can I continue to mow the remaining millet and it still be an attractant for the dove? There are always birds on this property but are usually kind of scattered and we are planting to hopefully draw them in to a particular spotThe only thing I would add is that if it is new field, especially if it is small, I would start trying to get birds coming to it earlier than the week before the season. You can harrow a strip or two around the edge in the summer and throw millet out to get birds used to coming. Once the millet heads out you can bush hog it, silage chop some, or even hand scatter it onto the clean ground to keep the birds coming. Then you can cut a week or two before the season and should already have some used to using the field without have to try to attract a bunch in a week. Also, depending on the size and how many times you plan on hunting it, it helps to stagger two or three different planting so the millet matures at different times. Then you can cut throughout the season to keep birds coming. If you plant it all in June and cut it all late August, there won’t be much in the way to attract birds later in the season. If you stagger the plantings and the cutting, you can typically do better having multiple hunts because you have food the whole time.
I am planning on planting 2 or 3 locations, maybe 1/2 acre to 3/4 acre each but all on the same property just different locations. My question is, if I mow some strips in each plot a week or so before the season comes in, how long will the millet that I don’t mow be an attractant or I guess my question is how late in the season can I continue to mow the remaining millet and it still be an attractant for the dove? There are always birds on this property but are usually kind of scattered and we are planting to hopefully draw them in to a particular spot
The other option is to plant a different millet with a longer maturing date at the same time. As far as size, in my experience the bigger the better in most cases, but I’ve had good shoots on small fields. The problem you are going to have with 3/4 acre fields is if you cut it all it is gone quickly, but if you cut strips throughout the year, there just won’t be that much food for them to eat compared to likely other options, so you won’t have much in the way of numbers. How many people are you planning on hunting, and are you looking to hunt all season?Thanks for your input, much appreciated...
We just started last season and only invited about 12 people, we shot at the beginning of the season on a weekend and had another the last weekend of the season. Mostly used it as a small fund raiser for food plots and supplemental feeding for the deer. The farmer usually plants corn as well so there are lots of birds but just scattered and I want to try to concentrate them a little better. He picked the corn a little later than normal last year and he didn’t pick it til about 3 days before we hunted and I dont think the doves had really had a chance to start hammering the leftover corn in the fieldsThe other option is to plant a different millet with a longer maturing date at the same time. As far as size, in my experience the bigger the better in most cases, but I’ve had good shoots on small fields. The problem you are going to have with 3/4 acre fields is if you cut it all it is gone quickly, but if you cut strips throughout the year, there just won’t be that much food for them to eat compared to likely other options, so you won’t have much in the way of numbers. How many people are you planning on hunting, and are you looking to hunt all season?
Millet is easy and cheap but its hard to beat sunflowers. we plant around 50 acres of corn and sunflowers every year. round up ready sunflowers can get expensive for large fields but if you are planting only an acre you can do it fairly cheap. i would recommend spraying some form of pre-emergent on whatever you plant (prowl) for sunflowers or (atrazine) for millet to help with the weeds.
True deer can be a problem but spreading millorganite will help keep the deer off off themUnless you can fence them, small sunflower fields are a waste of time.
True deer can be a problem but spreading millorganite will help keep the deer off off them
yep it will go away especially after a good rain, and when they figure out how to jump the fence there is nothing you can do.I've had some success with it around the hostas and such in the year, but I have never had any real success with it in a food plot. Even in the yard the effect seems to wain pretty quickly, and you have to keep applying it. If you deer density is high, fencing them out is about the only option you've got.
yep it will go away especially after a good rain, and when they figure out how to jump the fence there is nothing you can do.