Food plot suggestions

tunaduck

Member
Really enjoy the feedback I get from this site. I bought a piece of property in Macon County last year and had a farmer helping me plant. Soil tested and plots were 5.2-5.6 PH. Put a ton of AG lime and tons of Chicken litter on the plots in March. Planted a fall mix of BFO, Imperial WT clover, Durana Clover, Chicory and trophy Rape. Very happy with the results. Plots are still thriving even after the hard freeze we had. Took another soil sample last week and now up to 5.6-7.0 in all plots. I plan on planting Buckwheat in a few plots and was wondering what would be good to plant with it. Also my clovers are coming back in and I don't really want to terminate them in May when I plant some Buckwheat.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
You want be able to spray the plots with glyphosate as it will kill the clover. If you can establish clover only plots and separate those from your other platings. Will
Make them much easier to maintain. As far as buckwheat goes add some some sun hemp in. Buckwheat is more of a soil builder
Lots of options for summer plots if you’re wanting to do that. Soybeans corn sun hemp etc. to name a few.. what size plants do you have and how many of what sizes ?
Been looking to get on some property in Macon county myself club or private.
 

tunaduck

Member
You want be able to spray the plots with glyphosate as it will kill the clover. If you can establish clover only plots and separate those from your other platings. Will
Make them much easier to maintain. As far as buckwheat goes add some some sun hemp in. Buckwheat is more of a soil builder
Lots of options for summer plots if you’re wanting to do that. Soybeans corn sun hemp etc. to name a few.. what size plants do you have and how many of what sizes ?
Been looking to get on some property in Macon county myself club or private.
My plots range from 1-3 acres I have 6 plots now and adding one more. The buckwheat will be for a soil builder in a few that have the lower PH. Gonna try some RR eagle beans in the 3 acre plot and hope they don't get over browsed.
 
My plots range from 1-3 acres I have 6 plots now and adding one more. The buckwheat will be for a soil builder in a few that have the lower PH. Gonna try some RR eagle beans in the 3 acre plot and hope they don't get over browsed.
I planted beans and lab lab. As soon as the beans start to pop out of the ground spread milorganite on them. It’s an organic nitrogen that stinks to high heaven. Deer won’t touch it period. If you don’t get the milorganite on it asap and the deer nip the beans off it will kill them. In Macon county I would say you have a high deer densit. I have Used it and it really works for repulsion deer. If it comes a massive rain you will need to reapply it.. once the beans get up high enough you don’t apply it anymore. Then they can stand the browsing pressure. I would deff plant the 3 acres or the biggest plot you have. You will want to Spray the beans with the right amount per acre of gly to kill the weeds and grasses. Usually once the bens get to about 8 to 10 inches or so. In the soil building plots I would let the buckwheat goto seed then bush hawg it. It will reseed and grow again. After this step don’t let it goto seed again. Plow it under as a green manure crop and plant your fall plots
 
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tunaduck

Member
I planted beans and lab lab. As soon as the beans start to pop out of the ground spread milorganite on them. It’s an organic nitrogen that stinks to high heaven. Deer won’t touch it period. If you don’t get the milorganite on it asap and the deer nip the beans off it will kill them. In Macon county I would say you have a high deer densit. I have Used it and it really works for repulsion deer. If it comes a massive rain you will need to reapply it.. once the beans get up high enough you don’t apply it anymore. Then they can stand the browsing pressure. I would deff plant the 3 acres or the biggest plot you have. You will want to Spray the beans with the right amount per acre of gly to kill the weeds and grasses. Usually once the bens get to about 8 to 10 inches or so. In the soil building plots I would let the buckwheat goto seed then bush hawg it. It will reseed and grow again. After this step don’t let it goto seed again. Plow it under as a green manure crop and plant your fall plots
Great advice Thank You very much.
 
Another thing I did was plant my fields with a bean corn mix. Used the corn to screen off the beans and add cover and security for the deer. I strategically placed stands based on wind and approach where I could get in and down with out spooking deer. This allowed me to walk around without the deer detecting me. The daylight movement was greatly increased during season and seen a heckuva lot more deer having done this. I would bush hawg mowed lanes once a couple days before the season started and didn’t move all the way to stand Left all the cover around the stands. I planted wheat oats rye grain and clover around the perimeter of the plots away from the stand. So they literally had everything they can stand to eat. The rutt action was amazing. You could hear the deer chasing in the beans when it was dark. It is not cheap to do what I mentioned but if you are serious about your property and have the resources this is the way to go.. plant your plots out with this in mind
 
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Canuck5

Food Plot advisor extraordinaire !
I'll throw out a few more thoughts to add to Gadestroyer's. Corn is a good idea too :)

Stay after your soil ph, on some of your plots, since a 5.6 ph is 10 times more acidic than a 6.6 ph, where you want to be for clover.

You could plant oats pretty soon, and get something growing and they will tolerate the low ph and low temperatures. In addition getting something to grow now, will also help with weed control. Oats do have some allelopathy affect.

Iron and clay cowpeas planted in May is another option for lower ph. Maybe after the oats have headed out? Cowpeas like beans is great protein. Deer prefer beans over cowpeas, but cowpeas will regrow if they are nipped down to ground level.
 

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I'll throw out a few more thoughts to add to Gadestroyer's. Corn is a good idea too :)

Stay after your soil ph, on some of your plots, since a 5.6 ph is 10 times more acidic than a 6.6 ph, where you want to be for clover.

You could plant oats pretty soon, and get something growing and they will tolerate the low ph and low temperatures. In addition getting something to grow now, will also help with weed control. Oats do have some allelopathy affect.

Iron and clay cowpeas planted in May is another option for lower ph. Maybe after the oats have headed out? Cowpeas like beans is great protein. Deer prefer beans over cowpeas, but cowpeas will regrow if they are nipped down to ground level.
Always great info as well
 

Evergreen

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
I have nothing against eagle beans, I've planted them and they do good, unless your dead set on them I'd recommend the bean by 4s, they are also a glyphosate tolerant forage soybean.
 

tunaduck

Member
I have nothing against eagle beans, I've planted them and they do good, unless your dead set on them I'd recommend the bean by 4s, they are also a glyphosate tolerant forage soybean.
I planted 4S beans last spring and they didn't do well, although my PH was lower. I tried the fence with bags of milorganite hanging on it every 4ft, that was suggested by Bruce at 4S. Well that didn't work. I'm gonna try eagle beans this year in a 3 acre plot and spread some milorganite on it until it gets high enough to support the browse pressure.
 

TomC

Senior Member
I think hunters over think what they ought to plant, make it more complicated than it need be, have mixes of this that and the other. Over the past few years I have become convinced nothing beat clover seed from the farm store weighed out in a paper sack. Skip the seed in fancy bags with pictures of big bucks on the label or what you see promoted on hunting shows. Plant perennial Ladino or Durana clover, overseed with cereal rye or winter wheat early October, frost seed additional clover seed in February, fertilize and spray with Clethodim and 24DB late spring and late summer. Rinse and repeat.

Get it established and it will survive wind chills to 25 below zero and extended periods of drought and high heat. Don't get no better than a lush weed free or at least as weed free as you can get perennial clover plot! It is a gift that will keep on giving year after year, will feed them YEAR ROUND and will hold up to ridiculously high deer pressure!
 

Ihunt

Senior Member
I think hunters over think what they ought to plant, make it more complicated than it need be, have mixes of this that and the other. Over the past few years I have become convinced nothing beat clover seed from the farm store weighed out in a paper sack. Skip the seed in fancy bags with pictures of big bucks on the label or what you see promoted on hunting shows. Plant perennial Ladino or Durana clover, overseed with cereal rye or winter wheat early October, frost seed additional clover seed in February, fertilize and spray with Clethodim and 24DB late spring and late summer. Rinse and repeat.

Get it established and it will survive wind chills to 25 below zero and extended periods of drought and high heat. Don't get no better than a lush weed free or at least as weed free as you can get perennial clover plot! It is a gift that will keep on giving year after year, will feed them YEAR ROUND and will hold up to ridiculously high deer pressure!
While I agree and believe all of this to be true it’s just not as fun. Saves money though.
 

Long Cut

Senior Member
Power Plant by WI is a great pre-mixed option.

Depending on how much Durana & WI Clover you planted, I wouldn’t terminate the Clover. I’d spray 24DB & Clethodim and let the Clover go dormant under the warm season mix.
 

davel

Senior Member
You want be able to spray the plots with glyphosate as it will kill the clover. If you can establish clover only plots and separate those from your other platings. Will
Make them much easier to maintain. As far as buckwheat goes add some some sun hemp in. Buckwheat is more of a soil builder
Lots of options for summer plots if you’re wanting to do that. Soybeans corn sun hemp etc. to name a few.. what size plants do you have and how many of what sizes ?
Been looking to get on some property in Macon county myself club or private.
It is true buckwheat is a soil builder but it is much, much, more than that. Not only does it benefit deer with lots of tonnage (protein) but it is great for pollinators, turkeys, etc.
We have planted buckwheat for years. First year the deer didn't know what it was until it got to be about 18" tall and thick. Then they went at it. Everytime we have planted after that they hammer it. It germinates very quickly...less than 7 days.
 
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