Food plots

[MilitaryMan84]

Anyone here try a food plot? My family has some land out of town and I was wondering how hard it is to get a nice food plot going? I have been looking at some of the different seeds that are out there and there is some Clover from the white tail institute that last year round and you don't have to plant it again fro 5+ years. there is also some other stuff you don't have to work the ground at all. Just walk out there and spread seed. You see the guys on the hunting shows in the mid west hunting food plots all the time. I am wondering if they would work well out this way as well.

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[Grizzly_A]

My brother-in-law was an Ag major and avid hunter. He's very interested in creating food plot habitat for deer and then hunting on it. He and I have talked a great deal about which seeds, feeding habits, irrigation, etc.

We've found out that you get what you put into it. So if you're not willing to turn the soil a bit you're not going to get the production that you are hoping for, cause the new seeds are going to be competing for nutrients along with the other weeds/plants.

Clover is a good cover, but remember that we like to eat various things and so do deer. So make sure you have a blend of clover, grasses, palatible seed heads, and some broadleaf brassicas. Also plants that are high in proteins like beans and soybeans.

The biggest thing we found was that almost all of the easy to get seed blends come right out of the south and are formulated for southern environments, and aren't going to do as well in the northwest. So do some research and select blends that are tailored for our climate.

Also you don't have to till you can use a rake or hoe or a small disk behind a 4wheeler to agitate the soil a bit. We found that the majority of the seedlings germinated better in that agitated soil than just spread on top of the ground.

This fall he's going to use my property as well and do some experimenting with some new seed blends. Should be fun.

 

[Grizzly_A]

Oh, if planting and maintaining food plots seems like to much money, it is completely legal to "feed" the animals.

You can get a feeder, a nice blend of corn and grains from Wilco/Coastal and set that sucker up on a stand and feed away.

It's best to place the feeder in an area that's going to be along active deer trails and if it's dry that's better. The grain will last longer out on the ground that way.

Or you can do what we've done and took wheel barrow loads of fallen apples out to the hunting spots and do it that way.


The apple method was the most work but seemed to be the most effective at keeping the deer around more consistently.

 

[MilitaryMan84]

The apple idea has worked before for me to and I think that will be the route I go again this year. Going to try to talk my dad into turning a 3 acre piece he has into an Imperial Clover plot next year. Going to get a few of those protein salt licks to I think.

 

[MarkAd]

take a look at Ed Hume sseds. I know he has hybrids worked up for the NW

 

[Grizzly_A]

Found out a bit more.

The seed company is <broken link removed> out of New Zealand.

The local distributor and a great guy is Gary at Bishop Farms in Bend.

I had the pleasure of visiting his farm and he spent a lot of his family time showing us recent plantings, different blends, and talking about the seeds, planting strategies, and harvest times.