One large plot or several smaller plots on your land?

So what do you prefer? One large plot or several smaller plots on your land?

For example:

A single 3-4 acre plot

vs.

Plots of:

0.8 acre
0.25 acre
1.0 acre
1.7 acres

 

I have 2 honey hole plots, and they may be 0.25 acres each. I actually like planting on their existing trails and over the past 2 years it's been very successful for me considering I only have 9 acres to work with.

 

None of my plots are more then a .5. From my experience deer feel more secure and will often enter a smaller plot earlier (during daylight hours) then a big one.

 

I agree with this if you are going to hunt directly over the plot.

Some people say that spreading deer traffic all over your property makes it harder to hunt instead of having one plot where you know where they are concentrated. So you might be able to hunt in the woods near your plot and have more luck. Just throwing that idea out there.

 

Well, I have a 3.5 acre plot. While it attracts deer, it seems like they are always out of range. My smaller .75 acre clover plot seems to give me way more shot opportunities. I plan on breaking up that large plot into smaller ones separated by plot screen.

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Exactly my experience that backs this up. I have a small plot behind me to bring them up the hill (that I face) to lure them deeper onto my property and I have another "plot" trail along half of the back ridge that the deer travel so they can graze as they walk. My plots are in very specific spots that are already favorable with their regular route.

 

I'd love to put some apple trees on my property Brad, I may have to pick your brain and check out that thread you did last year again. Are they looking like they will make it through this winter? I might have missed it (or forgotten) but how much yield/growth have you had in total so far?

 

Right now I'm actually only managing one small plot (~.7 acres). It's location in relation to cover neighboring pressure, exposure, etc., make it ideal for me. I plan to add a few even smaller plots just for fun down the road, but it isn't necessary in my situation.

 

You bet. Just let me know and we can talk about them. Mine looked great all last season and put on a ton of groth. I have not seen them since November as I have not been up there in December or January at all but actaully am going up there this weekend for a weekend away. I am going to try and take a walk of the property but it will depend how deep the snow is if I can get around. My guess is I won't know if they made it through the winter until spring and green up occurs. Just let me know when you want to discuss them. I bet I got 12" of groth maybe more from the leaders last year.

 

I like smaller plots in thicker areas, I don't like wide open plots.

 

Spreading tons of small plots all over a proper can at times create hunting hardships...however having numerous small plots connected by runs through plot screens or just 5-10 feet of brush separating them goes a long way. I know many clients that will clear an entire area of say 4 acres with a dozer of some kind because it is quicker to do than molding the woods how they want. Then they use both plot screens planted, as well as switch, evergreens and just plain piled up brush in sections which in time grow thick with brush to separate the 4 acre open space into 10 or so small .25-.5 acre plots all interconnected. This is a death trap for a rutting buck cuz they'll want to explore each one or at minimum most of them in their searching...

 

I own a unique 15 acre property which has two funnels on it. I have two food plots.1 about .25 acre and another about an acre or so. The acre is always planted with brassicas (this year there will be some beans mixed in too) and the other I planted clover last fall which should come up better this Spring into Summer. What makes this small property good is I have a subdivision on the side I plant the food plots on and neighbors who hunt on the other side. All the bigger deer normally come from the subdivision where they are safe.

 

I have a 40 acre oak woods in Minnesota to hunt. It's on the edge of a river/swamp and on a ridge or end of a hill. i thinking of putting in some small .5 acre plots inside the woods. Should I plant for summer growth or fall.

 

Depends on how much sunlight you are getting through to the ground as to what I'd recommend planting....limited sun has limited options and limited returns.

 

I was going to do some clear cutting. I would think 5 to 6 hours of sunlight.

 

I had 2 small food plots and about .25 acres each, and then there is a field that is about 10 acres and it's an old food plot with rye grass, and some other random stuff in it. I see deer on the 10 acre plot, but it's always way past shooting hours. The small plots close to thick brush have been most successful for me. I killed a nice 8 point on a food plot that was less than a .25 acre. He was hitting it consistently early in the morning.

 

This year I am going to be doing 2 quarter acre plots. I feel like thats best for my property.

 

If you have the land and resources I would plant one big destination plot 3-5 acres of corn or beans with kill plots of . 5-1 acre of greens ( turnips, brassicas, etc.) around the destination plot between the bedding areas and big plot this way you can hunt the kill plots based on the wind you have also the deer will use the smaller kill plots as a staging area before hittin the destination plot and hopefully you will be sitting there bow in hand! Good luck let me know what you decide to do and how it works.
- dalton (Bhod baby)


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Im thinking about linking two smaller plots together by using one of the main deer trails on our property. Hopefully I can set up on them moving from one to another

 

Should work just make sure and plant two opposite things so they will feel the need to browse between both daily. (Greens in one grains in the other)
- dalton (Bhod baby)


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