This year, i finally went hard into food plots. I loved the process and had some good success with the actual turnout of the plots. I planted rye, sweet peas, clover and purple top turnips. My plots looked great and were all in areas where we had observed alot of deer action in the past. As season rolled around i was not getting the kind of action i wanted, and as soon as it started getting cold and i put bait out...they went cold as well. I have a brassica plot thats prime, and got zero pictures in it last week. On the flip side, i had thousands on corn. In your guys opinion, what should i do next year to enhance them? I know the logical explanation is to not bait, but with the number of hunters sourrounding me and baiting...i feel my activity would all but die off. Discuss! Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
I have smaller plots 1/4 acre or so. I fence off the plots Labor Day weekend and pull the fences off late October. I get more deer on the plot at the same time when the fence is pulled than I do around the feed pans. Big difference is might be if you are hunting in an area with ag fields.
Almost unlimited AG in the form of soybeans, corn and alfalfa. The deer have no shortage of food or water or habitat. The goal is simple, make my property better than everyone elses. And with the foodplots/biating, it has become that way. Im looking at making my plots more attractive than the bait stations.
I have personally not had any luck with Brassica's. My suggestion is soybeans if you have a large enough plot to match the deer density. In addition, I would work on bedding areas and TSI projects to increase the likelyhood of deer using your area as their core area. There is not much better than a standing soybean field once the Ag has been harvested. It is a late season gold mine. My area is probably similar to yours as I have large ag fields on 3 sides of my property so early season attraction is impossible if I'm focusing on food only. If you can turn your property into a bedding area, you will be able to hunt travel routes all season long and then be able to focus on the standing soybeans in the late season. I am able to do this on my property and it's only 40 acres, but hunts much large due to the travel routes to and from food sources.
Sanctuarys are going to be hard to achieve, as the family farm gets used for alot more than just hunting. Most of the neighbors are active with ATVs, horses, ect as well, but there are a few small areas 1-2 acres that dont get touched whatsoever by human intrusion every year. Most of our hunting is setup around the deer coming out of these areas and moving towards food. We have planted a few (5) apple trees over the last few years, and i plan on doing some more. We will also do some hinge cutting this winter.
It's difficult for small plots to compete with destination food sources like big ag fields, etc. Put the food plot en-route to the destination food, and/or close to bedding in an area you have good access/exit. Or put the bait in the food plot.
Caleb, are you competing with regular crops surrounding you, or is it actual piles of corn that keeps them from coming to your food plots? Which, by the way, look great.
50/50 split. There are AG fields everywhere, and corn piles everywhere. Ive started putting bait in my plots, and some of the plots get mowed down while others go untouched. Even with the same things planted in each. Truly strange. Dont get me wrong, its a good problem to have, but im still looking for the advantage over the neighbor.
I'm personally not in to baiting deer, but hunting is different everywhere. If you are competing with bait piles and ag fields, you will need to have that too I guess, but If you can also provide the cover and water then your place might become more attractive than your neighbors.
I absolutely hate baiting, but it has made our hunting better. The equation is simple, baiting keeps the does around and as a result, the bucks as well. If i didnt bait, my property would just be a pass through and not hold any deer.
I'm sure since everyone is baiting around you. Another thing to keep in mind is offering a good variety of natural browse. Hinge cutting will really help in this regard for a couple reasons. It will open the canopy and allow brush and other natural fauna to grow where it has been shaded out in the past, and those hinge cut trees should produce nice buds and leafy green that the deer can easily access. I would take stock in your timber and if it is very mature, then I would consider taking out some of the large mature trees to help open up the canopy. Deer still love natural browse.
Well, then you should be seeing good under story growth and that may already be contributing to your better hunting. The thicker and nastier, the better.
I think you are doing the right thing. As others suggested improve the habit for bedding, create a water source if none exists and play with the food plot seeding. I like beans and then over seed them with a mix of cereal rye, oats and winter wheat for late season. Looking forward to how things go for you in 2017. Good luck!
Given the situation, probably the best "out of the ordinary" thing you can do is to be sure that your food plot fertility and PH are at a premium and diversify your plantings and even fertilize whatever native browse you have. Forage growing in optimum conditions always tastes better than forage in not ideal conditions. Deer have an innate ability for their palette to make them naturally draw to those better quality forages. You can even go so far as to test and amend micro-nutrients with liquid and foliars. Plots looked great btw.
Your story sounds very familiar. This was my first year with food plots as well. Same deal here the deer haven't touched the Brassicas... Unless they start tearing them up I'm not wasting my time/money next year.
