I’ve had some decent bucks pass through my 15 acres behind the house but I don’t hunt it... Dang random chance if they happen to walk through and I’m hunting. So I decided this year I’m going to try some small clover plots and put clover on the trails leading to the north and south end of the property. It’s partially shaded - not full shade and moisture in this old cow pasture shouldn’t be an issue. Ground is plenty fertile. I will keep you updated on my progress!
Just a few that were on the property from time to time last year. We have a lot of controlled property in the area so I think these guys made it through.
On this plot I'm going to mix - forage oats, Durana White Clover and Ladino Colover. I've got some other plots that are in the works on another property... Just documenting this one for now. First time plot and excited to see how it does.
Looks like some great spots . If there isn't water near think about a tub back off plot a bit. In the late summer I over seed light with turnips just to add late season candy for them. Actually right now my clover plots have turnips just starting to grow from a second late seeding. I checked the greens for taste and they are almost butter tasting and very mild. Deer are hitting them hard, pulling the radish sized bulbs which are also tender and sweet. good luck this fall.
Good advice thank you! You have turnips/radish in the ground already?? Curious of location?? I’m in Indiana. And yes - just talking about this today we have a creek and plenty of water running though the property but it has still crossed our minds. Top right you can see the feeding tough where the plot is.
Not planted this year. What I do is walk turnips over most plots with turnips in mid July. This gives big greens and big bulbs early . Then I do another light walk over in September. I'm in hills of Fingerlakes NY, so this causes a stunting of turnip growth. Some seed grows small bulbs for late winter early spring some seed doesnt start growth until spring. I've posted pics of these in one of my management posts. It benefits my turkey as well. I'll try and get some pics today and post. Dang cold 30 degrees this morning . Snow in the forecast this week. BTW, the Duran was a great clover choice. I like Dutch in shade mixes as well. The reason is it handles the shade very well, also the high acid found in woodland plots/ trails. You won't get tonnage due to short growth. But it fills in gaps and as the taller stuff is getting browsed hard the Dutch is down there thickening up and smothering weeds
I’m a little worried about the canopy as well. I’ve planted many of food plots - none in shade. It’s not full shade though I’d say maybe 60 / 40.
I found those pics in bucksnbears brassica for bulbs or greens post. Also some of my shade plots in 2020 planning. This spring I will have a commercial mix I got on sale of peas clovers,winter greens on one stubborn trail plot. The plot is on it's third season and the last two have been rough. Its been a build up of lime on very acid cold soil that nothing will grow very long, even the clovers. It actually gets good light in a few spots and filtered in others but is bare every spring.even few weeds. It's fertilized well. I did discover last spring while turkey hunting it one unexpected visitor in the middle of our hard woods trail plot. A bunch of bunnies.
Seed will be here tomorrow and rain Friday. It’s not as heavily wooded as the pictures make it seem. Some of this has been logged and was an old cow pasture. It’s very much an experiment but I think the clover will take - only time will tell. If it doesn’t work I’m out nothing but time and a little bit of seed money down the drain.
I find that in my shaded plots they do well if planted late fall or frost seeded. The reason is you will get enough full sun warmer days to get growth growing before the canopy has a chance to really fill in. This gives the clover leaves enough time to get big enough for photosynthesis. Some areas are only good for an annual clover or a winter grain annual clover yearly planting. Biggest issue is leaf fall smothering plots. So if you want less invasive measures throw and grow type seeding each late summer early fall
Art! My favorite seed company - Hankcock Seed by way of Florida. What you wanna see in your tilled up dirt! And now we wait!!
Looking good...today we won't break 35 with snow on the ground. But last check myfrost seeding is trying in this weather.
The main story of this plot will be told in July or so. I suspect the canopy is never going to let it thrive. Not a huge fan of the understory lacking much thick cover which tells me while the trees may not be plentiful, the canopy is clearly pretty thick. Even 8-15 trees along it's south side killed or cut could make a HUGE difference.
Thanks for the feedback. Itt's clearly an "expermential plot"... I've got about 3 different areas I could have played around with. I went with this area because it required the least amount ground clean-up prior to tilling and I like the way it sets up the rest of the property the best - I think it's growth potential is probably less than the other couple areas I have in mind. It could be a complete bust this year - but I was willing to take that chance. If you suspect that July or so is when I'm going to really find out of this plot will make it? Do you have any suggestions or is it 100% about the sunlight? 1. Do I try and protect the plot now by roping it off? If yes, how long do I keep it protected? 2. Do I wait and protect the plot around June through say September? 3. Hit with some DeerGro Plot Boost? If yes, when? 4. If it comes in decent should I just stay off completly - not mow it at all this year even if it looks like it could need it.
#4, heres the thing about shade plots. The angle of the sun in relation to the topography in April is not what you will see in June or July ,no matter what the tree canopy is. There are good sites you can google to show you what I mean in graph form. An example: I would google sun angle graph for northeast. Try it for you area. It also depends on orientation of the plot to that movement . Biggest issue from what I could gather from those pics would be leaf fall. Note you already have a grassy type under story growth BIG plus, it shows light gets to the ground and most important the ground isn't too dry. Lack of ground moisture in summer would be your killer ,because trees are a huge water competitor. Especially shallow rooted trees.
Good stuff - so the area has decent undergrowth all around which is what promoted the foodplot idea in the first place. It's not completly barren - but it's defentily dealing with some canopy issues. It's a bottom area - it usually holds moisture pretty well. If anything I would be worried about it being too wet at certain times if I was attempting plant say anything but clover. Also a creek running very close - ehhh 40 yards away from this plot. I think lack of sunlight or over grazing will be my main problems - probably the combo of both. But add in a dry summer and to TY point above it's going to be a long summer to see if it providies any hunting benefit at all come Oct. If nothing else - if the plot performs well from May-July perhaps I can get a better idea via trail camera if anything worth hunting is living / passing through this small 15 acre parcel of land. If so - it will encourage me to maybe pick one of the areas that I think might perform better for a fall plot.
If you think things will go side ways with the clover in the best timing for your area lay down WR heavy it will be a draw in fall and grow in spring. I did a few shade trails like this then let it go to seed for the turkey...to my surprise deer hit those as well. I then did a heavy rape into the standing rye. After which I mowed the rye. Excellent fall plot. No discing needed just ran small JD mower over it.. Turkey's came in scratching and seeded the rape in well.
Sun angle is a great point OND!. To the OP', I would sure consider thinning out some trees around the plot. I really can think of no other choice but a white clover that has a decent chance.
