I made this plot last year and planted WTI No-Plow. It did very well and the deer loved it. I decided to expand the plot for next year because I'll be planting WTI Pure Attraction. I figure more food for an all season food source will really help hold the deer since there isn't any kind of agricultural fields around except hay. Here are some pictures of the plot. Before After Starting to grow. Ready to hunt. Expanded for WTI Pure Attraction.
Nice! I was hoping to see that you cut some trees out. If you didn't, you would have a hard time getting a good plot to grow in the shade. Now, be sure to test the soil, lime and fertilize.
No-Plow only needs about 3-4 hours of sunlight a day so I wasn't too worried, but once I decided to plant the Pure Attraction I knew I had to get some trees out of there. Soil test is done and I already got my results back. I just need it to be next summer now.
I was gonna say don't just make the plot bigger, instead put a second plot near...creating a travel way between the two. I am a huge advocate for keeping food plots small but numerous. It really keeps the buck active during that special time as they have to go plot by plot checking them out.
I've only got 10 acres to work with and can only afford to work with this one plot. Maybe someday I'll be able to do more. Now that you mention it I have an idea where it could go. Gun season starts the first weekend of November every year so we are very unlucky for the special time. I believe gun season starts on the 3rd of November next year.
10 acres...exactly how many acres we got to work with. Lot of people make the assumption you gotta have over 50, even 100 acres before you can start doing multiple things. I'm gonna be sharing on my blog/site, see sig, how this coming february my father and I are transforming our little 10 acre spot into a multi-plot haven for deer. Right now we just have 4 food plots and one clearcut/hinged thick bedding area. We will be hinging a lot of the edge of our boundaries (purposefuly leaving openings where we want to encourage deer movement), also 3 more plots (all no bigger than probably 1/5 of an acre), sight barrier planted in center of property, damming of a creek or the insertion of a homemade water source. I'll admit though your plot looks extremely healthy and nice! Simply having one there is going to help period!
Do you have a link for the seed you bought? I was going to grab this Biologic pack but yours looks like it came out great.
what was your strategy with getting all the excess brush out. i am clearing about 1/3 of an acre of 14 inch pines. there are about 10, and that is a lot of wood. Any suggestions
Go to www.whitetailinstitute.com and check their seed blends. I planted Imperial No-Plow last season. Make sure you plant in August for best results through out your season. The bags they sell have a lot of seed, but you can always use it next year. The seed I used this year was left over from the past two seasons.
We used gerber hand saws and a set of loppers. We cut everything down as low to the ground as possible. I'm sure there are much easier ways of doing it, but this is all I had access to. After we cut everyhing down we piled it around the plot except for certain spots where we wanted the deer too enter the plot. Having specific openings funneled the deer perfectly into the plot.
We plant that exact No-Plow mix on all our tractor trails as late into August as we can. We try to never use the tractor trails the rest of the year (means hand carrying in fertilizer if needed or whatever else). Stuff works great and given the right soil can look amazing as the OP showed in his pics. The only thing I don't like about it is it has a little too many grasses in it...which is why were gonna experiment this year with making our own mix. Utilizing what we love about the Imperial No-Plow but adding in more brassicas like turnips and possible some more oats. Up until this year though all we've ever used is stuff by Whitetail Institute and we've never had problem with any of them.
Agree with all the WTI talk. Love their stuff. Secret Spot is the kids favorite, but we have some Alfa Rack and Clover out this year that was getting hammered as soon as it sprouted. Going to get some turnips up next year too. Gotta start thinking that way now to make for a good 2012 fall!!!!
I agree that there is way too much Rape Grass in the blend. Whitetail Institute came out with an exclusive seed blend that you can only buy at Gander Mountain this year and it looks to be a lot better for seed content than No-Plow. Check it out if you have a chance.
