I am going to rototill an area 25yds x 80 yds. The soil is light and it has tall timber standing on both sides. I have some corn seed and was thinking about planting some down the middle to see how it does. I would like to attract deer late Oct - late Dec. What should I plant and when?
Do you have a high deer density? If so, I dont think corn would be the ideal thing to plant. Your plot isn't too big. Are you in an agricultural area? Maybe try forage soybeans or some brassicas/oats mix.
I would spend the summer building the soil. get soil test done, asap, add neccessary lime and plant it to buck wheat or oats. then around 10th of July go in and spray it with glysophate, let it die. around the 20th of July I would go in and till it again. broadcast on 19-19-19 at around 300 pounds to the acre. then plant a fall mix of brassicas. this will draw deer well. (unless they are not used to brassicas, if that's the case go with a mix of winter red wheat, winter oats, some Austrian winter peas and red clover.) any questions just ask, there is a wealth of knowledge with all the food plotters on here!
I would plant buckwheat now, and then till it in late July, early August. Then plant 1/2 in brassica, and 1/2 in a rye/oat/wheat mix.
I would plant some clover right now. Mow it two or three times between planting and October. They will be in that stuff heavy come mid September into October. Don't even waste time with the corn or beans - not worth the risk of lack of growth or heavy browsing.
I am going to get the soil tested this weekend. I'll let you guys know what I find out. There are fields within a mile, but most of the area is mature timber...mostly red oak and maple. Deer density...not super high, probably 20-25/sq. mi. The section is all woods except a 40 acre field (corn or beans). Across the street, that block has no fields. There are some corn/bean fields to the north and south though.
