Plot Advice - NWPA

My husband and I are in the midst of purchasing a home. We should be there by the end of the month. The property comes with 27 acres. Seven acres include powerlines. We are hoping to til up some of the property the beginning of July to get some plots in. Right now our main focus is on deer. Is there anything in particular that you'd recommend for this area?

We have a pond at the back of our property. We were thinking of rotatilling behind the pond.

Thanks.

 

Clover and chicory mix was a good one for us. Doesn't require replanting till close to 4 years but does require cutting and applying fertilizer and lime maybe twice a year depending. The first part would be to determine the ph of the soil. With that most ag stores can recommend the lime and fertilizer to use.

 

I see you're in the same area as myself. I'll look into those. Cutting wont be a problem - as I'm sure fertilization will be easy, too. Is this like everything else - only spring or fall planting?

Thank you!

 

If the property is yours and you'll be living there for a while? apple trees! haha just throwing it out there. There is a pond on the property we hunt and the guy on the property planted a mix of clover, brassicas and one other plant, and they took GREAT. Lotta deer moving through there during the pre season, and they hit the brassicas real hard during late season. Hope this helps -Jimmy

 

The property will be ours in a couple weeks. It'll probably be our "final" property, so apple trees wouldn't be a bad idea (Especially treeline beside pond). Where I currently bow hunt there are a few apple trees - it is hit or miss if they touch them. This past year was more of an off year for them. I know it'll be some years before they grow though - definately looking into the clover mixes.

 

Yea the risk of mid summer is a dry hot spell.... Best to have periods of clouds, rain and warm nights like we have had the past week

 

But lord only knows - we may just have snow by September!

Thank you for the advice!

 

With new property i always ask these questions, as i had to go look at another field this week where there wasn't going to be success no matter what the owner planted.

Pull a soil test.
If there was a previous crop, ask the owner what chemicals were used as some have up to 15 month residual.
Plant for success. Lime takes up to 6 months to work. Plant cover crops year one to build up your soils organic matter, to suppress weeds and to allow you to see some success.

I'd fall plant after effective weed control and put a mix of fall triticale, radish, rape and perhaps an annual clover like berseem.

 

An outfitter we went and hunted last year in IL suggested that we throw turnip seeds out in about August. The land hasn't been farmed in 30+ years, but parts have very nice soil.

We mowed our pasture over the weekend and had a ton of clover that was unseen before. That should help some!

 

Why is that? What was the problem that prevented anything from working?

 

For a first year plot i am a huge fan of brassicas. They will aerate and provide organic matter to the new soil, they grow almost anywhere, and they grow big tall leaves which help shade out weeds, which is typically a big problem in new plots. If your soil is right for it. I would recommend a product called double cross from whitetail institute. It has brassicas for a quick stand and cover crop for this season, and it also has clover which will come back in the spring. If you plant clover now, you won't get much of a stand until next spring anyway. Planting the brassicas with it gives the plot some attractiveness this fall. Then you will have a good perennial for several years after.

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Researching this now. Thanks!

 

Cover master....too many people forget when they buy new property, to ask the previous owner what chemicals were used the previous year. If one used Lumax on corn, you were not going to be happy with much the following spring.

Double cross is imperial whitetail with brassica....you pay twice as much as you should but it's a good concept. I like using a 3 clover mix with a 3 brassica mix for fall planting. The secret to people being impressed year one with imperial whitetail clover and double cross is BERSEEM CLOVER. I love berseem clover so many many reasons. I also recommend a product both spring and fall called plot restore by deer creek seeds. Plot restore is berseem clover with forage radish. It sells for $30 an acre. Nothing fixates more nitrogen than berseem clover. The daikon radish loosens up the soil hard pan as well as scavenged nutrients. People over look radish for deer. I had a couple buddies of mine call me in February telling me how they had 50-100 deer at a time in their restore plots and how they were happy i talked them into putting this out in the fall.

 

Id wait til late summer and mix radishes in with your clover and chicory mixes. This year they'll eat the radishes as a cover crop and the clover will get established. Then next spring the clover will come back and look awesome with a head start on weeds. First step is to get a soil sample and test your ph levels. 5.5-7 is good enough for these mixes but 7 is perfect and wont need lime added. Plant at 1/4 inch or pack it in before some rain and youll be set perfectly.

Tyler Rector BHOD prostaff

 

Check out rack maker plus from heartland wildlife institute and mix it with there buck buster brassicas. Its amazing the results ive had with their products. Its drought resistant too.

Tyler Rector BHOD prostaff

 

I loveeee radishes but they grow so fast, you need to keep the level down to 1-2 lbs an acre if your using them as a cover crop. Want a mix that will cost you $30 an acre and will scavenge nutrients, fixate a huge amount of nitrogen and product knee high growth within about 45 days???? Mix radish with berseem clover. Spike it with some winfred brassica and you'll have a 3 phase food plot. One that they will eat early, late fall and during the winter. All done inexpensive.

Deer Creek Plot Restore is a blend of radish and berseem clover for $15 for a 5 lb bag.

 

This year I would take a soil test to see what the soil needs. Then I would plant something for fall like brassicas or oat. It's getting late for clover and chicory.

 

I have to respectfully disagree with your statement that double cross costs twice what it should. You get what you pay for. Double cross is a three clover blend with four brassicas. Yes berseem clover is one of the varieties, but it also has insight ladino clover, which is a variety NO ONE else has, because whitetail institute developed it and patented it. They are still the ONLY food plot company to develop specific varieties for deer. Not to say other companies don't have good products, because they do. But most of WI's products are ones they have developed. The brassica seed in double cross, including the turnips are the same way. They are not the same as what you can buy from a seed dealer or co-op. Their motto is research = results.....and i believe that is true. I don't work for them, and they aren't paying me anything to say that. I have planted many different company's seeds, and planted alone....many work. Some even work really well. But then again, deer will eat fescue if they don't have a choice of something else. planted side by side, the deer on my place have always seemed to prefer WI products when given a choice... Trail cam activity doesn't lie. I believe their stuff is worth every penny

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Thank you everyone for the advice. Definately giving me many things to look into! We are going to be rotatilling an area within' the next week or two. I saw that you can buy a soil test to DIY. I am thinking we may do that. I'll be placing a camera in the area we plan to plant to see what kind of activity is already there. The Double Cross says we can plant between August-September for a fall planting - which is what we plan on doing. The area hasn't had any crops on it as it is just in the back yard near some pines and our pond. Hopefully the results will be good.

 

Sounds awesome! Keep us posted on the results!

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