Got food plots?
- Thread starter Deputy819
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BaMaverick
New Member
Growing up in Michigan, deer typically used regular, well worn trails. At different times of the year, they used different trails, but they had pretty regular trails. When I moved down to Arkansas and started hunting up in the Ozark mountains (on someone else's land), deer ran every direction. Never any well used trails. It was hard to even get a basic flow direction by looking at their ever changing paths. Many paths were one time or maybe a couple of times use paths. There was a ton of hunting pressure. Maybe that was why, but I never could figure them out.
To try to tame the randomness of their travel paths, I used multiple small food plots. Some only 10 or 20 foot long. Some down the middle and edges of two wheel paths. I tried to create some sort of flow direction. Some in the middle of the woods. Any place where conditions were right to grow them. It seamed to help. After I let people know what I was doing, a bunch of other guys from work started doing the same thing. They all said it seemed to help, but not 100% of the time. Like everyone knows, what deer eat, and where they drink from, is constantly changing, with the time of the year, and with who's shooting at them.
This is a weird way to use food plots, but it seemed to work ..... for that area. Has anyone else used food plots like this???
To try to tame the randomness of their travel paths, I used multiple small food plots. Some only 10 or 20 foot long. Some down the middle and edges of two wheel paths. I tried to create some sort of flow direction. Some in the middle of the woods. Any place where conditions were right to grow them. It seamed to help. After I let people know what I was doing, a bunch of other guys from work started doing the same thing. They all said it seemed to help, but not 100% of the time. Like everyone knows, what deer eat, and where they drink from, is constantly changing, with the time of the year, and with who's shooting at them.
This is a weird way to use food plots, but it seemed to work ..... for that area. Has anyone else used food plots like this???
Deputy819
Well-Known Member
I tried that once. The little mini-plots I put in the woods didnt fare very well. Probably didnt get enough sunlight and I'm sure the ground was lacking in nutrients of some sort.....
turkeyfever
Well-Known Member
Have been planting food plots for deer for 30 plus years on the same farm. Farm is a pine plantation that consist of 300 acres. Lime is your best friend in the food plot industry. Two different types of lime agricultural and pelletized . They work differently also. Agricultural lime takes time to work but will work over a longer period of time. You can only buy this in bulk and have to spread it mechanically by heavy equipment. Without soil test 2 ton per acre recommended. Pelletized lime will start working when you put it out and melts but only last 5 or 6 months. Rates are 300 to 350 lbs per acre recommended. We have established the no till option on most of our food plots. Inert matter breaking down on top of the ground helps with not having to put very much fertilizer on the food plots. We have changed our fertilizer from triple 10 and 13 to putting out ammonium nitrate 34-0-0, potassium 0-48-0, potash 0-0-60. We use less fertilizer in long run of year. We run two soil test a year in February and August to regulate if our procedures are working or not. Doing food plots right will cost you a lot of money but the rewards make me happy.
