Annual Food Plots

[Friend]

Have completed over-seeding, hinge cutting, clearing and moving trails, dispersing mineral and have bush hogged four clover food plots thus far this season. Have been referring to notes and logs from previous seasons to establish annual food plot strategy.

Please share which annual early and late season food plot make-ups have been extremely productive in your experience?

What annual food plots will you be planting this year?

[woodchucker]

Never did the "food plot" thing...??

My kid's buying a house!! 7 acres of rolling field (yard) with a patch of Pines, and Apple trees along the woodline.
Has another 80-100 acres behind him, that may (or not) be huntable this year... (got to ask the neighbors)
I think this "back yard hunting spot" might work out good!!?? 

[Sam McMichael]

I have had good luck with clover as well as a mix of turnips, mustard, and rape. Limited success with oats, though.  One problem I have run into has been the neighboring plots. Some of those guys plant huge fields of stuff that just draw deer by big numbers.

[Mike Bolin]

As far as annuals go, winter rye or a winter rye/winter wheat mix is the only plot(s) that have shown consistent use. I tried a brassica mix last fall and it went untouched until late January and even then, it didn't get hit hard. I basically use winter rye as a nurse crop for clover, but it gets hit in late winter and early spring and in late spring it makes good cover for fawns.

Trying a mix called PowerPlant this year. Won't get it out until next week due to the weather we've been having. According to the label on the package it should not be planted until soil temps are at a consistent 65+ degrees.
I am planning to do away with the plots for the most part next season. The 2 acre PowerPlant plot will become Native Warm Season Grasses and native forbs. If the PowerPlant grows as thick as they say, it should help with weed control for getting the NWSG started.

[Zeebob]

All of my food plots are perennial white clover plots.  In August I will overseed  most of them with winter wheat and turnips seed.  I have had good luck with this system. It produces a lot of forage for the deer and turkeys almost year around. 

My clover plots are productive for 5-6yrs. When I need to restart a plot I wipe it out with Roundup and disk it up in the late summer.  I plant a mix of winter wheat and oats, lightly disk the seed in, then broadcast clover and turnips over the top. I pack the soil down over the whole plot. The wheat and oats act as a nurse crop for the clover, the turnips provide a lot of cold weather feed.  The clover really never makes much of an appearance until spring arrives.

Annual plots are a lot of work…once I got the clover figured out I quit doing annual plots..

[gregg dudley]

Hancock's Seed Company Spring & Summer Food Plot Seed Mix
Cow peas
Peredovic Sunflower
WGF Sorghum
Sunn Hemp
Japanese Millet
Dwarf Deer Corn
Aeschynomene

I never get much results from the cow peas, as the deer mow them down before they get going well.  Aeschynomene, Sunn Hemp, Millet, and Sorghum do well and keep the deer coming in.  I really like the Aeshynomene (joint vetch) and will broadcast that in any random wet/damp part of the property as well as the established food plots.

I'll likely plant a brassica mix later in the fall.

[Terry Lightle]

Do not plant,acorns seem to work pretty good

[Tom1958]

I've had the best results of annuals with sunflowers but the only reason they did so well was because I had an E fence protecting them until they matured. Tonnage was incredible.
When I took the fence down, the hoof traffic was substantial so I broadcast a brassica/ clover mix into the plot. As the sunflowers were eaten away, the brassica sprouted and carried into late fall.all the hoof traffic also made seed to soil contact for the clover. It worked really well.

[thumper-tx]

For spring/summer plots, I only use clover because it does a good job of reseeding for the next year.  I use 60% arrow leaf and 20% each of crimson and S1. I also plant “heavy” when establishing the plot and generally get about 5 years before reseeding at a lighter rate. In the south, summer is generally a bigger nutrition stressor than than the winter.

[Basinboy]

Hancock's Seed Company Spring & Summer Food Plot Seed Mix
Cow peas
Peredovic Sunflower
WGF Sorghum
Sunn Hemp
Japanese Millet
Dwarf Deer Corn
Aeschynomene

I never get much results from the cow peas, as the deer mow them down before they get going well.  Aeschynomene, Sunn Hemp, Millet, and Sorghum do well and keep the deer coming in.  I really like the Aeshynomene (joint vetch) and will broadcast that in any random wet/damp part of the property as well as the established food plots.

I'll likely plant a brassica mix later in the fall.

I’ve been thinking about trying their summer mix. But will likely just plant cow peas and Jointvetch for my summer plot and likely a brassica blend for fall.

[Mr.Vic]

Planted micro food plots for the last several years. Don't over look a good watering hole. A small kids pool by the plots an within shooting distance did more for us than just a plot. 

[Friend]

So far this season:

Perennials:
Three established AK Trophy Clover Blend food plots
One Clover and Alfalfa food plot
Developing new 2 1/2-acre food plot to plant Round-up-Ready Alfalfa

Annuals:
Three Whitetail Forage Oats layered with Cereal Rye food plots
Three Deadly dozen food plots
Three Round-up-Ready Soybeans
Four more undecided at this time

Spread 30 tons of Ag lime and tilled one Soybean plot this week.

[Terry Green]

Scott, how is the heat treating you up there?  Getting plenty of rain?

[Friend]

Terry….the heat in western Ky is upon us early. Crops are currently doing well….we could use some rain…

[Gun]

I let the farmers worry about the "Food Plots". 

[Basinboy]

Planted peas and jointvetch on June 18th. Didn’t get a drop of rain until last weekend but looks like they are popping up! Pretty good buck licking on the Trophy Rock

[gregg dudley]

Looks like you hang those trail cameras pretty high.  I've been thinking about doing that.  How are you mounting them?

[Basinboy]

Looks like you hang those trail cameras pretty high.  I've been thinking about doing that.  How are you mounting them?

I just use a strap and a piece of limb to get the angle I need. No fancy adjustable mounts, can’t use anything that screws into the tree there 

[Friend]

Food plots for my farm this upcoming season:

[Basinboy]

Food plots for my farm this upcoming season:

Large scale operation you have there Friend!