Best food plot
- Thread starter 1eyedjack
- Start date
Last spring I planted 4 different types of plants to see what the whitetail here in southeast Indiana liked. My plots were on the edges of over 300 ac of corn. Plot (1) Whitetail institute’s chicory plus, plot (2) Biologic’s clover plus. Each plot had ag lime and fertilizer added per soil test. Each plot was planted around April 1st both produced rather well considering we entered into a drought by June. Summer and early fall the deer went to and ate consistently the W-I’s clover plus, they did nothing with the Biologic’s clover plus. They actually walked though the Biologic to get to the chicory plus. Part 2. Last August I planted Whitetail institute’s wintergreens in the middle of the chicory plus this area was thin so no harm done to the overall stand. I also planted next to the Biologic clover plus a section of Biologic’s green patch plus. The deer continued to eat at the W-I chicory plus though December – they did little with the wintergreen. They also did little to nothing with Biologics green patch plus. With this data and watching the deer I’m sold on Whitetail Institute’s Imperial clover, I would not bother with the chicory either I don’t think they like it. I have received a 25# bag W-I’s imperial clover this week so when the weather breaks I will increase my clover plot. Hope this helps..
B..
B..
Smote_Yotes
New member
1eyedjack,
My hunting partner and I have tried many many of the seed products from Biologic, Whitetail Institute and a few of the others.. Shot Plot etc. We have found that in our area there is nothing that compares to the Whitetail Institute Imperial Clover. In the four years since we have planted it we have found that it produces the most tonnage, greens up the earliest of the clovers and stays green far into December. By that point it is'nt a matter due to it being eaten down to the dirt. We tried the Imperial Chicory mix too, and also found that the deer were eating the clover in the mix and passing on the chicory. 2 years ago we did have some sucess with the Imperial chicory when we had a very long and hot spring. The chicory definately stayed green while the clover wilted. We have also tried disking in corn... worked OK but we are looking into a 2 row planter to see if better results can be had. Planted Imperial power plant the last 2 years and found that if the plot is not protected from the deer for the first month or so, they just eat it to the ground and we end up with a patch of sorghum which so far has not been touched by deer as far as we can tell. Planted five or six kinds of brassicas and found that the deer nibble on them sparingly during our gun hunting season (untouched during our bow season). The brassicas really come on in our area when our gun season is winding down. What really surprised us is the 70 sawtooth oaks that we planted 4 years ago. These things have grown like weeds on fertilizer and dump shocking amounts of acorns for being in the ground for just 4 years. We planted them in bunches of 8 in some of our interior fields. The oaks are our go to places for new stands. FYI: these results are from the Northern Catskill mountains.
Good hunting!
P.S. be prepared to spend lots of money on herbicides to maintain the clover patches and dont skimp on soil bed prep, we did the first year and paid for it dearly !!
My hunting partner and I have tried many many of the seed products from Biologic, Whitetail Institute and a few of the others.. Shot Plot etc. We have found that in our area there is nothing that compares to the Whitetail Institute Imperial Clover. In the four years since we have planted it we have found that it produces the most tonnage, greens up the earliest of the clovers and stays green far into December. By that point it is'nt a matter due to it being eaten down to the dirt. We tried the Imperial Chicory mix too, and also found that the deer were eating the clover in the mix and passing on the chicory. 2 years ago we did have some sucess with the Imperial chicory when we had a very long and hot spring. The chicory definately stayed green while the clover wilted. We have also tried disking in corn... worked OK but we are looking into a 2 row planter to see if better results can be had. Planted Imperial power plant the last 2 years and found that if the plot is not protected from the deer for the first month or so, they just eat it to the ground and we end up with a patch of sorghum which so far has not been touched by deer as far as we can tell. Planted five or six kinds of brassicas and found that the deer nibble on them sparingly during our gun hunting season (untouched during our bow season). The brassicas really come on in our area when our gun season is winding down. What really surprised us is the 70 sawtooth oaks that we planted 4 years ago. These things have grown like weeds on fertilizer and dump shocking amounts of acorns for being in the ground for just 4 years. We planted them in bunches of 8 in some of our interior fields. The oaks are our go to places for new stands. FYI: these results are from the Northern Catskill mountains.
Good hunting!
P.S. be prepared to spend lots of money on herbicides to maintain the clover patches and dont skimp on soil bed prep, we did the first year and paid for it dearly !!
YetiHunter
New member
My soil seems to be very acidic so I use the WI Extreme blend. I have been using it for a few years and it has been doing well. I do lime the heck out of it as we all know "lime doesnt cost, it pays...." Where my plots are located its nothing but big woods so any little plot seems to draw deer in. That was the intent of my plots as well. Just to attract deer during the open season.
BRUSHWOLF5
New member
My good friend planted turnips this past summer and had very good results after the frost. Beside the turnips he has a corver patch and they like that alot but they quit on the clover when the frost came and started on the turnips. Has anybody tried sunflowers?
Smote_Yotes
New member
The sawtooth oaks were purchased from Edward Forte nurseries. 866-295-8733 Mr. Forte is a complete gentleman and runs his business with hunters in mind. They were 3 feet or so high when I planted them. Woodchucks love the clover too by the way! They will be pursued this week after 25 tons of lime are spread.
Good Hunting!
Good Hunting!
jdunham
New member
Depends on what your objective is with the plot. Clover gets the most year round use but is often not a big draw in late season here. Turnips and some of the other commercial blends are good late fall hunting season bets but aren't much use the rest of the year for the deer. What do you want the most out of the plot?
PredatorHunters
New member
I planted ShotPlot brassica in the Summer of 2006 and had very good success with them. I planted in mid June and they were prime for September/October. They didn't reall get touched much until October/November when it got real cold. By the beginning of December everything was stripped bare, everything was eaten except for the odd stalk.
John
John
I have 32 acres in WV since fall of 2003. I have been trying
different things for deer, grouse, rabbit and turkey. The following is what I have learned in four years.
For the fall, I had excellent results with Pennington's Deer Greens. The 1/4 acre plot had the deer coming down the hillside 1 1/2 hours before dark to feed.
After the frost, I had good results with Winter Grazer Rye #70, Austrian Winter peas, ladino clover, oats and winter wheat. For the past two winters I planted 1 1/2 acres of
winter wheat and clover and 1 1/2 acres of Southern States Wild Game Mix # 2. The Mix # 2 contains, clover, oats, austrian winter pea and wheat.
I planted kale and turnips mixed with the above mixes. My
english springer spanials were eating more kale and turnips then the deer. The good thing about the kale and turnips is they grow well with a ph around 6.0, which makes it ideal for some of the wooded food plots on the hill.
I stopped trying to raise the ph too costly. Now I try to plant something that likes that ph for wildlife.
different things for deer, grouse, rabbit and turkey. The following is what I have learned in four years.
For the fall, I had excellent results with Pennington's Deer Greens. The 1/4 acre plot had the deer coming down the hillside 1 1/2 hours before dark to feed.
After the frost, I had good results with Winter Grazer Rye #70, Austrian Winter peas, ladino clover, oats and winter wheat. For the past two winters I planted 1 1/2 acres of
winter wheat and clover and 1 1/2 acres of Southern States Wild Game Mix # 2. The Mix # 2 contains, clover, oats, austrian winter pea and wheat.
I planted kale and turnips mixed with the above mixes. My
english springer spanials were eating more kale and turnips then the deer. The good thing about the kale and turnips is they grow well with a ph around 6.0, which makes it ideal for some of the wooded food plots on the hill.
I stopped trying to raise the ph too costly. Now I try to plant something that likes that ph for wildlife.
It is good to have shrubs planted around the edges of the plots... 20 years ago I planted experimental planting for the SCS (now NRCS) of Sawtooth oak... planted about 10 trees spaced randomly around a pond... production has been iffy - sparadic and often none. Reading last night that the plantings of sawtooth oak should be of at least a minimum 15 trees - for polination purposes. This is probably why mine haven't been real producers.. They're spaced probably 50 feet apart. If I were to do a planting of sawtooth oak (which I plan to) I would do as stated above - put them in groups of 10 at least. There are many shrub species to plant around plots - viburnums, etc... check out internet search for "wildlife shrubs".