Introduction: HOW to Succeed With Deer Food Plots: Reality, Advice, Design, Planting, and Maintenance
WWW.BUCKADVISOR.COM: FOOD PLOT DESIGN, PLANTING, AND MAINTENANCE
This video will show you the process of a year of planning and inspiration for deer management:
By far the most searched, discussed, and implemented form of wildlife management, particularly with deer management, are deer food plots. Although food plots are meant to be a “supplement” to the overall diet of deer and other wildlife on a property (which should largely depend on the native habitat), most serious hunters and managers plant some sort of food plot. This dedication not only provides a large amount of seasonally available food for wildlife, but also a large economic boost to the economy.Whitetail Institute Buck Advisor Partner
Before even considering what food plot forage to plant, like Whitetail Institute’s Imperial Clover or Biologic’s Green Patch Plus, the hunter or manager must first consider the design elements of the food plot. This may seem like a simple decision, but it is by far the most costly and impactful on your hunting and wildlife management. Many hunters will simply use current wildlife openings or old fields, which is much more cost effective; however, for those needing to clear an area for a food plot using compact tractors, rotary mowers (bush hog), chainsaws, herbicides, and even prescribed fire, there is a lot more effort and money involved. In order to make sure you maximize your Return on Investment (ROI), you want to create a food plot design that is exactly suited to your needs. There are two main factors to consider when planning the food plot layout: type of hunting (archery, gun, or both) and type of plot (hunting/kill, nutrition, or both). When creating a food plot solely for hunting with a gun, the plot can be much larger and “blocky” than when you are strictly archery hunting. Deer are creatures of edge habitat, and so they tend to visit plot with more edge (close to escape cover) which typically means long, skinny food plots. When creating more of an archery food plot, you need to be much more focused on shot distance. It is also beneficial to create pinch points in the food plot that will essentially act as a funnel for harvest opportunities. The purpose of the food plot will also largely determine the size of the food plot. A food plot that is created solely for hunting purposes, will likely be less than an acre or two, creating easy shots. A nutrition food plot will be much larger in size in order to provide tonnage of highly nutritious food, as well as the ability to hold a large quantity of deer and only causing minimal social stress (think buck fights).
Buck Advisor Foodplot Design
Food plot planting is undoubtedly the most discussed deer management topic, and strangely enough it is also the most incorrectly conducted wildlife management practice! Planting a food plot is much more difficult than many TV shows, magazines, and articles make it seem…at least when done properly. A successful food plot planting begins with your soil. EVERY food plot should have a soil sample analysis completed prior to planting, whether it is a virgin planting or a veteran plot. A soil sample analysis will indicate the quantity and availability of nutrients in the soil not only for the plants to uptake and grow successfully, but to then transfer to the herbivorous wildlife that consume them like deer and turkeys. The two most common soil amendment procedures that a food plotter will conduct are pH modification (usually increasing) through lime or calcium, and fertilizer (Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium). The addition of lime or calcium to alter pH is usually done prior to seed being sewn. Most food plotters use domestic or Ag lime which can take years to modify the soil pH, however, products like liquid lime are becoming more readily available and can change the pH in a much shorter time. The downfall is that liquid lime’s lifetime in soil is very short compared to its slower-acting counterpart. The solution? A product like liquid calcium which can have the lifetime of Ag lime, but the quick effectiveness of liquid lime. Triple-13…most food plotters mindset when they hear the word “fertilizer.” However, the reality is that Triple-13 is likely the least efficient food plot fertilizer! Only a soil sample analysis can indicate the levels of Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium (N-P-K), and the correct quantity of each that is needed to amend the soil. For example, when planting clover (a Nitrogen fixing plant) you may only require a small amount, if any, Nitrogen, but need Phosphorus and Potassium. In these cases the most effective and cost efficient choice would be a low or no Nitrogen fertilizer like 0-70-120. You can work with local farm cooperatives to locate fertilizer, or look at specialized food plot fertilizers from companies like Whitetail Institute, Biologic, and The Buck Advisors. Once your soil is properly amended, you can begin the actual planting process.
How you plant a food plot largely depends on the type of forage you are planting. There are thousands of plant varieties, blends, and mixes to choose from, so how do you know which is the best? It all depends on your reason for the plot, property/herd goals, and location. If you are planting the food plot as a late season hunting hot spot, you likely won’t plant a highly attractive early season forage like oats or wheat. The same goes for nutrition plots. If you are looking to provide high quality protein for antler growth and fawn health in the summer, you wouldn’t plant a cool season annual like brassicas, even though it is extremely high in protein, because it will not grow. If you are not worried about providing nutrition to your deer, but just want to increase harvest opportunities, you will likely lean toward planting only annuals (not year-round perennials) and more specifically those annuals that grow mainly during the cool season. Lastly is your geographic location. Every plant species is adapted for certain conditions. For instance, alfalfa performs best in well-drained soils and brassicas become most attractive to deer once they experience a hard freeze converting the carbohydrates to sugars, therefore they are not the best to plant where the climate during the fall and winter is considered mild.Buck Advisor Foodplot Design
You also must consider the planting equipment needed to establish these food plots. If you own or have access to a compact tractor, disc harrow, and some type of seeder, you can likely plant anything. But some seeds may underperform. For example, small seed like clover, chicory, and brassica should not be planted much deeper than ¼”. If you only use a disc harrow, many of these seeds will be planted too deep and fail to germinate. In order to create a proper seed bed you would need to run some type of roller, like a cultipacker, over the newly turned soil to firm up the dirt. Then sow the small seed, and roll back over it to ensure good seed to soil contact. Planting anything larger than ¼ acre with an ATV/UTV is widely inefficient. The Buck Advisors, in cooperation with Whitetail Institute and Biologic, do offer several type of “Throw and Grow” for hard to access spots, that can be established with nothing more than a hand rake.
Food Plot Equipment - The Buck Advisors
Most hunters and managers don’t think about the maintenance of a food plot. For most annual food plots there is very little, with the exception of maybe spraying Round-up Ready corn and soybeans not long after emergence to release them from competition. However, in order to maximize the production and lifetime of perennial food plots, like Whitetail Institute’s Alfa-Rack Plus or Biologic’s Clover Plus, you will need to control weeds and fertilize. Most perennial food plots do not reach their highest production until year 2 or 3, but this can only occur if the plot is well tak
en care of. Often clover and alfalfa plots will need a dose of grass-selective herbicide in the late spring or summer, in order to allow it to take off in the fall during hunting season. In some cases, “disturbance” broadleaf plants, or what many of us call “weeds,” will show up in the first couple years of planting. Using a specialized broadleaf herbicide will remove these nuisance plants while not harming your perennial food plot. The Buck Advisors offer these herbicides for clients in Whitetail Institute’s Arrest and Slay products. Applying fertilizer to established, perennial food plots is called “top dressing” as we do not work it into the soil like when we are planting seed. Most times doing this before a good rain will increase the likelihood of the fertilizer reaching the root zone of the plant where it uptakes nutrients. There are several high quality liquid fertilizers and plant growth stimulants that can be extremely beneficial to food plotters. Even though the perennial food plot is established, you should still conduct an annual soil sample analysis. This will indicate the needs of the plot for the upcoming year.
Food Plot XCAGE - Exclosure cage
Just as important as all of the above is food plot monitoring. In order to determine the success (or failure) of a food plot there must be a Food Plot Exclosure cage on EVERY planting. The exclosure cage provides the planter with two very important types of information. First, the cage should be placed on the plot as soon as the seed is sewn. This will give the food plotter a controlled environment to see exactly how the plot would look if no animals (particularly deer) had access to it. Often, hunters and managers will look at a weak plot and blame it on the seed, soil, or weather; however, the most likely culprit was over-browsing by animals. Second, the exclosure cage will allow the hunter to gauge deer activity on a plot during the season. If the plants inside the cage are much taller than those outside, you can be pretty sure that deer are feeding heavily in your food plot. The Buck Advisors have given many seminars and wrote many articles on the importance of Food Plot Exclosure Cages. To answer the demand and make sure all hunters and managers have the ability to monitor their food plots accurately and successfully, they have developed the high quality “X-Cage” available through www.thebuckadvisors.com. Designed and built specifically with the food plotter in mind, the “X-Cage” features high grade, durable fencing ensuring many years of use, and the innovative “X-Cage TAG” allows food plotters to document when the plot was planted, type of seed sewn, and record growth progress of the plants inside the cage. To keep the “X-Cage” firmly attached to the ground, the product features high grade stakes that are easy to install and sink into the ground. Look for The Buck Advisors “X-Cage” available soon just in time for your 2013 Fall food plots!
This video will show you the process of a year of planning and inspiration for deer management:
By far the most searched, discussed, and implemented form of wildlife management, particularly with deer management, are deer food plots. Although food plots are meant to be a “supplement” to the overall diet of deer and other wildlife on a property (which should largely depend on the native habitat), most serious hunters and managers plant some sort of food plot. This dedication not only provides a large amount of seasonally available food for wildlife, but also a large economic boost to the economy.Whitetail Institute Buck Advisor Partner
Before even considering what food plot forage to plant, like Whitetail Institute’s Imperial Clover or Biologic’s Green Patch Plus, the hunter or manager must first consider the design elements of the food plot. This may seem like a simple decision, but it is by far the most costly and impactful on your hunting and wildlife management. Many hunters will simply use current wildlife openings or old fields, which is much more cost effective; however, for those needing to clear an area for a food plot using compact tractors, rotary mowers (bush hog), chainsaws, herbicides, and even prescribed fire, there is a lot more effort and money involved. In order to make sure you maximize your Return on Investment (ROI), you want to create a food plot design that is exactly suited to your needs. There are two main factors to consider when planning the food plot layout: type of hunting (archery, gun, or both) and type of plot (hunting/kill, nutrition, or both). When creating a food plot solely for hunting with a gun, the plot can be much larger and “blocky” than when you are strictly archery hunting. Deer are creatures of edge habitat, and so they tend to visit plot with more edge (close to escape cover) which typically means long, skinny food plots. When creating more of an archery food plot, you need to be much more focused on shot distance. It is also beneficial to create pinch points in the food plot that will essentially act as a funnel for harvest opportunities. The purpose of the food plot will also largely determine the size of the food plot. A food plot that is created solely for hunting purposes, will likely be less than an acre or two, creating easy shots. A nutrition food plot will be much larger in size in order to provide tonnage of highly nutritious food, as well as the ability to hold a large quantity of deer and only causing minimal social stress (think buck fights).
Buck Advisor Foodplot Design
Food plot planting is undoubtedly the most discussed deer management topic, and strangely enough it is also the most incorrectly conducted wildlife management practice! Planting a food plot is much more difficult than many TV shows, magazines, and articles make it seem…at least when done properly. A successful food plot planting begins with your soil. EVERY food plot should have a soil sample analysis completed prior to planting, whether it is a virgin planting or a veteran plot. A soil sample analysis will indicate the quantity and availability of nutrients in the soil not only for the plants to uptake and grow successfully, but to then transfer to the herbivorous wildlife that consume them like deer and turkeys. The two most common soil amendment procedures that a food plotter will conduct are pH modification (usually increasing) through lime or calcium, and fertilizer (Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium). The addition of lime or calcium to alter pH is usually done prior to seed being sewn. Most food plotters use domestic or Ag lime which can take years to modify the soil pH, however, products like liquid lime are becoming more readily available and can change the pH in a much shorter time. The downfall is that liquid lime’s lifetime in soil is very short compared to its slower-acting counterpart. The solution? A product like liquid calcium which can have the lifetime of Ag lime, but the quick effectiveness of liquid lime. Triple-13…most food plotters mindset when they hear the word “fertilizer.” However, the reality is that Triple-13 is likely the least efficient food plot fertilizer! Only a soil sample analysis can indicate the levels of Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium (N-P-K), and the correct quantity of each that is needed to amend the soil. For example, when planting clover (a Nitrogen fixing plant) you may only require a small amount, if any, Nitrogen, but need Phosphorus and Potassium. In these cases the most effective and cost efficient choice would be a low or no Nitrogen fertilizer like 0-70-120. You can work with local farm cooperatives to locate fertilizer, or look at specialized food plot fertilizers from companies like Whitetail Institute, Biologic, and The Buck Advisors. Once your soil is properly amended, you can begin the actual planting process.
How you plant a food plot largely depends on the type of forage you are planting. There are thousands of plant varieties, blends, and mixes to choose from, so how do you know which is the best? It all depends on your reason for the plot, property/herd goals, and location. If you are planting the food plot as a late season hunting hot spot, you likely won’t plant a highly attractive early season forage like oats or wheat. The same goes for nutrition plots. If you are looking to provide high quality protein for antler growth and fawn health in the summer, you wouldn’t plant a cool season annual like brassicas, even though it is extremely high in protein, because it will not grow. If you are not worried about providing nutrition to your deer, but just want to increase harvest opportunities, you will likely lean toward planting only annuals (not year-round perennials) and more specifically those annuals that grow mainly during the cool season. Lastly is your geographic location. Every plant species is adapted for certain conditions. For instance, alfalfa performs best in well-drained soils and brassicas become most attractive to deer once they experience a hard freeze converting the carbohydrates to sugars, therefore they are not the best to plant where the climate during the fall and winter is considered mild.Buck Advisor Foodplot Design
You also must consider the planting equipment needed to establish these food plots. If you own or have access to a compact tractor, disc harrow, and some type of seeder, you can likely plant anything. But some seeds may underperform. For example, small seed like clover, chicory, and brassica should not be planted much deeper than ¼”. If you only use a disc harrow, many of these seeds will be planted too deep and fail to germinate. In order to create a proper seed bed you would need to run some type of roller, like a cultipacker, over the newly turned soil to firm up the dirt. Then sow the small seed, and roll back over it to ensure good seed to soil contact. Planting anything larger than ¼ acre with an ATV/UTV is widely inefficient. The Buck Advisors, in cooperation with Whitetail Institute and Biologic, do offer several type of “Throw and Grow” for hard to access spots, that can be established with nothing more than a hand rake.
Food Plot Equipment - The Buck Advisors
Most hunters and managers don’t think about the maintenance of a food plot. For most annual food plots there is very little, with the exception of maybe spraying Round-up Ready corn and soybeans not long after emergence to release them from competition. However, in order to maximize the production and lifetime of perennial food plots, like Whitetail Institute’s Alfa-Rack Plus or Biologic’s Clover Plus, you will need to control weeds and fertilize. Most perennial food plots do not reach their highest production until year 2 or 3, but this can only occur if the plot is well tak
en care of. Often clover and alfalfa plots will need a dose of grass-selective herbicide in the late spring or summer, in order to allow it to take off in the fall during hunting season. In some cases, “disturbance” broadleaf plants, or what many of us call “weeds,” will show up in the first couple years of planting. Using a specialized broadleaf herbicide will remove these nuisance plants while not harming your perennial food plot. The Buck Advisors offer these herbicides for clients in Whitetail Institute’s Arrest and Slay products. Applying fertilizer to established, perennial food plots is called “top dressing” as we do not work it into the soil like when we are planting seed. Most times doing this before a good rain will increase the likelihood of the fertilizer reaching the root zone of the plant where it uptakes nutrients. There are several high quality liquid fertilizers and plant growth stimulants that can be extremely beneficial to food plotters. Even though the perennial food plot is established, you should still conduct an annual soil sample analysis. This will indicate the needs of the plot for the upcoming year.
Food Plot XCAGE - Exclosure cage
Just as important as all of the above is food plot monitoring. In order to determine the success (or failure) of a food plot there must be a Food Plot Exclosure cage on EVERY planting. The exclosure cage provides the planter with two very important types of information. First, the cage should be placed on the plot as soon as the seed is sewn. This will give the food plotter a controlled environment to see exactly how the plot would look if no animals (particularly deer) had access to it. Often, hunters and managers will look at a weak plot and blame it on the seed, soil, or weather; however, the most likely culprit was over-browsing by animals. Second, the exclosure cage will allow the hunter to gauge deer activity on a plot during the season. If the plants inside the cage are much taller than those outside, you can be pretty sure that deer are feeding heavily in your food plot. The Buck Advisors have given many seminars and wrote many articles on the importance of Food Plot Exclosure Cages. To answer the demand and make sure all hunters and managers have the ability to monitor their food plots accurately and successfully, they have developed the high quality “X-Cage” available through www.thebuckadvisors.com. Designed and built specifically with the food plotter in mind, the “X-Cage” features high grade, durable fencing ensuring many years of use, and the innovative “X-Cage TAG” allows food plotters to document when the plot was planted, type of seed sewn, and record growth progress of the plants inside the cage. To keep the “X-Cage” firmly attached to the ground, the product features high grade stakes that are easy to install and sink into the ground. Look for The Buck Advisors “X-Cage” available soon just in time for your 2013 Fall food plots!
