This hasn't been covered in a while here, so I'd be interested in hearing some up to date advice on it. I recently purchased a small place in W. Tenn. that's 50 something acres of rolling hills including some moist bottom land and a small amount of fields. Probably 5 - 10 acres.

The trail cams showed a lot of deer early in the season, which is now over. Recent cams have shown a lot less deer activity. I don't think they were killed off. Probably more scattered now or something.

Anyway, I want to get something going for next year. Any constructive ideas would be appreciated. Go ahead and include as much detail as you like.

One other thing. If there's anyway to do this as dove fields first, then have time enough to convert later to deer plots, I'd find that of interest. Or perhaps one crop for both. We also have turkeys and would like for whatever we do to include something that might draw them.

You might think about planting turnips or rape in the lowland if it gets dry enough to till.I plant forage peas and soy beans early spring for a summer food source.A couple plots in Rye about the end of July for nice green fields and a mixture of red and white clover.Good for deer ,turkey and grouse.Best thing is to take soil samples where you want to plant and take them to your County Ag Agent for advice on what to feed your soil.I use a disk to till the soil an old mattress spring works good to level the planting bed.Then I broadcast seed and cultipack. None of my plots are visible from the road for obvious reasons.Good luck,OB

In the mix try some Austrian winter peas.
The deer om out place seem to go down the drill line to get them.
When broadcast they will walk the plots looking for them.

We plant a mix of wheat and oats.

In our area the deer are real fond of soybeans. Across the road from me is a farm I've hunted on that has, or had, 100+ acres in beans, but this year the farmer didn't even try to harvest them.

The deer got them all. Didn't leave anything. And I'll give them credit for neatness. Looks like somebody went over the fields with a lawnmower set at 5" uniform height.

We've tried corn there for doves and the deer got all that too.

Sunflower we also tried and for the most part the deer left it for the doves. But, I've been reading on the internet and some boys down in MS say the deer eat up all their sunflower before dove season even starts.

Guess I'll have to think about something they can't eat so fast. Millet maybe?? Perhaps that'd be good for both doves and deer?

The rye and clover sound good. But I guess it has to be something with lots of small seeds or that isn't easy to eat up in one night (the trail cams show 95 out of 100 deer are out at night - 1 a.m. is a real popular time).

If you are serious about it, this book is an incredible wealth of information. Get it!

Quality Food Plots

It takes a novice from step one and explains the what, how and why of planting food plots.

With 5-10 acres, you are subject to overgrazing with certain plots.

Cow peas are the gold standard among deer growers, but you are not set up for it. Not enough acres, unless you fence it.

Cow Peas, unlike soybeans, have the ability to regenerate. They are an " Ice-Cream" plant. Their ability to regenerate is one of the reasons they are considered the standard.

with 5-10 acres, you could try it, but if your deer population is high, you won't see any results without fencing off the field. Cow peas need 45-60 days to reach a stage where the deer will be unable to overgraze them. Younger than that, they will be overgrazed before you see any real results.

If you are serious about deer plots, focus on that. If you want Deer and dove, then winter wheat, let it head out and mow it. If you get a good stand, the wheat ought to volunteer the next year.

Very important to get a soil sample. Follow the recommendations of the results from the sample. Get your ph in line, get your ground fertilized to optimize results.

If you have money to throw at it, high fence the food plot (check if that is legal where you are) Leave plenty of gates for the deer to come in from every angle when it is opened. Close the gates, plant the plot (check your safe planting date in the spring, for us it's about April 15). 45 days after the first good rain, or after the seed germinates, check the height. Once it reaches 16" or so, open the gates and stand back. They will find it and tell all their friends.

Most important thing that I have learned the hard way, is not to cut corners. It is expensive, but if done properly, it will pay off. Keep your weeds under control! They rob water and nutrients! If your are planting cow peas or clover, you must inoculate it or you are just throwing money away.

All of this is covered in the book I mentioned.

That's some good advice. And I am serious about doing something here.

The winter wheat I'm going to research.

But how do you feel about milo? That's another possibility. Through experience we learned that doves, believe it or not, actually prefer our milo to sunflower. But, they prefer the sunflower to the millet.

On the other hand, doves worked the millet to some degree, but surprisingly the deer late in the season (I got one over it in the last hour of the last day) were still actively feeding on that long spent millet field. I thought that a rather significant discovery, that maybe we could get both with one crop.

Anyway I'm not crazy about the high fences. There's one near us and it's cut off our getting "new deer" from one whole side. We really have less deer than we used to.

But, as a joke, I've thought about making an exception here, and putting a fence around whatever the deer like best. Then, to solve my deer at night only problem, the fence will have a gate that's remote controlled on a timer. At 7 a.m. a dinner bell will sound and the gate will open...and I'll be in the stand..

One thing I have found that repels deer is Milorganite.An application seems to last about 30 days.

We just had a wildlife manager do a survey of our 2K acres in west central GA and create a master plan for herd and habitat management. We have always done winter plots (wheat, chicory, rape, etc) but he advised that good summer time plots with high protein food; either peas or beans are more beneficial than winter plots. His point was that during the stress period of hot months, deer need protein more than any other time and it is beneficial to antler growth. It will also serve as an attractant. Winter plots are a necessity to keep deer on your property after the natural browse and hard mast were gone. His recommendation was to spend more on summer plots than winter. Wheat alone is fine for winter, is cheap and easy and will do the job of holding deer on your property.

With regards to millet, we have planted our fields in it on several occasions. The deer do indeed like it, but only after it heads out. When it does, they are in it hard and heavy until it’s cut. After the cut, come the doves. It has not worked very well for us a dual role crop though. Our dove season opens before deer season so we don’t cut it for dove, but leave it standing for the deer. When the deer are done with it, the dove season has closed and we have to wait for the late season to shoot it an by then there isn’t much left

Hope thats beneficial.

Adam

Shack,

Sorry, I meant fence off the 5-10 acres. It's simply to keep the deer out of the peas until they mature enough to let them in.

I tried the plot saver fence. What a waste of money. Maybe others have had different results than me, but it was completely ineffective from day one. Even when there wasn't anything growing in the field.

Cow peas are extremely high in protein, an attractant and a protein source all in one. It is usually planted with milo or sunflowers. Don't count on there being any seed left for the birds though. The deer will eat it all as soon as it reaches a certain stage.

You will need to decide what your goals are. Deer or Dove. On 50 acres, it's tough to plan for both without neglecting one or the other.

The interesting thing about the millet was that we cut it in August for the Sept 1st dove shoot and by January, while the field looked to me almost barren and just plain dirt, there were deer actively feeding on it and not just passing thru. I watched them doing it before pulling the trigger on one. That tells me they are finding something there. Maybe leftover spent millet grain? Maybe scattered tender young millet sproutings? Or maybe young grass or whatever grows naturally on a barren field, perhaps just the millet stubble. Or maybe it's just the "core deer part" of the farm where they can always be found (in this case, coming out of a cedar grove starting almost promptly at 4:30 p.m. on still Winter afternoons - I get there by 3 but don't even bother climbing up the stand until 4 - after all these years we've got it down that predictable).

Anyway, I'm thinking Winter plots only for deer. Summer plots sound good, but there's the dual use thing and the deer will be there for the season if there's something to eat. Also, I'm only interested in attracting them and am not interested in managing antler growth.

So, how does this sound. Millet or milo this Spring to be cut in August for the Sept dove opening day, then in mid Sept disc it (kinda roughly and leave some) and plant a three crop deer mix on top of it of something that can't be quickly eaten. Soybeans and sunflowers I'll skip because they're too easy to eat.

The cow peas I'll have to look at and see how large they are.

Maybe pick three from this list - clover, alfalfa, rye, oats, wheat. The guy I bought the place from I know used clover and oats. They are still there from last year. I'm also told that oats can be planted in early fall, which would fit the plan.

Btw, one other plus for millet. I'm told the farmer really likes it because it makes good hay.

Plant sugar beets around the fringes
The deer eat the tops and then dig up the roots
Very high in nutrition and deer like them

Cowpeas are planted In the spring. The attraction isn't the peas, it's the leaves. It's all in the leaves. Some plants won't even produce the peas if grazed heavily. You will increase antler size with cowpeas, and hold deer.

Dove or deer.

Milo if Dove, or find a way to plant cowpeas if deer is your goal. With only 5-10 acres to work with, you will be a bit hard pressed to manage for both.

By the way, 10 acres is a decent amount for a food plot. It doesn't sound big but when you see it, it's pretty good size. Measure your plot. Take a rangefinder and map it out on paper if you have to. You will need to know +/-10% so you can get the right amount of fertilizer and seed. One acre is 69 yards x 69 yards

If you has an established plot of clover, why do anything? If I had an established clover plot, I would manage the weeds and put some fertilizer (phosphorus) per soil test.

You say you don't want to manage for antler quality. Why? Just curious. Planting a protein rich food plot serves as an attractant and helps them get the nutrients they need for overall health not just antler growth. BTW, clover is about as good as it gets if you take care of it properly. Cow Peas are great, but difficult to establish without putting in some $$

Another thing to consider, if the farmer bales the millet, it won't head out and provide any dove attractant.

On my place the clover and oats are just there in small spots here and there. Nothing extensive. Just remants probably of something that was broadcast.

Anyway, if the cowpeas really are pricey I'll probably need to pass on that.

On another place across the road where I've been hunting is where we tried millet. Now I'm not a farmer so I don't really know the sequence of the cutting/baling. But, I recall on Sept 1st when we opened the dove season (it was a poor season thanks to that storm last year - few doves anywhere), the hay bales had already been made. I know because I used one for cover. And turned out those darn things attract millions of tiny biting bugs, chiggers maybe. I got eaten up and the bites took weeks to heal.

However, the millet had been cut and the field was covered with the cut up plant tops. There was more than enough millet seed for the doves. I guess the hay was made of the lower plant parts, but like I said, I'm not an expert on how that's done. Whatever it was, it seems to work for both dove and deer.

As for antler management, it's just one of those things I'm not into. I've been hunting this same county since about '70 and our deer are fine with their antlers as is and they get plenty fat on no end of soybeans and acorns and what have you.

What I want to do now is just get them concentrated on my new place enough to reasonably predict where they'll be. Influencing the odds is the game here.

We plant various food plots here in north Alabama and south Tennessee and have had very good luck with clover/chicory plots. They will last several years. Fertilize and mow them a couple times during the summer to reduce weeds and encourage new growth.

Look into Forage oats, barley and canola then. All seem to attract deer better than wheat.

They must be baling the millet after its mature. If that's the case, then it would be a good dove plot.

You can do both. The above mentioned winter plots and millet or milo in the spring.

We have about 150 acres in food plots & a budget of only $10,000 per year so we just plant a mix of oats,rye & turnips. We have 4,800 acres & 18 members. Our soil is sorry so we need lots of fertilizer. If our soil would allow we would establish clover food plots to cut our cost.

Back in the day we had a dove field but it was a high ticket item so we just rent a field from a nearby dairy farm.

Do a budget before you start anything good food plots are expensive & probably not a cost effective way to get big bucks, we use ours to cull does mainly.

quote:

They must be baling the millet after its mature. If that's the case, then it would be a good dove plot.

That's exactly it. That's how we're doing it. It'll be done that way this year too. And it'll have that dual use. The only thing is, for doves I think sunflower and milo are superior attractants. That's based on experience.

Btw, for doves as between milo and sunflower, guess what? On our sunflower field the doves we were killing were all full of milo from the other side of the farm!!

Our dove field is prepared by the farmer for which there's a charge. We tried doing it ourselves before that a couple times, but all that proved is, we're not farmers. It didn't work. We got little or nothing. You have to know how to plant stuff. I know, surprise, surprise.

The soil on my place looks rich and is generally moist creek bottom land. It's never been used for commercial farming and some has just been clear cut of hardwoods. But, I'll have a sample looked at as soon as I figure out which state agency can help with it. I know there'll be all sorts of technical farming questions that need answers.

Unfortunately, that $10K per year figure tom mentioned is way out of my league. The budget is going to be tight here. The one thing I know for sure is, having a local commercial farmer do it would be cost prohibitive. It'll have to be somebody who has a tractor, knows food plots and is willing to do a small batch project.

The suggestions here are all great. What I'm learning here is, a three crop mix is the thing. Anyway, does anyone here use those brand name pre-mix packages?

quote:

The suggestions here are all great. What I'm learning here is, a three crop mix is the thing. Anyway, does anyone here use those brand name pre-mix packages?

I have, I don't anymore. I am no expert on the mixes, I am sure they are fine, maybe better than what I use, it's just that I know what I want and don't want a pre-packaged mix.

Your soil is very different there than mine, so a soil test is extremely valuable. My ph is actually high, where most guys have low ph (acidic) and need to lime. Getting your ph in line will help your crop utilize the fertilizer properly. There are more than a half a dozen factors that need to be analyzed that effect the way the crop uses the fertilizer. Properly fertilized plots will actually taste better to the deer than improperly fertilized plots (my own observation, supported by others observations. Not sure this is a common theory or not)

It sounds a bit overwhelming at first, but it's pretty straight forward. Your soil test will tell you what fertilizer to use. You give that info to your coop and they either custom mix it or give you something similar.

For a winter plot, I would use a 3 grain mix, pick any three; wheat, forage oats, rye, barley. Just for fun, you might plant half the field with canola and the other half with a 3 grain mix. See what happens. You may discover that they love ... Or don't love Canola.

Turnips are a great addition to the three grain mix. I think it only takes 1-2 lb/AC. It's been a while since I planted turnips, you will have to check the amount.

Get the book I mentioned in my first post. It is an incredible reference. It gives all the common food plots, info on each seed, when to plant, what regions it thrives in, what kinds of soil are acceptable for each plus descriptions of the protein content lb/AC of forage produced etc.

Here's another idea. Use your food plot for deer only and lease a dove plot. You may find its cheaper and better addresses each need to do it this way.

quote:

Properly fertilized plots will actually taste better to the deer than improperly fertilized plots (my own observation, supported by others observations. Not sure this is a common theory or not)

May or may not be common theory, but it is quite accurate from my experiences. Just like humans, animals do have palatability issues with what they eat. Lush/tender non-bitter vegetation is much more preferable/palatable to animals than old coarse bitter vegetation.

Some may not buy into that concept, but all a person really has to do is spend a little time doing some in the field observations and notice what plants and which parts of those plants animals will consume first.

I'll try that book. I've already found out that the state's extension service does the testing and read their instructions for taking and mixing the sample. They will send me a box to put it in and a form to fill out. The cost for a basic test is only $7 and for a comprehensive test $15.

I've done a little reading on rye, and note there are the two kinds, grain and grass. The grain appears the better for your "serious" food plot mix, while simple rye grass is recommended alone for wildlife for use on "marginal" areas. I think my place may already have some of both, put out in the past.

I'm also going to get some nut and fruit trees started, but that will be for the grandkids' benefit, not mine. Some acreage I've also got a forester lined up to look over for planting loblollies this spring.

On deer preferring the better tasting vegetation, that's a fact. We who hunt have all observed what they do and see that. But, if they're hungry they make whatever compromises they have to, just like us...I've seen them do that too.

Btw, when asking for advice on this, one bit of advice I got was to the effect, "why go to all this trouble and expense - why don't you just put your stand close to the biggest white oak you can find?" I could play that game too, and say, "why not just study their travel habits and favorite bedding sites and set up nearby"...that actually works of course, only in my experience doing it that way takes years and even decades of experience to figure out per given farm.

Funny thing though about those favorite travel corridors. They will keep on using the same routes even AFTER a complete clear-cut...

You need to be spreading lime on your food plots right now..That's what we'll be doing next week.

Good idea. I'll first get that soil sample done and see what they say.

Btw, about the deer preferring better tasting vegetation, the question of what kind of acorns they like is interesting. They say deer prefer the white oak family, white, post and overcup. All of which we have. They claim the red oak family like the southern spanish red and willow oak are bitter to the taste. We have those too. However, in watching deer (and squirrels for that matter) actually feed I've been totally unable to see that they pass any of them up for others. They seem to be equal opportunity browsers on acorns. And actually I've been a little surprised over the years to see how well they like soybeans. I never thought they tasted like much. I mean, you can take wheat, rice or corn and eat it raw from the field, but soybeans?

I've also been told recently that deer find mushrooms to eat in the pines. Never knew that. I've been wondering for a long time if whitetails use planted pine areas for anything. I've always assumed deer just consider pines mainly as cover. This has been a slight reservation I've had about putting part of my place in pines. Cedars on the other hand I know for a fact they love for cover and bedding areas. But, I don't know if they find anything worthwhile in there to eat.

Anyway, my forester guy said don't put the pine plantings out until spring. He said if you do it during the winter, the deer will think they're "lollipops"...

The rye is definitely not the grass, it's the grain. On the soybeans, they do eat the bean, no doubt, but the bean only comes later, as the plant matures. They will start grazing on the plant itself as soon as it comes up. The leaves are very palatable and full of protein, when it does make a bean, they will eat that too, but it isn't the only thing they eat. Other than the stems, they like the entire plant. It's the same with cow peas, lab-lab, etc. it's the leaves that they are primarily after.

Yes, the deer do the whole plant down to a few inches left of stalk. They certainly do. And it's amazing how uniform in height they trim it off. At first I thought the field must have been havested. Nothing else could do it that evenly. But they did. They got all the leaves and all the beans in whatever order. So the farmer's not going to waste any money on fuel and doesn't even bring in his equipment, nor is he or the landowner going to make anything. And I've been encouraged to go ahead and take them out, as many as possible.

I agree that the rye grain is the deal.

I guess clover will be the second ingredient and I'm not sure about the third. A lot will depend on what's cost effective and easily available locally. So the question may solve itself. The biggest decision is whether to try a spring dove field planting and replace it in Sept with a deer plot, or leave things alone til fall, or do two deer plots, spring and fall and skip the doves.

I'm totally open on how to handle that. The bigger farm I mentioned across the road will have a large dove field anyway, in millet. I just kinda like the idea of having my own small dove fields. I've never done that before. It's always been hunting doves courtesy of others...know what I mean?

You don't want to think just in terms of plants in the ground. You also want to think in terms of edible shrubbery and trees that bear nuts and fruit as well.

Here we are well into March and way past the deer season, but I'm continuing to put out trail cams on the new place to get the feel of what the deer are doing.

The patterns of movement are about the same, but a little less than in Oct and Nov. Some deer were taken out, but still a lot remain.

But a couple interesting things. There were spots I thought looked really promising, like intersections of major trails in the woods or an old salt lick, where I got zero or maybe just one deer pic in a 10 day period of letting the cams "soak" (I did get pics of the neighbors' horses using the lick).

So where did the most deer pics show up? Lots of them just like early in the season on the two deer food plots, although there's virtually nothing left there to eat. At least that I can see. Maybe some scattered small spots of clover or some remains of spent millet or milo from the year before.

This tells me something. I really need to go for it on those food plots for next season. Full bore with a feeding program. If they'll feed there when there's basically just soft dirt and spent stubble, we should set the table in style...I believe it's a tribute to their being creatures of habit.