7mmmountaineer
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Time to face it I am a workaholic............
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Post by 7mmmountaineer on Sept 14, 2014 21:31:51 GMT -5
Ok so are any of you guys using any kind of food plots? The one farm I hunt we have been working on food plots for the last 3 years. Yes it has taken 3 years for us to be satisfied with what we have. Mostly because it came out of just my pocket and off my back. We started out with soil that was very poor our first PH reading was 4.9 and the first plot was covered with bull briars and wrist thick blackberry vines. Over the last 3 years we ( I ) have put close to 6 tons (5.75) of lime on this first 2 acre plot to get the to stay above 6.5 for more than a few months at a time. Our last 2 soil samples April and August were 7.4 both times. Till this year we have planted annuals forage oats and buckwheat however we planted a perennial this year Whitetail Institute Chickory Plus one half of the plot and Alfa Rack Plus on the other half in early June with pretty good results. So good in fact we cleared off another 2 acre plot this year. What they didn't know was that I had already talked to the land owner last year so I knew what was needed for the soil and started working on it back over the winter. This plot had crappy soil too first PH test was 5.1 so instead of baby steps with lime I just hit it all at once with 5 tons back in late December without the others knowing (not that it would have made a difference). Over labor day week end I planted 2 acres of Plot Spike Forage Feat with a small area reserved for some Chickory Plus. To date I have invested close to 4k and countless hours of work for 4 very nice acres of food plots. Thinking about putting in a plot on the back of our property come spring 2 acres of a clover, chickory and alfalfa mix.
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bob
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Location: Northern California
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Post by bob on Sept 14, 2014 22:36:47 GMT -5
Chuck you are lucky! Here in California that is called baiting which is not legal. Our Blacktail deer are not so much grazers but rather browsers tree leaves, acorns and such.
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gws
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Location: NW New Mexico
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Post by gws on Sept 14, 2014 23:02:41 GMT -5
I had two food plots (for prairie dogs)  .......now they are asphalt and concrete....dogs had to move. They're in the city limits anyway....no hunting. So nearly a 1000 units worth of self storage buildings became a food plot for me! Puts food on a several human tables! (partners and employees and their families.) Does that count? No, really, I wish I did have rural land to do that with......no laws in NM against helping wildlife eat. I know one guy who has nearly 20 acres of pasture in the city limits that he waters for his race horses! He's raising an unintentional herd of deer in it....and rabbits....and foxes and skunks. Not a one gets hunted. |
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7mmmountaineer
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Time to face it I am a workaholic............
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Post by 7mmmountaineer on Sept 15, 2014 6:44:37 GMT -5
Dam Bob farmers must not be allowed to hunt on their own property then LOL. Baiting here is defined as using a feeder or pile of non native food source IE corn, sweet potatoes, acorn or butternut squash, pumpkins etc etc etc. It is legal to a point here and many people do it the point that makes it illegal is black bears. You cannot shoot black bears over a bait pile here. I know a guy that lost what would be state record bear that wandered past him after eating out of a corn bait pile. When he checked it in a DNR officer asked him about the bait corn stuck in his teeth when the guy said he wasn't hunting over a bait pile the officer shrugged and took the bear as evidence even before checking the mans story out. That's was 3 years ago the guy is still fighting to get it back.
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7mmmountaineer
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Time to face it I am a workaholic............
Posts: 521
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Post by 7mmmountaineer on Sept 17, 2014 12:25:12 GMT -5
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Post by krwada on Sept 17, 2014 21:16:55 GMT -5
$2610 ?!?! Oh my! That is a huge ton of CRAP!  Heh! |
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bob
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Location: Northern California
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Post by bob on Sept 17, 2014 22:31:23 GMT -5
Chuck you mentioned the farmers, well if they have crop damage they get a depradation permitto kill the offending animals. We can plant food and browse for deer sort of like you guys. If rice gose unharvested I understand Fish and Wildlife will burn the standing rice. One thing "good" our posession limit has been raised to 3 daily bag limits. This mean potentially 21 ducks and 75 geese. Good luck with your new deer pasture hope you have a ton of fun with it!
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7mmmountaineer
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Time to face it I am a workaholic............
Posts: 521
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Post by 7mmmountaineer on Sept 18, 2014 6:31:41 GMT -5
$2610 ?!?! Oh my! That is a huge ton of CRAP! Heh! Ken I doubt she understand she did not need to rush this. The lime sure the hay field was kind of weedy. The product she ordered can be used in spring as green manure. She will learn my neighbor finally got over being pissed he is going to work the field up for us but then again 9 years worth of free hay he should.
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7mmmountaineer
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Time to face it I am a workaholic............
Posts: 521
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Post by 7mmmountaineer on Sept 18, 2014 6:33:20 GMT -5
Chuck you mentioned the farmers, well if they have crop damage they get a depradation permitto kill the offending animals. We can plant food and browse for deer sort of like you guys. If rice gose unharvested I understand Fish and Wildlife will burn the standing rice. One thing "good" our posession limit has been raised to 3 daily bag limits. This mean potentially 21 ducks and 75 geese. Good luck with your new deer pasture hope you have a ton of fun with it! Bob don't take this wrong but Cali is just a strange foreign place to me. |
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bob
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Location: Northern California
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Post by bob on Sept 18, 2014 8:41:42 GMT -5
Chuck, California isn't a strrange place it just has a bunch of strange people that started comming into the state in'60 from the East Coast. We call them non-native invasive species.
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dangun
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Post by dangun on Sept 18, 2014 11:03:38 GMT -5
Bob,
We sent them your way. Dang sure didn't want them hanging out here.
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bob
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Location: Northern California
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Post by bob on Sept 18, 2014 11:16:54 GMT -5
Dan:  ,Bob |
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7th
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Post by 7th on Sept 21, 2014 13:37:09 GMT -5
Don’t think of it as a food plot but we select timbered our farm this year and will order from a tree farm near Ravenswood WV: Butternut and American Chestnuts this spring along with some Northern Pecans, Persimmons, the West by God Virginia Banana (Paw Paw), Hazel, Chinese Chestnuts and Crab apple trees from another place. Along with the Beechnut, white and red Oaks and Hickory, we have a good crop to feed the deer, turkey’s and such. Add to that 40 ac hay field and 20 ac of pastureland running about 18% protein, our li’l farm has about as much as a good deer needs. Add to that 110 ac soy beans on the S-W corner of the farm and 260 ac standing corn on the N-E corner, our deer are about starved to death.
With the cattle, a food plot is out as we use everything for pasture or hay.
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7mmmountaineer
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Time to face it I am a workaholic............
Posts: 521
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Post by 7mmmountaineer on Sept 21, 2014 14:50:40 GMT -5
Hey Frank we have all the oaks we need (red, white, black, turkey, and chestnut) in good numbers, same with hickory, beech, paw paw, locust, butternut, 4 different apple (crab, wolf river, old fashioned, and stamin winesap), pear, a few black walnut (getting cut next year), 2 different poplars (standard yellow and tulip) not to mention wild grapes, cherry, and the couple fields we have are caring good clover and brome grass. We are looking at some chestnut, norhten hazel nut and maybe a few more butternut.
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7mmmountaineer
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Time to face it I am a workaholic............
Posts: 521
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Post by 7mmmountaineer on Jun 17, 2015 19:44:14 GMT -5
Ok so we finally have the food plot at the house planned out and all the seed bought. PH tested out at 7.5 which is a pretty neutral PH level and is good for just about anything we wanted to put down. She wanted another year of annuals so we are going to put down a mix. We have enough buckwheat and forage oat seed to do 6 acres to go along with an acre of sugar beets from monsterbuck food plot company and 2 acres of bloody butcher field corn. Corn and beets went in last weekend thanks to the son in-law the oats and buckwheat yesterday just ahead of a thunderstorm. All that's left now is to wait till August and October and hit the oats and buckwheat with a ton 34-0-0 both times. Trick is we need to get a permit for the 34-0-0 also known as ammonia nitrate.
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bob
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Location: Northern California
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Post by bob on Jun 17, 2015 22:47:40 GMT -5
When you apply for ammonia nitrate permit ask if you also need a permit for diesel.  |
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7mmmountaineer
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Time to face it I am a workaholic............
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Post by 7mmmountaineer on Jun 18, 2015 7:20:33 GMT -5
Bob I think I will pass on that one.....  as most of the folks I know here already think I am a bit off my rocker. |
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7mmmountaineer
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Time to face it I am a workaholic............
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Post by 7mmmountaineer on Jul 13, 2015 18:41:09 GMT -5
I doubt my food plot will survive it has had standing water in it for a week and nothing we planted dose well when flooded. One the water level goes down and the ground dries some we can always replant the beets and oats.
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bob
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Location: Northern California
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Post by bob on Jul 13, 2015 19:06:03 GMT -5
I doubt ours will survive either, it doesn't do well with out water!
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7mmmountaineer
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Time to face it I am a workaholic............
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Post by 7mmmountaineer on Jul 14, 2015 6:23:22 GMT -5
Bob my brother if I could rig up away to send you half of the rain we have been getting I would my brother. It was only a couple years ago we were in the same boat out here 2010-2013 were very dry here.
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bob
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Location: Northern California
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Post by bob on Jul 14, 2015 8:26:48 GMT -5
From what I've read we are headed into a very wet fall/winter. We'll just have to wait and see.
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poohzilla
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Post by poohzilla on Jul 14, 2015 15:44:57 GMT -5
Chuck, from the sound of it, if there's much more rain, you may wish to consider rice in your plot !
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7mmmountaineer
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Time to face it I am a workaholic............
Posts: 521
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Post by 7mmmountaineer on Jul 30, 2015 16:07:41 GMT -5
Finally dried out enough here to re-till the plot. We have enough Plot Spike Forage Feast to do the entire plot again. So here is to hoping it takes. I will spend a few HRS spreading seed when I am not at the bench.
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Post by hacker54 on Jul 30, 2015 22:58:56 GMT -5
Hope ya have decent weather so it takes hold and it flourishes.
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7mmmountaineer
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Time to face it I am a workaholic............
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Post by 7mmmountaineer on Nov 7, 2015 11:48:00 GMT -5
Hey guys I meant to post these sooner and got side tracked. These are a couple pics of a small food plot 2.45 acres I put in for a good friend of mine. The entire 2.45 acres is planted in purple top turnips and daikon radishes. Pics were taken in mid September and the deer have been tearing this plot up. The green tops will continue to grow till the first hard freeze and the turnips and radishes will grow more aggressively once the soil temp get below 55 degrees and continue till the first hard freeze. With our spotty mast this will be a hot spot once the temps drop. BTW in these pcs the greens are about 16-18 inches tall and have been in the ground just 4 weeks at this point. Attachments:
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.......now they are asphalt and concrete....dogs had to move. They're in the city limits anyway....no hunting. So nearly a 1000 units worth of self storage buildings became a food plot for me! Puts food on a several human tables! (partners and employees and their families.) Does that count?
My daughter came from Missouri, my son and grand son, my wife and I had a nice dinner of grilled "porter house" pork chops, corn on the cobb, my son, G'son and I share 10/5. G'son is 4 minutes early though @ 10/4.
Pooh I hope you find to right house . 
