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Food plots

3K views 26 replies 4 participants last post by  dryforkbrady 
#1 ·
Food plots are always a gamble. It was wet back in July so I planted Brassica kinda early. It got up good,,but then,,August came. NO Rain all august. Brass slowed down and deer chomped it to the dust. So much for Brass this year. Could still plant rye,,oats,,wheat in Sept,,but has to get real wet. Ground hard dust now a foot down! My clover is dried up too. Apples on trees. They may just be my only plot by November. Funny -Food plots are Officially OK,,,not considered "Baiting"...To me planting anything just to feed deer, IS Baiting.
 
#2 ·
I plant a 1/4 acre plot out back every year for over 20 years and have not killed a deer back there yet and doubt that I will ever do so. I had no idea I was baiting them. I thought I was feeding them year round. :rolleyes:
Now if I were going to bait them I wouldn't spend all the money planting every year. A few bags of corn would do well in a spin feeder each year and probably work a heck of a lot better. ;)
 
#3 ·
Thanks for that reply robertyb, I agree,a bit of corn or something spread around alot less work,,cost,,and sweat. Unfortuantely in many states,,including mine,,that,,,is considered, "Baiting" and is illegal. What I think is crazy, is you can plant 20 acres of corn just for the deer,,set stands at strategic entry points,,set cameras out to see when deer arrive,and this is not considered Baiting? Th'rowing out some food by hand is baiting. It's all baiting to me. Artificially putting food out just for animals. This whole crazy way just huntin deer has gone with tech cameras,,elevated hunting houses,,,with windows,,,all the big horn maddness,,,promoting poaching. simple goin huntin is hard to find anymore.
 
#4 ·
When food is available year round there is no guarantee that you will see deer in your plot during daylight hours. Sometimes I might go for several weeks at a time not seeing any deer in my plot but my camera shows them in there at night. When they are feeding during the day it is mostly does, fawns and young bucks. About the only time I see a 3 1/2 year old or older buck in daylight back there is when the rut is going on. I just recently replanted mine and thought I had run all the deer off but there were 3 bucks and 4 does feeding in it at first light this morning for a few minutes. Largest buck was a 1 1/2 YO 5 point.
 
#5 ·
I hunt the rut. I am surrounded by corn or soybeans,,,by Nov they are harvested so deer seek a plot. I have 100 acres of beans around me but the deer still chomped all my Brass turnips to dust. They like variety. Turnips quit growing due to the drought or they might have out grown the chomping. No telling how long this drought will last. Have Sept to replant rye,oat,wheat. Deer will like it come Nov. I want to attract a few does in NOV. The does will bring in the bucks. You only need a couple to do so.
 
#6 ·
I have never had a food plot fail in total. All have produced dead deer or deer sightings.
Several people equate a small food plot to baiting.
There are many differences. They are obvious. But yes the goal of many plots is to kill deer.
The contribution to the environment of a food plot is much greater than that of a bait site.
I have never seen a bait site healthier and than a food plot.
The plot is also healthier for the deer over a bait site....but a dead deer is a dead deer.
 
#7 ·
You guys might be surprised. Most of the deer I see coming into my plots feed on the wheat/oats/clover/etc rather than the corn after winter arrives and frost has withered all the green growth and the deer have had their fill of acorns. Atleast that's been my observations since feeding corn became legal.
 
#10 ·
What state are you in? I thought about EVERYBODY was getting plenty of rain lately?!?
 
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#13 ·
Ooooh!! I just did!o_O Looks like you guys are having it pretty hard this year. We were in that situation a year or so ago so I know how youre feeling about planting plots. If nothing else, have your dirt ready and throw out some rye seed if/when it rains. Doesn't even need turning under. It aint that expensive and IMO it's better to try something than just to do nothing.:rolleyes:
 
#15 ·
Way ahead a you guys. I have had many drought years here know all about rye. Have rye. Oat. And winter wheat seed sitting here. Problem is. Need consistent rain. Can’t just throw out seed and have it sit there. Worse yet it gets a little moisture then germs and dies. And there is little hope for moisture here through mid Sept. maybe longer. !!!
 
#16 ·
Well, me and my son got 4 small food plots in yesterday and this evening on 2 different tracts of land. 3 of them have wheat, rape, kale, turnips and clover. One only has wheat. Tomorrow I have two more to get in on a 3rd property and we'll be done. Those will be primarily wheat but I'll ad turnips and clover sparingly. I hope it doesn't wash me out tonight cause I have everything loaded onto the trailer and hitched to the 4 wheeler (my only access) and ready to go. Oh! I also have 200 #'s of corn for the 2 feeders and cards to switch out in my game cameras (I do this with my cameras every week). Might be a long, hot (but fun) day tomorrow.;):)
 
#17 ·
Well, me and my son got 4 small food plots in yesterday and this evening on 2 different tracts of land. 3 of them have wheat, rape, kale, turnips and clover. One only has wheat. Tomorrow I have two more to get in on a 3rd property and we'll be done. Those will be primarily wheat but I'll ad turnips and clover sparingly. I hope it doesn't wash me out tonight cause I have everything loaded onto the trailer and hitched to the 4 wheeler (my only access) and ready to go. Oh! I also have 200 #'s of corn for the 2 feeders and cards to switch out in my game cameras (I do this with my cameras every week). Might be a long, hot (but fun) day tomorrow.
Wow, good work. Sounds like a lot to keep up with but plenty of options when the leaves change colors..
 
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#19 ·
When I first began deer hunting never heard of food plots or bait. GOD fed the deer! You just picked a good trail and waited. The good old days. Human against animal. NO leverage to the human side. It truly WAS Fair Chase. No cameras,,no hunt houses with heaters. You had to tough out the elements just like the deer.Much has changed. Now person with the best food plots,,Most $$ to make em,,,biggest bait piles,,,draws the most game. Neighbor competition. High fence , High Cash hunts, some up to $20,000!! Alot driven by gettin the biggest Bone,,so you can look like those TV hunters or magazine poses. Much has changed in simple deer hunting.
 
#20 ·
You just picked a good trail and waited. The good old days.
In the 1934 there were estimated to be 12 deer in Tennessee and 6 in North Carolina. All were in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park the year the park was created.
The 1st year I killed a deer, most people hunted seasons without seeing a buck deer. Limit was 1 deer buck only. Now it is 2 bucks per season and 3 does a day with 140000 hunter killed deer per year with total population of 900000. .
These may be the good old days.
 
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#22 ·
Naa…..the "good 'ole days" IMO were those years you'd hunt a week just to see a buck, and you were very lucky then. A little 5 pt would weight 135 lbs and you'd occasionally hear about a true 200#er getting shot. Regardless of the size of the buck in your truck it brought crowds to look. People weren't judged on the size of the antlers.

Nowadays it more of either growing yourself a "trophy" deer to shoot or just filling your freezer with meat. Or you might be introducing a kid to hunting. Lots and lots of the youth gets opportunities to shoot a deer which is a good thing IMO.

Two years ago I hunted this one deer just to find out he'd been shot by a young man about 1/2 mile away. I spent 3/4 of my season waiting on this deer getting pics of him most anytime I wasn't there. When I found out he was shot then I turned my focus on a pair of 8 pters just to salvage my year. Wasn't what I wanted to shoot but anyways...…..

Last year I decided to go back to my roots and just shoot a few deer taking them as they came sort of speak and I really enjoyed that season. Freezer filled up, and my hunting crowd had fun just shooting grown deer. There's a couple better deer hanging around where I hunt and it would be nice getting a shot at one or two of them but I wont wait all season for them to show up. I'm gonna enjoy this year like last year and hopefully I'll get my freezer restocked again this year.;):)
 
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#23 ·
Well, the last two plots are in. Now all this is left before season is to tighten the stands (ratchet straps), add the cushions and front rails to the ladder stands and maybe trim an end to a couple small limbs. Now I'll focus the next two weeks to target practice and shooting broadheads. Come on Sept 12th!!;):)
 
#24 ·
"Last year I decided to go back to my roots and just shoot a few deer taking them as they came sort of speak and I really enjoyed that season."

The problem for me doing this is I like to hunt the whole season and if I just shoot deer as they came in I would have my personal limit in a week or less and there would be no need to keep hunting. I like it when I still need one more deer for the freezer on the last day I plan to hunt so I usually burn one of my 2 buck tags every year. Last season I did get lucky when the only deer I saw on my final day was a nice 8 point that I had been letting walk so I could keep hunting. He tasted pretty good. :)
 
#25 ·
I hunt a lot so I let ALOT of deer walk. From my cameras I build a "hit list" of bucks so whenever/if they appear I'll take it when the shot is available. If I tag out on bucks I can still hunt as we have so many doe tags. I'll still want to put 2 or 3 does up too so I can afford to get even more picky with them if I tag out on bucks early....which generally doesn't happen. Most every year the season is ending and I'm always wondering IF I have enough deer meat. HA!:)
 
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