food plots

Hey guys and gals,

I'm looking for suggestions on what to plant this coming spring. I planted turnips and rape last August and the greens came up great but the bulbs never grew. The deer started hammering the greens within 2 weeks of planting and kept them from really taking off i guess. Is there anything I can plant that will last from spring or early summer until gun season? I was thinking about going with a chicory and clover mix. My current plot is only about 1/4 acre but I am in the process of clearing out more timber to increase the overall size of the plot to 1/2 acre. My buddy is going to remove stumps and grade everything with a landscape rake as early as possible this spring. I plan on doing a soil test on the new 1/4 acre plot at that time and adding the appropriate lime. The area should receive sunlight almost all day when i'm finished removing the trees. The soil is kind of sandy and gravelly. My current 1/4 acre plot right next to it had a ph of 6.2 last fall and the soil is more loamy. Attached is a couple pics of what my plot looked like all fall. Pretty much just stems. Thanks in advance

im looking into a late july early august planting of a brassicas blend, anyone on here have any luck using bio-logic by mossy oak im lookin at using "green patch plus" and "full draw" just to see how they work.

 I would say cut your losses and don't try to plant anything in the spring. If the farmer can't get anything to grow in that area don't waste your time. On the other hand that works great for you because you can use that area to plant cool season grasses or brassicas. Plant products that should be planted in the fall for your best results, these food sources will be your best bet to draw deer in for bow and gun season. Spray the area a few times over the spring and summer when needed to kill off any vegetation, this will make the tillage in the fall much easier.

anyone got any good ideas for what to plant in a pretty wet area? i just got the ok from my landowner to plant whatever i want in my hunting area he just warned me he's tried planting alfalfa multiple times and it doesnt grow worth a crap because the area im hunting is a pretty wet area atleast in the early part of the year. i dont have alot of epuipment so im leaning towards a no till type seed.

Can anyone steer me in the right direction to find someone who puts in food plots or rents the necessary equipment in the Merrill/Tomahawk area?

Well for some reason I have almost no bulbs on any of the 3 spots that I put in the purple top turnips, and zero results from the ground hog forage radish.

The back plot ph is around 6 and gets some spotty sunlight, that one I can undersstand. For this field I tilled, packed with the 4 wheeler, spread seed and repacked with 4 wheeler.

Our pond plot ph is 6.8 gets all the sunlight it could ask for and we watered it a few times this year. No bubls, the greans are up and fine, but I can rip them free just walked around and bumping into plants. Here I tilled, packed and spread the seed immediately before a rain and it came up beautifully. No time to repack as it was starting to rain as I put in the seeds and wass already starting to make a mess just running through to seed.

Plot 3 is pure sun almost all day. Really just for messing around its 15 feet from a storage buidling and we dont hunt there, but the deer still use it, mostly at night.

There the same thing almost no roots or bulbs besides the spt in the corner that gets pure sunlight all day long there some bulbs are 4 inches acrossed. Again these are just a few seeds that really took off, most of it is just a big patch of lettuce basically. in the past we grew soybeans, clover, oats and some patchy corn here.

My dad planted that, just tilled and spread it on, no packing.

I guess my question is.... sunlight really that important?

I think I quite on the turnips.

Takes a good frost to knock out brassicas... they will stay green until the snow flies too... Deer been grubbn in mine now for a month, wish they would leave it alone until late Oct/Nov

chasin........thats a nice looking plot......checked my 2 plots last weekend (tomahawk) about 4 weeks since I put it in and 1 plot the deer were hammering the clover as fast as it came up but were leaving the turnips and rape alone...had some mega tracks in the plot......can't wait to check the camera this weekend

Just put in my 3rd winter wheat plot 2 acres. Rain, a few days above freezing and let the germination begin. Easy, cheap, reseeds itself.

Question: Is this early cold snap going to kill my plot? Forecasters said it could get down in the teens tonight in my neck of the woods. The deer have been hammering this turnip and rape plot for about two weeks now.

No, I don't think it is too late for you to be able to put in a food plot, actually I just did, I had some that was meant to be planted late summer/early fall, my buddy just planted clovers about a week or so ago and his is already coming up good, just don't expect it to be 100% greatness by opening weekend of bow season Try something like this http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?i=437468&pdesc=Evolved_Habitats_Clover_Crush_Food_Plot_Blend&aID=503AC6&merchID=4006

Going to a property this weekend, that I just gained permission to hunt last weekend. Have permission to clear trails, add food plots, put up stands, basically anything! Its a 40 acre plot of hardwoods, with a few cedars mixed in. What would I be able to plant this late in the year that might still bring in some deer and turkeys. The plots will not be very large at all, at most a 1/4 acre each. Please keep in mind these plots will be in the woods. Should have more info after my walk-thru this weekend. Any advice/tips would be greatly appreciated!

stillfishn - I'd scratch surface with a wire rake, then broadcast winter rye (not rye grass) in those areas... I would do it this weekend. Should be primo with new growth right around opener of the season here in WI.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-Y2k60wy_o

After the tuneup and tipping over some monsters trees. The tops actually made nice cover while all the needles stay on. More sunlight, reseeding, and alot of adddes nitrogen, now if we could just get a rain one of these days.

Question- I have a plot of clover mix that I planted this spring. ( End of May ) There are a few bare spots throughout the plot and I was wondering if it's too late to put down some more seed in those areas? If not would I just rake it up by hand, seed it, and then rake it again? Thanks, stillfishin