Food plot planning

I'm planning on planting a food plot in the corner of my lot that I'll be building on next year. The lot is about 4.5 acres of field and 4.6 acres of woods. I'm thinking of putting the food plot in the back corner of the field and putting up a stand in this corner. Then planting trees around the plot to build up the wooded portion of my land to about 5.5 acres total. My primary focus will be whitetail and turkey for hunting.

My questions are: 1. How big of a food plot to go with? 2. Do you plant the same thing every year or change it up, I've heard it depends on the farmer's crops in the area. 3. Do you manage a food plot as you would a garden, or let nature take its course once it is planted? 4. Does shape of the plot make that much of a difference? 5. Would a small pond next to the food plot be beneficial? I will probably need fill to build and there is no major water source within about 3 miles.

I probably won't plant the plot this year, but want to get it plowed up so I can plan out where to put the trees since it'd be nice to get those in this summer. I grew up hunting a swamp so we never dealt with food plots, it's all new to me.

Thanks in advance for the input!

SJB is right,   land improvement takes time.  Like he said, plant pines too,  stagger them and one day they will provide plenty protection to your field and security for the deer.  you can help pines grow too.  Fence them if money is not an option.  also,  if you have the means water the heck out of them.  I planted 500 pines 10 - 12 years ago and finally some are starting to reach 10-12 ft.  My biggest issue was that every winter or spring,  they browsed off the tender new growth.  Also lost about 50 to rubs.  So even pines need some attention if you want to maximize growth and survival.  

I would agree with Long Barrels.  Trees to create a "closed Berm" take too long to grow.  Use other quick growing plants to create your screen.  Can plant trees as well in a two layer approach, but even a quick growing pine tree will take 3-6 years before it creates a screen. 

Personally I would not hinge cut.  9 times out of 10 it's done incorrectly and the tree is dead in a year or two and to be completely honest hinge cutting isn't all that safe for a novice.  you should do some research prior to doing any of that.  People die from barber chairs and saws fairly often.  personally for your area,  IMO is too small to be messing with Hinge cutting anyway.  I won't do it.  i drop big red oaks cause I have white and red.  Big ole popple trees....Drop one of those and you'd be surprised how much ground cover you have in 3 years. 

I'd drop a tree or two,  it doesn't take much.  Let it lay tops lay or the whole thing lay for that matter.   I wouldn't touch anything worth while though,  leave oaks and maples,  cut the other crap if you have it.  Some may ask why drop a tree for light?  One,  it's gets your plots more light.  Two,  it gets the ground around it more light.  End result,  growth,  and lots of it.  If you can get the area around your plot thick as heck (ground cover,  raspeberries, briars etc),  it's 100 times better than a dark canopy.  Deer don't need dark,  they like cover.  Deer will pick a CRP feild over a dark oak woods and no ground cover to bed in.

Personally I would have picked out an acre of the field and placed it strategically.  Next year think about that.  Who cares if houses can see the field ,  there are crops you can plant as a screen.  Corn,  switch grass etc.  Maximize everything you own.

Planted last week . Going to check progress this weekend .

Also note that hinge cutting will work best on trees 6” in diameter and less. I’ve had great luck doing this and have watched deer eat the maple leaves 30 minutes after cutting. In my experience trees that are hinge cut can remain green for a year and sprout new leaves the following, but I don’t recall any living longer than that. 

I agree with leaving the healthy oaks, unless you have a situation where taking a couple down would greatly improve your sunlight. In that case you could justify it. 

If you have big trees to cut, say 10” or larger, my advice is to cut them, let them lay for the season, and go back and cut them into firewood next year. 

I would try to save as many oaks as possible for 2 reasons .  First acorns,  then oak wilt . If an oak is cut now you can risk losing more of them . Roots are intertwined and will pass it along.  Only cut oak in the winter . 

Maples I would hinge cut . I had to clear an opening years back and was able to drop the trees to form funnels.  Made it a bit easier to pattern .

Kvan, welcome to the club. Looks like you’re well on your way. It will only get more addicting. Based on the little bit I can see from the picture, I would go fire up the chainsaw and try to get some more light in there. The fallen trees will also thicken up the edges and provide some more browse with the green leaves. 

Was crunched for time so I didn't get a good picture, but I couldn't believe how much it grew in week. Rape grass is already a couple inches tall in some spots and based on my trail camera pics it looks like it started sprouting within 4 days of planting it. Clovers starting to poke through too. Looks like rain this week so should be good to go by September at this rate.

My food plot areas are wet and not always accessible.  All I have done is gotten a sprayer for the ATV . Spray when you can then use some throw and grow type stuff , turnips , rape  .  The turnips are good for later season after a frost and the deer will dip them up all winter into spring . Or you can spray and rent a tractor with a 5 foot rototiller for about 350 a day if you can a tractor in . One good workup and then spray and hand seed every year and it will last for years . I don't want to use corn or beans since there are hundreds of acres of it around me . My plot in the tamarack marsh is always cleaned out . 

I decided to put a small plot in the woods instead of the open field for a couple reasons... Primarily because the open field is within view of 2 houses and the road so until I can get some trees planted to cut off the view, I didn't want it to be in plain sight. I also started to pattern the deer and found that there is a heavily used trail that follows the edge of the field so I put the food plot in near where a trail from the thickest part of the forest (not my land, there's a thick 40 acre parcel that the farmers hunt the edge of but no one touches the middle) that intersects that trail. My goal is to hopefully get the deer to migrate there since I'm assuming their bedding area is somewhere in the thick part. It is also positioned near a grouping of pines where they might be bedding. I think the field will be a great spot for a plot but not until I can develop the land like I'd like. The second reason is equipment, I have nothing to work up a 1/4 acre plot currently and with the house plans coming along, buying new equipment isn't the top priority. Next year I'll at least buy an ATV and cultivator. I don't think my '85 Big Red is going to cut it lol.

And that was my thought on the stand set up too. The spot I picked out is only about 15 yards into the woods and far enough off the plot that I don't think I'll disturb much getting in and out.

I'll get some pictures this weekend when I'm out there. We've gotten 3 days of rain since I put it in so I'm hoping it germinates pretty quick. I see how food plots can become addicting. 

Would like to see some pics. If I recall, you have a fair amount of open land to work with. Confused on why you are cutting trees down to get sunlight to your plot. Sounds like progress is being made, good for you.

I'll echo what LB said. I wouldn't sit right on the plot either. You'll just make the deer nocturnal. You don't even need to be within site of it to take advantage of it. Only you know your situation, what works best for you, and how you want to hunt it. Just go for it.

I have tons of maple on my land. From mature to sapling size. I hinge cut areas of them in Feb. Some for bedding, some for blocking. I swear the deer hear the chainsaw and hit them as soon as I exit the woods. I'm getting some good regen and understory on stuff I cut 3 years ago. Deer really hit when times get tough.

Good luck, keep us posted.

The deer will tell you where to hunt.  I don't like hunting  on the food.  it's harder to play the wind.  Take a guess where "most" are coming from and get them prior to entering the plot.  If you hunt 30 yards off the plot,  you can kill a deer and not even spook the ones feeding.  "typically",  a bigger buck won't step on the plot till later anyway.  that's not gospel,  but staying back a bit will help you go undetected easier.  It will also let you slip out of the stand and not scare the crap out of the deer when you want to get down at closing.  Lot's of good reasons to not hunt directly on a plot.  I don't.  I don't like sitting on an open field watching the grass grow.  it's not for me.

5 hours of sun as actually pretty decent,  you should be fine.  Cutting down a tree or two will help.  If it's not a white or red oak i'd rather have it on the ground.  it will help get more light through the canopy and help more in the long run.  

KV, you are literally located less than two miles from the world headquarters of Monster Buck Food Plot seed. It might be worth it to swing in and pick their brain. I know they are always looking for testimonials and you being so close could be advantageous for you.