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!

Depending on your tree species  , I had a few large maples go down in a windstorm a few years ago .  All winter long the deer nibbled on the smaller branches , especially when sap would start running .

Next year,  do some canopy pruning,  get light in there...or do it now.  seriously,  it will help ten-fold. Go there in the evening or high noon,  pick some limbs or trees to cut.  Drop a tree or two and let it lay.  it will make everything better.

I have planted over 7,000 trees on my 40, which sounds like a lot but it really isn't. Of the 1,000 white oaks I got very few left, rabbits and mice loved them. Hindsight it would have been better to buy fewer trees and invest in tree tubes. I got some tubes for free from the NWTF and bought a few. Those trees get protected and grow longer because its like a greenhouse. Nothing likes eating black walnut so I got most of the 1,000 left. Don't forget to leave openings for sunlight to maintain some cover for when trees get mature.

I had lots of field I started with 25 yrs ago and now its amazing. People told me I was nutz but I had a vision of what I wanted to do, it took a lot of work, and still does to maintain. I can actually hunt out of some of the white pines we planted which is way cool.

Its hard cutting down the trees or brushing stuff when you know you planted them things years ago. We went from a deer or two a year to about 6 a year lately. Takes time but its worth the wait.

kvandehei - indeed a nice looking piece of ground. I would also be chomping at the bit to get started. You have the benefit of starting everything from square one and making it your own. 

You mentioned you only have a few oaks - what trees species do you mostly have? There is a lot to be said for tree management on hunting land. Since the sky is your limit here, if you have the time and desire consider harvesting some mature trees. Once I got my wife on board, I harvested a couple red oaks from my hunting land and hauled them to a mill to have sawn into hardwood flooring. It turned out beautiful in our house. 

I only have 40 acres in Oneida County that is mostly mature timber. I’ve never had the heart to let a commercial logger come in and cut, so little projects like this help me chip away at it. 

Keep is posted. 

Thanks ds! I'm beyond excited to get the ball rolling, I have a vision in my head that I wish could happen overnight, but I know it'll take years for everything to come together. I have a tentative plan for the set up of the house and whatnot, nothing set in stone yet which is the hard part and we wont' be breaking ground until spring 2019. I was going to order 200 pine, 100 oak and 200 aspen from the DNR to plant this spring/summer but realized I was getting ahead of myself without knowing exactly where the house and shed will be going. There are some oaks but not as many as I'd like. I currently have 500 aspen seeds that I'm going to plant in cups and transplant out there next spring when I have a better idea of the overall set up. There is probably about 100 acres of woods in the area, 60 of which butts up to my little parcel, and 1000+ acres of farmland so I agree, cover is going to be a big factor.

I haven't hunted it and I've only walked it twice, it actually isn't even officially "my land" for another 2 weeks lol so I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but all the info will be put to use as it gets more established. My main goal for this fall is to get some sort of plot in and hang a couple tree stands to get back into bow hunting. I don't have the time to scout public land and the private land I hunt is 3 hours away so I'm super excited to get back into bow hunting after about 10 years.

You may not be able to hold a lot of deer on 9 acres but you can certainly make it more attractive. Seeing as your building a home here I'd get the site plan for that all squared away and set first. Perhaps you have done that already. Then plan your plots and habitat improvement around use of the property on a daily basis. Deer will tolerate some human activity.

I'd be looking at screening the open area as was mentioned. Hybrid popple grows fast and can be hinged over time to create food and cover. Conifers of spruce and pine along with fruit and nut barring trees would be in the mix along with some native grasses. Do you have any oaks now? Acorns are number one when they are available. With all the ag in the area food plots may be a secondary concern to cover in your case, just a thought, but still have a plot or two. Keep the prevailing wind in mind. You have a very nice piece of ground to work with here.

Sounds like you haven't hunted it yet. I know your anxious to get started, who wouldn't be, but knowing a little more about the how the deer use your land now and how the surrounding area people hunt may help in your planning. I hunted my land for a season before I did anything. You have a bit more to work with than I did though. Nice looking piece of property, it could be a real gem. Congrats!

I'd be getting a soil sample and spreading lime asap.

I would probably try and split the area up into 4 or more types of food plots just to see what the deer like the best and you can get 1 or 2 things that would be better for winter forage while still having good stuff for the deer in spring and summer. another thing you can do is let some if it go wild or plant some tall grasses and willows to make a bedding area. a good weedy cornfield will work just as good.

one thing to consider is planting trees to provide a little better sense of security for the deer. close off the view from the houses/driveway so that you don't spook the deer every time you pull in the driveway. i'd still leave a little gap so you can look in the field to see whats out there. also make sure you leave yourself a nice quiet path back to your stands so you can sneak in even if there are deer in the field.

Bowhunting Guy - Thanks for the input! The area around my land is pretty much the exact opposite of yours, all farmland with minimal forest, but the concepts have to be the same. I attached a couple pictures of the lot and surrounding land. I'm told that the deer currently travel the line between the pines and hardwoods on my land so they are already passing through, I just gotta get them to stay! My concerns is with so much agri in the area and I know some of the farms plant their own food plots, how to I make my plot more appealing to the deer than someone elses. I'm debating between putting the plot in one of the two green X spots and want to fill in a big chunk of the open area with more trees to thicken it up some more. I might put a smaller plot towards the back lot line close to the field too to see if I can get the deer to stay in the thick cover instead of grazing the field (I think that the finger coming off the farm field is a food plot/shooting lane for one of my neighbors).

I know this isn't rocket science and I'll learn from what works and what doesn't, but I want to try and do it the best I can right off the bat!

Great advice below- thought I would share a couple other thoughts that are often overlooked.

In my experience, proximity to good cover can be as crucial as what you are planting to bring deer out in the daylight. In my neck of the woods, there is virtually no agricultural land and I literally put my plots in the middle of the woods (after many hours of chainsawing to open the canopy). One of them borders a very thick hemlock grove, which provides great bedding cover and a quick escape route. I’ve had much more success here than another plot that does not border ideal cover.

If you have any undesirable trees, (ideally 6” or less), consider hinge cutting them to improve the cover in your woods. I’ve had great success with this. Since it sounds like you are in this for the long haul, I would also consider planting some young white pines or hemlocks to thicken cover if that is one of your goals.

Without knowing exactly what your woods is like, it’s hard to make a specific recommendation. There are many valid opinions out there that will get you the same result. Pick and choose the parts you like and you’ll be successful!

The possibilities are nearly endless, that's the beauty of it. What I do may or may not work for you but here goes. I chose to plant in late May and again about the 3rd week of July. It's nearly impossible for me to keep up to the browse pressure so doing two plantings seems to cover what I want to accomplish, and it's fun to do.

May - This year I planted Buckwheat, oats and sunflowers in a mix. I change things up from time to time but BW has always been in the mix. It's fairly cheap and the deer love it in my area. It's good for soil health as well. None of this survives frost well so a second planting is done.

July - This year I am planting cereal rye, peas and clover. The rye will be a nurse crop for the clover and deer really like the peas. The rye will stay green nearly all winter and come up again in the spring along with the clover. I'll disk all of this down then the following spring and take advantage of the N the clover fixed in the soil. Brassicas may be a good option for you as they last late into the season. I can't get them to grow in my soil to save my life. The seed is kinda pricey and I don't always have the time before a rain to get the urea on.

It's tough to beat corn and soybeans late into the season but unless your equipped to deal with either of those it can be tough on a small scale. You'd probably need to efence the beans to get them to pod and have anything left come November\December. I planted beans twice. The deer never let them get knee high in my neck of the woods. Corn does not like to compete with other plants and is actually tough to grow for small time guys like us for several reasons, I've tried.

Keep researching and learning. In your own words, just plant something and see what happens. A guy told me once planting something is better than nothing at all. Turned out to be some really good advice.

One other tip. Put up and exclusion cage in the plot. It will give you an indication of what your plantings are doing without the deer hammering on them. I almost gave up till I tried it. The plantings inside the cage were waist high, outside not so much.

dsinwi - great information there! I also checked out that website you sent me, tons of great info there too! It gets a little overwhelming with people weighing in on the different seed types as there has to be hundreds of options. I think I just need to plant something to see what happens and go from there.

One question you or someone might be able to answer - people seem to either plant in the spring, late summer or both. I want to make sure the plot makes it into winter since that's when it'll really draw the deer in. Do I need to replant in fall to achieve this or by choosing the right seed combo in the spring will it last until the snow flies? I'm not sure if people are re-planting or planting two separate plots when they say they plant in spring and late summer...

Definitely addicting! So many options the possibilities are endless!

Great advice so far. Especially on the soil sample. You should be doing that asap and amending the soil so it's ready to plant when you are.

I would definitely be looking at putting in a water source in your case. It need not be next to the plot but near by. In fact I'd put in a location that deer have to move to and place it with stand locations in mind. Ruminants need a lot of water. Bucks drink a lot of water during the rut, especially if it's warm. Something as simple as a plastic swimming pool buried in ground that you fill can make a difference. Lay a stick in for critters to climb out if they fall in.

Trying to offer some thoughts on your other questions. You can make it as big or as small as you want. It's not all about size. Deer densities can affect plot size but unless you have access to farming equipment to plant acres, which you don't have, of food you won't be able to keep up to browse pressure anyway with a decent deer density.

You can let the deer tell you what they prefer by planting 2 or 3 different options either in strips or as a mix. Monoculture plots are typically not a good idea. Should you get disease or pests they can wipe out the entire plot, and deplete the soils of specific nutrients.

You mention farming in the area, most likely corn, beans, alfalfa?? You can plant things like brassicas in the mix. Deer typically browse these after a frost, when the starches turn to suger, so ag crops may be less available. You aren't necessarily competing with the ag crops directly, so to speak, just offering something different. It doesn't sound like your equipped to plant corn and beans anyway, and not on that small of a plot. Deer don't graze, they move between food sources regularly so offering different options is not a bad idea.

Irregular shaped plots have some advantages. They offer security and ambush points for stand locations and can also keep unwanted shiners and passersby by from seeing into your plots, and the deer in them. If you want to be able to hunt the entire plot, for example using a rifle form greater distance, then shape it accordingly.

You bring up "plowing". I wouldn't recommend that. Plenty of plotters do just fine with a little gly, some seed and timely rains. There are better options than plowing and unleashing the seed bank.

My perspective comes from providing year round food sources for wildlife, improving the habitat and health of the soil. If your just looking to put something in to harvest a deer over, and there is nothing wrong with that as far as I'm concerned, then pretty much anything that stays green late into the season will do.

I could go on but this is getting long winded already.

Good luck. It's addicting and as much fun as the actual hunt.

I'd go as big as possible on the food plot.  If you have a big deer herd they can ransack a small plot in short order. 

Water holes in the right spot can work very well.  We did one on our land and rarely get deer by it because we have several small ponds and marshes in the area.  Our buddy a couple miles down the road put one in and he sees deer using it regularly because he has no natural ponds near him.