Food Plots and Memories
6 Comments Published by David Blanton on Thursday, August 21, 2008 at 7:54 AM.
My three sons, Harman, 18, Alex, 16 and Lucas, 11, have all shared some of their favorite hunting moments with me, many times while being accompanied by the Realtree cameras, since they’ve all developed a yearning to hunt.
One of the main things I’ve learned over the years is there are very few things when it comes to hunting that are absolute constants, but the one thing that comes as close as any is the action and entertainment provided by well-planted food plots.
I love the feeling of sneaking into a lush, green plot with either of my boys during the mid-afternoon knowing that if the wind stays true we are going to see deer before dark! And I have to say, unanimously, all of my boys have requested leaving the hardwood ridge stand or the creek bottom and heading to the food plot for the afternoon hunt.
Why? It’s simple, they want to see deer and turkeys and whatever other game decides to show itself. They want to be entertained! And I think that has played a crucial role in them maintaining their excitement level about hunting.
For those of us who have naturally progressed as hunters and who understand that to kill a big, mature whitetail you probably want to intercept him as he makes he way to the food plot, that’s great! But never forget that for today’s youth hunters, it’s all about keeping their excitement level high!
To get even more out of this concept, I now plant two different types of food plots for the fall/winter hunting season. First, around the beginning of August, I plant a few select, small areas with a mixture of beans, peas and sorghum that hopefully, with some rain, will be nice and green when the Georgia bowseason opens mid-September, thus really drawing in a lot of deer. I plant these plots because Harman and Alex are older and they have interest in bowhunting and they know we will “be in the chips” if we hunt these food sources with a good wind.
To make these plots even more effective, I have learned over the years to not go in and do a lot of pre-season scouting to see what’s coming in late in the evenings. This just educates the deer and in a place like Georgia, it doesn’t take much!
What does work very well is the strategic placement of trail cameras around the beans and peas and going in every several days during the middle of the day to remove the memory card/stick and replacing it with another card/stick so the actual camera is never removed.
As the bowseason progresses and the beans and peas are being hammered, the brown top sorghum heads are really growing and while the deer don’t pay these much attention early on, as they begin to ripen during late October/early November the deer will destroy these in quick order as the weather cools.
Then, around the middle to late September, we will go in and plant our larger plots (up to 4 acres) in a blend of oats, rye, chicory and clover to provide the deer herd with nutrition during the winter months but most importantly, to hunt over them starting late in October and going through to the end of our season in January.
Oh, I almost forgot!
And this one may hurt in the wallet with the costs of fuel skyrocketing, DO NOT SKIMP WHEN IT COMES TO FERTILIZER! There have been enough studies done that showed deer will absolutely walk through half of a plot left unfertilized to graze on the fertilized portion!
Have multiple stand/blinds located around the food plots to accommodate different wind directions and here is a little tip we learned from hunting on the Milk River, if possible, have someone drive a vehicle into the plot at dark to run the deer out so you and your kids can leave the stand without being detected. Do not have the driver turn the vehicle off or turn the lights off. Vehicles do not spook deer, especially after dark. They will return shortly after the truck is gone.
But try walking out of the plot no matter how dark it gets and you’ll hear the too familiar sound of deer blowing their head off! Now that educates deer! I hope you and yours have as much fun hunting food plots as I’m planning on having this year!
Now if we can only get the rain!
One of the main things I’ve learned over the years is there are very few things when it comes to hunting that are absolute constants, but the one thing that comes as close as any is the action and entertainment provided by well-planted food plots.
I love the feeling of sneaking into a lush, green plot with either of my boys during the mid-afternoon knowing that if the wind stays true we are going to see deer before dark! And I have to say, unanimously, all of my boys have requested leaving the hardwood ridge stand or the creek bottom and heading to the food plot for the afternoon hunt.
Why? It’s simple, they want to see deer and turkeys and whatever other game decides to show itself. They want to be entertained! And I think that has played a crucial role in them maintaining their excitement level about hunting.
For those of us who have naturally progressed as hunters and who understand that to kill a big, mature whitetail you probably want to intercept him as he makes he way to the food plot, that’s great! But never forget that for today’s youth hunters, it’s all about keeping their excitement level high!
To get even more out of this concept, I now plant two different types of food plots for the fall/winter hunting season. First, around the beginning of August, I plant a few select, small areas with a mixture of beans, peas and sorghum that hopefully, with some rain, will be nice and green when the Georgia bowseason opens mid-September, thus really drawing in a lot of deer. I plant these plots because Harman and Alex are older and they have interest in bowhunting and they know we will “be in the chips” if we hunt these food sources with a good wind.
To make these plots even more effective, I have learned over the years to not go in and do a lot of pre-season scouting to see what’s coming in late in the evenings. This just educates the deer and in a place like Georgia, it doesn’t take much!
What does work very well is the strategic placement of trail cameras around the beans and peas and going in every several days during the middle of the day to remove the memory card/stick and replacing it with another card/stick so the actual camera is never removed.
As the bowseason progresses and the beans and peas are being hammered, the brown top sorghum heads are really growing and while the deer don’t pay these much attention early on, as they begin to ripen during late October/early November the deer will destroy these in quick order as the weather cools.
Then, around the middle to late September, we will go in and plant our larger plots (up to 4 acres) in a blend of oats, rye, chicory and clover to provide the deer herd with nutrition during the winter months but most importantly, to hunt over them starting late in October and going through to the end of our season in January.
Oh, I almost forgot!
And this one may hurt in the wallet with the costs of fuel skyrocketing, DO NOT SKIMP WHEN IT COMES TO FERTILIZER! There have been enough studies done that showed deer will absolutely walk through half of a plot left unfertilized to graze on the fertilized portion!
Have multiple stand/blinds located around the food plots to accommodate different wind directions and here is a little tip we learned from hunting on the Milk River, if possible, have someone drive a vehicle into the plot at dark to run the deer out so you and your kids can leave the stand without being detected. Do not have the driver turn the vehicle off or turn the lights off. Vehicles do not spook deer, especially after dark. They will return shortly after the truck is gone.
But try walking out of the plot no matter how dark it gets and you’ll hear the too familiar sound of deer blowing their head off! Now that educates deer! I hope you and yours have as much fun hunting food plots as I’m planning on having this year!
Now if we can only get the rain!
Hey David,
I'm glad that you pointed out that deer are not spooked by vehicles. I lease about 1,400 acres in the Texas Panhandle, in between Wellington and Childress, TX. As you know, this country exists mainly of cultivated farmland, accompanied by many mesquite flats. Deer are accustomed to hearing and seeing trucks, tractors, etc., on a day-to-day basis. I actually shot my biggest whitetail to date last November sitting in my truck, parked in a corner of a winter wheat field. The deer come out, take a glance at the vehicle, realizing the vehicle was already there, not moving, and is not posing a threat, the deer go on to feed, never looking back at the vehicle. You can also drive into a somewhat large field full of feeding deer, and as long as you keep moving along the perimeter of the field they will continue to feed. But if you even think about slowing down or stopping, deer will scatter like jackrabbits. I just discovered the blog and really enjoy it David. Keep it up! It is also good to see that the Realtree cameras finally discovered what the Panhandle of Texas has to offer regarding monster whitetail. Take Care.
Josh
I think the federal government frowns on people building food plots in wilderness lands...but I'll check. :)
Glad you have the moments to share with the kids - that's what it's all about! I'm glad my parents got me involved so early - I never remember being bored outdoors and we never had food plots, but we sure had lots of pretty country to look at!
I love food plots. We started planting food plots last year. Although we did not see any deer actually feeding from it, we did see plenty of sign that deer were using it. We also saw more deer in the area we hunt.
What suprised me most was the satisfaction I got from how well the plants grew. Plus, I had a good feeling about giving back.
We are going to change up our stategy this year. Instead of one big plot on a 4 acre set a side, we are going to plant several small spots, and leave some cover around them. Here in Northern Indiana deer are use to a lot of cover in the spring, summer, and early fall. But when the crops come down, a lot of their cover is gone. That left our food plot in the wide open. They will feed in open food plots but usually at night. We figure giving them the security of cover while eating will increase the draw effect of our food plots. Who knows if it will work but it is a plan.
I was really impressed with how well turnups and brassica did in this region. The brassica stayed green all the way through November.
It created one of the biggest community scrapes I had ever seen!
Good luck with your plots,
Todd - Indiana
Hey David,
That was a great blog. Lots of info. I love hunting food plots b/c like you said, you see so much wildlife. Good Luck with your plots and I bet ya'll are getting a lot of rain right now b/c of Tropical Storm Fay. We have not planted our food plots yet b/c they cut all of our hardwoods and drove all over our food plots, but we'll be planting them real soon. Talk to ya later.
God Bless & Good Huntin'
Kristle Oberlander
There's nothing like being entertained on a GA food plot come mid Nov and the rut is on in our area Meriwether/Harris. Lots of fun, we also use another person to come in the food plot after dark with the lights on the Golf cart.
Also another key everyone should adopt: Do not shoot does with a gun until December especially on Food plots. This allows deer activity to remain normal as possible. However, we will shoot every doe possible especially early with a bow at any time/any place. Ready to get after those does, we have been planting 70 percent of our food plots with Grains , corn, beans , then 30 percent oats/clover.
See ya, Craig Dilbeck
I was just wondering if anyone had any cheap ideas for fencing a 2 acre corn foodplot? I am from Illnios and just cant get corn to grow in my plot. It is in the middle of their bedroom and they just wont let it get established enough to get started. I would welcome any comments. I am trying to find a better way then just putting up a solar fencer, i think that is gonna get pretty expensive.
thanks!
Illinois guy