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Post by strippitman on Jul 31, 2012 8:03:42 GMT -5
Has anybody started to put out their food plots yet? If so, what did you plant? I have begun working on my first plot ever and I will start another thread tracking my progress very soon.
It looks like I'm going to put out a small patch of either Antler King Red Zone or Honey Hole or maybe even a mixture of both. More to come....
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Post by goosepondmonster on Jul 31, 2012 8:12:58 GMT -5
I bought some turnip seeds. I am hoping to get them planted this weekend. I planted some clover in the spring, but it isn't doing very well.
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Post by jsanders on Jul 31, 2012 9:07:23 GMT -5
I've planted food plots before. This may not be the best year to try it since we have a drought, so don't get discouraged if it fails. Chicory is the most drought resistant food plot I've found. Mine is actually still greener than the surrounding vegetation. The hardest part will be getting the seed to sprout. I was going to reseed the chicory and put clover with it but I'm passing this year. Not sure how much rain you've got, but its dry 6ft down here. Good luck.
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Post by goosepondmonster on Jul 31, 2012 9:57:51 GMT -5
I have a way to irrigate my spot for the fall, so I am not really concerned about the drought.
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Post by jsanders on Jul 31, 2012 10:12:43 GMT -5
Lucky you haha. I have mine next to a creek that hasn't had water in it for 2 months.
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Post by z7bowhunter on Aug 1, 2012 19:54:28 GMT -5
[quote author=strippitman Has anybody started to put out their food plots yet? If so, what did you plant? I have begun working on my first plot ever and I will start another thread tracking my progress very soon.
It looks like I'm going to put out a small patch of either Antler King Red Zone or Honey Hole or maybe even a mixture of both. More to come....[/quote]
In the spring i was going to plant corn but the tractor was broken.. it wouldnt have grown anyway lol. This fall i am going to plant one or two small plots with oats,chicory,and turnips.. I have planted several food plots and alot didnt work out very well. Sometimes they dont get enough sunlight, rain, or the weeds take them over. The most successful food plot i made was a very small plot of oats in the woods in a semi-open area. I planted it in october (temps were in the 60s and 70s still) and it kept growing until around mid november. it was probably 8-10" tall and it was very green.No weeds! Then the next spring it continued to grow to about 3 ft tall and the deer ate it up and also slept in it i think,lol I dont like planting in fieldsin the spring or summer. The fall is the best time to plant imo because the weeds wont take it over as fast as they will in the summer. If you want a really nice food plot you might want to do a soil test and put down some annual grass herbicide.
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Post by strippitman on Aug 14, 2012 7:58:32 GMT -5
Well, the food plot is in! It turned out to be a bigger job than I bargained for because of the thick weeds we were fighting. This is where the food plot is going. I only ended up turning about a 1/4 of this total area into food plot. We intend to expand it later this fall or next year.   My buddy Steve running his bush hog rig  (don't laugh, it works!)  We couldn't get the ground worked up good enough with our little equipment so we had to call our buddy in to tear the ground up. The old weeds were rooted in about 7" and were thicker than crap   This was just prior to being dragged and seeded with FREE soybeans and Antler King Honey Hole. The entire plot is about 1/3 acre but I have about 2 acres total that could be worked up into a plot. I'm excited to expand it!  I will post pictures of its growth soon! Hopefully, I'll have a pic of a big ol' buck laying dead in it too  |
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Post by goosepondmonster on Aug 14, 2012 8:04:58 GMT -5
Looks like a good spot. I broadcast my turnip seeds on Sunday and I'm hoping to rain that passed south of Linton yesterday morning pushed them into the ground. Here is a picture of my plot after I tilled it in the spring...  |
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Post by strippitman on Aug 14, 2012 8:25:40 GMT -5
Eli - does this grow ok with all the shade? I've thought about turning my tractor trails into plots but was always skeptical that it would grow.
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Post by goosepondmonster on Aug 14, 2012 10:39:34 GMT -5
Eli - does this grow ok with all the shade? I've thought about turning my tractor trails into plots but was always skeptical that it would grow. The stuff I put down in the spring didn't really grow, but I'm not sure if it is due to the drought, lack of sun or both. After the hunting season I plan on cutting down some of the smaller trees to open up the canopy a bit. I figure, if nothing else, I can get some clover to grow there. |
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Post by z7bowhunter on Aug 14, 2012 20:17:00 GMT -5
Dang, that is some of the darkest soil i have ever seen...your plots should grow good if we get a little rain. I think im going to save my seed for next spring, but i have got my site bushhogged in case some rain moves in.. Even if you dont have a food plot growing the deer will still come to your ffood plot just because they are curious and like to eat the new grass growing.. ive got trail cam pics of does and small bucks in my food plot site just 2 days after i mowed it.
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Post by goosepondmonster on Aug 15, 2012 10:01:05 GMT -5
It is an old railroad bed, so I think the darkness of the soil has something to do with that.
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Post by goosepondmonster on Aug 21, 2012 9:34:31 GMT -5
A bit of an update since strippitman was curious. On Saturday I went to the local co-op and bought a pound each of winter rye, winter wheat and oats (fifty cents a pound, not bad). Sunday morning I ran down to my grandma's to spread the seed and rake it in the ground. That plan changed when I checked the plot to see that the turnips had sprouted like crazy. Being that it is a bit shady I am not sure how well they'll do, but the rain definitely helped them germinate. It is kind of hard to see from the picture, but there is a lot more green that the previous picture...  I wound up just watering in the new seed so that I didn't tear up the turnip sprouts. |
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Post by z7bowhunter on Aug 21, 2012 20:45:41 GMT -5
Dang 50 cents a pound for that seed? Ill be buyin some of that next fall
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Logan
Full Member
Posts: 140
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Post by Logan on Aug 30, 2012 21:07:13 GMT -5
Wow, wish the Ozarks had soil that rock-less. If deer ate rocks I would have it made. Anyways, I put out some "evolved Harvest Shot-Plot" out which is a mix of brassicas and turnips. worked well last year. I don't even bother with other plants and mixtures now. Throw some of that out with some lime or fertilizer in a cut hay field and a month later you got yourself a food plot. Good luck
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(don't laugh, it works!)
Just another night at work for me and Monty will be back here again bright and early. 
