Natty Bumppo
5 year old buck +
Haven't posted anything in a while and thought I'd share a few pics of my food plot progression. Many of you know my deal...my wife and I were gifted 30 acres from my MIL, who is also our neighbor...she owns an additional 120 that I hunt. Low deer densities, low hunter densities, no hard mast, no ag anywhere.
I started clearing the land about 4 years ago to create several small 1/2 to 3/4 acre food plots. The forest was probably 50 to 60 year old red maple, poplar, black cherry, and spruce. I designed them after years of research and reading everything I get get my hands on. I also designed their shape to fit precisely into a space defined by the presence of pre-existing wild apples.
This picture was taken in the winter of 2015...just went in and dropped about half the trees. Spent the following summer delimbing and bucking up the wood. Stacked a lot of it in the woods for a year and brought the smaller stuff directly back to my house.
For reference....note that one huge spruce tree on the right.
By the end of the summer of 2015 it was still thick and far from looking like a food plot...the spruce tree still stands.
The summer of 2016 I spent clearing all of the brush and debris and could actually begin to visualize the plot. Did a soil test (terrible pH and fertility) and brought in a bunch of lime. Got some rye planted and it actually did pretty well. Still had about 7 poplars and that one massive spruce to drop.
I started clearing the land about 4 years ago to create several small 1/2 to 3/4 acre food plots. The forest was probably 50 to 60 year old red maple, poplar, black cherry, and spruce. I designed them after years of research and reading everything I get get my hands on. I also designed their shape to fit precisely into a space defined by the presence of pre-existing wild apples.
This picture was taken in the winter of 2015...just went in and dropped about half the trees. Spent the following summer delimbing and bucking up the wood. Stacked a lot of it in the woods for a year and brought the smaller stuff directly back to my house.
For reference....note that one huge spruce tree on the right.
By the end of the summer of 2015 it was still thick and far from looking like a food plot...the spruce tree still stands.
The summer of 2016 I spent clearing all of the brush and debris and could actually begin to visualize the plot. Did a soil test (terrible pH and fertility) and brought in a bunch of lime. Got some rye planted and it actually did pretty well. Still had about 7 poplars and that one massive spruce to drop.
