Ideal Food LOT Size???

[MilkweedManiac]

Obviously the answer will vary based on available land and bedding nearby. However, as I continue to hunt and learn about deer movement, especially in pressured areas, I'm noticing that unless the feeding area is fairly small and surrounded by heavy cover, there just isn't much chance of a big buck getting there before dark.

Again, I know there isn't a "one size fits all" approach to this, but I'm hoping to discuss the idea of creating an area mature deer feel safe feeding in during daylight hours. Things that seem obvious as a start are:
1. Must be close to known buck bedding with a safe transition area that will lead to feeding area
2. Must be somewhat unpressured by humans
3. Must be surrounded by heavy cover
4. Must contain a diverse food source for attraction

I've read that Jeff Sturgis really likes the food plots in 1/4 to 1/2 acre size. I'm leaning towards 1/4 acre since that is going to open up more possibilities to bring deer into bow range, but a 1/2 acre plot allows me to do add more diversity, like DCOs, Chestnuts, and Apple Trees.

What size food lot do you guys lean towards as far as balancing maximum food and "hunt - ability?"

 

[Bill]

Mine are 4 acres and less down to 1/4 acre. They all get use but it’s some what of a low pressure area. You are correct the small ones get used more often in daylight but they also are the ones that run out of food first.

Not so sure about diverse being a must. Beans with rye broadcast in September is my go to plot. Use falls off once the small bucks start pestering does. But I think that will happen with any food.

 

[homerj]

.34971 acre

 

[Someday isle]

I think you’ve already got it figured out. There’s just not a one size fits all. At least that’s my opinion. We have a small property (35 acres more or less) and know we can’t hold deer on our land. We have three small plots. Two are 1/4 acre and one is 1/3 of an acre. These are connected to each other via several 1/8 acre food it trails on old logging roads. We’ve had our property for a little over three years (4 hunting seasons). We’ve harvested 10 deer in that time. 7 of those deer have been harvested over the two 1/4 acre plots. The other three on trails leading to or parallel to the plots. We haven’t harvested what I’d call a mature buck yet. Our largest deer was a 7 pointer I harvested with my bow this year. Most of our harvests have been younger bucks or antlerless deer. I think step one is always realistic goals based on your situation and location. After that maybe it’s small harvest plots used to pattern deer to whatever Degree is possible for your circumstances. I know we don’t have enough land to manage a deer herd or even enough space or the right kind of land to make a large destination plot. We’re okay with that. We like to hunt and harvest deer and we love our venison. Maybe we’ll have a crack at a mature buck once in awhile. But I’m okay if we don’t. This year was the first year we had multiple mature bucks in camera. As of my camera pull last week it looks like none of them made it through firearms season. Realistic goals and expectations tell us to enjoy what we have. As far as diversity of food goes we’ve really settled on the cereal grain portion of the LC mix.

 

[Someday isle]

Sorry - that was kind of a long response.

 

[yoderjac]

It really depends on what you are trying to do with the food plot. Tiny plots distributed are a lot of work and don't provide much food for deer. So if feeding deer is the objective, it is much more efficient to have larger multi-acre plots. Also, if food plots are too small in areas with trees, they typically don't get enough sunlight to be productive. In high deer density areas, small tiny food plots can be wiped out quickly, especially if planted with an attractive crop. So, while all the things you listed are valid considerations, it really depends on objective.

If you are not hunting the plot, but hunting the travel corridor between bedding and the plot, it is more important to position the plot such that bucks will be able to check the plot from down wind without winding you in your stand.

If you are hunting the plot itself, another consideration is your weapon. For archery hunting, I like to design plots such that I can situate a stand in such a way that I can cover about 80% of the plot with a bow shot inside 30 yards.

If I'm using a plot for population control, I will design it a bit larger. While shooting does with archery equipment is fun and can help, it is pretty inefficient for population control. In my area, Muzzleloader season is the ideal time if you are willing to shoot does during the rut. For this purpose, I'll design a plot so I can cover 80% of it with a shot inside 100 yards. This is much more efficient from a plotting standpoint as well depending on the equipment you have and it is less likely to get wiped out in high deer density areas.

By the time firearm season rolls around in our area, deer are pretty spooky. I will sometimes hunt large feeding plots with a rifle for doe control. This only works in years when the mast crops is poor and does are forced to feed in plots. The become unpredictable in terms of where they enter and feed the plot because to the hunting pressure, but with a rifle, one can cover quite a distance.

There is no ideal food plot size. Often it depends on the lay of your land and your ability to get equipment to the plot. There are a lot of factors to balance and your objectives drive things. I've got plots under 1/4 acre to 15 acres. For large feeding plots like the 15 acres, I use terrain and screening cover to make it feel like a series of plots that are about an acre or so each. This has been an interesting strategy. It provides enough food in a central location to act as a feeding plot, but with the screening it seems smaller to deer. Typically, in large open plots, I don't see bucks until the rut kicks into high gear when they throw caution to the wind and can be anywhere. But with this approach, during the pre-rut, bucks seem to be willing to venture into these. They typically parallel the plot down wind 50 to 100 yards off the plot but will sometimes venture in during daylight hours.

Keep in my we have significant hunting pressure and others may have bucks used large open plots during daylight hours. This just happens to be the setup that works for us.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[FarmerDan]

The ideal size food plot is whatever you have available. I'm not at all into creating food plots in established cropland fields. I have no time nor money for clearing land. I guess I'm lucky. If you have fields plant them. Make lots of the right kind of feed so it's available at the right time. If you want to hunt it, look for inside corners and curvy edges. Think like a deer. I'm inside the protection of heavy cover right next to a big (or small) open area filled with candy. I'm afraid. I'm not going out into the middle of that big field, at least not in daylight. My sense of hunger is overcome by my sense of fear. But, maybe, if I just get out here in the corner I can grab a mouthful or two. If I get scared I can easily run back into my heavy cover which surrounds me on at least two sides....

 

[SwampCat]

I have food plots from 1/4 acre to 8 acres in size. Two acres is my favorite size. The two acre plots are big enough to make it worth your time and effort. They are big enough to provide a decent amount of food. Small enough where a deer is never too far from cover. Big enough to attract does in number. I also prefer to leave a couple of scattered trees.

 

[MilkweedManiac]

Sorry - that was kind of a long response.

I really appreciated the detail!

 

[MilkweedManiac]

The ideal size food plot is whatever you have available. I'm not at all into creating food plots in established cropland fields. I have no time nor money for clearing land. I guess I'm lucky. If you have fields plant them. Make lots of the right kind of feed so it's available at the right time. If you want to hunt it, look for inside corners and curvy edges. Think like a deer. I'm inside the protection of heavy cover right next to a big (or small) open area filled with candy. I'm afraid. I'm not going out into the middle of that big field, at least not in daylight. My sense of hunger is overcome by my sense of fear. But, maybe, if I just get out here in the corner I can grab a mouthful or two. If I get scared I can easily run back into my heavy cover which surrounds me on at least two sides....

Excellent points.

 

[MilkweedManiac]

Thanks so much everyone. This is a great way for me to organize my thoughts as I move forward. I already have a 2 acre grain field that is planted as a destination source of food, but am finding that I need to create more cover around it OR develop smaller “kill plots” closer to the bedding areas. I will probably do both. Most of the bucks are getting to the 2 acre field about 30 minutes after dark. I just don’t think they feel secure enough to wander out that far in the day. Does and small bucks obviously aren’t a problem but mature deer are always a different story. There is a transition area I think I can access cleanly and maybe plant some trees and greens in there as a way of getting the bucks to station themselves as they wait for dark before heading to the grains.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

If they are showing up on your 2 acre plot why add any additional plots?

Are shooter bucks showing up at your plots after dark or not at all?

Does your plot run out of food before spring?

You can hunt the trails between bed and food without adding any additional plots.


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[MilkweedManiac]

A couple of nice 3.5 year olds are showing up consistently 30-90 minutes after dark.
We had a major EHD killl so I still have lots of beans left, but ordinarily they would be gone by now or close to it. Keep in mind that I had hot fence around the beans until October. The thought was to maybe give them green close to their bedding as a kill spot and leave the grain completely alone.
Currently I can’t access the areas between bed and food without being seen which is another issue I’m trying to address. Think small fingers of woods (elevated to make it worse) with lots of open fields on all sides.
It’s a tricky situation because if they see what I’m trying to do it will pretty much ruin everything.
I’m leaning towards planting a row of Miscanthus to cover me as I walk in.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Well that’s your problem then. If you can’t get to your stand without being seen it isn’t a good stand.

Our closest shot to our late season harvest plot is 120 yards. If a deer is on the far end it’s more like 200 yards. It’s a good poke for a muzzleloader but you can get in the blind without anything being the wiser.

This plot is only wooded on the west edge of the plot. The colder it is out the sooner the deer start to show up.

Adding cover to hide your entrance is the answer IMO.


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[MilkweedManiac]

Yes. I completely agree. The two acre field is located in bottomland so the does are bedded on little benches and knobs above it. I think the Miscanthus would allow me to get back to it within gun range, but the ultimate goal is to kill a nice buck inside 30 yards, which I think would be more possible accessing high through the middle of a CRP field and climbing into a box blind positioned about 50 yards outside of the woods they use to transition down to the grain.

 

[BobinCt]

Milk: look into Egyptian wheat for screening/cover. It’s an annual that grows tall and fast and it not a food source to the deer. In the meantime, you can try for the Miscanthus but it’s very hard to get established. They have plugs for that which can give you a bit of a head start. Your blowing your hunts before you start and if you blowing deer off food plots when you exit, guess what? Those deer will be visiting your plots later and later each week. You can’t put stress on the herd. Don’t think because your blowing doe’s out of the plots that it’s not a big deal cuz your after a big buck cuz those doe’s control those woods. Your putting too much stress on them. Really look into the Egyptian Wheat.

 

[j-bird]

Bucks in daylight....I think your looking super small, super secluded, super secure but the key is going to be positioning. You are going to have to get between where they are bedding and the main food source and put in this little "staging area" as they call them. Hope they get up on their feet in the daylight and feel safe enough to do that and venture into the staging area where they linger until dark. A little food to hold their attention and maybe a water hole might help as well. Jim Ward likes to put a lot of hanging branches and the like in these areas as well (I saw that on one of his property visits) It's going to be 95% about security.

I am putting more focus on screening stands and stand access now as well. I have spread some MG rhizones (started from cutting a few years ago) and we will see how that goes and I have done some digging into some willow plantings as well but have not pulled that trigger yet. Switchgrass works OK if you only need 4 or 5 feet....as that is the actual height of the cover it produces. The seed heads will get 6 or 7 feet but they will not be dense enough to act as a screen. Switchgrass can be great at hiding deer from you and each other, but depending on the elevations....it may not screen you from the deer.

 

[eclipseman]

Mine are 4 acres and less down to 1/4 acre. They all get use but it’s some what of a low pressure area. You are correct the small ones get used more often in daylight but they also are the ones that run out of food first.

Not so sure about diverse being a must. Beans with rye broadcast in September is my go to plot. Use falls off once the small bucks start pestering does. But I think that will happen with any food.

Do you plant beans with a drill or are you broadcasting them?

 

[Bill]

Do you plant beans with a drill or are you broadcasting them?

I drill them. Haven’t disked anything but brassicas in years.