2 acre food plot in NY. Thoughts on what to plant?

[eclipseman]

Ok here we go again. Many of you already know this but please read before commenting. I have a 2 acre food plot. This will now be the 3rd year for planting it. So far I have tried oats, cereal rye, winter wheat, turnips, radish, rape and white ladino clover. My observations are they will eat any of the cereal grains but id say they favor Wheat first, then oats, then cereal rye. As for the brassica, id say they definitely love the rape, they do not really care for the turnip greens but they will eat the bulbs later in the winter (at the end of hunting season or even after) and they don't really touch the radish. They love the ladino clover in the spring and early fall hunting season. Currently the food plot is 1 acre of ladino clover from last year and 1 acre of dirt which I frost seeded crimson clover in spring and it is starting to grow now. I do not have a heavy deer population so my plan is to only keep .25-.5 acre of the ladino portion of the plot and convert everything else over to a fall hunting plot. I am not sure what to plant to be honest. I think I want to plant rape again because they seem to really enjoy that, even before a heavy frost. I think I want to also put some winter peas and maybe some chicory. I will also likely keep a bit of the ground hog radish because I hear they are good for the soils and do not take up a ton of space and maybe small amount of turnips just to give them a little extra over the winter. My soil has decent pH of 6.8 and it needs very little in the way of fertilizer. I am not worried about the plot being wiped out as I have definitely learned our local heard is not very big. Lots of predators rooming the area which keeps the deer away (I am working on that issue. I have gotten a few coyotes in the fall so far). So what are your thoughts on what I should plant and how much of each for about 1.25-1.5 acres? Should I try and plant in strips or should I just mix it all together? Thanks!

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I would ask first and foremost if you are planning on hunting over this plot. If the answer is yes it will dictate where you plant (what YOUR deer prefer) where. I would also plant it in the case of hunting over in 10 yrd strips you can use for quick yardage estimation.

If you are not planning on hunting over it mix it all together and plant it throw and mow style. Soil life loves diversity. As for the 1/4-1/2 acre of clover you plan on keeping I would over seed that area with chicory and winter wheat late Aug early Sept and mow it off. (For ME 1/4 acre clover/chicory is plenty)

You have time on your side. First decide on your intentions for the plot then pencil out a few ideas. If planting in strips you will want to think ahead a few years and get a good understanding of what your rotation is going to be and WHY. Make sure one strip is planted to something that benefits the following years crop.

I would also set aside one or two strips every year for something new you want to try. It can be tough to judge preference when everything is mixed together.

 

[surmn8er]

I am also in NY in Zone5A and the deer here absolutely destroy the radishes before touching the rape or turnips. The only thing I've found that they like better are sunflowers and peas. It took them a while the 1st year of planting radishes to adapt to them but ever since then they can't seem to get enough.

 

[eclipseman]

I am also in NY in Zone5A and the deer here absolutely destroy the radishes before touching the rape or turnips. The only thing I've found that they like better are sunflowers and peas. It took them a while the 1st year of planting radishes to adapt to them but ever since then they can't seem to get enough.

ive tried radishes two years now and they don't touch them...the rape and turnips get eatin well before the radish.

 

[eclipseman]

I would ask first and foremost if you are planning on hunting over this plot. If the answer is yes it will dictate where you plant (what YOUR deer prefer) where. I would also plant it in the case of hunting over in 10 yrd strips you can use for quick yardage estimation.

If you are not planning on hunting over it mix it all together and plant it throw and mow style. Soil life loves diversity. As for the 1/4-1/2 acre of clover you plan on keeping I would over seed that area with chicory and winter wheat late Aug early Sept and mow it off. (For ME 1/4 acre clover/chicory is plenty)

You have time on your side. First decide on your intentions for the plot then pencil out a few ideas. If planting in strips you will want to think ahead a few years and get a good understanding of what your rotation is going to be and WHY. Make sure one strip is planted to something that benefits the following years crop.

I would also set aside one or two strips every year for something new you want to try. It can be tough to judge preference when everything is mixed together.

Thanks. This plot is definitely hunted over. I have zero idea on crop rotation so I could use a little help with that. The clover area is growing well and the deer enjoy eating it so im definitely going to leave atleast a 1/4 acres worth. The food plot unfortunately is not a square so strips might be difficult. I will attach a picture for reference in my next post.

 

[eclipseman]

The Red area is the current ladino clover. The red stripes is the area of clover I intend to keep so the rest of the ladino will be tilled up. The yellow area is last years brassica plot that I frost seeded crimson clover in. I planted the crimson clover just to help bank some nitrogen and prevent a ton of weeds from growing. it will ultimately be killed and tilled up. The orange circle areas are where I have had my ground blinds in the past. I will be adding stands around the perimeter so basically the entire plot will be huntable and I will put multiple cameras to see which areas the deer come out to at that time of year so I know which stands to hunt. So with all this, how would you go about planting it?

 

[Tree Spud]

Thanks. This plot is definitely hunted over. I have zero idea on crop rotation so I could use a little help with that. The clover area is growing well and the deer enjoy eating it so im definitely going to leave atleast a 1/4 acres worth. The food plot unfortunately is not a square so strips might be difficult. I will attach a picture for reference in my next post.

Study this below ... you'll learn all about rotation and plot seed choices.

LickCreek Mix

 

[Tree Spud]

Here is another approach & adaptation to the LC Mix ...

Dipper Rotation

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

however you plan on planting I would plan on having my stand(s) situated so they are on the "edge" where two different crops meet. Those bottlenecks look appealing to me.

 

[mikmaze]

grow what they like, and help yourself as well. grow the rape/ turnip for what they like, add ground hog radish to dig deep and break up soil, add crimson clover to add N for next year, and add winter wheat as they like it, or rye as it is better overall. This will come in and be there early spring when there is nothing else around green to feed on, the crimson will take off next, when it is time to knock it all down again is after the crimson flowers hard, then it is ready to do all over again. more a fan of a mix than strips, nice apple tree at 50 yds, 75, and a 100 for ranging help.

 

[Tap]

What other food sources are in the area? Any ag?

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I forgot to mention if you havent tried late planted (August) Sunflowers you may be missing out. The frost will kill them so plant in a mix but the deer where I hunt will walk through the entire plot selecting the young sunflowers (about 6-10" tall) over everything else. For me it is a fantastic early bow season draw. Mix them with peas, oats, and radish and you should have a great attraction plot for Sept. through Oct.

 

[eclipseman]

I forgot to mention if you havent tried late planted (August) Sunflowers you may be missing out. The frost will kill them so plant in a mix but the deer where I hunt will walk through the entire plot selecting the young sunflowers (about 6-10" tall) over everything else. For me it is a fantastic early bow season draw. Mix them with peas, oats, and radish and you should have a great attraction plot for Sept. through Oct.

We can’t hunt in septemember. Our opening day is oct1 but I’ll likely add in some sunflower. Thanks!

 

[eclipseman]

What other food sources are in the area? Any ag?

There is not major AG (as in acres upon acres) but there are some smaller AG operations. The closest fields are hay fields and corn grown for cows. The hay is sometimes alfalfa which I know deer like. There are some soybean farms but they are a few miles away.