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Food plot location strategy poll - numerous kill plots (<0.25 ac) or larger feeder plots (>1.0 ac) throughout property

Would you rather more numerous but smaller plots (~0.25 ac) or larger feeder plots (>1.0 ac)?

  • Several smaller plots (~0.25 acres) scattered around the property

    Votes: 4 21.1%

  • Fewer, but larger feeder plots (>1.0 acres) centered within the property

    Votes: 15 78.9%
  • Total voters
    19
Hoytvectrix

Hoytvectrix

5 year old buck +
Assuming you have similar topography and cover throughout the property, would you rather have smaller kill plots that are scattered throughout the property with varying quality levels of access, or larger feeder plots that are fewer but more centrally located with easier/moderate quality access?

Smaller, but more numerous kill plots example:
1702685352849.jpeg


Fewer, but larger feeder plots example:
1702685375630.jpeg
 
I actually prefer my small kill plots to be attached to larger plots or ag fields. I had a few bulldozed on my new ground and they work very well. Deer seem to gravitate to a small opening just inside the timber before stepping out into a large field. If that makes sense.
 
I Say both.

make big plots that seem small. More meandering, or long wide trails. Divider hedgerow.

answer can vary based on how many folks hunt. How much you use your property. Bigger plots are easier to maintain. Also, how you like to hunt. Big horn chaser, or just like an easy deer hunt.
 
I don't have a preference necessarily, but I do like to have destination food on my property.

My answer would depend on the property and surrounding food/cover. I also think that bedding to food predictable travel patterns are important for hunting, most often trying to stay off the food.
 
Depends on deer density. .25 acre plots would quickly be eaten to the ground and largely unused at my place. We kill more large bucks in 2 plus acre plots than those less than two acres.
 
SwampCat said:
Depends on deer density. .25 acre plots would quickly be eaten to the ground and largely unused at my place. We kill more large bucks in 2 plus acre plots than those less than two acres.
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If it was the same total amount in terms of acreage and tons of biomass or protein would you feel the same way?
 
First consideration I'd make is: How do I get in without having a doe wheezing and blowing the whole property clear? The deeper you go into a property, the higher the likelihood you're gonna bump deer and get a wheezer. I move when the deer don't, so I want them bedded in the middle while I'm skirting the edge to get back to the setup.

Bedding in the middle, make them come to the outside for food. Engage them there.

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This year my row crop guy put in WW that took a lot of pressure off my smaller kill plot and it didn’t just look like dirt this fall.
 
The larger plots will be especially helpful if you enjoy late season hunting. Access, thermals, types of stand/blinds will inform the final plan. You can easily have two or three stands on the larger plots to help play the wind. The larger plots should provide incentive to pull deer from the area.

Developing or maximizing existing pinch points into the plan will enhance early archery.
 
Smaller plots rypucalky get more shade, so biomass wouldnt be equal.

Im sitting beside this 100 acre plot not seeing anything in 4 days of hunting. Wishing it was more quaint.
 
Hoytvectrix said:
If it was the same total amount in terms of acreage and tons of biomass or protein would you feel the same way?
Click to expand...
Yes, definitely. I would feel even more the same way. I have 25 acres of wheat or wheat/clover in 11 different plots from 1/2 acre to seven acres in size. I cant imagine dealing with 75 .25 acre food plots. It would take three times as long to plant them with all the turning around. It is hard enough now to meet up with your target buck on 11 plots let alone 75. My doe family groups prefer the plots between 1 and 2 acres in size. And anyone who likes rifle hunting and testing their load at a distance where there was not powder burns on their quarry would be sorely disappointed. Not to mention the stands you would need to cover 75 .25 acre plots. We dove hunt some of our bigger wheat plots in Sept and .25 acre plots do not lend themselves to a community dove shoot. I have quite a bit of mature timber and shading of small plots is problematic.

I cannot think of a single reason why 75 .25 acre plots would be an advantage for me.
 
This was a purely hypothetical example. I noticed that Grant Woods in a recent episode commented that they are liking smaller plots more and more, especially for archery.

I'm in the process of deciding a layout for my new farm and because of the layout, there is quite a bit of freedom in where to put the plots and how big they should be. I like the ability to get in and get out undetected, and I feel like you can do that a little easier in smaller plots. I also wonder if it wouldn't be easier to pattern a buck with smaller plots. It seems like they would be much more likely to show up in daylight to a smaller plot as opposed to an open field.
 
Hoytvectrix said:
This was a purely hypothetical example. I noticed that Grant Woods in a recent episode commented that they are liking smaller plots more and more, especially for archery.

I'm in the process of deciding a layout for my new farm and because of the layout, there is quite a bit of freedom in where to put the plots and how big they should be. I like the ability to get in and get out undetected, and I feel like you can do that a little easier in smaller plots. I also wonder if it wouldn't be easier to pattern a buck with smaller plots. It seems like they would be much more likely to show up in daylight to a smaller plot as opposed to an open field.
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I have one .25 acre plot. I find it very difficult to work. The trees shade it and it tends to not dry out. Smartweed and some rushes are problematic. We kill more of our big bucks in big food plots - but many of those are killed with a rifle. For my purposes, a 1/2 acre is about as small as I like - longer than wide to facilitate planting and to narrow it down for bow hunting. I am in a non ag area. Cover is thick on my place and all around it. Food is key. I have deer eat my 7 acre food plot to the dirt.

I do get some daytime use in my 1/2 acre plot by mature bucks. But it is sporadic. Two days in a row and then maybe nothing for two weeks. To be honest, the .25 and 1/2 acre plot are the only two plots on the place we have never killed a deer - for a variety of reasons - not because they arent there. Everyones place is different - you may be in ag area and food is not at a premium like my place
 
Neither. I prefer a few larger plots for destination food away from the bedding, with smaller kill plots between the bedding and destination food.

Or something like what Bill described with small extensions off a main plot.
 
Small plot will draw deer from smaller distances and won't hold deer for extended feeding times. They are nice for killing, but not nice in a situation when you have a great up and comer 2.5 or 3.5 year old pass through it and jump the neighbors fence 45 minutes prior to dark.

Large plot will draw deer from a larger area and set up transition stand locations. Large plots will hold deer and help them make it through the season. Large plots can also be a tool for moving deer away from high pressure areas and into safe areas....really depends on your area.

In a perfect world i would have space for one or two large 5-10 acre destination plots on a safe end of my farm. Then back 1-200 yards from that one, 1 or 2 1/2 to 1 acre transition plots that may pull deer slightly to huntable locations. All creating a flow that's huntable with minimal disruption and a direction of travel that helps you get deer through a season.

Next best or on a small property, in my eyes, is 1 large 5 acre plot on a safe end, with highly accessible stands back in transition areas 50-100 yards. Of course the ability to get around and hunt bedding in the AM.
 
Hoyt,

I was noticing you got trails on your property, or it atleast looks like it. The one at my club is what it is, it's a trail leading to the food plot. Get a shot at the plot, while getting peek whos in the woods, and then another shot down the trail. Screenshot 2023-12-09 8.29.47 AM.png

The Yellow circle to the right is my treestand. I can shoot about 140 yard going north on the trail, about 8-100 going south. Between the trail and the 1/8 acre plot is mature trees with the understory cleaned up, but not entirely removed. Get a shot here n there in the plot, without easily getting busted.

I would want something like this, but in a L shaped or rectangle 3-5 acre parcel size.

I'd be happy as a clam with meandering 30-50 yard wide trails with brushy edges between mature trees. Even if the light isn't perfect.

Where I hunt, the land is leased and shared with about 20 members. I plant where they destroyed the land with log landings. I plant trees on the edges of clear cuts. I put seed down on wider trails. Above is the roadrunner plot. The trail is a snowmobile trail the town put in 10 years ago.

Yellow lines are common deer movement, red dots are apple trees, and the yellow dot to the left will have a treestand in the spring. Was hunting there 2 weeks ago, about 4 days of snow foot prints. Most prints I aw stalk hunting in 3 days were on the left going to the plot area. Now they travle it too when the plot is done. There's skidder paths that will get the clover rye treatment. May just move a nearby stand closer to it.
 
I originally made the poll as an either/or because if you had to choose one or other other I thought it might spur some discussion on what might be preferred. The map in the above examples is not actually any of my farms. I chose pure timber because I feel like that would limit the effect of current cover on what might be preferred, and with most things being equal, are more numerous or larger food sources preferred?

On the new farm I bought with my brother, we established some smaller plots where we knew deer were already moving and where we could get in and out of with minimal intrusion. The farm itself is mostly pasture so we have some freedoms with where to place food sources and cover. I'm just going back and forth on whether or not I want to put in the bigger plots. I feel like smaller plots are the way to go until we get better cover. There are several spots for several 1-3 acre plots, but for the time being they disrupt our ability to get in and out without deer knowing we are hunting them.
 
Your last sentence says alot for your particular situation. I would avoid disruption at all costs. Perhaps you need 3-5 years to get switch/miscanthus/conifer/oak screening in place so you can slip past. In the meantime, try the accesable small plots to facilitate movement and kill deer. Might be all you need.
 
I have both. And I see bucks way more at the small kill plots. They only go into big fields in middle of night or rut. Even in rut ive seen them come to edge and blow and scratch but never come out into the field.

Where I am is mainly timber and not much big ag. So I think they just find big open fields scary.
 
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