Input on what to plant in kill plots?

[Weasel]

I cleared a deer walkway through a block of timber. There are 3 natural openings along this walkway that I nuked with gly in preparation for some fall kill plots. There are a few old stumps and some roots to contend with but I might be able to do a light till just to rough up the ground. I don't have a set of discs but I have a drag harrow that can scratch up the ground with the teeth side down if need be.

These openings are along a walkway through a 35 acre block of timber between a 25 acre soybean field to the south and a 10 acre clearing where I have a young orchard and food plots to the north. The prevailing wind is W/NW and I can access my stands from the power line on my east border.

I was thinking of either an LC type mix or strips in these plots. There is plenty of sunshine on these and the PH is just under 6, ranging from 5.7 to 5.9. Any input on what and how to plant would be appreciated.

 

[Boll Weevil]

I see you're in Ohio and not sure what your deer population is like but in smaller kill plots you might consider focusing on something that provides volume to at least get you through a good portion of the season. Down here the deer would likely eat smallish microplots to the dirt in not time flat, especially if there's a weak acorn crop. Tucked back in the timber as they are, I imagine they'll see lots of usage 24-7.

Maybe a really heavy seeding of wheat or oats with some turnips?

Good luck to you.

 

[Weasel]

We have some pretty good deer numbers but I'm also surrounded by thousands of acres of corn & beans. Natural browse is top notch this year as well. I will have 2-3 acres of fall food plots elsewhere on the property so these won't be the only food plots in the area. Just wanted something to slow them down near cover/bedding and more importantly, create more areas for bucks to check in November.

 

[scott44]

The LC mix would be good, you could also do the cereal grain portion of this and next year you'd have a clover plot after the rye is gone.

 

[j-bird]

When do you plan on hunting these plots? The reason I ask is because if your an early season bow hunter, that is far different than a late season gun hunter and what the deer will be interested in and what can be available will be different.

Early season you want something like soybeans, cowpeas, AWP or the like.....these are deer magnets early season but tend to be browsed down quickly. You do stand the risk of them being nearly destroyed before season even rolls around if you have real high deer numbers. Some folks really like an AWP and oats plot as well. I would then follow-up with brassica and cereal grains for hunting later in the year. Later in the season many of the early season plants I mentioned are gone or shot and of no interest to the deer. Cereal grains like rye or wheat will remain green late in the year and brassica like PTT and GFR will produce a tuber that the deer may seek out. Brassica usage of deer can be regional so don't be surprised if your deer don;t seem to care for them, but then again they may try to destroy them as well.

Regardless of what you plant the window is closing for some of these to be a viable option for you - brassica need 60 to 90 days to grow and the peas and beans will produce more the longer they can grow, but again the deer may not give them a chance either and planting them will be more of a challenge due to limited tilling abilities and getting the seed properly covered. Cereal grains will germinate and grow as late in the year as anything I am aware of but they still have limitations as well. You may want to plant different areas to target different seasons as well.....if you do this you need to pay attention to how the deer react and then use that information to improve on next year. Use an exclusion cage to have a reference on just how much the deer are eating as well.

Just some options and my opinion....Lots of things to consider and the more varied your needs are the more varied your solution needs to be.

 

[Weasel]

The LC mix would be good, you could also do the cereal grain portion of this and next year you'd have a clover plot after the rye is gone.

Thanks for the feedback Scott. Hard to go wrong with the LC mix, that's why I was considering it from the get go. I have done the LC mix in strip form in kill plots on my old farm with pretty good results. Just figured new forum, new ideas, and maybe someone had a better plan.

Thanks for the input j-bird. I'm a bowhunter and we have a LONG bow season in Ohio. So I could be tagged out in September or freezing with a tag in my pocket in January. To answer your question of when I plan to hunt around these plots...when the conditions are in my favor throughout the bow season. My brassicas will be in over the next 7 days. I've had great luck with turnips, rape & radishes planted by August 1st. I usually wait a few more weeks for oats & rye but I got burned last year due to a dry Autumn.

 

[Buckly]

I agree, the deer will eat the rye and oats and it will just keep coming back giving you more time the food is available. Something to consider long term would be to get some apple trees in those areas. Edge feather for a one way in, one way out and also gives you more sunlight for the apples. The perfect perennial plot.

 

[yoderjac]

Given the size of those plots, I'd go with perennial clover. I'd plant them with a WR nurse crop. Many perennial white clovers have some shade tolerance. You don't need to disc. Check out the Crimson N Camo throw and grow threads. Scratching up the ground will bring up more weed seeds into the germination layer. The WR will provide your attractant for the first fall. Clover can handle fairly heavy browse pressure in smaller plots than many crops.

Thanks,

jack

 

[Btaylor]

Given that access to all three spots is from the east side I would plant each three differently. Do one for early with highly attractive warm season stuff mixed with clover, do one with LC cereal mix and one straight brassica plot with rape and turnips.

 

[kabic]

J-Bird makes a good point. For me clover doesn't make a good choice in November for the gun hunt. It would make more sense for early archery season or the youth hunt.

 

[leexrayshady]

I think rye will be your best bet due rifle

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

 

[MoBuckChaser]

I see it looks like you have a plot to the north of that block of woods and a plot to the south. I would plant the openings into cover for the deer and turn it into bedding. I would not want to walk into the middle of that small block of timber to hunt.

Your neighbors will reap the benefits of you chasing the deer onto their property.

 

[j-bird]

I wouldn't hunter the center one at all except for with a wind from the due west. The others give you more options but your access is primarily from the east and it looks like your deer are going to bed mainly west of your plots. If your a bow hunter you may want to hunt the connecting trails with a bow and limit your hunting with a gun over the plots.

 

[Weasel]

Good input, thank you all. I'll share a little more info since we've got a good discussion going here.

All of the plots are edge feathered and have apples, oaks & chestnuts planted on the edges.

The woods between the walkway/kill plots and east border/power line is tall canopy maples & black gums AKA deer desert. Perfect for getting to stands. I've been hinge cutting the west side of the walkway/kill plots the last few years making that side of the walkway more desirable to deer.

Sunlight is not an issue. The plot pics above were taken late afternoon when the sun was well beyond the openings.

 

[Btaylor]

Sounding more and more like fish in a barrel. I like it

 

[broom_JM]

You've got hard and soft mast along the edges of a series of small woodland clearings, connected by a winding trail that affords you many opportunities to slip into a stand undetected?

Son, I'm not sure it matters a whole lot WHAT you plant, but I like the ease and diversity of the LC mix, or some variation thereof. When it's a protected food source with little human disturbance, my experience is deer will use the heck out of it, no matter what's planted.

 

[Bill]

I'm with the don't go in crowd. If the N and S fields are yours to manipulate I'd create some type of screen in the big fields to make 1/2 acre small kill plots at the ends of the trail. Egyptian Wheat, Sudan grass, miscanthus or evergreens. Make it so they can't see the big field until they cross your screen. This way deer are comfortable walking into your kill plot during daylight. Put the transition from your small plot to the big field with in bow range of your stand.

Just my 2 centts I'm no expert.