Interior woods/summer plots only.

[Peplin Creek]

I am debating about putting in two small food plots. 1/16 and 1/4 acre. I want the food available for them in the summer months but i think I don’t want these two plots to attract deer in the fall. Main reason being it’s going to be really hard to hunt the property with them in. Entry and exits and one would be pretty close to the neighbors line. I was thinking I would just plant buckwheat and call it good. It will be toast by rut and hopefully movement doesn’t change at all. My other option is to just leave it be and not worry about it. Has anyone done something similar and what were the results? Worth my time, not worth it?

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Depending on the prevailing winds in relation to the plots a fall attraction plot might be great if your set up 100 yrds down wind of it hoping to pick up a buck scent checking for a hot doe. You dont have to hunt over the plot in order to achieve your desired results.

 

[Peplin Creek]

Depending on the prevailing winds in relation to the plots a fall attraction plot might be great if your set up 100 yrds down wind of it hoping to pick up a buck scent checking for a hot doe. You dont have to hunt over the plot in order to achieve your desired results.

Yes, you’re 100% right. My concern is just having to walk by one of them to and from certain stands and bumping deer on entry and exit. I could maybe adjust stand placement to compensate for it though.

 

[yoderjac]

I am debating about putting in two small food plots. 1/16 and 1/4 acre. I want the food available for them in the summer months but i think I don’t want these two plots to attract deer in the fall. Main reason being it’s going to be really hard to hunt the property with them in. Entry and exits and one would be pretty close to the neighbors line. I was thinking I would just plant buckwheat and call it good. It will be toast by rut and hopefully movement doesn’t change at all. My other option is to just leave it be and not worry about it. Has anyone done something similar and what were the results? Worth my time, not worth it?

No. It is not worth your time. 1/16 and 1/4 acre are not going to amount to a measureable percent of their diet. You can't really feed deer unless you are working on a fairly large scale. It may be worth it for other reasons. Perhaps to inventory bucks or something like that, but not for impacting deer health by improving nutrition.

 

[Peplin Creek]

No. It is not worth your time. 1/16 and 1/4 acre are not going to amount to a measureable percent of their diet. You can't really feed deer unless you are working on a fairly large scale. It may be worth it for other reasons. Perhaps to inventory bucks or something like that, but not for impacting deer health by improving nutrition.

I do agree with you that it wouldn’t amount to much. I do think it could provide some value though. Plots would be tucked into bedding. I could see them being used a little before heading out to the bigger ag fields for the evening. It could help them get accustom to an area they otherwise wouldn’t be maybe. Just giving you more of my thought process on why I asked to begin with. I have 2 other plots on this 40 that are great kill plots so these two are just additional.

 

[yoderjac]

I do agree with you that it wouldn’t amount to much. I do think it could provide some value though. Plots would be tucked into bedding. I could see them being used a little before heading out to the bigger ag fields for the evening. It could help them get accustom to an area they otherwise wouldn’t be maybe. Just giving you more of my thought process on why I asked to begin with. I have 2 other plots on this 40 that are great kill plots so these two are just additional.

If you've only got 40 to work with, I'd focus on things that improve hunting and huntability rather than summer food, especially that far north.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Another vote for not worth it if near the lot line. Any trail made by deer in the summer will have a neighbor deer stand by it in the fall on your line cause thats what people do with small properties. I gave up on improving a 1/4 acre former log landing spot for that reason. His stand is still there but rarely see it used because deer movement has changed. His stand was only there because it was laser focused on my plot.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Has anyone done something similar and what were the results? Worth my time, not worth it?

Just my opinion, but with plots that small I fail to see the point if you're not going to hunt them. 1/16th of an acre...I'm having a hard time even imagining how small of a plot that is. To get in and clear it, fertilize, lime, and then maintain the things is a lot of work for what you're going to get. If your goal is food I think you'd get a whole heck of a lot more bang for your buck with some creative chainsaw work here and there. Plus buckwheat I think would get hammered in a plot that small and never really recover. Mine doesn't. Clover might be a better way to go if you're determined to do plots. I would imagine it is dormant well before bow season.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Clover is indeed a great choice for small plots and has attraction even up to light snow cover happening which is why all my plots being small are in clover. However the OP was trying to think of not having that draw when bow season is going on. Maybe oats planted early would be an option instead being brown and done before Sept but given the stated conditions would not plot stuff myself. Chainsaw work is high on list tho

 

[j-bird]

Really small plots tend to struggle to get adequate light to be real productive simply because the trees around the plot are too tall. I would suggest sticking with natural plants...like shrubs or simply allowing native weeds like jewel weed or blackberries or the like. These would be far easier to maintain and would remain seasonal at best. You could simply cut many of the trees at knee height and allow them to stump sprout and provide more food within the deers reach. Just my 2 cents worth.....

 

[yoderjac]

Really small plots tend to struggle to get adequate light to be real productive simply because the trees around the plot are too tall. I would suggest sticking with natural plants...like shrubs or simply allowing native weeds like jewel weed or blackberries or the like. These would be far easier to maintain and would remain seasonal at best. You could simply cut many of the trees at knee height and allow them to stump sprout and provide more food within the deers reach. Just my 2 cents worth.....

Actually, I'm not sure that would limit attraction to the summer. Stump sprouts would certainly be most attractive when leaves are green and growing but I doubt the attraction would stop. I was just listening to some new work being done in this area. Apparently the nutrient value in those leaves is very high. I doubt the study has gone this far yet, but I would suspect the woody browse would also have higher nutrient content.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[tynimiller]

Actually, I'm not sure that would limit attraction to the summer. Stump sprouts would certainly be most attractive when leaves are green and growing but I doubt the attraction would stop. I was just listening to some new work being done in this area. Apparently the nutrient value in those leaves is very high. I doubt the study has gone this far yet, but I would suspect the woody browse would also have higher nutrient content.

Thanks,

Jack

The nutrients found in stump sprouted foilage is double in some cases! Incredible to hear some of the studies conducted on those things and I agree, these areas in many ways will be more attractive than any micro plot we as hunters could put in the ground...

 

[yoderjac]

The nutrients found in stump sprouted foilage is double in some cases! Incredible to hear some of the studies conducted on those things and I agree, these areas in many ways will be more attractive than any micro plot we as hunters could put in the ground...

Actually as I understand it, protein doubled but some things like P were 4x greater. Fascinating research! Low quality red maple competing with soybeans...Who knew?

 

[tynimiller]

Actually as I understand it, protein doubled but some things like P were 4x greater. Fascinating research! Low quality red maple competing with soybeans...Who knew?

The Red Maple is what just took awhile for me to wrap my head around it...but when you think of the fight the tree is making to balance nutrients it makes sense. Mother nature is just incredible!

 

[Smallplot]

On the old nameless forum I think I posted some pictures following a wet snow showing how deer were hitting many of the trees surrounding my food plots. There was plenty of food in the plots but the deer preferred what was naturally available and took advantage of the snow dropping the height of that food.

Too many time we consider a food plot as a first choice when nature and a deer’s natural tendencies may be slapping us in the face.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[j-bird]

I have videos if deer walking along my logging road hammering the jewelweed in the middle of summer - when a large field of ag soybeans where no more than 100 yards away. Our plots consist of a small overall portion of the deer's diet. Bolstering the other natural foods they eat that mother nature provides is something we can do as another aspect of our habitat efforts....this is where logging/TSI can be such a great habitat improvement.

 

[Bowman]

" Entry and exits and one would be pretty close to the neighbors line." "Plots would be tucked into bedding."
Not sure of the layout, but...... if they are bedding there why not plant a screen? Inside, in my experience buckwheat gets demolished. Ok, I might plant some clovers after to feed the deer while they are bedded. I have read that deer feed 5 times a day. Feed in bedding might not be a bad idea. And I would not want to be visible entering anyway. The screen might help with the neighbor.

 

[Peplin Creek]

Thanks for all the input on this. If anything i’ll Probably do a screen or just put in a water hole. I am also going to see if can do any chainsaw work in those areas.