I bought some dumpy cedar swamp in the UP of MI in the winter of 2015. The price was right :) This land basically had one opening and it was small and still loaded with cedars, tag alders and stumps. There was one main trail cut through the property which was cut around 50 years ago. The land came cheap and did have good deer sign.
Last year, my son and I spent a lot of time just creating spots off the main trail we could hunt, getting stands there, as well as lots of work on the cabin that came with the land. That work was brutal but it paid off with 2 bucks killed via bowhunting.
We know that any food in these "woods" will be a deer differentiator for us because none of the neighbors have food plots. They all rely on the Golden Kernel the UP is famous for. Our 2016 goal was to create some plots, which we knew would lack size, but we needed to start somewhere. This is my first experience with this. I'm going to post these in multiple postings.
Here is what we have done in this inaugural year.
PLOT 1:
This is an area off a main trail where we had good deer travel. We cleared some cedars from these woods and cleared up years of leaves, sticks, etc. I laid 560# of lime and 200# of 19/19/19. I planted Granda Ray's Soil Builder mix in May. In July, I broadcast in Grandpa Ray's Fall Draw and I also broadcast in some oats and WR in later August.
The deer have been in there all summer and are still there. Next year, we'll be taking out more trees trying to open it up a little more while expanding it a little more. I will be getting a soil sample next year too.
Here is the pic of the area after my son and I cleared the area.

Here is the pic of the area after we planted in June.

Last year, my son and I spent a lot of time just creating spots off the main trail we could hunt, getting stands there, as well as lots of work on the cabin that came with the land. That work was brutal but it paid off with 2 bucks killed via bowhunting.
We know that any food in these "woods" will be a deer differentiator for us because none of the neighbors have food plots. They all rely on the Golden Kernel the UP is famous for. Our 2016 goal was to create some plots, which we knew would lack size, but we needed to start somewhere. This is my first experience with this. I'm going to post these in multiple postings.
Here is what we have done in this inaugural year.
PLOT 1:
This is an area off a main trail where we had good deer travel. We cleared some cedars from these woods and cleared up years of leaves, sticks, etc. I laid 560# of lime and 200# of 19/19/19. I planted Granda Ray's Soil Builder mix in May. In July, I broadcast in Grandpa Ray's Fall Draw and I also broadcast in some oats and WR in later August.
The deer have been in there all summer and are still there. Next year, we'll be taking out more trees trying to open it up a little more while expanding it a little more. I will be getting a soil sample next year too.
Here is the pic of the area after my son and I cleared the area.

Here is the pic of the area after we planted in June.

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