1. Food plots near a home may only draw in young bucks and does. You think everything is good as they come out 2 hours before dark and depart 30 minutes prior to dark. Zero hunting pressure, just observation as I hunt other farms unless something shows up at home. However, the older 4.5+ bucks do not show. Part of it could be....
2. Small food plots lack drawing power. Many deer travelling or bedding down the slope one to two hundred yards away have never stepped foot up top in any of my plots....again especially older bucks.
They seem so set in their travel patterns to larger ag fields that they won't move 100 yards out of the way for smaller, diverse screened and safe food. Plots are on ridge top, they refuse to move up from their side hill travel along thick cover. Very difficult to impossible to hunt them on the leeward slopes with swirling winds...but stubbornly, I keep trying to draw them up here.
3. Switchgrass has been a big disappointment. It rims my plots as screening. I have a small 2 acre patch of it with a small "diversity pocket" center that used to be part of a bigger plot, that drew alot of deer. I shrunk the plot down the year after killing a giant in it, because I thought it attracted to many does and social pressure....ya, I drank the cool aid.
The deer avoid the switch area mostly. Often skirting the ends, or going through where it's a bit sparse and saplings/weeds are coming up. Can't decide to keep it as bedding, hoping they take to it or kill it and go back to a big food tucked up to thick timber set up.
When the switch is blowing around they seem to get really nervous around it. One area in my plot system narrows down to 10 yards, they run through that 50 yard long stretch many times like it's a cattle shoot with the switch on both sides.
Am planning on keeping the screen on the house side and killing the switch on the timber side. But, 3 years in and I'm not impressed with it doing anything positive....except for screened access when I do decide to strike.
However, one area where I need screening badly only got 4 feet tall this year from the drought. Planning on cedars for any more future screening. Some 1-2 footers I transplanted 6 years ago are now 8-10 feet tall.
4. In areas of thick cedars, it has helped to limb them up 5 feet and also take out a few on the Southern side of the patch to let sunlight get in. That has been a nice success for bedding near the plot, down on a bench. Does and young bucks come in early from this area. It also became a nice target for cruising bucks. I also started dropping cedars to maintain a 20-30 foot clearance between trees, while spraying out the fescue in this area. Planning on doing more of this in other areas.
5. Water hole on a dry ridge top just off ends of plot system is a very big draw. Be sure you can fill it if needed. I fill mine late at night as the closest ag field to me is over 400 yards away.
It's a small 20 acre property with everything compressed in, food literally yards from gnarly cover.
2. Small food plots lack drawing power. Many deer travelling or bedding down the slope one to two hundred yards away have never stepped foot up top in any of my plots....again especially older bucks.
They seem so set in their travel patterns to larger ag fields that they won't move 100 yards out of the way for smaller, diverse screened and safe food. Plots are on ridge top, they refuse to move up from their side hill travel along thick cover. Very difficult to impossible to hunt them on the leeward slopes with swirling winds...but stubbornly, I keep trying to draw them up here.
3. Switchgrass has been a big disappointment. It rims my plots as screening. I have a small 2 acre patch of it with a small "diversity pocket" center that used to be part of a bigger plot, that drew alot of deer. I shrunk the plot down the year after killing a giant in it, because I thought it attracted to many does and social pressure....ya, I drank the cool aid.
The deer avoid the switch area mostly. Often skirting the ends, or going through where it's a bit sparse and saplings/weeds are coming up. Can't decide to keep it as bedding, hoping they take to it or kill it and go back to a big food tucked up to thick timber set up.
When the switch is blowing around they seem to get really nervous around it. One area in my plot system narrows down to 10 yards, they run through that 50 yard long stretch many times like it's a cattle shoot with the switch on both sides.
Am planning on keeping the screen on the house side and killing the switch on the timber side. But, 3 years in and I'm not impressed with it doing anything positive....except for screened access when I do decide to strike.
However, one area where I need screening badly only got 4 feet tall this year from the drought. Planning on cedars for any more future screening. Some 1-2 footers I transplanted 6 years ago are now 8-10 feet tall.
4. In areas of thick cedars, it has helped to limb them up 5 feet and also take out a few on the Southern side of the patch to let sunlight get in. That has been a nice success for bedding near the plot, down on a bench. Does and young bucks come in early from this area. It also became a nice target for cruising bucks. I also started dropping cedars to maintain a 20-30 foot clearance between trees, while spraying out the fescue in this area. Planning on doing more of this in other areas.
5. Water hole on a dry ridge top just off ends of plot system is a very big draw. Be sure you can fill it if needed. I fill mine late at night as the closest ag field to me is over 400 yards away.
It's a small 20 acre property with everything compressed in, food literally yards from gnarly cover.
