Tips for Creating a Food Plot

EngineerinSquid

Yearling... With promise
Hey everyone,

So I recently purchased my own hunting land and I am starting the very long process to improve it for hunting, and I am planning on at least two food plots to start and maybe a small sanctuary third one. Now this will be my first time dealing with food plots so I have a couple of questions and some general tips for newbies would be appreciated as well. So to start off I already have two soil test kits that I am gonna use for my two preplanned spots while I'm waiting on word from a forester to get the sites clear cut as my property is 100% forest. I plan to hunt deer on one and turkey on the other, so would I want a spring or fall growth and when would I actually plant the plot for that time frame?
 
Have you hunted this land before?

If you check out some of the land tours on this forum, you'll see several comment that they wish they would have waited for a year or two to better understand how the wildlife are using the property.
 
Have you hunted this land before?

If you check out some of the land tours on this forum, you'll see several comment that they wish they would have waited for a year or two to better understand how the wildlife are using the property.
No I have not hunted the land yet, but I did get a few good tours of the property and found potential in it. It’s a very nice scenic property with good deer sign already there, I have spotted multiple deer trails as well as had eyes on a very young faun, meaning there are clearly doe and at least one buck in the immediate area
 
I really wish I would have spent a couple years hunting and observing my land before I modified anything. Learn where and when feed, and bed. Which directions they come from. I have built a stand on top of a main travel route, and now the deer have moved their main trail to the neighbors land. I built 2 food plots and 50 yards from each other, and it also changed the deers patterns, I went from having bucks on my land every year, to now it is loaded with does, and an occasional passing buck. I recommend learning the layout of the land, and how deer travel naturally and add to what they like about their travels, rather then just changing things and hoping deer will adjust and like your changes.
 
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I have had my land now for four years. I did basic plots but my wife surprised me with opening up part of the woods with a dozer and putting in two watering holes...I loved it but wish I would have known about it before hand and would of spent the money in other ways.
 
No I have not hunted the land yet, but I did get a few good tours of the property and found potential in it. It’s a very nice scenic property with good deer sign already there, I have spotted multiple deer trails as well as had eyes on a very young faun, meaning there are clearly doe and at least one buck in the immediate area
That's great to hear. I know it's extremely difficult to not dive into your new property you've probably been wanting to purchase for years now. Almost every land manager on this forum would probably echo my comment about waiting, though. You want to think in terms of how the wildlife are using the property now, how you can access and hunt it without changing their use, and how you can maximize your inputs. At this point, you don't know what you don't know.

On our property at least, we hunted the land a few years prior to doing any access trails or food plots and we still ended up doing things we regretted because we didn't really understand how deer were using it. It wasn't until we were living their full time and had set up numerous trail cameras and spend time on the property outside of the hunting season.

You're asking about food plot ideas without mentioning what Zone or state you're in, what is in your area in terms of food sources, or provided a sketch or topographic map showing proportions of your property and how this compares to the surrounding area. Each of these things is essential for anyone to provide appropriate feedback.
 
Adding to HV's comments above, I would also get a good topo map made of your property. This will help you understand their travel paths you observe in person, as well as help layout food plots, NWSG sections, edge feathering, potential pinch points and perhaps most importantly.. STAND ACCESS.

Keep us posted, good luck!
 
Besides all the usual advice on trying to observe how the deer use your land now, I would caution to wait at least one hunting season to see how the neighbors around you impacts things with how they hunt. Unless of course you have a huge tract and dont have to care about the little people. The rest of us find that hunting pressure around us makes a difference.

I have abandoned a food plot that attracted line sitting as much as the deer. Now that I'm not doing all that work, I see little use of their stand during the gun season.

Before since I have more woods while they have more field on that side as soon as they shot something it would go into the thick stuff on my side of the fence. I would let them track if they asked but they did more shooting and boogering up my woods than I got decent hunting on that side of my land. No food plot there now and much reduced issues. They still shoot deer but usually recover on their side of the fence now with their other stands away from the line more.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies I will do my best here to answer/respond to the posts.
That's great to hear. I know it's extremely difficult to not dive into your new property you've probably been wanting to purchase for years now. Almost every land manager on this forum would probably echo my comment about waiting, though. You want to think in terms of how the wildlife are using the property now, how you can access and hunt it without changing their use, and how you can maximize your inputs. At this point, you don't know what you don't know.
You are correct in that we really are chomping at the bit to get started right away, but (mostly due to monetary issues) we do plan on not starting anything major for at least another year.

On our property at least, we hunted the land a few years prior to doing any access trails or food plots and we still ended up doing things we regretted because we didn't really understand how deer were using it. It wasn't until we were living their full time and had set up numerous trail cameras and spend time on the property outside of the hunting season.
The good news is that there are already some VERY nice trails already cut through the property, which is nice cause it is some dense-ish forest and 40 acres so not a short walk around it by any means. I am already making spreadsheets and folders to organize and track what data I can from home with the odd excursion up because it is a 3 hour drive from where I currently live.

You're asking about food plot ideas without mentioning what Zone or state you're in, what is in your area in terms of food sources, or provided a sketch or topographic map showing proportions of your property and how this compares to the surrounding area. Each of these things is essential for anyone to provide appropriate feedback.
I am creating a post under the "building something" thread as I did want to document the journey and I've been told that a lot of other hunters on these forums do like to kind of live vicariously through those like me that have this opportunity. I am in Wisconsin's Northern Forest Zone, but I do want to keep it kind of vague still as the land was an open MFL and our DNR will not consider it closed after the transfer until the first of next year.

Besides all the usual advice on trying to observe how the deer use your land now, I would caution to wait at least one hunting season to see how the neighbors around you impacts things with how they hunt. Unless of course you have a huge tract and dont have to care about the little people. The rest of us find that hunting pressure around us makes a difference.
It doesnt seem like I will have to deal with that particular issue too much as my property is 40 acres so I have plenty of space to work with. Plus my entire east property line is adjacent to a large county forest that I don't believe allows hunting (but i can still shoot close to that line as it is just a large forest, nothing like super public around a residential area or anything)
 
I am in Washburn county, NW Wisconsin as well. I would start with putting out about 5-10 cameras and watching their patterns, use portable stands for hunting the first couple years. Don’t mess up your land. If there are a lot of deer already using your land, don’t redo it, just add to why they would like to be on your land. If you aren’t getting much deer, then add the food plots.
 
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