Food Plot Tips and Articles
Monday, July 05, 2010
Young Guns and Big Bucks on Small Plots
by Blaine Burley
Many of today’s small landowners have discovered that big bucks can be grown and harvested on small acreage. What is still being debated, however, is the best way to achieve this lofty goal, and what opportunities it opens up (especially for young hunters). In the past, we were taught that you needed large tracts of land (over 5,000 acres of contiguous land) or high-fenced operations to effectively and consistently produce quality whitetails. However, many of today’s wildlife managers and biologists have realized that you can consistently produce trophy-class bucks on small tracts of land if you manage these tracts properly. The cornerstone of managing small tracts effectively is to provide everything your deer herd needs within the boundaries of your property. The basics may be obvious: adequate amounts of food, water, and cover. Yet, most small tracts of land lack one or more of these three components. You, as a wildlife manager and landowner, must provide these three key ingredients in order to attract, grow, and keep quality bucks on your property.
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Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Late Summer Afternoon Hotspots
With summer winding down, the does are well along in rearing their fawns and the bachelor groups of bucks are fast on their summer feeding pattern.
Late summer, especially late August and early September, is one of the best times to sit on major food sources (fields) in the waning minutes of the afternoon and get a good handle on your deer herd and what the coming season may bring. If hot agricultural food sources, like soybeans, alfalfa, or cowpeas, or warm-season food plots, especially legumes, are available, a few afternoons of judicious field watching should allow a good look at contented feeding bucks now sporting fully developed antlers. (Watch out for over-estimating the size of bucks still in velvet.)
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Posted by David Morris on 08/26 at 03:25 PM
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Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Chicory, A Powerful Perennial
(Originally Published in QDMA, Quality Whitetails)
By Rans Thomas
A few planting seasons ago, I was visiting with a client in the Southeast. As I glanced over his bookshelf, I noticed among hunting and outdoor books one title in particular – “Perennials.” I thought to myself, “Now, this guy has got it together. He is already reading about perennials for food plots.” Then I noticed the book’s full title: “Perennials – a Southern Celebration of Foods and Flowers.” It was misplaced from his wife’s cookbook collection. Oh well, maybe I would spot a new recipe. As I flipped through the book, I saw among the flowers and plants one of my favorite forage plot species – chicory. Maybe this book wasn’t so misplaced after all.
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Posted by Cedar Hills on 07/08 at 01:12 PM
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Get The Lime Out
(Originally Published in QDMA, Quality Whitetails)
By Rans Thomas
For successful food plots, skipping the lime is not an option. Here are
some ideas for reducing the size of this task without reducing food-plot
As most QDMA members are well aware, applying lime is a critical step in producing high-quality, maximum-yield food plots. Yet, among the general hunting community, it surprises me how many would-be food-plot growers overlook or neglect this step. I can think of many explanations — lime must be applied in very large amounts, often tons per acre; it works best when applied well in advance of planting and fertilizing; and it often requires specialized equipment for proper application. Though proper liming will never be as simple as throwing a few sacks in the back of a pickup before heading to the woods, I can offer several tips to make lime application easier and less expensive.
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Posted by Cedar Hills on 07/08 at 01:12 PM
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Thursday, April 24, 2008
What Is Palatability?
Palatability is a word that describes how much deer like something. In food plots, you want plants with high palatable. After all, the whole idea is to attract deer to the plots and get them to eat whatever is in them. But, high palatability is a mixed blessing. The more palatable a plant is, the harder to establish; the less palatable a plant is, the easier to grow. This is why weeds do so well – the deer aren’t eating them. Unless you understand all this, you can be fooled by what you see after planting a food plot. A lust, pristine food plot may look that way because deer are eating very little of it. Certainly, Tecomate could come up with seeds that could produce tons of great looking biomass but be moderately browsed. But, we believe food plots should be just that – food plots. They should consist of highly palatable plants that deer actually eat with relish.
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Posted by Cedar Hills on 04/24 at 09:16 AM
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