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Northern Food Plots

Don't want to beat a dead horse with this but, does anyone have any experience with plots in the far North? It is my experience that what some plots work in the mid or Southern part of the State might not necessarily work in the North. I am looking to plant a food plot on 3/4 acre that hopefully will last into Dec/Jan. I have planted in the past a mix that included turnips & radish and the deer did not touch them, they did eat the leafy greens though. I was very disappointed because it turned out great with the turnips as big as softballs etc. One year I planted a biologic and it was all eaten by October, had more bears on it than deer. I would like to avoid corn because the bears would just destroy it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I would do winter rye planted mid july with a nice strip of white clover in the middle. Mow the white clover in august. The wr will greenup thru the snow in spring.

I wish I had a bigger piece of land to do some experimenting on it to see what works best.

Whats your soil type? Im in the north too and have very sandy soil.

The white clover is good for 5 years. The wr needs to be planted every july but will grow on concrete or any soil type. 6 lbs of white clover and 2 bags of wr will do it. $55 seed. Broadcast bags of fert 9/1. Turkeys love the wr as well. The wr will be crotch high by 7/1 so you need to cut it, disc replant and cultipack.

I would go with radishes or winter rye/ ladino clover combo. The 1st 2 yrs we planted brassicas the deer never touched them. Last yr they ate about 1/2 the tubes and turnips. I'm curious as to this yr since it's snowing now and very cold temps to follow. I found out this yr that our deer love winter rye. I will be adding wr to more plots next yr.

Does the WR need to be mowed? How are you guys that have clover mowing that?

What's the ideal size for a "hunting" plot you guys find? Doing my first plot next summer.

There is no point in making a recommendation until several questions get answered. What type of soils? What is the pH? How wet or dry? Are you planting just to provide quality nutrition for overall health year round, winter forage to help them go into spring as healthy as possible, hunt over...... What equipment do you have access to? Can you/are you willing to amend the soil? Are you wanting to just plant and leave it or would you be willing to mow, fertilize, etc. as needed? Do you want an annual or a perennial? What other food sources are currently available that compete/complement what you have?

Dt- the wr will start growing along with the clover in the spring. You can mow it and have pure clover or let it mature and let it die on its own. Great fawning cover. I like long narrow plots about 1 acre (kill plot).

Clover worked well for us. Mowed slightly with brush hog. Mowing seems to thicken the clover and attract deer with the smell. Been told young and new growth has a sweetened taste-dont eat it so that may be a lie. Plow parts of it during winter which the deer seem to enjoy.

I started with a ph of 4.9 and went from forest to food plot in just a few months. Limed according to the soil test and planted Grandpa Rays grains and greens. Planted august 1st and deer really didn't eat very much until mid october but once they started they were in my plots till gun season. Once we got snow cover it took them awhile to start digging thru the snow

Nice job lscott. Remember BoB(buck on bag )seed costs ten times what the same seed costs at the feedmill. Snap a bagtag pic of your favorite Bob seed and price it at the feedmill.

It takes more than just going to the feedmill. There are a lot of different genetics that will have different results, some have features like growth promoters that can be valuable, some will have coatings that reduce the volume of seed per pound. If you are going to go through the effort of planting, put the best bang for your buck in the ground. Some of the companies that market to the hunter are bringing science and value to the customer, some are just trying to get your money. Do some research.

Thanks guys for the recommendations, will have to do some research.

MF Check out Grandpa Ray Outdoors, John is also known as Nutritionist here on Bowsite. Every amateur food plotter will give you an answer to your question, but John specializes in deer nutrition. Also check out the Food Plot Forums on this site.

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