O.T. Food Plot Photos

Well maybe some would enjoy a few photos from around the place here I took while painstakingly turning some of the nice top soil, 'cept the one large patch, tons of glacial till rocks, but still nice soil in between, a bottom field.

looks like it"s working, didn"t even have to seed it....

What are you planting/have planted? I planted oats, corn and cowpeas this year. Weeds/grass took over cowpeas but the deer and rabbits still browsed them. I'll plant crimson and medium red clover, Austrian winter peas and wheat this fall in one plot. Others will get a planting of rye for plow down next spring.

Larry

I broadcast feed oats in all the plots starting with the last photo, and working my way along to the other areas further out. I then disc in the oats to cover the seed, almost looks like they were drilled, its come up nice, filled in much more since that photo. One portion of the rocky soil area got 1 type of TSC plot spike, another area 200 yards out, a shooting lane, got the other type of plot spike mixed with feed oats, both types actually have mostly oats in it. Green bag has other forages mixed in. I then, before a rain broadcast whitetail institute no plow, as an overseed, do not disc this in, too small of a seed. This will infill between the oats, which in some areas I broadcast double or triple coverage, one area did not get no plow. If I can just get some lime onto it, and some fertilizer, by early October it will be lush growth. I am going to plant rye grass over my sweetcorn patch, once that is done, I will cut and plow it immediately under. It seems a late summer planting of annual or perennials is best with the weed situation here, I would have to spray in the spring and the one darned patch the geese would destroy with a spring planting. I want to put imperial clover back into that plot, I had it nice a few years, would have made it a few more, but the canadian geese, destroyed it, just like they destroyed 12 or so acres of the 2nd planting of corn across the pond. Other than that, oats is the least expensive most productive forage you can plant in these parts, it works well for what it costs. I have not tried other forage as of yet, but do look forward to nice lush green areas, which may help during the winter as extra forage.

Whitetail deer in this area, sure are thick, its like you have your own herd here, they pop out often while working these plots, just everywhere, have to watch for ticks this time of year, they are carrying some other tick borne illness, that can be fatal now, a friends wife barely recovered from it.

Sometimes the best thing you can do is disk up strips and walk away from them. Roational disking. If you can get quail on you place, everything else will be OK.

Sometimes the most raggedy and awful looking fields are the best for wildlife.

Selective burning is also good.

Gene