1/4 acre deep woods food plots?

[whitacl]

Can anyone recommend food plot brands, make suggestions, or have any good advice for planting small 1/4 acre food plots deep in the woods.  I do not have accessibility with an ATV or any other machinery other than a small roto-tiller.  This will all be done by hand, and will be used as an attractant plot for bow hunting only.  Thanks Guys/Gals. 

[EatDeer]

I'd go with durana clover . You might want to spray some  round-up a couple times before you plant. If you can drive over the plot with a lawn mower it will really help the germination after you till and broadcast.

[whitacl]

EatDeer, I looked up the Durana Clover.  Looks good, my only question is how attractive will this be after the first frost of the fall?  Will it sustain its forage after a heavy frost.  In NE Ohio we typically can see our first heavy frost in Mid to Late October.  Will it continue to attract deer late into the season?

[GTOHunter]

If your planting deep into the woods with some minimal opening for potential sunlight to filter through I suggest planting late wheat,turnips and possibly some brassicas for the deer to browse on.The wheat will take the heavy browsing and will do very well to draw deer in late in the fall/winter months.Clover would be nice if there is a good amount of sunlight shining through...I planted a beautiful carpet of clover in early spring that lead from a logging road down through the woods 50-75 yards to my ladder stand...once the leaves started on the oaks it smoothered out my clover,but still grew a little on the more open logging road. [:@]
 
Certain plants grow better in less sunlight than others so don't waste your money trying to grow certain plants in highly shaded area's in the summer,but some plants like the wheat will work fine in the same area's late in the year.If I were you I would place a mineral lick close to your Bow Stand and a salt block to draw deer in also if your State allows it?

[EatDeer]

If your wanting to attract deer in the late-season,you might want to plant brasscias. The clover works fine for me, until we get a heavy snow fall. I plant corn in more open areas for a late season plot.

[UPLAND]

You should plant a blend of clover for early season nutrition and attraction,and brassicas for late season.  I'm in NE Ohio as well (Montville). The deer didn't touch the brassica till after a few frosts. Make sure you lime and fertilize. Good luck.

[SyracuseBowhunter]

After you spray the plot with Roundup and let it set for a few weeks, take a weed wacker with a brush blade and chop all the dead stuff down.  Then burn it.  That will clear the ground so all the dead weeds don't get wound up in the tiller blades.  The ash from the weeds also helps the soil.  Rototill and try some Appin Forage Turnips.  If you want to use the plot for a fall hunting plot, these work great.  This type of turnip puts out a lot of green leaves from the top that the deer eat, and then later in the season the deer dig through the snow to eat the turnip bulbs.  I had deer bedding in my food plot in December digging through 8" of snow during the late muzzleloader season.  Good luck!

[GTOHunter]

We planted several of our Food Plots (late August) with the following brands...Hot Spot,Shot Plot (Forage Rape & Turnip Brassicas),Throw and Gro and Secret Spot and they are doing very well with all the rain we've been getting.

[ReflexHunter]

I have planted two plots less than a 1/4 acre in some hardwoods the past two years and done it all by hand and with a rototiller.  In one I planted perrenial clovers and the other I planted rape and turnips.  I would HIGHLY suggest planting somthing like clover or winter wheat that will continuosly grow back because the rape and turnips just  cannot handle the grazing in small plots.  I also would open the cannopy the best you can because plants cannot grow without sunlight.  This is what I have learned from trial and error, hope it helps you.

[djohns13]

Man, what an excellent topic.  I have been thinking about doing this for quite some time now.  The advice on here has really helped.  Thanks to everyone.
 
Good shooting.