1/4 acre deep woods food plots?

[northernVT]

This is a very do-able thing. You can do a lot with a hand sprayer, garden rake and pull roller. The biggest recomendation that I can give you is "lime". In the deep woods, you will usually have acidic soils and most plants don't grow very well in acidic soils. Not to mention the acidic soil does not allow your plant to utilize all the nutrients from the soil. Lime is cheap and when planting 1/4 acre, it is not too difficult to spread. I see a lot of great suggestions in this forum as far as what type of seeds to plant. My personal choice would be a mixture of white clover and brassicas. Plant this in August and you will have a very attractive plot from fall right through December into January. Somebody has already mentioned to open up the canopy as much as possible. This is great advice. The problem with brassicas, is that if you don't have enough planted, the deer will wipe them out in a couple of days. After the first or second hard frost, there is a chemical change in the brassica plant that releases sugars and the deer really tear them up.
 
Good luck with this.

[RUMEN]

ALL THE PREVIOUS POSTS ARE RIGHT ON,   USING  ROUNDUP AND LIME HEAVILY, WEED WACKING, TILLING AND MOWING, OPENING THE CANOPY TO PROVIDE AMPLE LIGHT AS WELL AS PLANTING BRASSICAS AND TURNIPS FOR A FALL PLOT  ARE GOOD ADVICE.  I THINK LOCATION IS KEY.  CONSIDER PROXIMITY TO OTHER NATURAL FOOD SOURCES, BEDDING AREAS, TRAVEL ROUTES, AND POTENTIAL STAND LOCATIONS WHEN CHOOSING YOUR SPOT. A GOOD MIX OF YEAR ROUND FORAGE IS ALSO IMPORTANT. GETTING THE DEER USED TO FREQUENTING YOUR AREA IS THE LONG TERM GOAL HERE SO YOU HAVE TO VARY YOUR MIX. QUAKER BOY NORTHERN FORAGE IS A  VERY GOOD, INEXPENSIVE,  SPRING /SUMMER BLEND,  BIOLOGIC GREEN PATCH PLUS IS A GOOD FALL/ WINTER PLANTING. WHITE CLOVER, GREENPEAS,GREENBEANS,COWPEAS,SURGHUM, SOYBEANS  AND CHICKORY ARE GREAT. AVOID MIXES HEAVEY IN RYE GRASS. IT WILL GROW TALL AND SHADE EVERYTHING ELSE. BE SURE TO FERTILIZE AND MMOW AFTER ABOUT TWO MONTHS STEADY GROWTH. YOU MIGHT WANT TO CUT SOME TRAILS  AND DO TWO  QUARTER ACRE PLOTS WHILE YOU ARE AT IT, ONE ON EACH SIDE OF AN OAK STAND WOULD BE PERFECT. GOOD LUCK 

[schlupis]

Look at Antler king products we planted a fall winter spring blend with that blend you will have attraction all year we limed this year did not fertalize or round up ran out of funds and the plot came up awesome was about 4 to 6 inches tall in a week so it grows fast and the deer are on the plot all the time trail came pics show deer on the plot every hour on the hour.. stays green even when the snow starts flying....
 
This plot sounds like it will work for you because with brassicas once the frost comes and it turns sweet the deer hammer it until its gone then the plot is pretty much left alone but with the fall winter spring they dont eat it down to the ground because it doesnt grow big leafs like brassicas. Hope it helps.

[ARROWSMITH]

Last year in southern OH I used a product called "Shot Plot" all I had to do was rake the gound with a stiff rake to insure ground contact with the seeds and spred the mix.  The bag we used covered about a 1/4 acre and grew with what little bit of rain we had down here last year.  The deer loved it and it continued to grow well into the frost season.
 
Best of all there was no mowing, tilling, or liming required.[;)]

[horsefly]

Great advise, I've been trying to work out a similar plan in Maine.  The growing season is short, and I have no tractor or atv so this advise has been right on for me.  Any special advise for Maine, since this is farther north than the postings I see here.?  Also, anyone on this forum that lives/hunts in Maine?  I would like to make contact if so.
Good hunting everyone.

[hansonca]

I bought Biologic mix and planted by spraying round-up over the area, then useing a rack to remove the dead grass the brassica is know 2 feet tall. The deer still haven't touched it here in Wisconsin and we have all ready had a frost.

[buckhunter21]

I live in WI too, and my Biologic Maximum has not been touched that much either....Not sure if we need a consistent amount of days that are below the freezing point to get them going or what?

[hansonca]

Yea I live in southwest Wisconsin (Crawford County) and it has been in the 60's all week so it will be a while. The heat has slowed the deer movement down also. Seems they are moving at night.

[mtnman]

Your best bet is your local co-op. Besides providing farmers with their seeds, fertilizer and such, they will also be able to provide you with comprehensive soil testing at a very reasonable cost. Different plants work in different soils. They also carry seeds in bulk, that are fromulated to work best in your local area.

Unfortunately there are no  real "throw and grow" seeds. You need to treat area with round-up at least week to 10 days prior to tilling. spread correct amount of lime or fertilizer(as required), then seed and water or hope for rain. Never skimp on the amount of seed. Whatever the seed recommends per the acreage, double it.

[DeanoZ]

ORIGINAL: horsefly

Great advise, I've been trying to work out a similar plan in Maine.  The growing season is short, and I have no tractor or atv so this advise has been right on for me.  Any special advise for Maine, since this is farther north than the postings I see here.?  Also, anyone on this forum that lives/hunts in Maine?  I would like to make contact if so.
Good hunting everyone.

 
Horsefly I would look at the trhead Northernvermont posted about this, I've quoted it below, and there is another thread I started and he chimed in on with some great advice.  I'm getting ready ( in the spring) to do a small foodplot on my vermont property, its in the Northeast Kingdom, of Vermont which would put you at approxiamtely west along the same latitude as Bangor...a mix of clover, brassicas and chickory should do the trick.
 
From Northernvermont:
 

This is a very do-able thing. You can do a lot with a hand sprayer, garden rake and pull roller. The biggest recomendation that I can give you is "lime". In the deep woods, you will usually have acidic soils and most plants don't grow very well in acidic soils. Not to mention the acidic soil does not allow your plant to utilize all the nutrients from the soil. Lime is cheap and when planting 1/4 acre, it is not too difficult to spread. I see a lot of great suggestions in this forum as far as what type of seeds to plant. My personal choice would be a mixture of white clover and brassicas. Plant this in August and you will have a very attractive plot from fall right through December into January. Somebody has already mentioned to open up the canopy as much as possible. This is great advice. The problem with brassicas, is that if you don't have enough planted, the deer will wipe them out in a couple of days. After the first or second hard frost, there is a chemical change in the brassica plant that releases sugars and the deer really tear them up.