food plot

[whitacl]

Not all, have the oppertunity to hunt private land.  It is becoming increasingly harder to obtain permission, and even at that plant food plots on someone elses land.  Planting a small food plot on public land may be a great way to draw deer from boarding private land that typically experiences much less hunting pressure.  It benefits not only the hunter but more importantly the deer population and other wildlife. 
 
I think it is a great idea if that may be your only place to hunt and you want to improve the area as much as possible.  Locating hot areas off the beaten path on public land can be very rewarding, adding a small hiden away food plot may be the golden ticket to drawing in that Monster whom only roams at night on highly pressured public land.
 
 
 
 

[mhouck06]

i saw some of the those no plow seeds up at a gander mountain.. but i dont know how well they work.. has anyone ever used them?  like whitacl said.. if thats the only place they can hunt then by all means do it. im lucky to be able to hunt on private property and i do plant food plots, so why cant a person hunting public land do that same thing

[whitacl]

I started a thread yesterday 1/4 deep woods food plots, not many responses lookin for the same info (what works well).  Someone said Durana White Clover would work well.  It's from Pennington Seed.  Not sure how well these throw and grow brands work.  You still must prep the soil to get good seed to soil contact, and fertilize.  I am looking to do a few small 1/4 acre plots.  Thinking of Durana clover and mix in a small amount of purple top turnups, to have both early and late Bow season attraction.
 
Any Suggestions Welcome!
 
 

[GTOHunter]

I've always had good luck with frost seeding clover in late feb. and march,the clover gets an early start and does very well.If you can get a small disc to pull behind an ATV to lightly break up the soil surface you'll have an even better chance of it growing and getting a better foothold.I used the Pennington Clover Trio this spring and it did very well in all the area's I frost seeded it.There is another product on the market from Whitetail Institute called "Secret Spot" and it works pretty good too.

[EatDeer]

Throw and Gro works if you spread it on a scraped up logging road or other bare soil,that gets atleast 4-5 hours of direct sunlight a day. Frost seeding clover and chicory works well in a area that recieves atleat 4-5 hours of direct sunlight a day. The second year after the frost seeding is when you will really see the results. You will probley need to knock down some weeds with a weed eater in late spring,or the plot will be over run. I'd check your game laws before putting in any permant plots on state ground, in IL. you can't even prune you shooting lanes,or you will get a fine or worse.

[charger295]

Hey guys,
I see the posts on this thread are from several different states, so I have a question: 
Do/have any of you planted buck forage oats in your food plots?
 
  I'm down in Louisiana, and they seem to work much better than some of the mixes or just rye grass.  Just curious as to whether they are popular in other areas.

[buckhunter21]

I haven't tried them myself personally, but I have heard nothing but good things about that product.  I think I'll be using it next year though!  Let me know how it works for you if you end up using it! [:)]

[shaman]

Has anyone checked the legality of planting on state land?  I would think the state biologist would not like it at all.    I'm just asking. 

As a for instance, one of the clovers I put down last year,  yellow sweet clover, is on a bunch of states' invasive species lists.  It is still used for livestock fodder and erosion control, but it's said to be crowding out a lot of native grasses.

[bckklr]

i plant plots every year (5 or 6) ive tried different mixes, imperial clover ,tecomonte ,biologic & buck forage oats & they all work but i will bet you a paycheck that in the season nothing will atract them like the buck forage oats it doesnt have all the protien to make them bigger & in the spring i like the imperial clover but when its cold out & the ruts on they like my bfo better than the rest i have plots of whitetail clover 10 feet from a plot of bfo & ill kill more out of the oats i promise

[charger295]

bckklr & buckhunter21,
I hope to be able to confirm your confidence in the buck forage oats after this year.  I'll try to remember to report back after the season.
 
As for planting plots on public land, I am going to check the LA Dept of Wildlife & Fisheries...you've got my curiosity up about that.