Small year round plots?

[1Morgan]

I have a very small property (30 acres) and would like to establish some small plots in a few areas. The plots will be less than 1/8 acre. I know I will not be able to make the deer exclusive to my 30 acres. Will I be able to maintain such small plots or will the deer just destroy them? Will it take too much effort to maintain? I also have "pass through" turkeys as well so one of the plots will probably be chufa. I was thinking of putting two others in for the deer.

[msbadger]

I have several...14 this year ...small opening plots on our 48+ acres....have had many for years....if you position them so that the deer travel in a loop from plot to plot they will hold the deer...
 Trick is to mix annual plots amongst perennial plots...and have alot of well limed and fertalized natural browse and soft mast trees around them...I also make long winding feed lanes to... some what.... connect one plot to another...In the woods you have to determine not only the spring sun but figure the angle of the sun as it will move thru the seasons..So think about that...and the amount of leaf fall...plant thing like braccs. early enough that the leaf fall won't smother them and as for perennials...well sometimes you just need to go in at least once to remove it...I like to do a mix in the perennial ...red&wht clovers...trifoil..chicory...and burnett....Yes the deer will just mow the perennial plots down but with good natual browse they will continue to move through....Berry and bramble leaves are a favorite fall food.....Now this is all for NY....good luck

[ranwin33]

In my part of NW Missouri, small plots are usually pretty much eaten down to nothing shortly after the first snow falls.  1/4 acre or less doesn't give deer much to eat once it's been the only thing green in the area for a few weeks.  But by then I'm usually tagged out, and just sitting treestands for fun and pictures, because those same small plots will attract deer and work especially well as staging areas before they move out into the crop fields or head out on the nightly rounds.
 
I'd still go ahead and put the plots in - even if the deer hit them hard and don't leave much once things get cold, if you plant perrenials they should be back next year.  You might have to do some overseeding, but plot maintanence, at least to me is all part of the fun. 

[ZEEK]

Go for it man! I live on 24 acres and have 5 plots the biggest being 1/8 of an acre.
I stick with clover it's the easiest to maintain, I mow them about once a month.
I get about 2 years out of a plot before the grasses and berry bushes take it over.
(maybe a little longer for some) Even being small they're a lot of work, and addicting, so watch out.
You can get a lot of feed from a few little plots. Good luck.
 

[1Morgan]

It never gets cold here, it may drop below freezing 2x a year and we get about 8-10 frosts. Things tend to stay green or become green again quickly. It is also literally impossible to tag out here, literally. 2 bucks per day no limit per season season is 5 months and can use rifle on private lands all season. South Carolina game zone 6, season opened Aug 15.

[dtrain56]

I get about 2 years out of a plot before the grasses and berry bushes take it over

zeek, use poast with a sufficant for the grasses and round up cut in half from its normal does and the glover will live forever!!!! i am going on my sixth year for a couple of my plots and they still look brand new

[Demoderby4]

I would rather have say 12 small plots rather than 2 bigger plots. The more plots you have on your property the more time the deer and gonna spend on it. The more they spend on your property the more opportunities that gives you, don't worry about em not being big, if you have enough they will just move on the the next plot, and then over seed when the plots start to run thin and you should have a nice system going for the deer. Good luck!

[ZEEK]

Thanks Dtrain.