Food plot designs

All. Getting ready to start my next plot and have a blank canvas on the shape to design it. Would love to see pictures of your favorite plots/shape designs.
 
Not to bust a bubble but all this is so circumstantial.... this is a non descriptive design I call the circus wheel... but serious plot shape is relative!


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Lots of things to consider.... If you are one that hunts over the plot....then the first thing I consider is how I'm going to get to the stand and how many different winds I can have and the cover to allow me to do so. IN my old days I used t put a plot in and THEN try to figure out how to hunt it....that's a bad idea. If you have a "blank slate"....then plan your access and the like FIRST and then tailor the plot to meet your needs as best you can.

Many folks like "L", "H", "T", "8" or "S" shapes....all in an effort to try to make the plot feel more secluded. And that is fine. These shapes are more for bow hunters because you need to get that closer shot. I'm mostly a gun hunter and as such a square or rectangular plot is fine for me and you can use other screens to break a plot up if you so desire. Just remember to try to keep cover at the edge of the plots as it tends to be a food source AND keeps the deer from being able to stand back in the cover and see/watch the plot from a distance.
 
Access in and out, location, and wind is all done. Just trying to get some visual ideas on designed. For example, should I have a finger sticking out into the plot. Was leaning towards an L shape.
 
Access in and out, location, and wind is all done. Just trying to get some visual ideas on designed. For example, should I have a finger sticking out into the plot. Was leaning towards an L shape.
2 questions...
What is your primary weapon for hunting the plot?
What are you planning on planting in the plot?
 
I personally like lines of movement that keeps the deer moving on my land rather than being directed away from it. Long narrow plots with bedding cover on both sides get a lot more daytime use. But, every property is different.

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Shape is contingent on soil, slope/grade, aspect, height and size of adjacent plants and most importantly the relative distances from focal points to include deer bedding areas. Those factors impact the location and shape of your plot. In the northeast many food plot design are relative to the level of hunting pressure and the security the design provides deer. The most important consideration is the size in relation to the goal of feeding deer and the ratio related to the available, seasonal food on the property to include adjacent properties, so again shape is circumstantial. If you want my favorite design it’s S shapes.... hopefully that gives you more pts to consider


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Now see, that is what is so sweet of foodplotting in the mountains. You just place them wherever you might have land available and follow the shape of the existing contour given to you.
Removes all stress of decision making.
But now if you want to talk of feather edging and access routes, then we can have success regardless of shape or location. Don’t think deer know much trigonometry.


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I like any plot we can easily get the tractor in and out of, from 1/3 acre to 6 acres. When we have guests to the farm and I want to pretty much guarantee them shooting opportunities I'm putting them in the Redneck in the 6 acre rectangular plot. Multiple doe groups coming in to that plot every day and during the chase phase, always gonna be a few bucks dogging the ladies.

My personal favorite plot to hunt with a bow is the long, linear plot to the south. Flanked by mature hardwoods on each side and bottom land hardwoods to the south is an aesthetically pleasing sit with a high percentage of 2 to 3 groups of deer in the plot on any given afternoon. It's narrow enough to shoot a bow into the plot from any location. About 3 acres in size and 300 yds from end to end.

Cabin fields at top of pic are for viewing deer. All 3 are easy to plant with tractor.
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Another thought on food plot designs. When cutting in your interior roads, make a few of them wide enough to plant. The pics below is our access rd leading from one section of property to another. It is in planted pines. It would work in hardwoods as well. When I had pines 5th row thinned, I had the logger to remove 3 rows of pines on this access rd. It is now 30 to 40 ft wide and just under 900 ft long.

It has turned into an awesome food plot. Limed last summer and planted in a fall mix. Deer use it daily. They are just a hop away from cover. Watched a lot of deer sitting on the edge of this interior rd.
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Pic from back in October when deer couldn’t keep up with growth.
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Pic from last week. It gets hammered.
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View from the stand.
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Crossbow or Rifle. It will take a few years to build the soil but mostly clover, brassicas, and cereal grains.
With a crossbow and what you plan on planting....I think you have a lot of options to choose from. I would suggest anything where you can either put a stand where you want it...or have your plot lead past a particular location. The plants you are planting will do fine in non-ideal sunlight situations so you can have the narrower plot configurations. If you was wanting corn or beans for rifle hunting...then I would suggest more square/rectangular type plots...because they need the sunlight AND you would have the range with a firearm to cover an acre or so plot. I would suggest you look at the site and see what "feels" right. Look at what trees may have to be removed and what you can do to improve the cover around the future plot. There may be some things in there you may want to work around/with and that may point you in one direction or the other. You can still go with a square type plot, but you then may be better off X-bow hunting the trails leading to/from with a gun stand watching over the plot itself... If you got a blank slate...it's all a matter of what is there and what you want to do.
 
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