Sir Miss A Lot
Member
Winter plots was blend(Buck Buster) that I added Winter Wheat to it. Spring, just Soybeans.
Micro woods plot success pics
- Thread starter pinetag
- Start date
Drycreek
Well-Known Member
What brand of beans ? I planted feed store beans once and got some invasive weeds from them. No more ! I used Eagle for a couple years, one year I had very few bean pods and the next year they were loaded with pods. In fact I didn't even plant a fall plot there and the deer ate the pods all season. Last time I planted beans I used Real World and they did well too, but now I just plant IC peas. Cheaper and just as good IMO.
weekender21
Well-Known Member
Full disclaimer, this .25 acre “micro plot” was just cleared a few weeks ago. Far too early to call it a success. It’s on a ridge top that can be accessed from several directions and was designed to be a “kill plot” where deer will hopefully spend a little time on their way to a bigger plot. Time will tell if my plan works.
I’ll most likely need to clear some of the poplar trees on the south side to allow more sunlight in but that’s not a huge priority just yet. May wait and see how it goes this year.
I spread 200 pounds of lime, 4 pounds of MRC and 56 pounds of WR the day it was cleared. My soil test (5.5 PH) confirmed I’ll need more lime.
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I’ll most likely need to clear some of the poplar trees on the south side to allow more sunlight in but that’s not a huge priority just yet. May wait and see how it goes this year.
I spread 200 pounds of lime, 4 pounds of MRC and 56 pounds of WR the day it was cleared. My soil test (5.5 PH) confirmed I’ll need more lime.
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Sir Miss A Lot
Member
Oh yeah, that's nice
pinetag
Well-Known Member
I remember seeing this one from your property thread. Good luck and keep us updated on how it does!Full disclaimer, this .25 acre “micro plot” was just cleared a few weeks ago. Far too early to call it a success. It’s on a ridge top that can be accessed from several directions and was designed to be a “kill plot” where deer will hopefully spend a little time on their way to a bigger plot. Time will tell if my plan works.
I’ll most likely need to clear some of the poplar trees on the south side to allow more sunlight in but that’s not a huge priority just yet. May wait and see how it goes this year.
I spread 200 pounds of lime, 4 pounds of MRC and 56 pounds of WR the day it was cleared. My soil test (5.5 PH) confirmed I’ll need more lime.
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Triple C
Well-Known Member
Only pic we got all last summer of this guy in this particular micro plot. It's bout 1/2 acre. Since 2011, we've killed 1 deer out of this plot. Certainly could have killed more as I personally passed up quite a few doe out of a stand located on the edge of plot. But seldom have I seen a buck come in to this plot and only 1 doe group will come in to it. You can see grass in the pic but it's covered in white clover and will remain planted in clover. Has 3 pear trees on it as well. Hardwoods on 3 sides. It's a cool spot to sit. We just don't sit it that often. We're usually around or near one of the larger plots that seems to accommodate multiple doe groups. During the chase phase and early rut, the bucks show up in numbers dogging the doe(s) around the larger plots.
pinetag
Well-Known Member
The one plot I had last year only caught a couple of buck pics as well. I will say it didn't have nearly as much edge cover as it has now so that might have had something to do with it. I added a second micro plot this year. Both plots are positioned in such a way that I hope to catch a buck skirting around the edges to scent check them, as opposed to actually hunting over them. Closest stand is about 50 yards away on one plot and about 75 yards on the other.
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Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
Micro plots are great when there's a good crop. One thing to be careful though is to make sure that the plot/plots fit into the overall hunting plan before making them. Micro plots are so easy to start that it's sometimes tempting just to take a weekend and throw in a new plot, without putting much thought into it. What can happen that I've experienced is too many micro plots and the deer are all over the place, making the property tough to hunt. A large destination plot and one satellite shooting plot for a kill zone in every hunting block, zone, or section is what I've found works the best. Again, as noted by the other guys, make sure it fits into a plan.
Here's my best micro plot, maybe 1/2 acre.
Here's my best micro plot, maybe 1/2 acre.
Triple C
Well-Known Member
Prolly the reason we don't kill hardly any deer in the 3 micro plots we still maintain is because the majority of the doe groups are in the destination plots in the afternoon. Come the chase phase, I'd rather be setting near one of the destination plots. It can make for non-stop action when the love hormones start to waft through the air. And the times I do sit the micro plots I feel like I'm missing the action around the big plots.
Sir Miss A Lot
Member
Nice pics. Just a note of interest. I don't plant plots to hunt, I plant plots to feed deer and hopefully hold them on our property.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
Doe groups in destination plots in mid afternoon means that you are doing something right. Or everything right! Way to go on holding the line on low pressure on your big fields.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
There's nothing wrong with a micro plot to feed deer, it's 100% better than no plot, and with the right planting like clover, they can be very effective. If feeding deer is the objective, I'd use the best seed lime and fertilizer that money can buy, and try to squeeze it a little bigger if possible. Watering in dry spells, or even taking a pole saw and cutting back higher up shading branches can really help the yield on a small plot too.
Cool pics everyone! Just getting into the micro-plot thing myself. Have 4 that are roughly 1/4 acre each but we're in the mountains - soil sucks, 3 of the 4 plots are pretty steep grade, & 3 of the 4 only have moderate sunlight. Been working on the soil & felling lg. trees to let in more light but not much I can do about the grade... Love seeing the micro-plot pics. I have only planted clover blends, WR, & some brassicas in mine so far. Obviously the WR did the best, going to try WW & WO this fall in addition to the WR & see what grows best & what the animals like to eat the best.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
I'd try to avoid tillage on the steep slopes because of erosion, and just try to keep clover growing continuously in them.
Drycreek
Well-Known Member
Come to think of it, I guess just about all mine are micro plots. I may have one at home that will crowd an acre, but the rest of them, including the lease I'm a member of, are anywhere to a couple thousand square feet to 1/2 an acre. Much of this, especially the lease, is out of necessity. When you don't have ownership, you go with what you can, so we plot where there aren't marketable trees.
My buddy and I just limed 1/4 acre and a 1/3 acre plots yesterday and I disced it in. Nothing has ever been planted in one and the other was planted the fall of 2017 but never did well. Maybe after liming it will improve. Our other plots were limed a couple years ago and have produced very well both spring and fall.
My buddy and I just limed 1/4 acre and a 1/3 acre plots yesterday and I disced it in. Nothing has ever been planted in one and the other was planted the fall of 2017 but never did well. Maybe after liming it will improve. Our other plots were limed a couple years ago and have produced very well both spring and fall.
Nice Pinetag! Do you hunt over it or between it & the bedding area or other main feeding area? One thing I do since 3 of my 4 micro-plots are in the woods is use my backpack blowers to blow off the leaves multiple times throughout the Fall/Winter. I run a Stihl BR600 on my chest & 1 on my back & it rocks!
pinetag
Well-Known Member
I have a stand about 50 yards to the NE of this particular plot. Last fall I could see just into the edge but with the edge feathering I did over the last couple of weeks, you can't see into it well anymore. So to answer your question, I don't hunt directly on it. It's basically in an area that the deer already seem to travel through.
This is really only my first year with food plots as I didn't even clear this opening until last June and then I seeded it with buckwheat and some store bought beans just to garner some interest. I put ladino and rye down in the fall but it got flooded out so I re-seeded a couple weeks later and didn't have a chance to clear the leaves out like I should have. I did rake it some last month when I put the oats down but it was still fairly wet. Hopefully I'll be able to keep my plots cleaner in the future and I do have a backpack blower that I might try next time.
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Just checked my 2 new micro woods plots for the first time since spring green up. I busted my tail to get these cleared and planted in September and I’m really happy with the results. They are loaded with green. I planted Buck Forage Oats for the first time and they survived our winter no problem. We had a number of nights in the teens and a few in single digits, so I was wondering if the BFO’s would make it. There are multiple types of clover among the oats. Soil test last month showed pH of 5.4, so I need to work on that asap. I’m going to let the oats seed out to give the turkey a treat. I’m planning to transition these plots to WINA clover + chicory plots this fall.
