No till LC mix help

Mitch

Mitch

Active Member
As this bow season has developed I’ve found an area of my land that I absolutely must put in a food plot. Big timber to the east. Bucks over 180” go from thr big timber to the neighbors to the west. I have 3 resident doe that seem to stay on my land. Definitely need to change that. I’ve seen lots of different bucks this season and just those 3 doe. Momma and her twins.
Anyway, I have .5 acre to 1 acre in which I want to start a LC mix once the season ends. I have no equipment. I can get it mowed easily enough and sprayed too but in terms of breaking ground.....not gonna happen. So you no till guys, do you have any tips? Is there a thread I can do some reading on?
 
Mitch said:
As this bow season has developed I’ve found an area of my land that I absolutely must put in a food plot. Big timber to the east. Bucks over 180” go from thr big timber to the neighbors to the west. I have 3 resident doe that seem to stay on my land. Definitely need to change that. I’ve seen lots of different bucks this season and just those 3 doe. Momma and her twins.
Anyway, I have .5 acre to 1 acre in which I want to start a LC mix once the season ends. I have no equipment. I can get it mowed easily enough and sprayed too but in terms of breaking ground.....not gonna happen. So you no till guys, do you have any tips? Is there a thread I can do some reading on?
Click to expand...
Mitch, the reason you have so few does right now is due to the massive acorn crop Oklahoma has had this fall. I had a few doe groups using our place before acorn drop and now I have the same as you...difference is I also have some absolutely beautiful plots that see absolutely no deer usage now due to aforementioned massive acorn crop. We have thick oaks everywhere on our place but so do all of my neighbors for miles...
 
My first food plotting experience has been less than I expected. I broke up the sod and planted beans, corn and then I left an area idle all summer for oats/rye. Beans and corn did well, considering the lack of moisture for most of the summer. Corn made about 75bu/acre, probably would've been closer to 100 but I lost a large chunk of it to bindweed.

The oats and rye I wasn't real happy about, even though they were spread on bare fairly loose soil, the stand has not been up to my standards. It would've helped if I got them in a bit sooner but still. So for next year I plan on having a drill, it won't be fancy or technically "No till" but it should work to scratch the soil a bit and get some seed to soil contact. I'm going to use an old conventional drill cut in half and pulled behind a 4 wheeler. I will have another half if it's something you might be interested in.

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No acorns around me at all so I cant help you there. I noticed we seemed to be short on does as well, but theres still a fair amount of corn still out in the fields so that makes a difference, along with the unseasonally warm and nice weather weve had.
 
bigbluetruck said:
No acorns around me at all so I cant help you there. I noticed we seemed to be short on does as well, but theres still a fair amount of corn still out in the fields so that makes a difference, along with the unseasonally warm and nice weather weve had.
Click to expand...

Have you checked your FSA office? All 3 of the counties I hunt in have one for rent.
 
In early spring seed rye for a nurse crop, and clover for your long term food plot. If you don't have a soil test just hit it well with bagged lime and something like triple nineteen fertilizer. Once the rye starts going into seed heads mow it to release the clover. Spray it several weeks later with clethodim as needed to control grass. Interseed brassica into the clover in mid-August. Interseed oats in mid September. You've got to have a small grain for a starter. You've got to have clover for your permanent long-term base crop. You can play with the minor details from there, but that's your starting point.
 
swat1018 said:
Have you checked your FSA office? All 3 of the counties I hunt in have one for rent.
Click to expand...
A drill? Ya I'm sure there's one available through the NRCS but I'm wanting one that I can use whenever I want, and I enjoy building stuff too.

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$40/day. Some of them have a per acre fee with a minimum. Depends on the office, but it's always cheap.
 
Most of the seed in the LC mixes can be sown with the throw and mow. Just remember these will be planted a little heavier than those drilled. Best option is to scratch up the ground a bit (easiest with existing vegetation killed and mowed then scratch with a rake or pull behind disk). You just need the surface scratched, not worked up. Plant and fertilize right before a substantive rain event (this is very important) and you should be fine.

You can do the same broadcasting seed into dead standing vegetation and mow after to create a layer of thatch to hold in moisture but there is a learning curve with this method.

Look for threads about throw and grow.


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Examining gastric contents of harvested deer is always instructive

My plots (oats,rye,CC,arrowleaf) look great but ruminal contents of buck harvested 11/11 stuffed with acorns

Minimal corn and nothing green

Acorns rule and trump all other food source when available

bill
 
Tractor Supply has drag harrows that can be pulled behind an ATV or even a pickup. The drag harrow breaks up the ground surface here enough to easily plant clover, grains, and brassicas. The drags vary in size and can be added to over time. I have a large one for large fields with tractor access and a smaller one for ATV use. The smaller one (4 ft. yard tuff) was under two hundred dollars when on sale https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/search/drag harrows
Note; they do not penetrate freshly killed or live weed root systems here. The ground needs to be killed well in advance and possibly even again some time after the initial spraying. I have tried strictly spray, throw and mow in several of my plots; as others have also experienced, some plots it works well in and others not at all. Scratching the ground before planting has given us more consistent results.

Additionally there is the option of hiring the food plot prep the first time to get things going. More and more areas have a person who unofficially does that sort of business to help off set their own equipment purchases. Checking with the local tractor dealers or tractor repair shops is a possible way to route out name.

On acorns versus green food here; Acorn production is very minimal on this property but some properties in the area do have lots of acorns. It is a rare day here that we do not witness does eating green food here anytime of year they can get to it. As usual every area and/or property can see different deer behaviors. There is no question that food plots flanked by adequate cover draw does here and encourage them to stay.
 
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TreeDaddy said:
Examining gastric contents of harvested deer is always instructive

My plots (oats,rye,CC,arrowleaf) look great but ruminal contents of buck harvested 11/11 stuffed with acorns

Minimal corn and nothing green

Acorns rule and trump all other food source when available

bill
Click to expand...

It must suck to have to hunt where theres all those acorns
 
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