Food Plot Shape

Getting ready to mark out my plots for the timber guys. Are there any particular design or shape that you all have found to be more productive/better than another. Ive already picked out my entry/exit so that all set.

Thanks
 
U,T,V, L or K shape give you the best ambush points. Most suggest that they lie North to South.
 
Agree with what Jeff said. On top of more and better stand locations, having so many separate lines lets more deer feel more comfortable in the plot. It feels more secure and territorial deer don't get upset sharing the food because they have physical separation. And if you have a direction of travel you want the deer to move along you can orient the long axis of the plot along that line of movement to steer them where you want.
 
if you want more deer to use a plot, have it where they can't see each other but you can still see them
 
I’ll go against the grain a little bit - I like plots that are easy to plant, so that’s how I would pick out a shape. I’ve got 20 acres of fields that are rectangular and the deer have no problem using them.

1) easy to plant
2) good sun exposure
3) easy access
4) remove ALL the trees in it - drives me crazy driving around trees in the middle of a plot. And they use a lot of water and make too much shade.
 
I’ll go against the grain a little bit - I like plots that are easy to plant, so that’s how I would pick out a shape. I’ve got 20 acres of fields that are rectangular and the deer have no problem using them.

1) easy to plant
2) good sun exposure
3) easy access
4) remove ALL the trees in it - drives me crazy driving around trees in the middle of a plot. And they use a lot of water and make too much shade.
We agree completely on those 4 points!
 
I’ll go against the grain a little bit - I like plots that are easy to plant, so that’s how I would pick out a shape. I’ve got 20 acres of fields that are rectangular and the deer have no problem using them.

1) easy to plant
2) good sun exposure
3) easy access
4) remove ALL the trees in it - drives me crazy driving around trees in the middle of a plot. And they use a lot of water and make too much shade.

Mine goes against every point except access and most of it gets good sun except the very west end past the island of trees...lol
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I’ll go against the grain a little bit - I like plots that are easy to plant, so that’s how I would pick out a shape. I’ve got 20 acres of fields that are rectangular and the deer have no problem using them.

1) easy to plant
2) good sun exposure
3) easy access
4) remove ALL the trees in it - drives me crazy driving around trees in the middle of a plot. And they use a lot of water and make too much shade.
X2. The bigger the better. Love a big destination plot that accommodates several doe groups at the same time and producers enough forage to stay ahead of the grazing. Personally like long and linear but not necessarily narrow. More rectangular in shape.

I'll add one to Cutman's list:
5) remove any hardwood tree that encroaches into the food plot from the edge. We're taking out about 1/2 dozen water oaks that are not in the plot but on the edge. Nothing grows under them. They suck moisture out of the ground.
 
FWIW, I prefer East/west plots. I find I get more sun this way which matters because most of the plots were carved out of the deep woods. Also, I’ve had really good luck with a couple of 6 acre food complexes where we left hedge rows. We grow multiple things across the complex as the deer do the buffet thing (keeps em moving). We also have had good success building water holes adjacent to the plots. As far as shape, ignoring the hedge rows, most are rectangularis in shape for ease of planting.
 
I guess if one has options, then choosing where when and size is fine. If you inhabit mountains then you plant where God chose you to so so. Certainly my best buck attraction plot is up a ravine, 1 ac, surrounded by thick crap, facing N-S. But it is the ending of the snake configuration of my plots beginning on distant ridge following down into fairly flat 2 acre plot and winding into said Ravine plot.
Edge and variety Trumps all other factors. Mixture of alfalfa against clover against overgrown field agains grain clover against clover brassica. Deer, including bucks meander thru the snaking path while able to stay mostly concealed. And the best buck hunting is 50-200 yds downwind of any of those plots.
Sometimes you have to let the deer and the land dictate where plots should be. Deer don't read this forum much.
 
I guess if one has options, then choosing where when and size is fine. If you inhabit mountains then you plant where God chose you to so so. Certainly my best buck attraction plot is up a ravine, 1 ac, surrounded by thick crap, facing N-S. But it is the ending of the snake configuration of my plots beginning on distant ridge following down into fairly flat 2 acre plot and winding into said Ravine plot.
Edge and variety Trumps all other factors. Mixture of alfalfa against clover against overgrown field agains grain clover against clover brassica. Deer, including bucks meander thru the snaking path while able to stay mostly concealed. And the best buck hunting is 50-200 yds downwind of any of those plots.
Sometimes you have to let the deer and the land dictate where plots should be. Deer don't read this forum much.
Yea, my plot was solid woods like everything around it. We made it with a dozer...found my 2nd shed in it today...
 
Mine goes against every point except access and most of it gets good sun except the very west end past the island of trees...lol
80052589f9afd0a3850b46fed12d27bc.jpg



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Gotta love a plot like this. Secluded, green, protected with escape and water nearby. I will say water holes are a waste for me. I assume they get their moisture from plants and some from my creek. Seldom see much use in ones I've made and the 2 ponds I have, except in drought years like last. Always good to have as backup.
 
I’m mainly a bowhunter so I prefer barbell shaped with stand on either side of the “handle”. In hill country, if at all possible, put the plot as high of an elevation as possible. We have an isolated crop field wooded on 3 sides that is the highest elevation with several ridges and ditches running off the field where the deer bed. We can get in even during late season with deer bedded relatively close, and not spook much of anything. Contrast that to a field/plot in the bottom where the deer can bed above the field watching it the whole time, making access tough to impossible without informing the deer.

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The two best bow stands I’ve ever sat, we’ve killed two good bucks out of each in 6 years. We leave the eastern portion in standing beans or corn, and most cool evenings, activity through the 40 yard pinch point is consistent.



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FWIW, I prefer East/west plots. I find I get more sun this way which matters because most of the plots were carved out of the deep woods. Also, I’ve had really good luck with a couple of 6 acre food complexes where we left hedge rows. We grow multiple things across the complex as the deer do the buffet thing (keeps em moving). We also have had good success building water holes adjacent to the plots. As far as shape, ignoring the hedge rows, most are rectangularis in shape for ease of planting.
What are using to break up your plots in the hedgerows?
 
I, too, prefer regular shaped food plots for ease of planting. I also like one to two acre plots - prefer closer to two acre. I have twelve “deer” food plots from 1/2 acre to eight acres in size. Based upon deer use per acre - the 1/2 acre plot gets the least amount of use - followed by the 8 acre plot. That doesnt mean the 8 acre plot doesnt get a lot of use - but fifteen deer in an 8 acre plot is not as much use as ten deer in a two acre plot. Probably the bet plot I have for deer use in general - and especially mature buck use - is a basically round, two acre plot in the middle of my linear property. It seems like every mature buck on the place will eventually end up there. As far as location on the property - I get more use in a two acre plot, 100 yards from a state highway, 400 yards from my house, with two barking dogs - than I do in several plots one mile from the nearest road of any kind, where the only man made sound you hear is planes.
 
I’ll go against the grain a little bit - I like plots that are easy to plant, so that’s how I would pick out a shape. I’ve got 20 acres of fields that are rectangular and the deer have no problem using them.

1) easy to plant
2) good sun exposure
3) easy access
4) remove ALL the trees in it - drives me crazy driving around trees in the middle of a plot. And they use a lot of water and make too much shade.

^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^
Plus keeps roots and drip-lines of trees from killing your plots by stealing moisture and nutrients. Think about the large ag fields in the big-buck producing states.
 
It all depends on the function of the plot. I like large open plots that are easy to plant for my summer annuals of corn and beans. I like more irregular and smaller plots for perennial or fall annual plots.
 
I’m mainly a bowhunter so I prefer barbell shaped with stand on either side of the “handle”. In hill country, if at all possible, put the plot as high of an elevation as possible. We have an isolated crop field wooded on 3 sides that is the highest elevation with several ridges and ditches running off the field where the deer bed. We can get in even during late season with deer bedded relatively close, and not spook much of anything. Contrast that to a field/plot in the bottom where the deer can bed above the field watching it the whole time, making access tough to impossible without informing the deer.

8c234236b3e8940387468b1105a33b30.jpg


The two best bow stands I’ve ever sat, we’ve killed two good bucks out of each in 6 years. We leave the eastern portion in standing beans or corn, and most cool evenings, activity through the 40 yard pinch point is consistent.
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g squared - That looks like a 10 out of 10 for bowhunting setups. What a perfect pinch point.
 
Personally, I dont prefer to bow hunt deer in a food plot - especially later in the season. I find pressured deer in an open food plot are exceptionally wary and have a greater tendency to string “jumping”. Last winter, I personally witnessed two different does jump the string on a 400 fps Ravin crossbow inside thirty yards. I much prefer to Bow hunt a trail about ten yards back from the food plot and shoot them as they are standing in the woods looking the food plot over before they enter.
 
g squared - That looks like a 10 out of 10 for bowhunting setups. What a perfect pinch point.

Thanks! Yeah it’s awesome, shot a 4.5 year old on the last day of the season this year as he slowly made his way through the pinch point; stopped to munch on some turnips I planted in July, and I put it through both lungs. Ran to the west in the middle of the field and tipped over. I LOVE being able to drive right up to them.

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Oh yeah, it makes for a killer spring turkey set up too

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