I thought I'd give y'all a post-mortem on how the food plots did.
First off, the final take: Six hunters took 4 bucks over 2 weeks + 1 ML weekend in October. Most of us had opportunities at doe, but it was still early in season. That's sub-par for our camp.
Now for the plots. Here is the description of what I planted back on Labor Day:
Food Plots, 2025
How did they turn out? Here is an excerpt from my weblog:
If you looked at our plots on the last day of season, you’d see green nearly everywhere with a few obvious failures. The deer were munching on them as soon as they germinated. By the start of season, you could see deer, turkey– even squirrel– hitting the plots. However, I would only call them a partial success.
What worked? All the cereal grains came up. I used several Buck-on-Bag mixes that contained rye, barley or wheat, and they all sprouted, and that formed the majority of what you see when you look out over my verdant plains. Additionally, the clovers sprouted, albeit a bit late.
What didn’t work? I had placed a lot of hope on the various brassica mixes. At least the claims on the bags were that within a couple of weeks, I’d have knee-deep radishes, turnips, etc. I saw barely a hit of any of these come up. What did sprout got nipped in a hurry. I doped the heavy brassica mixes with clover and barley. Barley, because I needed to add bulk to the seed to get it through my bit ATV seeder, and clover so that I’d have something in the spring for turkeys.
Why? I can think of several reasons. First off, we planted just before a decent rain. We got an inch or so and then we got next to nothing for 3 weeks. Stuff sprouts and then dries out before it can really take hold. This was a bad year for rain. Second, we harrowed the plots after planting. Perhaps the brassicas ended up too deep. It is possible, but I find it hard to believe. Third might be nutrition. I put 12-12-12 down, and what did come up seemed to thrive. I’ll delve into this further, but I’m still thinking it was drought as the culprit. The last issue is predation. The turkeys and deer were on these plots immediately after they were planted. I think the tasty brassicas were all hoovered up before they could get going.
There was one patch up by the house that gives credence to this. I sowed it in part with a combination of “varieties of oats, rye, clover, canola, and more.” Another plot got dosed with “annual clover, turnips. radish, forage oats, and rye.” Both of these came up great. I would go and sit out in my new living room (What used to be the Thoughtful Spot) and watch deer come up and feed just after the construction crews knocked off. Examining these plots, I noticed the turnips and radish disappeared first.
Then again, what the heck do I know? This is my first try with anything besides ladino clover and cover wheat, and my last food plot was 15 years ago. I’ve got a lot of learning to do. I would have loved to have given you a definitive review of the 11 different Buck-on-Bag seed mixes, but I don’t think that’s fair. I will give mention to Antler King’s Fall-Winter-Spring mix. Everywhere I used it, it sprouted, it did well and the deer and turkeys were consistently eating it.
