catscratch
Well-Known Member
Nothing suppresses the cool season grasses. Kill them, kill them with a vengeance, kill them several times because they will come back.
The Number One Best Food Plot For Deer
- Thread starter Mennoniteman
- Start date
I don't have the experience some of y'all do w/ foot plots, but have grown some in good fertile farmland & now in horrible soil in the mtns. I would say it 100% depends on the type of soil & equipment you have. In good farmland, anything is possible but up here in the mountains it's a battle. I plant clover, rye, wheat, oats, & barley each year. Have tried some other brassicas but don't have equipment to drill so they didn't do as well. For where I am, I'd say my favorite without a doubt is clover. These are two of my mostly shaded very small plots (1/4 acre & 1/8 acre) but as you can see, plots in crappy soils are still doable...
https://ibb.co/pzk9zZj
https://ibb.co/tC3TkfH
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
That's looking nice for a shaded plot. Is that grain oats?I don't have the experience some of y'all do w/ foot plots, but have grown some in good fertile farmland & now in horrible soil in the mtns. I would say it 100% depends on the type of soil & equipment you have. In good farmland, anything is possible but up here in the mountains it's a battle. I plant clover, rye, wheat, oats, & barley each year. Have tried some other brassicas but don't have equipment to drill so they didn't do as well. For where I am, I'd say my favorite without a doubt is clover. These are two of my mostly shaded very small plots (1/4 acre & 1/8 acre) but as you can see, plots in crappy soils are still doable...
https://ibb.co/tC3TkfH
Triple C
Well-Known Member
One of these years I will plant corn in our largest plot just to experience hunting over corn in the fall and winter. I find habitat n food plots to very so much by geography and zones. Down south, with milder winters and on most properties, a combination of planted pines and hardwoods, deer have plenty to browse all year long, with the exception of stress period being late summer/early fall when it's so hot.
A well managed stand of planted pine is about as close to a year round food plot as anything you can plant. Once thinned to a basal area of 50ish or so, the ground level browse of all manner of forbs n saplings is available year round. But...they love coming in to the clover and grains all year long.
Thanks MM - I had rye & oats in them at the time along w/ white clover in the 1st pic plot. Still doing the same thing but it's a battle w/ crappy mountain soil & mostly shade but I seem to be doing OK b/c the plots pull the deer & turkey in pretty well. My orchard pulls in them + the bears too!
My food plot strategy is somewhat complex and ever changing but the planning is enjoyable.
My soils are around 6.4ph and fairly fertile. I amended initially per soil test.
I have one acre of either corn or soybeans, depending on what my farmer plants. He also plants a wheat cover crop on all tillable acreage. I will interseed rye into standing corn, nothing into beans.
I have pure alfalfa plots. These required a lot of lime and other amendments. Their attraction has been impressive and not any alfalfa nearby so I still believe these were worth the effort/cost. I have chicory in the alfalfa as well, it is browsed heavily.
I separated my clover plots into different varieties to test preference, I’ll report on that later. In newer plots I use a blend of Aberlasting, Alice, Jumbo Ladino, Stamina, and Renovation. Chicory in these plots as well. Established with rye nurse crop. I will overseed with oats, rye, or wheat occasionally to offset nitrogen in soil.
I also have a pure stand of red clover (with chicory), underrated imo.
Brassica plot has a blend of hybrids and classic varieties, but all have quicker maturity times as I plant in mid August. I frost seed frosty berseem and oats into this plot in March.
My soils are around 6.4ph and fairly fertile. I amended initially per soil test.
I have one acre of either corn or soybeans, depending on what my farmer plants. He also plants a wheat cover crop on all tillable acreage. I will interseed rye into standing corn, nothing into beans.
I have pure alfalfa plots. These required a lot of lime and other amendments. Their attraction has been impressive and not any alfalfa nearby so I still believe these were worth the effort/cost. I have chicory in the alfalfa as well, it is browsed heavily.
I separated my clover plots into different varieties to test preference, I’ll report on that later. In newer plots I use a blend of Aberlasting, Alice, Jumbo Ladino, Stamina, and Renovation. Chicory in these plots as well. Established with rye nurse crop. I will overseed with oats, rye, or wheat occasionally to offset nitrogen in soil.
I also have a pure stand of red clover (with chicory), underrated imo.
Brassica plot has a blend of hybrids and classic varieties, but all have quicker maturity times as I plant in mid August. I frost seed frosty berseem and oats into this plot in March.
bowhunter14
Member
Question on spraying grasses in my clover plot. I want to start implementing this system into my plots but as @Mennoniteman has said I need to get a good stand of clover before so I need to hit the plot with some Clethodim. I only have a 4 gallon backpack sprayer but through looking through the search function on here I have found the following recipe.
2oz Clethodim
4 gallons water
2 cups dish soap
My question would be how to add in the dish soap? put it in last? shake it up? And also would this be a good recipe to wipe out any grasses so this fall I can broadcast some rye?
2oz Clethodim
4 gallons water
2 cups dish soap
My question would be how to add in the dish soap? put it in last? shake it up? And also would this be a good recipe to wipe out any grasses so this fall I can broadcast some rye?
The best directions are on the label on the herbicide bottle.
Remember, you're generally applying oz herbicide/acre. Figure out how big your plot is, then how much coverage you'll get out of the tank of your sprayer. Then calculate, mix and spray. You want to use crop oil with clethodim. I think guys generally replace non-ionic surfactant with dish soap. Crop oil isn't expensive. You can probably find it locally.
Charge SOC - 1 Quart (Replaces Crop Oil, Peptoil) [40065] - $16.95 : Keystone Pest Solutions, Low price herbicides and pesticides
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
It seems light on the clethodim for a backpack sprayer, I'd do 2 oz per gallon, and half that much soap. I actually only use 16 oz of crop oil (soap equivalent) per 25 gallons of water.
In a hand sprayer you need to go extra heavy on herbicide because of uneven application.
bowhunter14
Member
Thank you @Mennoniteman
