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Every hunting story needs a good plot
by Fran Sharp
The
traditional battle between hunter and deer frequently comes down to a
nose. The animal noses out a good place to eat while sniffing out man’s
whereabouts. The deer has the edge here, but the hunter can compensate for
his lack of olfactory superiority by strategizing the deer’s comings and
goings through the use of a food plot.
A
food plot is a valuable tool in providing a good hunting experience as
well as key in getting good nutrition to the deer, says Mike Clelland, who
is not |
Mike Clelland harvested this beautiful 10-point from a food plot on a friend’s
farm in 2004. He says a food plot is a valuable tool in providing a good hunting experience as well as a key in getting good nutrition to the deer. |
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a hunter with some experience but also the manager at Mid-State Farmers
Co-op in Columbiana. Clelland and his buddies have maintained food plots
for years as part of their hunting adventures. |
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Spring or fall, a good rule
of thumb for a successful food plot includes cover and a natural water
source close by so the deer do not have to travel far. If there’s a lot
of traveling to be done, let it be done by the hunter. A thoughtfully
planned food plot will provide good nutrition to produce healthy deer and
a satisfying experience for the hunter.
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"Our
goal is to provide good hunting and to provide good nutrition," he
said. "If you can attract a lot of animals to a field, it allows you
to selectively harvest inferior or superior animals. Also, it is the ideal
place to hunt with a camera if that is what you like to do."
He
follows a multi-step process in establishing a food plot with one rule of
thumb: Have a food plot of at least one half to one acre (3-5 percent of
the overall hunting property is recommended) with good cover and a natural
water source close by so the deer don’t have to travel far.
How
to prepare a food plot
*
Begin with a soil test for pH and fertilizer requirements for the crops to
be planted. While |
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waiting
for the soil test, mow and/or spray a non-selective type herbicide to
prepare for planting. Round-Up® or Cornerstone® herbicide is
recommended.
Let the plot sit for a couple weeks to dry out. |
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*
Disk the soil, then apply lime and fertilizer as the soil test indicates.
Till the soil to incorporate the nutrients and provide a smooth feed bed.
*
Apply the seed. Clelland broadcasts seed (some people drill) and
recommends using some type of drag harrow or cultipack to firm the seed
for better germination. "Some people make drags out of a chain link
fence, wood fence post, or other heavy objects," Clelland instructed.
*
Once you’ve prepared and planted, all you can do is wait for it to rain,
he added. His best guesstimate for cost
is anywhere from $75 to $125 to fertilize and plant the fields. You can
go more expensive, depending on cost of plants. Spraying will add cost.
"I spray two times a year, the first time with Cornerstone® to
kill out vegetation on annual plots and again in the spring with Poast®
or Arrest™ to eliminate competition grasses on our permanent clover
fields." |
Mike Clelland, manager
of Mid-State Farmers Co-op in Columbiana says careful plotting is
important for the deer and the hunter. He advises putting 3 to 5 percent
of the overall hunting property in food plots, well spaced throughout the
property. A one-acre food plot is a good place to start. |
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Fall or
Spring?
Fall plot
recommendations include premium deer blends of small grains and clovers.
BioLogic® fall blends are mostly mixtures of brassicas (turnip family),
clovers and some small grains. Whitetail Institute offers different blends
of clovers, alfalfas and some small grains as well. Big Buck Blend
mixtures of wheat, oats, rye and clovers have always been a long time
favorite. It is recommended to apply a light coat of nitrogen mid-fall to
help green up in December.
Spring
plantings recommended are mixtures of different type of peas and beans.
Corn may be planted around April in a separate field or along the edge of
a permanent field and left standing through the winter to provide a good
food source and a bedding area. You can mix it up with some annual spring
plantings along with permanent BioLogic® and Whitetail Institute food
plot products to provide virtually year round nutrition for the deer.
Clelland
said the seed companies have come up with help for the hunters who do not
have the equipment to establish a good seedbed. BioLogic® and Whitetail
Institute offer products such as BioLogic® HotSpot™ and Whitetail
Institute’s No-Plow™, with small grains, brassicas and clovers that
bring pretty good success with minimum tilling. "It’s not an
optimum food plot, but when you don’t have anything, it does pretty
good. We bow hunt on a couple mini-fields we can’t get a tractor on, and
we use the minimum tillage products with pretty good success."
The plot
for bigger racks
Growing
bigger deer (antlers) comes from springtime to early summer. Fall plots
are mostly about food and energy sources to get the animals through winter
and cold weather months.
Spring
plots are more for antler growth and healthy fawns. Mother’s milk
supplies nutrients for quick, healthy fawn growth and actually prepares
for a deer’s first rack, Clelland says. For the first three years of a
deer’s life, nutrients that come from the soil go first to skeletal
growth. What’s left over will go toward antler growth. "We
recommend establishing salt licks treated with calcium and phosphorus
mixed into the soil. The salt will attract the deer and as he paws at the
lick, he will get extra nutrients to help in better antler growth.
We keep one lick per 100 acres." Products with these nutrient
recommendations include BioLogic®’s Full Potential™ and Whitetail
Institute’s 30-06™.
Deer
Stands
"Most
people put their stands right on the field, but some of the older, wiser
deer don’t come out when those stands are present so we place them in
the woods with good sight onto the field. No matter where you are, the
deer’s nose is a lot better than yours. Generally one stand per food
plot makes for safer hunting practices with other stands placed away from
the plot."
Clelland
says food plots are a traditional hunting strategy and hunting today is
essentially the same as back in the ’ol days. "Our grandfathers
didn’t have a lot of these premium blends, but they did all right.
With all the improvements in seed, feed and equipment, we don’t laugh
a hunter off the field if he can’t get a deer in today’s woods, but we
might laugh at a hunter who misses."
Editor’s
note: Bow season is open mid-October to the end of January; gun season
the end of November and goes through January in Alabama. Doe season varies
by county. Mike Clelland can be reached at 205-669-7040 for more
information.
Fran
Sharp is a freelance writer in Alabaster. |
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