alafarmnews

Plotting a Plan
for Success

by Todd Amenrud

Whitetail management and planting food plots are very hot topics these days. Many people have tried to plant food plots with limited success. What is surprising is a good many are going to plant the same thing, the same way, with the same results again this year. "Why do the same thing and expect different results." If you’re going to do it, do it right! Now is the time to start preparing for your spring planting.

Start with a plan. Think about your goals. Do you want to grow bigger antlers and healthier deer? Or, maybe all you want to do is draw them off of your neighbor’s property during hunting season. Or, maybe you want to accomplish both. Think about it now, however, because how you go about implementing a

In a food plot situation it can be difficult to produce a good yield of corn. Because of the way that BioMaxx, a new blend from BioLogic, is blended, maximum yield is achieved. The soybeans are browsed during the summer allowing the corn to mature. And the soybeans affix nitrogen to the soil helping each stalk of corn to produce big ears.

plan for each will be different.

It is a good idea to obtain an aerial photo or topographical map of your property and decide the location of your plots. Study your maps carefully. If you combine the location of your plots with other property habitat enhancements like woods-work or logging, you can have a huge influence over the movements and habits of your herd. If you do things right you can dictate to them where they will bed, where they will travel and where they will feed. This makes hunting them much easier.

Here, the author poses with a nice buck taken because of proper planning well in advance of the hunt.

Do you have the equipment to do the job? Do you have a big tractor with a disk? Plan ahead to make sure you have the equipment to do the job properly. Then think about if can you get the equipment to the proposed site? Many people have an ATV but may not have the ATV implements. Because of the popularity of planting food plots these days, many rental businesses are starting to rent ATV food plot implements. Think about all of these details before planting season is here.

You will also need to determine what to plant. After fifteen years of planting just about everything that you can think of for whitetail, I’ve learned to keep it simple. In my opinion, a blend is a much better idea than single crops. Unless you’re a cash-crop farmer that has the knowledge, pesticides, herbicides and equipment to care for that specific crop, you’re

setting yourself up for failure. With a blend there is usually several plants that will do well no matter how harsh your conditions and farming practices are. On the properties that I manage throughout the country I have very good luck with all of the different blends from Mossy Oak BioLogic. Each blend provides a different aspect towards my management goals.

I highly recommend a new blend that BioLogic has called BioMaxx. I planted BioMaxx for the first time last spring and the results amazed me. It is a scientifically blended ratio of Round-Up Ready® beans and corn. This is the most innovative, high-tech food plot I’ve ever planted. Finally a product that allows you to break the cycle of summer weeds!

Many food-plot farmers have hesitated to plant soybeans because deer consume them so rapidly. Likewise, corn produces no food during the summer months. BioLogic has worked

extensively on researching both bean and corn varieties that have the necessary characteristics to produce in a "food-plot environment." They have also taken it a step further by discovering a method of planting the beans and corn together to create a summer and fall food source that is extremely attractive and nutritious for deer.

One of the best features of this blend is that this technology allows you to "double-crop." All summer you have the bean forage production, then they get on to the corn allowing for the beans to mature, then they eat the corn and beans through the fall and winter. During this time, because of the Round-Up Ready^® feature, you’re creating a totally weed-free seed bed underneath your beans and corn. It’s a perfect

BioLogic has created a scientifically blended ratio of Round-Up Ready® beans and corn. This product will break the cycle of summer weeds and it gives you both nutrition and attraction power.

situation to over-seed with Maximum or Clover Plus. The beans will turn brown and the corn leaves will droop allowing the sun to penetrate your new weed-free seed bed allowing the Maximum to grow.

When planting anything for whitetail, proper preparation is a key to beautiful, lush plots. As soon as you can a soil analysis should be done. A very easy, in-expensive way to do this is to go to www.mossyoakbiologic.com and follow the instructions there. Otherwise, any county seat or feed & seed should do this for you for around $10 to $20. This should be done as soon as you can because your soil may require preparation before you can plant.

There are many other steps in planting beautiful, lush, whitetail-attracting food plots. However, this much you can do now. In a couple of months the real work begins.

Todd Amenrud is the Director of Public Relations, Territory Manager & Habitat Consultant for BioLogic.