When you see large ranches or outfitters putting in food plots on a large scale with tractors hauling massive cultipackers, spreaders, sprayers, and disks you might turn and look at your little piece of heaven and think “how in the world?” Well, at least I did to some degree. However, I quickly learned that food plots don’t have to be that huge. In fact, small scale plots are relatively easy to do and often as beneficial as large scale. They each serve their purpose, but for me, large scale plots simply weren’t an option. The land wasn’t there… and it wasn’t mine. However, the landowner where I hunt, a good friend and hunting partner of mine, had some clearing done on his property to create more edge lines. As a result it opened up some prime ground for a few small food plots. I was excited! I had been wanting to try it for a while, especially after becoming involved with Talk Hunting and hearing all the great stories on people’s plots and how well they did. The landowner was interested in having some plots put in, and I was more than happy to give it a shot.

The first question I had to ask was what to plant? I thought it might be an easy one to answer, but as I searched, it really had more questions wrapped up into it to get to the answer I needed. Now this alone could seem overwhelming with all of the different products out there. If you have searched “food plot” on the web at all, then you undoubtedly have read the words clover, alfalfa, chicory, peas, winter rye and many more and subspecies of each and on and on. It’s ok. A few basic questions can help you hone in on just the right product for your plot.

1)    Where will you plant your plot?

2)    How much sunlight will the plot get each day?

3)    How much rain does your region/state get each year average?

4)    What equipment do you have access to?

Whitetail Institute has a great article on choosing the right forage and really guides you through the process of choosing which of their products is best for your situation. You can find it at How To Select The Right Forage. With just the few questions above in mind as a start it can really help you fine tune your direction on which seed to buy. Forums like ours at Talk Hunting are a great resource for gleaning from other’s experiences. You can learn a lot from someone else’s trials and errors, and they can learn a lot from yours!

By the time we had decided to put in plots, it was well on the tail end of the planting dates for our region. I had no idea how much I was getting myself into. Like many of you, I didn’t have the access to large scale equipment. Or even medium scale equipment. In fact what I did have was a small garden tiller, a yard roller, some rakes and spreader, 90% of which were borrowed. A seed that could be planted with little equipment use was important, so the landowner picked up some Whitetail Institute No-Plow and some clover at a local sporting goods store with that in mind.

Now I’d like to add that for the first go-round with food plots I didn’t understand the necessity behind the soil tests that were recommended. I had heard a little about them, but didn’t really get the idea behind them. Even the directions on some of the seeds you buy may give recommendations on lime and fertilizer as a “good guess” scenario, but proper soil as a foundation is a vital part of your plot’s health. Pro Staffer Brent Sawyer has a two-part article currently that will really help you understand a soil test and why it is an important part of your food plot strategy. Part one "Soil Sampling Analysis Part I" is in the March/April edition of the magazine and part two you can find here in the May/June edition.

Clearing The Plot

Once the seeds were purchased, all I needed was a slot in the schedule. My father-in-law, always the green-thumb, offered to give me a hand so we loaded up the truck and headed to the property. The first thing we needed to do was remove all of the vegetation we could from the plot to start with as clean a seed bed as possible. Since the excavator had already been through the area, much of this was already done. We just raked over the plot to remove all the debris and “leftovers” from the excavator to prep for spreading the lime and fertilizer. For your plot, you may need to go in and till it earlier or spray the area with a weed kill product a week or two before you till to remove as much of the existing vegetation as you can. Weeds and grasses can rob your plants of water and nutrients, so it’s important to do what you can in this area.

Preparing The Seed Bed

With the plots cleared, the next step was to get the lime and fertilizer down. The spreader I borrowed was nothing fancy, just a typical walk-behind spreader with adjustable hopper openings. They have fairly inexpensive hand spreaders or walk-behinds at most of your local hardware stores. I spread out the lime according to the weight-to-acre ratio on the No-Plow bag, then went back and spread the fertilizer as well. As you learn more about your soil and the purpose of lime to balance pH, etc. You’ll learn when and how far in advance to put down the lime. It will vary depending on what you are planting. As I moved to the next plot, my father-in-law followed behind and began tilling the fertilizer and lime into the ground.

The next thing we needed to do was smooth and firm the seed bed. There are several ways to do this depending on the equipment you have available. If nothing else, even a piece of fence with cement blocks can be dragged across it if necessary. If nothing is available, raking the plot again can help smooth it out. The landowner’s brother loaned us a yard roller for the task and it worked pretty well. It did make the hilly plot a little interesting though.

Planting The Seeds

It was amazing to me even at this stage how much the plots were really taking shape. Just seeing the work we had done and how different they looked from the beginning was pretty rewarding, but it was all in preparation for the next step. I must have been smiling from ear to ear as I walked the plots behind the spreader watching the seed fly in a perfect spread. I couldn’t wait to see them begin to grow!

Keep in mind, different seeds require different methods of planting, such as seed depth and if you rake or till the seed into the soil. The directions will tell and it holds reason. Some seeds will not sprout if they are buried too deeply, while others need to be deeper to germinate properly. Follow the directions closely. It can be the difference between seeing your plot grow or wondering where it went. Our plot just needed to be rolled again to press the seeds firmly into the top soil and we were done.

Maintenance

Again, much of this depends on what you plant, but typical maintenance involves fertilizing and mowing. Fertilizing should be done with the recommended amounts on the instructions for the particular forage you are planting. The numbers on the front of most bags of fertilizer represent the level of Nitrogen, Phosphate, and Potash. Different plants require different levels of each one so it’s important to pay attention to what you are spreading and when. You want to be aware of when it will rain and fertilize accordingly. Some require the plants to be dry; others call for the plants to be wet. You may want to fertilize once or several times.

Finally, mowing is essential. Some forages are meant to grow tall. With others, you may want to keep at 4 to 6 inches to help control weeds and promote new growth in the plants. New growth will often attract the deer even more. Again, stressing attention to the directions for the forage you are planting. My maintenance included fertilizing every 6 weeks or so and mowing every time the plants reached 12”. This was something I hadn’t planned on doing. The riding mower we had was a 4” maximum cut and we need to mow at 6” minimum. My solution wasn’t something everyone would do or maybe be able to do, but necessity dictated the plan. I won’t get into detail here, but look for my blog this month on the lawnmower lift-kit! If all else fails you can use a weed eater to keep the plots cut, but if the deer take to them you may not even need to mow them. They may do it for you.

This is just an example of how simple a food plot can be. We were able to put these plots in on a very small scale and it was an absolute joy to watch them grow. Even more so to see the deer, turkeys, and rabbits begin to come in and enjoy them as well. As I shared in my April 29th blog, you just never know what adventure you may find once you begin to plant food plots! You don’t have to have the large scale acreage and equipment to experience the fun. It can be as simple as a small section of cleared brush in your favorite patch of the woods or your own back yard.

By Duane Taylor

TalkHunting Pro Staffer Duane "Duane72" Taylor was born in western NY. As the son of a pastor, he spent several childhood years in Wisconsin, then West Virginia where he graduated high school before landing in Rhode Island. Moving out on his own, Duane spent a few years in Texas before enlisting in the US Air Force where he served for four years, stationed in Germany and South Carolina, and took part in Operation Desert Shield. After, he returned to RI where he served an additional year in the Air National Guard and married his fiancé Desiree. He now works full-time as the Facility Manager of his church, as well as volunteer serves on the board of Deacons. Duane cherishes his life with Desiree and is the proud father of two boys.

Growing up in a family that, even though they were not opposed to it, had minimal interest in hunting, Duane had few, if no, opportunities to experience the world of hunting for himself. He has always had an enjoyment of fishing and holds fond memories of fishing the ponds and lakes of Wisconsin with his dad and siblings. Always having a deep interest in hunting though, he took it upon himself to get started the year after settling home in Rhode Island. Armed with nothing more than an ancient recurve given to him by an old man in his church when he was in his teens, and decked out in his Air Force BDUs, he plunged into what would soon become a passion, hobby, and lifestyle.

It was several years before Duane would arrow his first deer with a used compound bow he had "upgraded" to. But those first years brought with them many valuable lessons, mentors, and friends and were the foundations of the successful years that followed. Hunting also the shotgun and muzzleloader seasons, spring & fall turkey, as well as some small game and coyote, Duane spends a great deal of time in the woods or preparing to be there. His other passions are most importantly God, his family, and his off-season fix of motorcycles.

Comments(4):

1. Planting a food plot is so much more than just throwing some seed on the ground. Thanks for the insight!

   Saturday, May 07, 2011 Robert

2. food plots on a small scale

   excellent article with information on how to get started improving your habitat and making small plots work. thanks duane.

   Saturday, May 07, 2011 brad

3. Thanks Duane! I for one am a fan of small plots also. That way allows me to plant different forages at different locations and see which one they like the best. Also keeps me from waisting money on forage the don't want! Thanks again!

   Tuesday, May 10, 2011 Anthony

4. You are the King of the Small Plot's!

   Great read Duane! I still get a kick out of the Plot Mower... Can I borrow it ?

   Wednesday, May 11, 2011 Dennis