Food Plots

[MrGiggles]

Anybody else doing any this year?

Decided to go with forage soybeans this year, planted earlier. Had seed left over from spring planting, so I sprayed and no-tilled all the plots at the end of June, in the past I would've been trying to get them in right about this time of year.

The beans haven't really amounted to much. They sprouted but I think that really hot and dry stretch held them back quite a bit. They haven't died but they're still less than a foot tall. 

I went and hung a camera in the one plot a few days ago and took a walk through it. I'll be darned if the turnips that were in the seed mix last year didn't make a heck of a comeback. I'm not sure if they reseeded themselves or what. I'm not complaining though.

Got a few takers the other afternoon. 

[Dutch]

Ours didn’t do well.  Turnips came up but not much else.

[oneshot 1]

Hey I was just thinking Turnips. Good deal. 

Have you considered Rye in the future?

oneshot 

[MrGiggles]

On 8/27/2022 at 2:04 PM, oneshot 1 said:

Hey I was just thinking Turnips. Good deal. 

Have you considered Rye in the future?

oneshot 

I have considered rye. But there's 45 acres of winter wheat right up the hill from this plot, I like to think it's better to have a couple different kinds of forage available.

My experience has been that those seed mixes are mostly a waste of money, you'll get one or two varieties that really take off and the rest won't. I think it's better to just plant a single variety that you actually want and get the seed from a co-op. Get a lot better stand that way.

[oneshot 1]

I use to have Trophy Mix Rye for sale.

I always felt Rye to Deer might have better flavor. 

Deer like Beans everywhere I had Deer would clean them out under trees. 

Seen a Food Plot good for years. Was Red Clover planted with Corn.

oneshot 

[MrGiggles]

Bachelor group stopped in tonight.

[Seth]

We tore up an old clover plot and planted turnips a few weeks ago. It has had a couple good rains on it since so I imagine it's doing decent. I've not been back to actually check on it yet though. I need to go pick up some rye, oats, radishes and red clover for a couple more plots that we're going to do this weekend. Hopefully I can find the rye. Seems like some coops don't get it until after Labor Day some years.

I discovered this mix a few years ago and it's my favorite by far. The oats and radishes provide a good early season food source while the rye takes its time getting established. Red clover doesn't do much this fall, but I've had my best luck with letting it get a head start in the fall and then it takes off in the spring. It gets worked under when we replant next year to help build up the organic matter levels in the soil. The oats and radishes will die off once it starts frosting and you're left with the rye to provide food for the winter.