Imagine this:
food plot locations with well drained, loam soils that are well-nitrified with
neutral pH. Let’s make these locations flat and rock free, too and as long as
we’re cruising down Fantasy Lane, it sure would be nice if all food plots
received just the right amount of rain as well. Reality though is a far cry
from idyllic. Most food plot conditions are less than perfect, yet savvy food
plotters can still create deer magnets even in tough locations. It’s just a
matter of preparation, execution and good plot maintenance.
Even though I’ve been dabbling with food plots for nearly 20
years, all of the plots I’ve created have been on marginal sites. I’ve just
never been lucky enough to own land where food plots would be a cinch. Instead,
I’ve had to deal with challenges on all of them. Nonetheless, my food plots
have been very successful endeavors that have improved my property and
attracted the attention of deer big time.
DRY CONDITIONS
Some sites are just going to be parched, especially during the
summer months. The first food plot I ever created was in southern Michigan in the
1990s and it’s still one of my best hunting spots on my property to this day.
Parts of that plot though look like the Sahara Desert from July through early
August. It wasn’t always like that though: When I first installed the plot the
location was a relatively open area with no big trees nearby at all. The soil
is pretty good too, consisting of a loamy dirt. Establish a thriving stand of
Imperial Whitetail Clover and hunted from a ground blind there because there
were no good trees nearby. Over the years, though, things gradually changed.
When I first created the plot, there were only a handful of wild cherry and maple
saplings nearby. I planted a bunch of pine and spruce trees in the area to
provide much-needed cover. Twenty years later those little seedlings and
saplings are a bunch of towering trees. The cover the trees provide have
certainly improved the deer-attracting powers of the site, but even though I’ve
kept them away from the edges of the plot, their roots have still invaded under
the food plot and literally suck some of the plot dry during the hot summer
period. To make matters worse, turkeys dig up one end of the plot with a vengeance.
Fifteen years ago when I created the plot, turkey sightings in the area were a
rarity. Now I probably have more than 100 turkeys that frequent my 39-acre
parcel at certain times of the year, and it seems like many of them like to dig
up the north end of the small plot. By the end of summer, that part of the plot
is nearly void of plant life. Things drastically improve by late summer as the
cooler temperatures and more frequent precipitation dramatically bring up the
soil moisture. Now I maintain a stand of Imperial Whitetail Clover on the south
end of the plot and plant annuals like No-Plow or Secret Spot on the north
half, which works great. The end result is a food plot that no deer in the area
can seem to resist. The deer trails leading into the plot look like cow paths
during the fall and the area is ringed with rubs and scraps like never before. Another
option for dry plot sites is to choose a perennial seed blend that is designed
for arid conditions. Imperial Whitetail Extreme is an excellent choice for dry
sites. This forage blend can grow with as little as 15 inches of rain per year.
It’s also remarkably heat resistant, drought tolerant and it stays green in
tough conditions.
WET CONDITIONS
Deer just seem to love wetlands. My properties contain lots of low
lands and it’s no coincidence that they also have an abundance of deer. The
wetlands on my properties usually flood during the spring and then dry up during
the summer. I have a bunch of food plots along the edges of those swampy areas
where the plots typically end up partially under water. I’ve remedied that
problem two different ways: I like to dig water holes in or near my low land
food plots and dig holes in a spot that is prone to flooding. I’ve also
channeled the water into the water holes, which moves standing water and
prevents flood damage to the forage. Another remedy for plots that flood out is
to just plant annuals on the wet spots during the dry period. Depending on the
site, some of the plots have perennials on the high spots mixed in with annuals
on the low ground. One of my best hunting spots is on a food plot located in
the middle of a marsh that floods entirely every spring. I created the plot by
spraying the site with Roundup repeatedly to create an opening and then removed
the dead debris using hand tools. If the summer weather dries up the marsh, as
it normally does, then I seed and fertilize the plot during late summer. Secret
Spot pulls in so many deer to that plot that the trails leading there also look
like cow paths. If it’s a rare wet summer, like the one we had this past year,
then I just don’t plant it. Even so, ducks and geese will be drawn to the
watery opening in the cattails like crazy, so it’s a win-win situation regardless.
ACIDIC SOILS
My Upper Peninsula hunting property consists entirely of highly
acidic soils with pH levels running in the 5.0 range. Correcting low pH is
quite simple, but certainly not easy. It just takes the application of lime and
in my case, lots of the white powdery stuff. Buying bagged lime works OK for small
food plots, but it’s just not practical on larger fields. On big plots, bulk
lime is by far the best way to go. It really pays to shop around when buying
lime. In my area, I’ve seen 50-pound bags of powdered lime range in price from
$2 to $10 per bag. The same is true for bulk lime deliveries. Calling around to
several co-ops that sell lime can save you a lot of cash. I have one plot that
encompasses about four acres and two other plots that are about one acre in
size. Those larger plots require a bulk lime delivery to get the job done. I
typically lime those plots every four to five years and spread it on heavy
using a pull-behind ATV, drop-style spreader. Most of my U.P. food plots though
are small in size and of the no-till type. Small plots are limed lightly every
year by just buying bagged, powdered lime, and spreading it by shaking the lime
out onto the ground. I lime those small plots at the same time that I fertilize
each spring. Imperial Whitetail Extreme is also specially designed to thrive in
soils that are somewhat acidic. In fact, with a pH tolerance range of 5.4 to
7.5, Extreme can grow on just about any soils found in North America. This
product provides a high-protein, nutritious food source for deer and other
wildlife year round. With proper maintenance, Extreme plantings can last five
years.
ROCKY ROUGH STUFF
Some of the most impressive food plots I’ve ever seen (judging by
the lushness of the forage and the sheer number of deer using them) have been
located on sites with soil best described as gravel. Rocky sites can produce
awesome food plots, but they will require some hard work to get them in shape
for planting and plot maintenance. If you plan on using no till practices on
your plot and won’t be using a mower, then you really don’t have to remove any
rocks at all. If you plan on tilling or mowing though, then all the big
boulders and rocks that are in the way need to be removed from the site. This
is best done with heavy equipment. I’ve rented mini excavators to clear food
plots and those machines are really nice for removing big rocks. A tractor with
a rake attachment and a bucket also works great too. I’ve also removed rocks by
hand plenty of times. I just dug them out with a shovel and put them into a
dump trailer pulled behind my AVT. The real big ones (several hundred pounds) I
had to dig out, attach to my ATV and then drag them off the plot. My U.P. land
is very rocky, yet that property grows some excellent food plots nevertheless.
STUMPS AND TREES
I have some extremely good food plots growing among stumps. In
fact, two of my most productive deer stands are located over plots littered
with old, dead stumps. These are no-till plots that I created with just hand
tools and while they may not look very pretty, they do in fact pull in lots of
deer. What I don’t like in plots however are live trees. They tend to suck the moisture
out of the soil and cast shade on the forage, so in my opinion all trees should
be removed from within food plots. I also like to keep big trees away from the
edges of my plots too, except for those trees that offer excellent stand
locations.
