Food plots, who does them?

[dave-t.]

I'm looking at a first year food plot on my place.

Any advice on getting started, what to plant, and when to plant it would be great. There are beans and corn all over the area, but I'm looking for a little hidey plot of wheat and clover, or whatever else will draw deer, and be pretty hardy against browsing.

Thanks

[45seventy]

Friend of mine plants sugar beets....he swears by them...

[purple heart]

45seventy, I have a friend that would like to try sugar beets as a food plot
but isn't sure if they would grow here in Vermont. Where does your friend grow them
and where do they get the seeds?
Are sugar beets a late season crop ?
I haven't heard about anybody around here trying to grow them. I think they think of
Sugar beets as a southern crop.
I appreciate any help you can give on this subject.

[45seventy]

PH... I'll check with my friend, but I think he just buys the seed inpackets.
His plots are not very big, just average garden type plots, maybe 100'X100'.
He grows them right in the woods of southern IL. He just clears a small plot,
and plants or scatters the seed in late June-mid July. The 'greens' (which he
says they like best) are usually ready for the deer right around the start of bow season.

I'll see if I can get in touch with him, and get more info. I have seen his plots, and
there is always tons of deer sign all around, going to. and coming from.

[45seventy]

PH, I'm not sure what the soil type is in Vermont, but in
southern IL it's pretty rich, good black dirt. The woods he plants
in are mainly hardwood (oaks, hickories, hackberry, maples etc.).
Beets would probably grow well in VT, albeit the growing season
would be a little shorter, and your friend would have to time the
planting so that they would be ready for the deer season.

[GF.]

And FWIW, they used to grow huge crops of sugar beets out on the plains east of Denver, so they apparently do well with that fairly short growing season...

Personally, with a lot of ag land in the area and big crop fields, I would think there would be more to be gained by planting cover than forage, and I think I'd be happier hunting it, too...

YMMV...

[dave-t.]

My place is a thorny brushpile. I have the cover, I just need to draw them to the little bit of realestate that I'm able to hunt. I know there are decent bucks in the area, but getting them there in the daylight has been a miserable failure. Twice I've had mature bucks within bow range when it was too early to shoot. If they would stick around another 20-30 minutes I'd be much happier about it.

I have 4 years of hunting this place behind me and have to do something different if I'm going to get a chance to shoot one of the bigger bucks that are already using the area. I have cover, water, good terrain, good natural mast, and decent travelways. It's pretty clear that I need to do something to tip the scale in my favor to make it happen. I only have about 16-17 acres to maneuver around, so going to them isn't an option. If it was as simple as moving to them, I'd do it, because I know the pattern pretty well.

[Sidekick]

You've probably got the same problem that I do. I've tried food plots but with corn, beans, milo, hayfields and natural forage all around me for miles it's hard to plant much of anything that will "draw" them in from all that. That being said though I put in some Ladino clover one year and they've used it pretty hard. And that was in one corner of a hayfield full of red clover, orchard grass and lespedeza. I hear good things about sugar beets. Maybe something green and tender in late season would be a good thing. One thing you won't wan't to overlook is lime and fertilizer. It'll make all the difference in the world in getting it established. Talk to your local MFA and tell them what you want to do. Trust me they've answered this question 1000 times and they know what works in your area.