Small Property Food Plots

[SFAbowhunter]

Need some help deciding how I should design my food plots on my 70 acres in Choctaw County Oklahoma.

Info about my property:
- 70 acres split in half by a railroad running east and west.
- Power line ROW on the north side of railroad running parallel. All open except western portion due to swampy creek.
- Y shaped creek running north and south along the western boarder. Creek is not running for the most part and is really swampy.
- entire property cleared except for some big oaks 12-15 years ago. Mainly all hardwood/pine regeneration and super thick for the most part.
- 2 to 3 small .1-.25 acre openings that could be expanded a little bit with a chainsaw.

My options for food plots:

1. Power line ROW - 1 to 1.25 acres
- hard to access NE portion of property if food plot here.
- risk running deer off food plot walking to and from stands in NE portion.
- could supply the most food and best quality for miles.

2. Small kill plots in the small openings. Chainsaw work to expand as much as possible.
- food plots would be no bigger than .25 acres and probably could only get one that large.
- may not be enough food if I am the only one in a multiple mile radius planting anything.

3. Plant them all and find a different way to access the NE portion of property.

4. Option of adding protein or corn/soybean free choice. ( could get expensive )

Thoughts on how I should proceed?

I have also looked into hiring a dozer service to clear some openings to expand food plot acreage, but everyone I have talked to is crazy expensive.

I appreciate the help green screen!

Brandon


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[Darton]

Have you performed a soil test yet?

[SFAbowhunter]

Have you performed a soil test yet?

I performed one last year. Both areas were under 6 PH and needed lime, plus fertilizer when planting.


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[Darton]

I performed one last year. Both areas were under 6 PH and needed lime, plus fertilizer when planting.


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, my vote is number 3 with a little tweak. With you being the only one around doing any type of supplemental feeding I would plant all plot sites available. You do not have to hunt every plot you plant. The fact that it would draw deer in would increase your odds just by having them move into and through your property. The power line ROW could serve as your anchor plot and could be hunted only during perfect conditions or not at all. With that being said, I would plant screening plots on each end of the ROW plot to keep prying eyes out! I have found that certain varieties of sorghum out perform Egyptian wheat for this purpose. On my place I have seen the bigger deer frequent the smaller plots more often, but the bigger ones hold the females! So, both collectively will increase your chances of success while giving you different stand locations to spread the hunting pressure around. Interested to see how it all turns out

[SFAbowhunter]

, my vote is number 3 with a little tweak. With you being the only one around doing any type of supplemental feeding I would plant all plot sites available. You do not have to hunt every plot you plant. The fact that it would draw deer in would increase your odds just by having them move into and through your property. The power line ROW could serve as your anchor plot and could be hunted only during perfect conditions or not at all. With that being said, I would plant screening plots on each end of the ROW plot to keep prying eyes out! I have found that certain varieties of sorghum out perform Egyptian wheat for this purpose. On my place I have seen the bigger deer frequent the smaller plots more often, but the bigger ones hold the females! So, both collectively will increase your chances of success while giving you different stand locations to spread the hunting pressure around. Interested to see how it all turns out

I agree. I think if I can get the ROW planted that it may be more of a destination food source that I could hunt if needed. Plant the smaller plots and hunt those as a staging area. What sorghum have you found to like? I tried planting the Egyptian wheat, but it didn't grow as well as I wanted it to. Definitely think the ROW needs to have screening and that could make it where I could access the NE portion of the property without alerting deer on that plot.

I really think every property for miles that deer hunt only put out corn or store bought products during deer season. I can't seem to locate any feeder locations or food plot locations for 5 plus miles around me. I have tons of cover and have plenty of water, so I think the main thing I'm missing is food.

[WBT]

Darton has given you some solid advice. I also recommend planting as many food plots as you can for another reason and that's simply to give them a chance to grow. I plant between 7-10 acres every fall and even with low-to-moderate deer numbers, they hammer the plot and keep it grazed down. It looks like a golf course once the native forbs and browse start to die in December.

[Drycreek3189]

I don’t have any idea what type of soils you have, but if you have any soils that hold moisture well, plant two or three varieties of white clovers, especially on the highline. Clovers are a big draw for destination plots in my experience. Once established, you’ll have a perennial plot that just needs fertilizer annually, mowing a couple times (about 8” above ground) and possibly spraying annually for grasses.

Jay offered very good advice, I’d plant every opening, and might want to enlarge a couple. I know equipment is expensive, but I’d get my plan together, flag out exactly what I wanted to clear, and let a few guys bid on it.

The screening can be done with several products, and EW and sorghum will work, I used a product from Frigid Forage in the past with excellent results as far as the screening, but the downside to any seed bearing plant is hogs. When those seed heads mature, the hogs are gonna destroy your screen if you have many hogs. A better long term solution might be miscanthis giganticus. I think it grows from rootstock, but it would be a permanent screen. I’ve never used it, but I’ve seen it. Downside to that is it’s gonna be a couple years before it’s viable.

Another thought on the power line. You could cut down some trees on each side and just let them fall. That would allow for more sun and would lead to thicker growth on the edges of the right of way.

All of us are doing a bit of guessing and projecting here, as we aren’t on the ground, maybe you could put up a satellite pic of the property ?

[SFAbowhunter]

I don’t have any idea what type of soils you have, but if you have any soils that hold moisture well, plant two or three varieties of white clovers, especially on the highline. Clovers are a big draw for destination plots in my experience. Once established, you’ll have a perennial plot that just needs fertilizer annually, mowing a couple times (about 8” above ground) and possibly spraying annually for grasses.

Jay offered very good advice, I’d plant every opening, and might want to enlarge a couple. I know equipment is expensive, but I’d get my plan together, flag out exactly what I wanted to clear, and let a few guys bid on it.

The screening can be done with several products, and EW and sorghum will work, I used a product from Frigid Forage in the past with excellent results as far as the screening, but the downside to any seed bearing plant is hogs. When those seed heads mature, the hogs are gonna destroy your screen if you have many hogs. A better long term solution might be miscanthis giganticus. I think it grows from rootstock, but it would be a permanent screen. I’ve never used it, but I’ve seen it. Downside to that is it’s gonna be a couple years before it’s viable.

Another thought on the power line. You could cut down some trees on each side and just let them fall. That would allow for more sun and would lead to thicker growth on the edges of the right of way.

All of us are doing a bit of guessing and projecting here, as we aren’t on the ground, maybe you could put up a satellite pic of the property ?

Pm sent


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[SFAbowhunter]

Ttt

[tdwinklr]

sending PM.

[SFAbowhunter]

sending PM.

Replied. Thank you!