Anyone ever plant a food plot in the hill country? I hunt in Gillespie county and our soil here is extremely rocky. I’ve heard winter rye is pretty hardy and can grow most places, but was curious if anyone has any experience with it, or other recommendations? It would just be a small food plot, probably only about an acre (I don’t have any heavy machinery/equipment so I would be clearing some cedars to make room with just a chainsaw and elbow grease). Thanks in advance for any recommendations!
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Yes, we plant fall food plots in Menard County. The best option is to get on the Web Soil Survey and find out where your best soils are. If you are planting fall plots I wouldn't plant anything until mid to late October. Please keep in mind that you will most likely get 1 great plot every 3 years or so just because the lack of rainfall. This year, none of our plots produced anything due to lack of rainfall. You can broadcast elbon rye and wheat into a field and then cut/shred the field to allow the grass to create a thatch layer over top just before a rainfall. It will work well but you need to have rain throughout the fall/winter months. -
This is great info, thank you! I’ll check out that soil survey. Great to know to expect one good result every couple year, makes complete sense though based on the area. Thank you again for the insightOriginally posted by bgleaton View Post
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Lack of rainfall is gonna be your biggest problem. I hunted in Gillespie County this past weekend and the guy had wheat everywhere but the number of mouths feeding on it and lack of rainfall had it about deer lip tall.Comment
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Sounds like rain (or lack thereof) will be my biggest challenge. Thank you for the feedback. I’ll probably try it for a few years and see what kind of success I have based on the rainfall that year, and reevaluate if it’s worth the added effort or not lol. Either way it will be a fun project!Originally posted by Drycreek3189 View PostComment
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