Advice

[Hooked115]

I've just got a few questions on what to plant this year with the opportunities im going to have. I've never planted a food plot, but want to this year. Only problem is i will be crewing on a boat in lake michigan all summer except for a week at the end of july/beginning of august. I wanted to get some feedback on what i could plant at that time, or if there even is anything i could plant. The area i hunt is kind of urban, a couple houses can be seen in the distance from my treestand when the leaves fall, but there is a decent sized group of deer that hangs aorund the area and i want to plant soemthing to see if i can hold them in the area more often, especially early season. So if anyone has any general suggestions as to what i could do witht his situation i would greatly appreciate any info you have to offer. Thanks alot guys
Joel

[Backwoods-Savage]

Lots of questions I could ask of you before posting, but to make it simple, because of your occupation and the fact that you will have a week at the end of July or early August, you have a great opportunity for food plots.

Again, not even knowing what type of ground you have or what's on it now, you probably need to have someone spray it with Roundup a couple of times while you are out on the pond. Then when you get your vacation, you could plant various clovers, but for a first time, I'd highly recommend Buck Forage Oats and Rye mixed. You can't go wrong and there is an old saying that even the poorest farmer on the poorest land can raise rye. Besides that, the deer will be drawn to those oats like a magnet come October.

However, do not forget that if we have another dry August and September, then anything you plant might not do as well. In addition, I'd highly recommend you take some soil samples to find out what you need on your ground. May need lime; may not. What fertilizer to use? A soil sample will answer these questions and make things simplier for you.

Our first food plot was with Whitetail clover. I could hardly believe how it drew the deer. Our second planting of Whitetail was not nearly as good as it did not come up as well. Perhaps that is because they use so much filler in that bag of seeds. I was amazed looking at the tag, but the first time was great. Since then, we've tried various mixes, but for a draw for bow season we've not found anything better than oats. Rye will last longer for rifle season if you have enough and the deer don't eat it all before then.

Good luck on your first food plot. Hope it works out for you.

[Luv2hunteup]

My suggestion would be use the search function in the habitat forum and start reading. Just about everything on food plot selection, soil type, prep has been touched on. There's a life time of information buried in these threads and answers to questions that you haven't even thought up yet.

I've been a regular reader and poster in that forum for a long time. I still go back to the begining and reread from time to time. There's no substitute for education but I've found that it's much easier to learn from the mistakes of others than it is to make all of them yourself.