Food Plot Question

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9dawgs

Food Plot Question

Post by 9dawgs » Sun Nov 25, 2012 4:21 pm

Me and some of my friends have just started to hunt this property I have been given access to this year up in Live Oak. There are deer tracks all over and I've set out corn, feeders and put a couple of stands in places where there is definately traffic but I have yet to see a deer. The property is mostly planted pines with a stand of hardwoods on one corner. There are also oaks lining the fences between the planted pines and on the property borders. There a plenty of acorns and it doesn't look like the corn I've been putting out has been disturbed much. So on to my question.

1. I think I need to plant a food plot (never planted one) but there is no water source on the property. The soil is mostly sandy with the exception of a few places that have more clay in the sand. What would be good to plant for property I can't water?

2. Would some type of fruit tree, (persimmon?), be a good addition to a food plot? Again would water be an issue?

I'm just at a loss as to where to go from here. The place would be attractive to me if I were a deer but I ain't so I don't know. I know that I need to do something to keep them there or at least grow whats there. I know that they are at least passing through but I want to keep them there. There are also turkeys on the property as we spooked one heading in to put out corn around the beginning of the month. I've seen bobcat and coyotes there as well but have not put my eyes on deer.

I want to start hitting it hard in the spring in prep for the fall 2013 hunt so any help would be appreciated. I know some of you fellas have run into the same things. Thanks in advance.

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Iluv2hunt
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Re: Food Plot Question

Post by Iluv2hunt » Sun Nov 25, 2012 4:41 pm

Fertilize the oaks by your stands first and foremost. I will be doing a massive oak fertilization in Feb this year (This is the month they suggest doing it)

If you are around pines, you are going to need lime. Iron clay peas grow well without much in fertilizer or lime. But I would recommend doing both

If you get the soil right, I recommend Record Rack spring and fall mixes. They both are great food plot mixes. I hope to be getting a disc of my own this week
I don't hunt turkeys because I want to, I hunt them because I have to. ~Colonel Tom Kelly

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Iluv2hunt
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Location: Lutz

Re: Food Plot Question

Post by Iluv2hunt » Sun Nov 25, 2012 4:46 pm

I should have added:

13-13-13 fertilizer is recommended for oaks. Also any natural browse you can fertilize. Deer will walk past other stuff to get to acorns or browse that has had fertilizer added. If you are in Live Oak, you can get lime and fertilizer in bulk in Mayo at the fertilizer plant/feed store
I don't hunt turkeys because I want to, I hunt them because I have to. ~Colonel Tom Kelly

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treefarmer
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Re: Food Plot Question

Post by treefarmer » Sun Nov 25, 2012 5:32 pm

9dawgs, our small lease is also planted pines, most of the oaks have been destroyed to allow light and space for the pine seedlings. It is also a very dry place and only has a few little springs that flow during and after a rainy spell. So moisture is an issue for food plots, too.

We've been successful with iron&clay peas as Iluv2hunt mentioned. Any of the southern field peas usually do well with out a lot of water. The I&C peas provide a lot more foliage than other types of peas, in fact they were grown as a hay crop rather than for the peas as a human food source. The biggest draw back with peas is the next year the deer really wont leave them alone to mature like the 1st year, I guess they have a good memory of where the good food is! Most of the major seed companies supply seed for areas that are considerd dry land. I&C's are a warm weather crop, so don't count on them being there as the weather cools down.

I've had this thought in the back of my mind about providing a water hole for several years. Got to thinking about these pond liners that folks use in their flower gardens for decoration and have been wondering why you couldnt make a suitable water hole for the deer especially on these very dry sandy places. People water their cows, so why not water the deer? The idea here would be to dig a small holding pond where runoff would flow into it as well as rain falling into it and the liner would not allow it to percolate into the soil. My observations are that when a deer drinks he will get it out of a stump hole, creek, pond, where ever its available and it doesn't need to be fresh running water.

Where acorns are in great supply it seems that the corn is ignored till later in the season or at least that's what we experience in Washingon County. As soon as the green-up starts in Feb. the deer also seem to go more for the natural browse to fill their gut. I suppose this will vary from site to site depending on available browse.

Treefarmer

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Iluv2hunt
Third Beader
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Joined: Thu Nov 06, 2008 6:12 am
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Location: Lutz

Re: Food Plot Question

Post by Iluv2hunt » Sun Nov 25, 2012 5:57 pm

treefarmer wrote:9dawgs, our small lease is also planted pines, most of the oaks have been destroyed to allow light and space for the pine seedlings. It is also a very dry place and only has a few little springs that flow during and after a rainy spell. So moisture is an issue for food plots, too.

We've been successful with iron&clay peas as Iluv2hunt mentioned. Any of the southern field peas usually do well with out a lot of water. The I&C peas provide a lot more foliage than other types of peas, in fact they were grown as a hay crop rather than for the peas as a human food source. The biggest draw back with peas is the next year the deer really wont leave them alone to mature like the 1st year, I guess they have a good memory of where the good food is! Most of the major seed companies supply seed for areas that are considerd dry land. I&C's are a warm weather crop, so don't count on them being there as the weather cools down.

I've had this thought in the back of my mind about providing a water hole for several years. Got to thinking about these pond liners that folks use in their flower gardens for decoration and have been wondering why you couldnt make a suitable water hole for the deer especially on these very dry sandy places. People water their cows, so why not water the deer? The idea here would be to dig a small holding pond where runoff would flow into it as well as rain falling into it and the liner would not allow it to percolate into the soil. My observations are that when a deer drinks he will get it out of a stump hole, creek, pond, where ever its available and it doesn't need to be fresh running water.

Where acorns are in great supply it seems that the corn is ignored till later in the season or at least that's what we experience in Washingon County. As soon as the green-up starts in Feb. the deer also seem to go more for the natural browse to fill their gut. I suppose this will vary from site to site depending on available browse.

Treefarmer

I hunted outside of Newport, Fl from '07-'09 (I believe if my memory is correct). I think it was '07 we had the colossal drought(the next year, or year after is when we had the 100 year flood up that way). It was so dry you could walk out of your camper at 6Am and not even get your socks dirty. The guy we leased from had a big horse arena up on Hwy 59 from us. He had a 2000 acre buffer of no hunting around that horse arena for that, and the trail riders. The caretaker of the arena was also in charge of the hunting operations. He told us that early mornin and late afternoon it was like a congo line of deer coming to the horse water troughs.
I just so happened to have a black plastic cattle waterer. I took it up there to the end of our dead end and set it out. We filled jugs and carried down there and filled that trough up. within 2 days we had deer drinking out of it
I don't hunt turkeys because I want to, I hunt them because I have to. ~Colonel Tom Kelly

9dawgs

Re: Food Plot Question

Post by 9dawgs » Sun Nov 25, 2012 8:08 pm

Good info Allen and Treefarmer. Just what I was looking for. We dug a test hole up where the dirt had what looked like a flow of green on it thinking it may be an underground springhead but only found some clay that was keeping the sand moist in that area, I also thought about using a cattle trough or even an old bathtub with the drain plugged in a couple of spots. I guess my thinking wasn't too far off. Thanks for the tip on the iron & clay peas. I will definately put some in this next spring.

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