Whitetail Food Plot, Part 2

!±8± Whitetail Food Plot, Part 2

This is a continuation of my first article where we covered the site location and preparation of a whitetail food plot. Now I am going to get into the planting part of it. Everything I shared with you in my initial article is about to come into play.

Most people would be spreading their high quality seed over their whitetail food plot and in a short period of time it would germinate, along with the weeds and grasses and the battle would be on. Of course, it's a battle most are going to lose, and come hunting season the effort they expended in the spring is lost. So what happens? They get to start all over the next year and most probably will end up with the same results. So you can avoid this, I am now going to share with you what I plant, how I plant, and why I plant it.

The first thing I do is spread the amount of fertilizer my soil test called for. Then I take about 1/4 of my food plot and using a hand spreader I broadcast a clover/chicory blend. Now get ready. Here it comes. Soybeans! That's right. Roundup ready soybeans. I broadcast these at about 30 lbs. per acre. You do not want to have the beans come in very thick. Then I roll the plot once again to make sure all the seed has good soil contact. What I am doing here is sacrificing a small portion a my food plot by planting the chicory/clover mix, and taking control of the main food plot.

As the plantings begin to grow, so will the undesirable weeds and grasses. And that is exactly what I want. When they reach a height of about 4", I spray the soybean portion of my food plot with a good herbicide. Bingo, the undesirables are gone for now, but most likely not for good. I must mention one thing here. I never let the weeds and grasses go to seed. I spray before they reach that point. If I don't, then everything I've done so far is out the window.

What I have created so far is a whitetail food plot that the deer will visit. It has a little variety. But let's face it, the deer will mow the soybeans down in short order. At least I hope they do. If that happens, I simply plant some more in the exact same way I did the first time. I do not disturb the soil. Along about July, I will have more weeds and grasses rear their ugly heads and I will treat them as I did earlier.

Now it's about the middle of August. The little section of chicory/clover is eaten to the ground, and the soybeans are history. But, and this is the good part, the undesirables are gone. It's now time to bring out the high quality seed and plant a whitetail food plot that will last. Piece of cake. The hard part is already over.

Variety is the spice of life and that is what I am going to offer the deer. So what I am going to do now is section off my whitetail food plot and plant Imperial Whitetail Clover, Imperial Chicory Plus, Imperial Extreme and Imperial Winter Greens. It is important that I do not disturb the soil as I do not want to turn over any more undesirable seeds. I simply broadcast and roll to achieve good soil contact. I will try and do this just before a rain. Then, come the first of October when bowhunting season opens, I will have a plush and pretty much weedless whitetail food plot.

The first or second week of September, I will re-disc the small section I sacrificed earlier and plant Buck Forage Oats. They, along with Imperial Winter Greens, will last well into the winter. Now, I will re-fertilize the entire food plot and call it a day.

The seed that I planted is perennial, so in the spring my whitetail food plot will come in lush with very few weeds. The Oats and Winter Greens are annuals so they must be replanted every fall. Please note. After the initial preparation, I never disturbed the soil of the main plot. Remembering this is vital to the long term success of a whitetail food plot.

A few things I need to mention are: (1) I live in Indiana so adjust your planting times accordingly; (2) never use a bush hog or mower on your whitetail food plot without thoroughly cleaning it first; and (3) if you missed the first part of this article, you can find it on my blog.