Food Plots Food plot size, shape, and location

[JCDEERMAN]

One of my current plots is rectangular and I rarely if ever see a mature buck in it.

Several of ours are like this and yes, it's rare to see a mature buck in those especially during daylight. Next year, we are going to have a cross in each of our rectangular plots of Sudan sorghum (8-12' tall)….essentially creating 4 plots in one. Cross will be Sudan and the 4 main areas will be regular food plots. Will make bucks move more to check out more area, thus should create more shot opportunities …as opposed to appearing at the end of the field, scanning and not seeing anything, then move on

 

[hbg1]

Is your property flat? Contours change winds.
The prevailing winds also leave days of other than prevailing, if you concentrate on one side the deer will simply learn to use the other.
I would be more concerned with how and why the deer travel. Where is bedding vs native food sources, neighbors properties contribution. What about why do you plot? Meat or antlers or pictures.
Locating plots often is delegated by the topography and how unable the plot would be considering weapon, wind, thermals and target animals. Consider that many big mature bucks don't enter food plots, especially in the daylight, are you hunting the plot or the trails to, from and bypassing the plot.
We can all state what our preferences are but without a lot more information it's all speculation.

Property isn't flat but it also isn't mountainous like east tn either. My plan is to concentrate food on the east side and mainly hunt them on their way to and from the plots. Plus I am the only person hunting roughly 600 acres so hunting pressure is minimal on my property. Deer travel vastly different from year to year depending on acorn crop but also just in general. Right now there is quite a bit of browse in the pines but I anticipate even more after the thinning. I plot mainly to hold deer on my property and attempt to improve antlers but occasionally will hunt them as well. I rarely ever hunt my current plots but that's because I've never seen mature bucks using them in daylight. Hope this helps if not feel free to ask more questions.

 

[megalomaniac]

Property isn't flat but it also isn't mountainous like east tn either. My plan is to concentrate food on the east side and mainly hunt them on their way to and from the plots. Plus I am the only person hunting roughly 600 acres so hunting pressure is minimal on my property. Deer travel vastly different from year to year depending on acorn crop but also just in general. Right now there is quite a bit of browse in the pines but I anticipate even more after the thinning. I plot mainly to hold deer on my property and attempt to improve antlers but occasionally will hunt them as well. I rarely ever hunt my current plots but that's because I've never seen mature bucks using them in daylight. Hope this helps if not feel free to ask more questions.

If you arent going to hunt the plots, make them as big as possible. Maximize food production. Keep the edges irregular and you will still see deer in daylight. Make smaller plots in between the big nighttime destination plot and the major bedding areas. These can be small and are great to hunt over, esp in the evenings.

 

[hbg1]

If you arent going to hunt the plots, make them as big as possible. Maximize food production. Keep the edges irregular and you will still see deer in daylight. Make smaller plots in between the big nighttime destination plot and the major bedding areas. These can be small and are great to hunt over, esp in the evenings.

I've read about the smaller plots but I believe if I sat on one of them I'd constantly be thinking I'd need to be somewhere else

 

[yellalinehunter]

Lots of folks use Egyptian wheat as food plot screening and inside big open plots to create compartments. I tried it once and it worked but it also stunted some of the growth that was in its shadow once it got tall. It gets around 8ft tall. I tried other grain sorghum next that only got about 4ft tall and it worked the same way to block deer vision but didn't shade out as much other stuff as the EW did.

Deer will also eat the sorghum seed heads

 

[hammer33]

In a perfect world, you would design & locate your plots based on 1. bedding & security cover 2. Travel 3. Outside factors such as neighbors 4. food.
Food is easy to see, sell, and market to hunters. Truth is, in the South, deer rarely run out of food and the majority of the year they have something nutritious to eat.
My top priority would be to create bedding/security thickets spaced out to encourage travel in a manner that benefits my hunting. Pepper in a few small "kill" plots and have big night time hang out plots or fields. Keep in mind your access to stands and how to get in and out without deer seeing or scenting where you have been. Basically you are making a daisy chain of spots that are attractive to deer/bucks, each of which might be a good location for a stand. & some not attractive zones to funnel the deer movements.
Lots of small attractive spots will hold more deer than one big spot and create many stand opportunities instead of just a few on say a 50 acre food plot.

 

[redblood]

Even though i dont have one, i like the idea of a dog bone of qtip shaped plot