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Food Plots Plant or Wait

JCDEERMAN said:
It seems after a dry spell, with even just a descent rain, the weather patterns seem to change almost overnight. I'm hoping this wed/thur (hopeful) rain even changes things. IF we get a descent rain at that time, we may try to drill this weekend or next weekend if the forecast changes accordingly. Drilling into wet soil for germination and maybe rain a week later sounds good to me
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Sadly, the models have backed off any further rain after the super-iffy rain forecast for Thursday. I would have a plan for no rain into MZ season.
 
BSK said:
Sadly, the models have backed off any further rain after the super-iffy rain forecast for Thursday. I would have a plan for no rain into MZ season.
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Really? How is that even possible? We haven't really had anything since mid august. That is pushing over 2.5 months going into fall with nothing.
 
BSK said:
Sadly, the models have backed off any further rain after the super-iffy rain forecast for Thursday. I would have a plan for no rain into MZ season.
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If that happens, I may have already bought my seed for next year 🤣. Thankfully, with all the acorns it'll be back to basics hitting the woods, actually having to use our skills. That might be more fun for a change. A lot of us hunters have gotten somewhat lazy climbing into insulated shooting houses over a lush plot. I know it's true for my bunch, me included.
 
tellico4x4 said:
If that happens, I may have already bought my seed for next year 🤣. Thankfully, with all the acorns it'll be back to basics hitting the woods, actually having to use our skills. That might be more fun for a change. A lot of us hunters have gotten somewhat lazy climbing into insulated shooting houses over a lush plot. I know it's true for my bunch, me included.
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We've got a bunch of plots and shooting houses, but rarely use them. We have them for rainy days and that's about it. I might climb into a shooting house only once or twice a year. I prefer to hunt back in the woods. Not one hunter on my place has EVER killed an old buck off a food plot.
 
BSK said:
Not one hunter on my place has EVER killed an old buck off a food plot.
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Per our club management program, we shoot 4+ year olds. I'd say that of the 12-16 bucks we kill in an average year that 60-70% are killed off plots. I've got the data, just need to look & refresh my memory of exact number.
 
tellico4x4 said:
Per our club management program, we shoot 4+ year olds. I'd say that of the 12-16 bucks we kill in an average year that 60-70% are killed off plots. I've got the data, just need to look & refresh my memory of exact number.
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I almost never get a picture of a mature buck in a food plot during daylight. They are way too educated to do something that stupid.

I suspect the difference is that bucks are not targeted on your place until maturity. That means they don't get "educated" when they're young. That might lead them to feed in plots during daylight. On my place, any buck older than a yearling is fair game. The bucks get educated pretty quick!

I used to work on an 1,800-acre high-fenced property. On this property, bucks were only targeted from 4 1/2 on. In that situation, I've never seen such dumb 3 1/2 year-old bucks! They would stand around in open food plots in full daylight. I could drive within 20 yards of them on my ATV and they would just stand there looking at me.
 
BSK said:
We've got a bunch of plots and shooting houses, but rarely use them. We have them for rainy days and that's about it. I might climb into a shooting house only once or twice a year. I prefer to hunt back in the woods. Not one hunter on my place has EVER killed an old buck off a food plot.
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We kill probably 40 to 50 percent off of food plots. But all of our foodplots except a couple are tucked so so close to cover and cover is integrated into our foodplots.
 
BSK said:
Sadly, the models have backed off any further rain after the super-iffy rain forecast for Thursday. I would have a plan for no rain into MZ season.
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I am seeing rain chances 40-50% this morning in Brentwood tonight and tomorrow and only a slight chance of a stray storm a little west in Hickman county....
 
BSK said:
I almost never get a picture of a mature buck in a food plot during daylight. They are way too educated to do something that stupid.

I suspect the difference is that bucks are not targeted on your place until maturity. That means they don't get "educated" when they're young.
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We do everything possible to not pressure them until the reach age. We don't shoot does on plots after ML, no cams on plots after bow opens, no activity past camp except hunting after bow opens, only hunt them when wind is right, and lots of sanctuaries surrounding plots that we never step in unless retrieving deer. We have 41 plots on 3500 acres and 15 members, so lots of choices. Hunting the wind helps to ensure that particular plots are not hunted to death.

Also for the last 16 years we have targeted does with fawns when we shoot them. Given the choice of a single doe or one with fawn, we'll take the one with fawn every time as 50% chance that fawn is a buck and is imprinted on area and will stay after being orphaned. Same if choice between doe with one fawn & doe with two. Will shoot the one with two as one fawn should be buck. This has works for us, as time and time again we kill mature bucks in Nov-Dec on same plot that we've had pics of them in July-August for multiple years.

Didn't mean to hijack the thread with us whining about no rain 😂.
 
tellico4x4 said:
We do everything possible to not pressure them until the reach age. We don't shoot does on plots after ML, no cams on plots after bow opens, no activity past camp except hunting after bow opens, only hunt them when wind is right, and lots of sanctuaries surrounding plots that we never step in unless retrieving deer. We have 41 plots on 3500 acres and 15 members, so lots of choices. Hunting the wind helps to ensure that particular plots are not hunted to death.

Also for the last 16 years we have targeted does with fawns when we shoot them. Given the choice of a single doe or one with fawn, we'll take the one with fawn every time as 50% chance that fawn is a buck and is imprinted on area and will stay after being orphaned. Same if choice between doe with one fawn & doe with two. Will shoot the one with two as one fawn should be buck. This has works for us, as time and time again we kill mature bucks in Nov-Dec on same plot that we've had pics of them in July-August for multiple years.

Didn't mean to hijack the thread with us whining about no rain 😂.
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So y'all shoot the does that are having twins?
 
BSK said:
We've got a bunch of plots and shooting houses, but rarely use them. We have them for rainy days and that's about it. I might climb into a shooting house only once or twice a year. I prefer to hunt back in the woods. Not one hunter on my place has EVER killed an old buck off a food plot.
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Same here. In 24 years, as far as my memory serves, only one mature buck has been killed out of a field….and that was during the velvet hunt. I have a few daylight pics of mature bucks in fields during daylight, but very few.
 
Welp, bit the bullet and top sewed a wheat and cereal rye mix up on one of my predominantly cedar clearcut plots that hasn't been planted before while hoping for this 30% chance of rain we are maybe going to get this afternoon. It's in an area we can't get our tractor to, so I ended up using a metal rake to scratch all of the seed in (that was a bi***). Looks like we may get a bit of rain around 6 this afterrnoon..... fingers crossed. If not, I guess I'll be taking jug after jug of pond water up the ridge for the next week or so to maybe get it to germinate.
 
Now it says we're going to get 1/2" of rain in the next 3 hours; earlier today it said 20% chance of getting .02" I'll be in the stand in about 30 min, hopefully they'll be moving prior to the rain
 
tellico4x4 said:
Per our club management program, we shoot 4+ year olds. I'd say that of the 12-16 bucks we kill in an average year that 60-70% are killed off plots. I've got the data, just need to look & refresh my memory of exact number.
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I have never killed one off one either- but i had a droptine 5.5 yr old in one for an hours opening morning from 7 to 8, while i fished (or destroyed my lower unit trying)
 

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