Food Plot prep

[Nightwolf]

The first picture shows the area I’m going to plant. Down here in planted pine area I found this spot and think it will be a gold mine. the brush around the plot is giving great cover and bedding area. There is water all around in a creek plus we this there is a spring in the field so we are going to dig it out and make a small pond for water. I need to use that soil to raise the low spots in the field so it don't get water logged from the good Florida rains. I still need the do a few things before i plant but i think this should be a great food plot when finished. In the mean time I’m running a feeder with corn. I’m about to switch to corn and some kind of additive such as acorn rage or feeder fire. I will try to post some update on the food plot progress as it goes. I also have a spot made up in a fire break in the planted pines. Last year I had several bucks come through there including the dandy I got for the last picture. There I was just throwing soy beans on the ground and corn. So they would stop real quickly and pose for pics and grab a bite to eat this year I will have mini food plot for them to get a good source of food. I also have minerals on the ground but that stuff isn’t really doing much. Anyone ever have luck with ground mineral additives?

 

[TLC]

with the ground minerals, make sure you get the block that has lots of calcium in it. and yes, they will come to it. but have to remember. they will use it mainly in the spring when the bucks are growing their racks, and the does are still pregnant with the fawns. after that, its a hit or miss type thing. but they will use the area year after year. get ready to have one hell of a hole in the ground where you put it. have heard you should bury about 1/2 to 2/3rds of it. nope, not me. lay it on the ground. it will dissolve eventually.

 

[DKO]

looks like a pretty sweet place for one! deffinetly check Ph add lime after your done grading the area and good luck!

I have never had any sucess with minerals in Fla. I believe it has allot to do with perc rates of sandy soils, we have had great success in Ky. Where our soil has a more clayey consistancy. we have one that better resembles a small pond in ky. as a result of so many deer that use it!

 

[Nightwolf]

This is my other food plot. it is in a fire break. I plowed off the thick brush and disced the ground up and limed. i ended up planting some kind of pea mix with peas and soybeans and milo. as you can see it is barely growing. i discovered after i opened the bag that it was full of bull weavels so probably half the seed was bad. Also I'm sure the dang doves got a hold of a lot as well. I have some other stuff i'm going to plant to get a good plot going here but in the mean time i will be hand throwing corn and soybeans. hopefully ia week or so i will have some pics off of this plot

 

[Nightwolf]

UPDATE:

The food plot filed at the top of the thread is still to wet to do anything with we are going to work on doing an irrigation system and possibly a small pond in that big field area. All it has done here is rain however so that makes it to mucky to get equipment in to do anything. I am still getting deer into the feeder however.. to include a nice buck but the picture i got of him was at night. if i get a better picture of him i will post it.

 

[duckhead59]

Interesting area...what part of FL?...do you have mast producing hardwoods around there or row crop fields?...if not I would think foodplots would sure be a magnet! stick with the foodplots and mineral licks...best results are seen over time and really start to show in 3rd year.
I've got an effective/inexpensive mineral mix that makes about 50-75 lbs from local feedstore supplies...I'll look for it and post it for everyone...watch for the post.

 

[Nightwolf]

We have nothing but planted pines around here with a spuratic amount of natural woods in the middle of some areas because the ground was to wet or something for the timber company not to plant that area. So we plant food plots and run feeders arounds here. every now and then we find can doze off fire breaks like this and plant a good food plot. Mu field at the top of the thread is an area that holds water pretty good. we are going to try to imp[rove that s o we can get a large food plot in for me. the deer already use that area for cover and low bush browse. So planting a food plot should be a magnet. I would appreciate any ideas you got. with regards to the minerals its hard to do around here because the soil is generally sandy so it don't seem like the deer get interested in the mineral spots. But I'm trying. hopefully by saturating the spot enough it will hold enough minerals to get the deer to start using it.

 

[Treemutt]

I got a small farm in Bama & we have good luck w/ bagged mineral salt instead of blocks.They just seem to draw the deer sooner & for longer periods of time.The soil is red clay to sandy loam.I have a lick in each type of soil they both are dug out enough to bury a fellar in,of course we have had em for a few yrs now.Try to put your licks close to a water source works better.Deer will drink after salt intake.We started the licks by digging a small hole & working the minerals into the dirt.The deer done the rest.Also down here in the Southeast they get used more in the hottest part of the summer.Just my 2cents worth.
Glad I found this forum lots of good info.

 

[Nightwolf]

Update:
Top field has finally dried out. Dig some ditches to allow for water run off and to put the soil on top of the field to raise the lower areas to prevent to much standing water. we are also going to dig a small pond off to the right for the deer to have more water in the area. The smaller food plot on the bottom pic has not grown well so we are going to till it and replant it with whitetail institute pure attraction. Thanks for the advice on the mineral licks i will look in to that for sure! I still have several does that are coming into the feeder but only one buck appearance and with no good pics to post.

 

[Nightwolf]

Foodplot update to come soon. I have some okay growth but i can see were i cut corners but next year i should be on my game. However i have a lot of deer coming in. I got some good pics not seeing very many bucks. lots of does.

 

[Bio Bo]

Nightwolf, Sounds like you are doing a lot of work on your property. As a biologist w/ some expertise in this area, I hope you began w/ a simple soil test for each food plot? It is a waste of money to plant expensive seeds w/o 1st amending the soil as to pH and P,K, and N. A simple $10 soil sample can tell you just what the soil needs. Sandy soil is especially acidic and will need more lime to raise the pH, and it will leach out faster so it will need more added in time.
Let me suggest that you Google and read my blog called Edge Habitat. I haven't posted anything there recently, but you might find the information there helpful. There is a post devoted to amending the soil.
I just joined the website yesterday, so this is my 1st post. If I can provide any information to you regarding habitat improvement, please ask. I am semi retired and this sort of thing is a passion of mine.

 

[Outdoor Man 2]

I used to hunt near Port Gibson, Mississippi on a Cottonwood tree plantation. The trees were actually planted as a row crop, and harvested every three to four years and the land owners didnt' let us plant food plots. There was tons of browse in the tree rows, so there was plenty deer food. But, what I really wanted to tell you is, every early bow season, we killed lots of deer just hunting over salt/mineral licks that we put in all over the property. Just like someone mentioned, the deer would make holes so deep, that some were large enough to fit a whole deer in it. We just kept replenishing the licks year after year. Most of them had trails that looked like wagon wheels leading to them. They were a great thing to hold deer in an area, but activity stopped when the temperature cooled down.